The sorry state of college football fandom in our state (Chicago: university, town)

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

Meh, NU may not have the tradition of football success that USC does, but as long as NU continues to outshine USC academically, that's all that matters; afterall, that's what college is supposed to be for, no?

NU academics outshine those of USC, and excellent university itself even if it is also outshined academically by a public university cross town from it in the form of UCLA.

So what? Northwestern is an outstanding institution, one of the best. But Stanford is better. Stanford is, hands down, the best academic school in Div 1; sorry, the rest will need to Duke it out for second place. Yet athletics matter a lot to Stanford and always have.

How does one explain that the Bay Area, not necessarily the most fertile sports ground in America by a long shot and one basically the size of Chicagoland can support two BCS programs, Cal and Stanford, while we have one, Northwestern, and don't really support it very well (with both regions also having a mid-major in the form of SJSU and NIU).

After NU went to the Rose Bowl in the 90's, applications for freshman year skyrocketed. Maybe it isn't the way it should be, but truth be known, athletics have gone far to make many schools known to thus highlight their reputation and name recognition. It happened ages ago with the likes of Stanford and Chicago, but it still goes on today.

Take Michigan, for example. Michigan has made a hallmark for itself more than any other university in the nation in the way that it combines both academic and athletic (revenue sport) reputations. The two have fed off of each other and U-M has an aura about it because of the unique way that it mixes both. Oklahoma and Alabama shine athletically despite their academics. Michigan shines athletically party because of its academics; in Michigan's case, you would not have had that huge fan base if what they were cheering for was just the team; when 100,000+ fill the Big House, they're there because of what Michigan stands for as an institution, not just the product on the field. Vastly different approach than you see at so many state universities, particularly the ones that spread across the south and the great plains.

Athletics count. And to my way of thinking, despite it caliber as one of the top academic and research institutions in the nation, the U of C would have benefited if it has kept its B10 membership more than a half century back and its name recognition, stellar in academic circles and those who follow them, would have been greater across the board to the general public of this nation if the Maroons had stayed in the B10.

NU athletics are an aid to NU academics, just like similiar situations are true at Stanford and Michigan.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

Meh, NU may not have the tradition of football success that USC does, but as long as NU continues to outshine USC academically, that's all that matters; afterall, that's what college is supposed to be for, no?

What are you, some kind of a nut?

I recently moved back to Chicago after three years in Lexington KY and all the UK nonsense there is sickening with people who can't even spell "university" strutting around all over the place in "big blue" get ups. This in a state where people voted against Obama because they think he's 666 and the most popular activites are meth cooking and applying for disability.

You wanna get a rise out of these bumpkins you tell them the Wildcats are Northwestern and Big Blue is Michigan.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

What are you, some kind of a nut?

I recently moved back to Chicago after three years in Lexington KY and all the UK nonsense there is sickening with people who can't even spell "university" strutting around all over the place in "big blue" get ups. This in a state where people voted against Obama because they think he's 666 and the most popular activites are meth cooking and applying for disability.

You wanna get a rise out of these bumpkins you tell them the Wildcats are Northwestern and Big Blue is Michigan.

Gotta love that one, Irish!

and let's throw in, UK is the United Kingdom.

These poor SEC schools. Pity the poor University of South Carolina. Call them USC and someone will ask "Los Angeles?" Call them Carolina and somebody will ask "Chapel Hill?"

[cubssoxfan]

2 observations:
1) NU and Illinois need to have consistently excellent programs to pull in the support. When I look at WI, MI, OSU, PSU they have been good to excellent for decades- year in and year out. This is neccesary for it to be a hot ticket, a coveted ticket.
2)NU and Illinois are competing with pro sports in Chicago market- especially NU. What kind of pro sports is there in Madison, Iowa City, Columbus, Happy Valley?

[linicx]

The coach has what he has to work with. If he's a good coach maybe he can do something extraordinary. If not, well...... you gets what you gets.

[Frank the Tank]

I don't think it's as bad as the OP makes it out to be (please note that I'm an Illinois alum). The lack of college football interest is more due to the fact that Illinois is simply horribly underachieving this season - when the Illini made the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago, there was certainly a ton of interest.

While Illinois is a basketball school overall, it's not like Indiana or Duke where people simply don't care about football. There's a strong undercurrent of football support at Illinois. It's just that Illini fans have been beaten down constantly for years on end with poor football teams - every 4 or 5 years we pop up with a great team, but then quickly recede the next season. If there was any measure of consistency in the Illinois football program (i.e. even just making the Motor City Bowl on a regular basis, much less the Rose Bowl), then you would see the school be considered every bit of a football school as a basketball school.

Northwestern has two issues in the Chicago: (1) it's not a flagship university like Illinois where the sheer number of alums in the area is overwhelming and (2) the main private school that it's competing with for fans in the market is a low-profile little known school called Notre Dame. Northwestern can certainly get a decent amount of attention if it's playing extraordinarily well, but it obviously won't have the same actual alumni fan base as Illinois (in fact, I've read that EVERY other Big Ten school actually has more alums in the Chicago area than Northwestern) or the "subway alumni" base of Notre Dame.

I think the thought that Chicago is a "pro sports town" is a bit overstated, though. While I believe that the Chicago pro teams take clear precedent and it's definitely not like, say, Indianapolis or Atlanta where college sports rule all, there's still a great base of Big Ten and Notre Dame alums/fans in the city that clearly make it a better place for college sports than, say, New York, Boston or Philadelphia. The Tribune and Sun-Times will give a lot of ink to Illinois/Big Ten and Notre Dame, while the East Coast cities don't do the same for their regional teams.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I don't think it's as bad as the OP makes it out to be (please note that I'm an Illinois alum). The lack of college football interest is more due to the fact that Illinois is simply horribly underachieving this season - when the Illini made the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago, there was certainly a ton of interest.

While Illinois is a basketball school overall, it's not like Indiana or Duke where people simply don't care about football. There's a strong undercurrent of football support at Illinois. It's just that Illini fans have been beaten down constantly for years on end with poor football teams - every 4 or 5 years we pop up with a great team, but then quickly recede the next season. If there was any measure of consistency in the Illinois football program (i.e. even just making the Motor City Bowl on a regular basis, much less the Rose Bowl), then you would see the school be considered every bit of a football school as a basketball school.

Northwestern has two issues in the Chicago: (1) it's not a flagship university like Illinois where the sheer number of alums in the area is overwhelming and (2) the main private school that it's competing with for fans in the market is a low-profile little known school called Notre Dame. Northwestern can certainly get a decent amount of attention if it's playing extraordinarily well, but it obviously won't have the same actual alumni fan base as Illinois (in fact, I've read that EVERY other Big Ten school actually has more alums in the Chicago area than Northwestern) or the "subway alumni" base of Notre Dame.

I think the thought that Chicago is a "pro sports town" is a bit overstated, though. While I believe that the Chicago pro teams take clear precedent and it's definitely not like, say, Indianapolis or Atlanta where college sports rule all, there's still a great base of Big Ten and Notre Dame alums/fans in the city that clearly make it a better place for college sports than, say, New York, Boston or Philadelphia. The Tribune and Sun-Times will give a lot of ink to Illinois/Big Ten and Notre Dame, while the East Coast cities don't do the same for their regional teams.

Frank, as the original OP, I'm actually in agreement with much of what you said on one subtopics on this one. I think you do have it nailed.

You're certainly right when you say that Chicago is more of a college football hotbed than it appears due to the very drawing power of the city unshared by other midwestern cities. As Midwest Central, Chicago loads up on Big Ten alumni from across the region....plus the fact that it it breeds its own, the home grown variety from suburban Chicago, where keeps go in droves and feel very much at home in Iowa City, Bloomington, and Madison for 4 years. Iowa, IU, and UW are all exceedingly "Chicago friendly". The University of Iowa may be one of the most unique state colleges in the country based on the influence and enrollment of an out-of-state entity that is Chicagoland and frankly, dominates the university to the same degree (or even more) than Iowa's largest city, Des Moines, does.

Problem is, all that huge assortment of B10 fans, while pumping rivalries, does nothing to give the rabid fan base of the home town teams. Illinois is diluted in Chicago in a way that Wisconsin is not in Milwaukee, Michigan is not in Detroit, and Ohio State is not in Cleveland.

And that's the rub.

[Drover]

Years bordering on decades of mostly uninspiring football from the state's major schools is the number one contributing factor to Illinois' "ho-hum" approach to college football. Give us something to cheer for and we'll be there.

[northstar22]

Also, you have to consider the size of Illinois, which is bigger than any other Big Ten state except Michigan. There is more to the state than Chicagoland. Do you really think folks in Cairo or Metropolis care about the Illini or Northwestern? They're more than likely rooting for Memphis, Kentucky, Alabama, or Arkansas, which are all far closer than Champaign or Evanston.

[CMichele]

Kazoopilot is right. Many people in the area are rooting for mostly SEC schools. The last 2 towns I lived in were SEC towns. I graduated from an SEC univeristy.

I get depressed every Sat. morning since moving here. I really miss the Saturday morning fanfare. I don't even talk my usual busload of crap anymore. I really miss Game Day.