Bailey Singletary is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].If smelling tailgaters’ food, seeing a sea of maroon and white and hearing the clanking of cowbells in the Junction doesn’t get you the least bit excited, you probably aren’t a Mississippi State football fan.
In fact, if waking up on a Saturday morning to watch or go to a football game is a chore for you, do me a favor and don’t call yourself a fan of college football.
Now, I know those aren’t the only things that make up a good football fan, but I think it makes up a part of one.
For about seven months out of the year, I look forward to the days I will be in the Junction cheering for the Bulldogs with thousands of other fans.
I don’t think there is a sport that has better fans than college football.
There are millions of people who live and breathe college football for almost half a year. If there weren’t something special about it, it wouldn’t be the most popular U.S. sport.
There aren’t many, if any, other sports in which fans eat pulled pork and drink hard liquor at 10 a.m. because there is a game at noon and they are going to tailgate no matter what.
And I think we can agree that there aren’t any fans rowdier than those of college football.
I feel that NFL fans can’t even compare to college football fans.
There is something different about fighting with your college’s rival rather than your favorite NFL team’s rival.
It doesn’t matter how bad our team plays, I will defend them to an Ole Miss fan any day of the week.
I think it’s something about seeing the colors and the mascot of the school from which you are getting an education.
For me, it’s cheering for the school whose cheerleading uniform I wore when I was three years old, thanks to my dad.
And for the alumni, I’m sure there isn’t a better feeling than the one you get when you see your alma mater’s colors and hear the fight song blared through speakers.
Some people might say that it’s hard to be a good football fan when your team doesn’t win continuously, but I don’t think it’s about winning or losing the games.
I think it’s about the love of the sport. It’s about seeing the players do all they can to make fans proud.
I also think that a good football fan will stay as long as they can at a game to show support for the players. I know it isn’t easy to stay to the end of the fourth quarter when we have zero points on the scoreboard, and I know that Mississippi State isn’t the best team in the SEC.
But imagine what it’s like for the players to look up and realize that over half of the people they are playing football for are giving up on them halfway into the first game of the season.
To me, it’s kind of like it was when we were kids playing little league sports. Imagine that at your first game of the season, you caused a point loss for the team and your parents left, disappointed, and never came to another game.
For some reason, it seems like this is what it feels like for football players when fans leave.
I don’t know who to blame for the mistakes we make, but I do know the players aren’t any happier about it than we are.
However, I don’t think it’s about pointing fingers anymore. I think it’s about supporting the players no matter what.
I might not know who holds the record for the most tackles or interceptions in a game, but you bet your bottom dollar I’ll be at every home game and every reasonably distanced away game that Mississippi State has.
Even though I don’t paint letters on my chest and I don’t spray paint my hair maroon like some people think real fans should, I will stand in the pouring rain with my dress on, cheering my heart out, hoping that maybe a prayer of victory will be answered.
So, what do I think makes a good college football fan?
Personally I’d say it’s the hoarse voice you get from cheering on your team and yelling at the refs for the bad calls you think they made, the blistered palm you get from ringing your cowbell, the fights you put up when someone tries to take that bell from you, the four hours you spend tailgating and the pride you take in your team, knowing that even if they didn’t win, they sure as hell tried.