SDSU

[cato]

What's with the cheap shot against Aztec fans on the front page? How is it a "fact" that SDSU fans act exactly like Maryland fans, except "less" violent? If you're going to insult an entire fan base like that, bring some evidence, please.

[MCFinARL]

What's with the cheap shot against Aztec fans on the front page? How is it a "fact" that SDSU fans act exactly like Maryland fans, except "less" violent? If you're going to insult an entire fan base like that, bring some evidence, please.

I wondered about that myself. All the linked story says is that the SDSU fans sometimes dress up in white shirts and ties like Mormon missionaries. I imagine some folks might see that as tasteless because it's related to religion, but it seems pretty tame.

[rthomas]

The only fact that I know about SDSU is that they have a lot of awesomely beautiful women on campus.

[cato]

I wondered about that myself. All the linked story says is that the SDSU fans sometimes dress up in white shirts and ties like Mormon missionaries. I imagine some folks might see that as tasteless because it's related to religion, but it seems pretty tame.

SDSU hasn't had a team this good, ever. For years, community support was low and the arena rarely filled up. During this time, a devoted group of student followers developed. They dress up in costumes and try to get into the other team's head. Sometimes they push the boundaries of taste. But they error on the side of creativity, instead of violence and banal vulgarity.

To my eye, they have more in common with Crazies than Maryland students.

The only other thing I could think of was the quote from a student who said something along the lines of, "We like to think of BYU as our rival, but they probably don't think of us that way."

I wonder if a State fan has ever said that about UNC?

[DoubleDuke Dad]

What's with the cheap shot against Aztec fans on the front page? How is it a "fact" that SDSU fans act exactly like Maryland fans, except "less" violent? If you're going to insult an entire fan base like that, bring some evidence, please.

Read the rest of the article.

"We see them as our biggest rivals, and they wouldn't," said David Pope, a recent SDSU graduate. "That's the whole reason we hate them so much."

It is not a cheap shot at SDSU. It simply points out that, like Maryland thinks of Duke as their rival, they think of BYU at their rival, while BYU says that Utah is their rival.

[cato]

Read the rest of the article.

"We see them as our biggest rivals, and they wouldn't," said David Pope, a recent SDSU graduate. "That's the whole reason we hate them so much."

It is not a cheap shot at SDSU. It simply points out that, like Maryland thinks of Duke as their rival, they think of BYU at their rival, while BYU says that Utah is their rival.

Read the rest of DBR's post. They assert that SDSU fans are violent, just "less" so than Maryland fans. Also, Maryland fans are known more for vulgarity and riots than a (supposedly) unrequited rivalry with Duke.

It was a cheap shot. If it was predicated entirely on that single line, I am disappointed. I have to imagine that it is pretty common for fans of historically weak teams to want to view the conference bully as their rival.

[MCFinARL]

Read the rest of the article.

"We see them as our biggest rivals, and they wouldn't," said David Pope, a recent SDSU graduate. "That's the whole reason we hate them so much."

It is not a cheap shot at SDSU. It simply points out that, like Maryland thinks of Duke as their rival, they think of BYU at their rival, while BYU says that Utah is their rival.

Well, maybe I'm just getting involved with semantics here, but when I read "behave precisely like Maryland fans, except less violent," that sounds like more to me than just that they perceive a team as their rival that doesn't hold them in the same regard. It at least suggests some mean-spirited stuff.


Edit--see you beat me to this point, Cato.

[hurleyfor3]

I wondered about that myself. All the linked story says is that the SDSU fans sometimes dress up in white shirts and ties like Mormon missionaries. I imagine some folks might see that as tasteless because it's related to religion, but it seems pretty tame.

I'm not so sure most Mormons would take that (in and of itself) as a slight.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Read the rest of DBR's post. They assert that SDSU fans are violent, just "less" so than Maryland fans. Also, Maryland fans are known more for vulgarity and riots than a (supposedly) unrequited rivalry with Duke.

It was a cheap shot. If it was predicated entirely on that single line, I am disappointed. I have to imagine that it is pretty common for fans of historically weak teams to want to view the conference bully as their rival.

No you are reading what DBR said incorrectly. DBR was just trying to be humorous. I guess they should have put a smiley at the end of the sentence. The statement that "San Diego State fans behave precisely like Maryland fans, except less violent," was a knock on Maryland fans not SDSU fans.

[cato]

No you are reading what DBR said incorrectly. DBR was just trying to be humorous. I guess they should have put a smiley at the end of the sentence. The statement that "San Diego State fans behave precisely like Maryland fans, except less violent," was a knock on Maryland fans not SDSU fans.

I can see that DBR was trying to be humorous, but your reading is overly charitable. "Less" violent means that there is still some degree of violence. And you're still ignoring all the other characteristics people around here ascribed to Maryland fans.

At any rate, if the goal is to take a shot at Maryland fans, why drag Aztec fans into it? Maryland fans provide plenty of opportunities on their own. Unlike Duke, Maryland or BYU, a season like this is completely unprecedented for a school like SDSU. It's unbecoming to take a cheap shot at Cinderella, particularly where the fans have more in common with Duke fans than Terp fans.

[Duvall]

Unlike Duke, Maryland or BYU, a season like this is completely unprecedented for a school like SDSU. It's unbecoming to take a cheap shot at Cinderella, particularly where the fans have more in common with Duke fans than Terp fans.

But it's still okay to mock Fisher, right?

[cato]

But it's still okay to mock Fisher, right?

Absolutely. I doubt he'd have it any other way.

[Mal]

The analogy fails because Maryland fans don't display the level of self-awareness evident in the San Diego State alum's quote. He recognizes and accepts (although using it as the basis for his loathing) the basic truth that SDSU is not seen by BYU as their big rival. This guy's out in the open, acknowledging his jealousy, essentially saying "We hate them because we know it's unrequited rivalry." Maryland fans, on the other hand, dispute reality and claim Duke fans are covering up their true feelings, or find some other logically twisted way to dismiss our dismissal of them.

[ElSid]

DBR is not to blame for anything other than bad writing, as far as I can tell.

Their only point was that BYU doesn't think of SDSU as rivals and SDSU "hates" them for that.

I think the phrase "like Maryland but less violent" would have been more accurate as "like Maryland but without the violence".

I think SDSU sounds like a wonderful place. I'm enjoying rooting for their team this year. I like Steve Fisher and think he's done a good job there and the redemption story is pretty cool.

[strawbs]

is the sdsu-byu game online anywhere tonight?

[throatybeard]

Read the rest of DBR's post. They assert that SDSU fans are violent, just "less" so than Maryland fans. Also, Maryland fans are known more for vulgarity and riots than a (supposedly) unrequited rivalry with Duke.

It was a cheap shot. If it was predicated entirely on that single line, I am disappointed. I have to imagine that it is pretty common for fans of historically weak teams to want to view the conference bully as their rival.

Maybe they should just fire the bad fans.

[Indoor66]

Maybe they should just fire the bad fans.

Those bad fans should be Roy'd.

[hurleyfor3]

The merlot-related posts, which had absolutely nothing to do with SDSU or the WSJ article, have been moved to a separate thread on the OT board. Feel free to continue merlot-related discussions there.