On the one hand, my dad was an OSU fan and so naturally, I grew up rooting for the Beavers. I don't particularly like the Ducks, you could say. It dates way back in my youth, when I went to watch Oregon lose to the Washington Huskies in Eugene, and witnessed what they call "The Pick" by Kenny Wheaton. That play totally pissed me off and amplified my hatred of the Oregon Ducks football team forever.
More recently, I've been posting "War Eagle" a bunch of times on my sister's Facebook page just to piss her off and rattle the cage a little. And it's worked quite well, I might say. Last night she posted back to me "War duck, bitch." Cage officially rattled. Suffice it to say, I am no Duck fan.
And on the other hand, we have the Auburn Tigers. They're from the SEC, where football is played the way God himself intended...or something like that. Ahhh, the glorious SEC conference. Everyone stop and marvel at God's gift to the sport of college football...the Southeastern Conference. Friggin annoying, isn't it?
Listen, I have no personal beef with Auburn or anyone that went to Auburn University. But talk about delusional. SEC fans are a different breed, that's for sure. I listen to all kinds of talk radio, and whenever someone from "SEC country" calls in, it's the same thing. "Well, I'm not an Auburn fan, but since the SEC is the best conference in the country hands down, they're just gonna win." Or some variation of that thought. This line of thinking is the reasoning behind the epidemic sweeping the nation called "rooting for your conference."
Over at Deadspin earlier today, Barry Petchesky wrote a great little article about this very thing. He makes several good points, which I want to highlight here.
And more from Petchesky:It's that famed SEC Pride at work (Here's SECPride.com, for all your SEC Pride needs). The irrational need for your conference to be recognized as the best in the nation, the evidence being bowl wins. Even if it means cheering on a hated rival. From the Birmingham News:
"You should cheer for the SEC and the state's team."
"It makes the SEC look stronger than everybody else."
"You should be rooting for the SEC no matter who is there, because with the Big Ten getting a championship game and the Pac-10 getting a championship game, the national media would just love to say the SEC's not the best."
No one else does this. Red Sox fans don't pull for the Yankees in the World Series. Whichever team loses Steelers/Ravens on Saturday won't be cheering on the winner to represent the AFC North. That's because the first rule of sports fandom is if you can't root for your team, the next best thing is to root against your enemies.
Do college football fans not get this? Not that we presume Bill Plaschke speaks for anyone, but he's not the only person on the West Coast hoping that an Oregon win would mean respect for the Pac-10. It doesn't work that way. If Auburn wins tonight, it doesn't make the SEC better than the Pac-10, or any other conference. Same for Oregon.
In this article, Petchesky makes some very valid points.
So I started out wanting Oregon to get blown out. Then after hearing the stupid cockiness of SEC fans everywhere, I switched and wanted to see the Ducks stick it to them just to shut them all up. Now I am not sure who I should root for?
If Auburn wins, we'll never hear the end of the "SEC is the best conference in the country" argument and then if the Ducks win it all, I'll never hear the end of it from all these Duck fans in the state. This is one of those rare situations where I wish both teams could lose.
Maybe the best option for me personally, as a fan, is for Oregon to win and so it shuts up all the SEC fans out there. Then I'll only have to put up with Duck fan until next December, when Oregon State goes into Autzen and pulls off the upset and beats the Ducks.
Then both cocky, mouthy fan bases are put to rest. Wow, I think that works for me. There, it's settled. I'm rooting for Oregon to win a very, very close game.
[ Deadspin.com ]
