Friday, August 1, 2008

Hated on Mostly

ESPN.com posted a conference by conference list of the team in each conference hated most by the other teams and fans in the conference. In the PAC 10, USC was the team most hated, The Big 10 (and everyone else) loathes Ohio State, and the SEC hates Alabama. I wasn't surprised by ESPN posting that Bama was the most hated team, because ESPN loves to hate upon Alabama and revel in Bama's recent mediocrity which is due mostly to probation combined with a string of average to below-average coaches (Saban not included). However, I really wonder which SEC teams other than Auburn, LSU and Tennessee really hate Bama.
Here is my SEC ranking of hatred for other teams with one being most hated and 13 being most loved (UGA gets ranked twice).
1: Tennessee- Phil Fulmer is the biggest contributor to Bama's misery. But I watched The Wire, so I know what happens to snitches.
2:(tie) LSU- LSU has really only been good since the Saban era. I hated Saban when he was at LSU because his teams were so good. Now, I gotta hope he brings the same talent to Bama.
3: Florida- Florida is super fucking obnoxious, and really good, obviously. Bama actually has performed decently against Florida since the SEC began hosting a championship game, but UF definitely holds the advantage. It also seems that UF is here to stay, the team is some defacto team for people from places like New Jersey and the Midwest and some Florida fans scare the shit outta me.
4: Over-zealous, fair-weather UGA fans: UGA has been consistently good since Mark Richt has been head coach. However, this particular group of UGA fans is quick to proclaim that a team is a "national title contender," talks tons of shit, has no sense of UGA football history and never sees players from other teams as being as valuable as UGA players and always declare players Heisman worthy, even if they aren't (hey, hey DJ Shockley). This group of fans always deserts the team when the Dawgs lose two games for the remainder of the season. However, many UGA fans fall into a cool, realistically loyal category that I love and respect from any college program. Also, every SEC team possesses this type of fan. I fucking hate this particular breed of fan, regardless of the team. However, I live in Athens, so I deal with this shit on a regular basis.
5: Auburn: The days are over when I hated Auburn more than any other aspect of life. Many of the Auburn players, like myself, are from the state of Alabama, so it makes it impossible for me to hate the players. However, like every other Bama fan, I recognize the Iron Bowl as the most important game each season. Six years of losing is a really long time, ya know?
6: Six is tough, but I guess I need to list Arkansas here. Arkansas is a West rival and a team to always fear, even though the Razorbacks will probably suck this year. Okay, I don't hate Arkansas
7: South Carolina: Why is South Carolina in the SEC again?
8: Ole Miss: I dunno, I love the uniforms, but Ole Miss is just, well, Ole Miss.
9: Mississippi State: Despite back-to-back wins over Bama, it's easy to get behind Sly Croom's recent triumphs. This year, the Bulldogs will re-enter reality
10: Kentucky: I dislike Kentucky basketball sometimes, but how do you hate the semi-hapless Wildcats?
11: Vanderbilt: If you hate vandy, you fucking suck.
12: UGA (in actuality): Most of UGA's players rule and it's fucking fun to go to Georgia games. Also, living in a college town like Athens just enhances the energetic feeling I associate with waking up on football Saturdays in the fall each year. By far, home football Saturdays in Athens are the best days of the year. However, the fans I mention in #4 can almost ruin the greatness at times.
13: Roll Tide!!!!!

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