Perception B G Football

[mcfalcons83]

Do we all agree B G Football puts on a quality product that is fun to watch in person and on T V. If the answer is yes why are we perceived by OSU fans as an inferior product even by BG grads who OSU is their favorite team?

[Flipper]

Because you're asking two different questions....I like BG football...used to LOVE BG football, but that's another story. I'll watch if it's online or I might even go if my Saturday is clear from other obligations...until the midweek games kick in, then there isn't a chance in hell I'm going to a game. The University and the conference decided they'd rather be a midweek TV show than a product that the community can interact with...so...in response I've pretty much said "F you too" and began the process of moving on. Sure, that sounds cynical..maybe even a bit spiteful...but...it's hard to take the athletic department on the whole here seriously when you have coaches playing grabass and punchout at the bars and "student" athletes running grow operations in their apartment. (along with many other highly publicized run ins with the man) so I don't feel like I'm missing as much as I might have even 10 years ago.

The second question ... How we're perceived in relationship to the true power schools...the actual schools with a chance to win that big assed trophy...the schools that took what was an almost perfect sport in the 70's and 80's and turned it into the nauseating version of NFL lite that it is today...we're not their equals. It's not even close. They have more money than God and more stupid ways to spend it than we could ever imagine. They're whores...we kind of are too...but they're far bigger whores than we could ever hope to be. Why some people hold that ridiculous sideshow up as an ideal is quite fricking beyond me...

[mcfalcons83]

I know they are bottom feeders but we have beat 3 BIG schools in last 2 years and we're a dropped pass on 4th and 10 from beating Mississippi State in 13

[MarkL]

This is a question that comes up in these parts a lot. I have never gotten the cult-like devotion to Ohio State. My favorite teams growing up were Cincinnati and Michigan - because my family went there and so I was exposed to each. Then I enrolled at Bowling Green and the rest is history. Meanwhile growing up in Ohio I was surrounded by a bunch of rednecks whose careers have maxed out at "shift supervisor" who worshipped Buckeye football like it were a religion yet to this day have never once stepped foot in a classroom on the campus.

I don't get it. It is a culture - and thankfully one I am far above. My Alma Maters have put me in an incredible position in my career and as a standout in my field, everywhere I go all my peers know about this special university on the plains of Northwest Ohio. My degrees from Bowling Green and Purdue have done far more for me than a drunken rendition of "Hang On Sloopy" on continuous loop could ever do for the aforementioned rednecks.

[mcfalcons83]

Thank you that was my point

[zete]

This is a question that comes up in these parts a lot. I have never gotten the cult-like devotion to Ohio State. Meanwhile growing up in Ohio I was surrounded by a bunch of rednecks whose careers have maxed out at "shift supervisor" who worshipped Buckeye football like it were a religion yet to this day have never once stepped foot in a classroom on the campus.

I don't get it. It is a culture - and thankfully one I am far above. My degrees from Bowling Green and Purdue have done far more for me than a drunken rendition of "Hang On Sloopy" on continuous loop could ever do for the aforementioned rednecks.

“Let's face it. We live in a command-based system, where we have been programmed since our earliest school years to become followers, not individuals. We have been conditioned to embrace teams, the herd, the masses, popular opinion -- and to reject what is different, eccentric or stands alone. We are so programmed that all it takes for any business or authority to condition our minds to follow or buy something is to simply repeat a statement more than three or four times until we repeat it ourselves and follow it as truth or the best trendiest thing. This is called "programming" -- the frequent repetition of words to condition us how to think, what to like or dislike, and who to follow.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

[jpfalcon09]

This is a question that comes up in these parts a lot. I have never gotten the cult-like devotion to Ohio State. Meanwhile growing up in Ohio I was surrounded by a bunch of rednecks whose careers have maxed out at "shift supervisor" who worshipped Buckeye football like it were a religion yet to this day have never once stepped foot in a classroom on the campus.

I don't get it. It is a culture - and thankfully one I am far above. My degrees from Bowling Green and Purdue have done far more for me than a drunken rendition of "Hang On Sloopy" on continuous loop could ever do for the aforementioned rednecks.

“Let's face it. We live in a command-based system, where we have been programmed since our earliest school years to become followers, not individuals. We have been conditioned to embrace teams, the herd, the masses, popular opinion -- and to reject what is different, eccentric or stands alone. We are so programmed that all it takes for any business or authority to condition our minds to follow or buy something is to simply repeat a statement more than three or four times until we repeat it ourselves and follow it as truth or the best trendiest thing. This is called "programming" -- the frequent repetition of words to condition us how to think, what to like or dislike, and who to follow.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

Pretty much how I feel. Can't undo a childhood full of brainwashing and culturing when an OSU fan attends BG and roots for the team they've been raised on over the one they attend. Over the last few years I've begun to worry less about it, just because the machine of major college football is going to eventually swallow up the little guys anyways...plus it helps when BG is able to beat three of the 14 schools OSU plays within their own conference...tends to prove most of our points that the Big Whatever is largely watered down.

[Schadenfreude]

Sure, that sounds cynical..maybe even a bit spiteful...

I didn't say it.

[Schadenfreude]

One of the nicest things I've read lately about MAC football was this recent comment on a Conference USA message board by an East Carolina fan:

CUSA also has a narrative problem imo. For those who say that CUSA is more valuable than the MAC, prove it. The MAC has a great story line and has sent teams to the most important BCS bowl game( before name change to Access), something CUSA has not done yet. The MAC represents old line football institutions in Middle America. People love football and people love Middle American, therefor people love the MAC. The MAC's narrative gets respect from people. It just does. There the little league that can. They are also the league that has sent some great teams to the January Big Boy Bowl game, further increasing their value and underdog status. People also know who makes up the MAC, or at least the vast majority of teams. The MAC is household name to sports fans.

(Conference USA fans were lamenting their paltry TV deal compared to what the MAC is getting from ESPN.)

Isn't that nice? It suggests to me that midweek #MACtion is slowly changing the perception of our conference. I've met other people with no particular connection to Middle America who are also charmed by weeknight #MACtion. If more people could embrace this idea of what the MAC is about, that would be a good thing.

Anyway, this is how I like to see Bowling Green and the rest of the MAC. Sure, Bowling Green isn't a Big Ten or SEC behemoth. But we can beat those schools, because this is Ohio and good football is part of our culture. If we can grow our program even further, great. But what we have right now is already great. On our small budget, we go into big stadiums in places like College Park and West Lafayette and win. That's pretty special.

[Flipper]

Who cares if we go into College Park and win? Maryland is a terrible football team...is that the rationale for being D1...beating bad P5 teams? I'm way more geeked by stuff like this....

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2016/6/ ... um=twitter" target="_blank


For me it's a question of fairness...why should some poor sap from Ravenna who doesn't care one bit about BG Football pay thousands of $$$ for some random alums to cling to this D1 thing? Unless you pony up some $$$ to the Falcon Club or the University...you're freeloading on that kid's back. Your big wins at Maryland and Purdue that ultimately mean nothing are financed by him...or her.

There's also a practical component to my attitude. This.....can't....last. The revenues aren't there and likely won't ever be there to meet the ever rising costs associated with D1 football. Bubble's gonna burst sometime...it's just a question of when.

[Schadenfreude]

Who cares if we go into College Park and win?

This is a board for fans of Bowling Green football. If you can't appreciate that win, maybe you are in the wrong place.

[footballguy51]

Everybody keeps saying the bubble is going to burst. That bubble has been on the brink of explosion for 10 years by some accounts. This is a strong bubble apparently.

[apollo]

It's getting close to bursting....most mid major schools can't afford the "cost of attendance" that they are trying to provide in addition to scholarships....eventually some schools are going to have to drop football or drop a bunch of other sports.

[Flipper]

Who cares if we go into College Park and win?

This is a board for fans of Bowling Green football. If you can't appreciate that win, maybe you are in the wrong place.

Now there's a compelling argument...you're saying things I don't like...therefore, you should leave.

[apollo]

Who cares if we go into College Park and win?

This is a board for fans of Bowling Green football. If you can't appreciate that win, maybe you are in the wrong place.

Now there's a compelling argument...you're saying things I don't like...therefore, you should leave.

Sounds like the hockey board....although over there they put people on an ignore list....