what is your opinion?

GoJackets89

GoJackets89

Helluva Engineer
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Nov 29, 2007
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what is your opinion on Tech fans who didn't go to tech, because I am one. Keep in mind that I love that tech and that tech has superior academics than a lot of schools, but I ended up not wanting to be an engineer but still love Georgia Tech.
 
I went to my first Ga Tech game in 1970 with my Dad - a Ga Tech grad. Went to just about every game until I went away to college in 1984. At one point, we had gone 8 years without missing a single game - home or away - which included great trips to New Orleans to play Tulane. I graduated from a diploma factory - Auburn, but I still cheer harder and keep up with Ga Tech football more than I do Auburn. Seems okay to me.
 
I say the more the merrier so long as you:

1) Represent the institute well (unlike the mouthbreathers who congregate on the AJC blogs).
2) Aren't a fair-weather fan and jump off the bandwagon during lean times.

Go Jackets!
 
We tailgate with a family of diehard GT fans who are from up north, but moved to the ATL many years ago. Their youngest kid goes to Tech, but that is their only connection. They are awesome fans and even better people. They bring the whole family (and sometimes friends) to the games, to the tune of between 6 and 12 people on average. And they cheer!!!

As Tech alumni, we need to embrace these types of fans, since there are so few of us in the area (apparently). There are many non-alums that pull harder for the Jackets than some alums....this is just one example.
 
The only concerns I have are the ones I've voiced before. Non-alum fans love the teams. Most alums cannot separate the teams from the Institute. They are one and the same. There is sometimes some friction from that.

That said, anyone who hates the mutts is a friend of mine.
 
I like having non-alum fans, I would like the whole city to support Tech and go crazy about the Jackets!

Also, choosing Tech over UGAg shows you guys have some reactionary blood in you, and also an appreciation for what Tech stands for, you know not just putting anyone with a transcript on the field!
 
Lots of people either went to smaller schools that don't have D1 football or didn't go to school. They need somebody to root for if they like college football. It's a free country.
 
A fan is a fan. Many (not just some) of our very best fans are non-alums. Many non-alums choose to support the Tech athletic teams because of what GT represents off the field. There are many reasons why someone might not come to GT for college and choose another school or not go to college at all. Big deal. A fan is a fan - in that regard we are all the same. In fact, in several ways I admire our non-alum fans more than our alums, because the non-alums choose to support Tech - the rest of us have no real choice! :) (I graduated from Tech in 1973 - second generation, and three cousins have gone to Tech - not all graduated.)
 
Allen Koholic said:
The only concerns I have are the ones I've voiced before. Non-alum fans love the teams. Most alums cannot separate the teams from the Institute. They are one and the same. There is sometimes some friction from that.

That said, anyone who hates the mutts is a friend of mine.
Click to expand...

I think there are two different types of "sidewalk fans"

1. The ones that root only for the athletics (or some part of it).
2. The ones who root for both the athletics and the academics.

I'm of the second breed. I had always wanted to go to Tech - even started the GTREP program at Armstrong in Savannah. Personal reasons kept me from finishing college in a "brick-and-mortar" university. I did finally end up with a computer network engineering assoiciate degree, but my desire was always to get Civil Engineering degree from Tech. How's that song go "You can't always get what you want" but I did get what I needed. Now I still root for Tech.

Of course, I did have two cousing who went to Tech (one graduated - one didn't).
 
My dad started rooting for Georgia Tech as a kid because he wanted to be different than everyone who rooted for Georgia. So, I grew up Yellow Jackets and held strong while all my friends walked around with Georgia hats on. I went to West Georgia in 2001 and continued loving GT while living with 3 roommates who were die-hard UGA fans. I suffered through the losing streak taking **** constantly for being a Tech fan. I may not have went to Tech, but I'm no less of a fan than anyone who did.

Go Jackets!
 
I'm the same as Allen. There will always be a special bond among alumni that sidewalk fans don't have, especially at Tech, where all the alums suffered through four years of academic hell. It's inevitable, especially when so much of our culture as a fanbase is built upon being snobbish/proud of our academic quality, even while most of our sidewalk fans probably went to schools worse than U[sic]GA.

That said, it's not like sidewalk fans aren't really fans or anything. Some of the best fans(and some of the best posters on this board) are sidewalk fans; but there will always be a disconnect between them and alumni.
 
I know a lot of "sidewalk" fans who cheer louder and know more about Tech sports than most alumni. Most of my family (parents, brothers, cousins, etc.) cheers for Tech, but I'm the only one to have graduated in my generation. I can guaruntee I've been told to sit down or whatever by more Tech alumni than sidewalk fans in Booby Dodd. Most alumni could probably use a lesson in cheering at a sporting event.
 
I'm the father of an alumna but was a "sidewalk" fan way before that. When you had Dodd and a guy named "Butts" to choose between, what 4th grader would hesitate?
 
By the way, a lot of old timers who have no affiliation with Tech have grown up huge fans of Tech, because Bobby Dodd was the hottest thing in Atlanta. I think CPJ can bring that reputation back to Tech.
 
This is a question that I've always asked, too. I grew up a Clemson fan, but when my girlfriend went to GT and I went to GA State, I started to go to pretty much all of the the Tech football and basketball games and was hooked.

Seems like the fight song is very inclusive, seeing as I'm not officially a "ramblin' wreck from Georgia Tech", but the way I see it, I love GT. I could rant off statistics and history for hours about the school. On top of that, I absolutely HATE the University [sic] of Georgia (that came after my experience with them during the 2007 game). So since I support it and I love it, I guess I am a ramblin' wreck from Georgia Tech, and you are too.

:biggthumpup:
 
Even if some of the (older) alumni at the stadium do not cheer (every play, 3rd down, etc.), they are still the ones cutting the vast majority of the checks to the school and the AA.

So the support is there. Just because they did not start drinking at 8 am like you did does not make them less of a fan. Both types are needed.
 
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