I don't understand the whole conference pride. Why be proud of conference rivals winning championships?? I certainly don't want to see Oregon, Washington, UCLA or anybody else beating or finishing ahead of the Trojans. In fact...fuck those teams. When 'Bama loses a game, do you pump your fist because they lost to a fellow SEC school? I don't think Gator fans were too pumped about losing the game and NC hopes to 'Bama this year. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems only the SEC has this "conference pride" obsession. Every once in a while I see a few Big-10/12, Pac-10 fans cheering their conference but not to the extent of the SEC homers. And this only happens in college football. :dunno: I just don't get it.
Go 49ers!!! NFC WEST FOR LIFE!!!!
You are correct. I used to get pissed off whenever someone beat Bama or any other team that I happened to like. Its no different than any other place around the country. We have our teams and we stick by them til the bitter end. We also have some storied rivalries down here like Mississippi State vs Ole Miss, Auburn vs Alabama and everybody vs Florida. When its all said and done though, we shake hands and wish each other the best of luck(errr...except for Auburn, they hold grudges). We view the winner of our conference championship as the representative of our brand of football that shows everyone how tough it is down here thus we want them to knock the chocolate out of anyone who isn't apart of the SEC so they can silence the haters. From what a few friends tell me, this whole thing practically started because people in the SEC got tired of being overlooked about 20 or 30 years ago.
I am not originally a son of the south, but I tell ya, Its hard not to get into the culture. People here take football to another level. They take it very seriously(as evidenced by Kiffins sudden Exodus from Tennesse). Its like a religion and everyone attends the church Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I can honestly say that down here in the bible belt(yeah...i kinda hate that part, but nothing I can do about it until I leave in a few years) its God, Family, then football. I'll admit, it does get a tad bit out of hand at times though.
In any case, we do agree on one thing, I am hoping that the 49ers do well this year. Overall, I think they did a great job in the draft. I am a big fan of Mike Singletary and I think what he is doing to turn that organization around is excellent. Plus, that division is pretty much up for grabs and based on the sparks of life I seen from the 49ers last year, they seem like the top dog in that division now.