It’s that time of year — the time when all of the UNC fans from their satellite campuses located at your convenient Wal-Mart come prowling out to find the unsuspecting N.C. State fan working an honest job.
Today, they’ll be wearing their regalia and grinning from ear to ear as if wanting to provoke some kind of argument, yet scared to start one themselves because more than likely they don’t even know the name of their head coach and quarterback. These fair-weather UNC fans typically sport a “UNC Basketball National Champions” T-Shirt and maybe a flat brimmed hat because it’s so new they just bought it off of aisle 16 at the megastore. You’re going to see them at the game. They’ll sit outside and scalp tickets paying whatever unheard of amount necessary just to earn the right to sit in the hallowed bleachers of Carter-Finley Stadium.
Win or lose the game tomorrow, these fans will remain smug for at least the next few days. If they win, it’ll be the topic of conversation until we play them in basketball. Anytime you see them, they’ll be sure to ask if you saw the game, or if you remember the score. Snide comments typically followed by a smug smile. Now, my favorite is after they lose because naturally they put their UNC gear back up for the winter until they play a big basketball game and they deny ever being a UNC “football” fan, just basketball.
But what is it about UNC that makes me hate them so much? Yes, I’ll give them the credit for having a good academic program, but the fans and alumni typically make my skin crawl when it comes to athletics.
Most of the time I can pin my distaste on the “self-appointed” alumni that serve as such wonderful ambassadors for the University, but more and more I’m coming to dislike the perceived superiority UNC associates claim. They like to claim they’re the sole “flagship” school of the UNC system and refuse to believe any other school may dare share the title.
Fans love to believe that N.C. State really isn’t their rival, instead they follow the orders of ESPN and choose to hate Duke, a school where three quarters of their alumni will never step foot in North Carolina again once they graduate. UNC fans choose an annoyingly arrogant indifference toward N.C. State when they lose and a feel as if they’re world champions when they win.
My favorite UNC chant of the years went something along the lines of, “Culture vs. Agriculture” because it really doesn’t insult me coming from eastern North Carolina. Agriculture’s a good thing (plus it fulfills a basic human need) and if UNC is a shining beacon for the culture of the future don’t blame me if I run as fast as I can in the other direction.
What are your feelings about the way UNC fans act? Do they need a dose of humility? E-mail your point of view to [email protected]
