All In & Proud (to be One)

Oh Facebook.  How you create drama out of nothing. 

We’ve all had it happen – or at least seen it happen.  3 to 4 people that don’t know each other start a “discussion” (aka argument) under a mutual friend’s status update.  What is the mutual friend to do… other than consider and blog;)

This recently happened on my wall.  I posted a note about the ISU/Mizzou men’s basketball game prior to last Wednesday’s game.  12 comments later, I was looking at a “discussion” between my husband, a high school friend, and an old co-worker.  All, including myself, were taking jabs at the old co-worker for posting his opinion once I identified that he was an UNI grad but a self proclaimed Hawkeye “fan”.

This, my friends, is my biggest issue with college ““fans”.

I am not a Cyclone fan.  I am a Cyclone. 

Is there a difference? In my opinion - yes.  And I think that many would agree with me.  Especially when viewed as such:

• A “fan” is a person who supports a team or a college out of interest in the programs.
• Being a Cyclone, that's a person who lived the Iowa State experience. 

Being a “fan” shouldn’t be convenient or based off a winning percentage.  It should be tried & true love – which is why there is a difference between being a “fan” & being a (insert school’s mascot here).  As a __________, you are tied to that university.  You can’t jump ship ever; it helps that you have the school loans to prove it.

In fact, there are rules to how you MUST cheer for your team.

ESPN's Page 2: Rules for College Fandom *

In the hierarchy of collegiate athletic love, a “fan” is automatically less reputable.  Sure they may be able to quote back player stats, or may attend every single home game and buy the overpriced cable package to get every single away game.  But unless you forced yourself out of bed on a Friday morning to run to an 8 a.m. 100 level psychology/geology/history class hung over because you have a test on that campus, you loose a lot of street cred in my opinion.

I respect anyone out there that shares a fierce love for their college.  You should be proud to say that you are a (fill in the mascot) because you should be proud of your experience.  I will cheer on your team if you cheer on mine.  Cheering doesn’t mean that I’ve switched over.  Let’s be honest – I struggle to justify to myself wearing a CSU shirt when we attend football games in Fort Collins because I didn’t go to CSU.  To me, it feels a little bit like I’m cheating on Iowa State if I don the green and gold… 

I also don’t want to completely disregard “fans”.  They fill stadium seats and bars.  They cheer just as loud.  They feel pride in the teams and purchase hats, shirts, and jerseys.  “Fans” pump a lot of money into athletic programs.  My main point is – if you are just a “fan”, you missed out.  The only thing that you can relate to with these athletes is what you see on the field, court, or track.  And college athletes experience much more during their tenure on campus.  Including forcing themselves out of bed to run to a morning workout and then attend that horrid 8 a.m. 100 level filler class only to sit next to those hung over students that may smell because the sweatshirt they pulled on hasn’t been washed for weeks. 

You may say this makes no sense to you.  If that is the first thing that comes to your mind, you may be just a “fan”.  I’m trying very hard to avoid the word bandwagon.  And I want you to think of it this way…

I've come to realize that describing the feeling of a person's college experience similar to knowing the feeling of being from a small town.  It's a way of life that thrives, something that only people who live there and grow up within its arms are able to recognize the comforting feel of its routines and interactions. 

Think of where you were raised, the familiar faces and traditions.  The annual festivals, the high school team rivalries, the places snuck off to with friends.  The teachers, bridge club, coaches, first bosses, Sunday school teachers, and friend's parents who acted as guides to adulthood.  Would a friend who grew up in New York understand the feelings that those memories, places, and people evoke?  Even if you tried your hardest to explain it to them?

I wouldn't expect anyone who wasn't from Coggon or Walker or Troy Mills to know what it was really like to be a North Linn Lynx.  But everyone who is knows how happy everyone was when the girls cross country team FINALLY won the state meet, knows the difference between the colors burgundy and maroon, has heard the Mole song and is a little bit sad to hear that Mr. Arns is finally retiring this year.  When I admit that I was the one that broke Jambi, all the speech geeks cringe.  And everyone who went to North Linn that is reading this post is smiling right now.

Those unique attributes that are intertwined into the past, present, and future - that's what creates the biggest buzz word in the business world today.  Culture.  Businesses strive to find that "special" something that connects people, that makes people smile.  Culture is something that carries people the hard times and makes people laugh most of the time.  It drives people to be involved.  It's hard to create; often it just happens when the right people are in the right place at the right time.  Or when others remember it as the right people in the right place at the right time.  It is, simply, the experience.

As a high school graduate from a class of 40, thinking of Iowa State feels the same - it makes me smile.  It was a small town culture, only amplified to an annual student body of 30,000.  Because of this I am more apt to run into fellow Cyclones than someone who has stepped foot in Coggon.  And with the shared culture, I can always find something to relate with them regardless of age or the year they graduated.  We share in a camaraderie wrapped in cardinal and gold. 

If say that I had to walk from Willow to Design three days a week for spring semester, I can be asked why the hell I didn't take Cyride.  Mention of mass campaniling may bring a blush to someone's cheeks.  I don't have to explain what VEISHEA stands for.  The name Jack Trice means something when thrown into conversation, as does the statement "Honor before Victory".  All will agree that Saturdays were meant for tailgating.  You know how to properly announce the Iowa State Varsity Marching Band.  The satire site title "Wide Right and Natty Light" is hilarious.  We all know who The Mayor is and have felt Hilton Magic.  True Iowa Staters talk about what show they saw- or missed- at the M-shop.  Let’s talk about being chased by those damn swans.  Or the crows.  Laying out on central campus.  Avoiding the zodiac at all costs.  We could have a long discussion of what bar replaced The Dean's List, or The Library, or Sips.  While we're at it, lets raise your mug filled with an FAC special and say a little prayer in memory of People's and Lumpy's.  Thank goodness Welch Ave is still hanging in there.

This list can go on and on, but I promised that this post was not ONLY about being a Cyclone. 

For me, I've had both experiences, growing up in a small town and having a strong connection to the following phase of my life, being a student at Iowa State.  Both cultivated important building blocks, something that I’m sure that collegiate athletes feel just as strongly, if not more.

A sense of community.  A sense of belonging.  These two things create loyalty.

It's why the ISU Athletic Marketing Department's phrase "All In" makes perfect sense to me. I didn't need to buy into it, I was already there.

I can share the above details and memories with anyone I meet.  I can try to explain and share my stories of growing up, both in a small town and at Iowa State.  But unless you were there in those buildings at some point in time sharing those every day simple traditions, you really don't know what it was like and can only partially feel those connections.  I will maintain my opinion that you can only be a “fan”.




*This post is my response to 1(e). I do, however, agree with almost every other sub rule of 1.

**You may also see rule 4 and think “Well, this guy went to UNI.  Shouldn’t he be able to pick a bigger school?”  My answer to this is no – UNI is a great school with great athletic teams.  They have had a competitive football, basketball and a kick ass volleyball program for years.  The tailgating scene may not be so hot, but unless the student body supports these programs by putting butts in seats, it never will.  Which is why its no excuse to switch out of your purple and gold for other colors.  Unless you’re a “fan”.