By
Brian Harbach
There are a lot of words that bring out passionate discussions among college football fans. Words like Playoff, BCS, and ESPN Game-day are just a few that could bring a wide variety of opinions that would differ as much as the “important” topics McCain and Obama will argue over the three weeks. The word that causes the most emotional fervor in today’s college football is “Sidewalk Alumni.”
For those who do not know, the term Sidewalk Alumni is used for any fan that did not earn a degree from the school they cheer for. The professional equivalent would be a bandwagon since it is very difficult for any fan to have a true connection to the pro team they pull for. Most fans affinity in the professional arena is driven by a city they grew up in or maybe due to some family influence. Sidewalk alumni usually do not fall into the bandwagon realm because their passion does not diminish when the team is doing poorly. Sidewalk Alumni might have a stronger passion for their team in a down year than they actually do in a good year and that is not often the case in the NFL.
Bandwagon is not a great work to use, but Sidewalk Alumni is down right nasty. There is not a worse phrase that can be used to describe a fan. Sidewalk Alumni is flung around like it is an acceptable insult to call a fan of another team. Of course it is never used when discussing a fan of the team you pull for, this affront is saved for fans of the opposing team. The hypocrisy is sidewalk alumni don’t count if they are wearing your colors, if they are singing your fight song or if they are pulling for your team.
The stigma associated with Sidewalk Alumni is that they are the worst type of fans; they are the fans that are “embarrassing” the fan base with their out of control behavior. No real Alumni member would act in with such inappropriate behavior. Writing as an Alumni member of an SEC school, the person who came up with this word may have never been to a college football game because some alumni have their worst moments on Saturdays in the fall.
When fans scream War Eagle, Go Gators, Roll Tide and Go Dawgs at one of their own wearing their team’s colors nothing more is necessary. No diploma is asked for, there is no demand for a class ring or request for a transcript; fans are just happy to see one of their own sporting their team gear. Thus continues the hypocrisy.
What is so wrong with a fan showing support for a school they love; is it really necessary to vilify and denounce someone’s loyalty because they don’t have a degree from the school they pull for. The obvious answer is no, but everyone one of us knows the type of sidewalk alumni that this article is really pointing towards. The Vol fan who yells at you while you are walking down the grocery isle with a Gator shirt on, the Bama fan who screams “Roll Tide” at the Mississippi State Mom walking her dog and the Georgia fan who has never taken a class in Athens but barks at every passing non-dawg fan.
The immediate thought is “&#%$#*@ Sidewalk Alumni,” as you walk away in disgust. It is obvious the only reason that guy was ever in an on campus building was to urinate in a bathroom on game-day. This is the guy with a new email address every year that is something like CocksRuleSECin2008@usc.com. This is the guy you knew in High School that never pulled any team and 15 years later he is the biggest Georgia Bulldog fan you know. Those type o fans exist, but the thing that may be shocking is that not all of them are Sidewalk Alums, just as many of these fans are graduates acting moronically.
Every fan has seen this behavior one time or another and every fan knows at least one guy who fits into this mold. Let’s face it, the phrase Sidewalk Alumni hurts, it is meant to and isn’t that the point of an insult. This phrase goes a little too far and really attacks people that may not deserve the negative connotation that goes along with Sidewalk Alumni. Accusing someone of loving something they have no right to love and cheering for something that is not theirs to cheer for is too low for words.
This is where the fan goes too far and the statement is inaccurate and offensive. Your attachment to that school does not have to be a degree; it can be a memory of going to games in Oxford, Mississippi with your Dad as a kid or watching the Razorbacks on TV with your Grandfather. The attachment to a school does not have to be something you earn in a four year period; it can be something that is learned over a lifetime.
The reason there is so much animosity towards fans like this is because it is hard for some to think any intelligent person with a degree would do something so ridiculous and act so stupidly. This is where the problem with using Sidewalk Alumni as a negative loses all authority; you don’t need to be an alumnus to be a fan and not all Alumni act appropriately.
Passion causes people to say and do stupid things (my inbox right now is a great example of it). The reason people send an email, call a radio show or scream at another rival fan is because of the passion they feel towards their school. Alumni members can be just as awful as the Sidewalk alumni they make fun of; a degree doesn’t stop anyone from acting like a moron. Think about the people who graduated college with you, how many of them probably can be described as morons?
Take Sidewalk Alumni out of your vocabulary, there is no place for it in college football or college sports for that matter. The last thing to think of is that a large majority of Sidewalk Alumni are people you know and love. They are the people who more than likely paid your tuition and they have earned the right to cheer for your team. You wouldn’t use that phrase towards them and people look stupid using it towards opposing fans.
This weeks SEC Picks
Georgia 34, Vanderbilt 17
Alabama 24, Ole Miss 20
Arkansas 28, Kentucky 24
Tennessee 17, MSU 12
LSU 28, South Carolina 17
I want to hear from all Alumni member. What do you think about the term and should we keep it in our football vocabulary? E-mail
me Brian Harbach
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