ah59396 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2019 2:16 am
fjblair wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2019 1:50 am
They aren't "brand new" and the lack of fan support is not at all "understandable". Almost every point you make is wrong in my opinion. We don't focus on them. We don't talk about them more than any other team we play and if you have been paying attention you would clearly see that we most definitely not "worried" about them. "Distasteful"? What does that even mean? They are the closest G5 competition so yeah they are naturally on the radar. Most of their vocal fans are delusional and impossible to ignore. It's pretty simple really, they asked for it and they got it.
I’ll check back with you at the end of bowl season. If we have two pages of comments on each of our conference foes in their bowl games, I’ll admit I’m wrong.
You make a good point.
This is a good example of why I personally believe that regional G5 Conferences are the best thing for the future (That doesn't mean that I believe it will happen or that I would not support a move to the AAC, it's just that I believe natural rivalries and the ability to travel to road games within a conference are great for sports in general, specifically if the students can make the trip).
The Charlotte posts happen because some of us grew up in Charlotte (and some of us even had their first college sporting events tied to a program such as Charlotte. The first basketball game that i attended was a Charlotte/Davidson Double OT game in a sold out original Charlotte Coliseum), many of us work with Charlotte Alumni, and many of our kids apply to get into Charlotte (my son's safely school) and Appalachian. (Two of our best friends are App grads who have a kid at each University).
Hence, a rivalry with Charlotte is natural. Louisiana, Troy and Arkansas State just are not rivals. There may be a few years of contested games or championships, but long term, we don't interact with their fans, we don't compete for their recruits and we probably won't be in the same league with many of them after the next big re-alignment.
We have a rivalry with Georgia Southern due to success in football by both programs, longevity, and we do have some cross-over with their fan base in our daily lives. However, you won't see a thread on their bowl game this year, because it's buried on the CBS Sports Network and many of us can't/won't keep up with it today.