FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The dumbest, most ignorant, most impatient, and least-knowing about how major college football works reside in my home state, the armpit of America, New Jersey. This fact was on full display last night as Rutgers University took a huge step back in its program progress with a lifeless, uninspired, complete embarrassment of a blow-out loss to North Carolina. But this blog post isn't about the fact that both teams are currently brutal that played last night, or the fact that the Mountain West, Conference USA, and the MAC are better than the Big East and the ACC this season. This post is about what I sat through last night in the stadium among many people from this most disgusting states in the union - New Jersey.

 My family is a group of true, long-time, die-hard (you might say quite stupid too at this point) Rutgers fans. With an extra ticket available, I (a long time die hard Southern Cal fan) figured I'd make the trip from the Jersey Shore to check out RU in a must-win game for any hopes of a successful season (say bye to that Knights and all of your big name verbal commits). Not being a true RU fan (though I greatly respect Greg Schiano and am more than happy about their success in recent years), I was not in Rutgers colors or Rutgers logos in the stands. And immediatley I was attacked verbally over that by silly, drunken, Jersey-guido frat boys. Sitting enar the family of RU players' area I watched as "fans" verbally assauluted family members who had the jerseys of their sons, brothers, etc. on. I listened to totall clueless people complain about officiating. I listened to comments about the history of the program that were all wrong. I heard the game-long boos and watched as the crowd disappeared in the third quarter. I listented to idiots who thought Schiano was Jesus Christ a year ago at this time call for his firing last night. (For the record, as a USC fan and huge college football fan overall I was there to the very end even watching as Schiano and Butch Davis talked midfield with interest). Meanwhile the lowlife dregs of Northern and Central Jersey polluted the parking lots with their Coors Light and RU shirts left behind.

Does the Scarlet Knights progam have some problems right now? Oh yes, something internal there has affected this team's morale! Were there some questionable coaching decisions by Schiano and Co. last night? Was he out-coached by an old friend? Absolutely! But none of that warrants how these psuedo fans who just jumped on the bandwagon two years ago acted. The buliding of a program into the big time takes more than two years folks and Rutgers may get there in the future and they may not. Most disturning to me last night at Rutgers, you would have to have left last night if you had children with you at the game because of the violence, drunkeness, and language - and this is not just from the frat boys, but grown "men" as well.

The fact is the New Jersey - NYC maket doesn't understand big-time college football. This is a New York Yankees fan mentality area. How a Yankees organization operates and how a college football program operate are two different things. Too many people in New Jersey as evidenced last night don't get that. New Jersey, you don't deserve a big time program at Rutgers. Many of you proved it last night. That's too bad - but not a big surprise. Afterall, there's no worse state to live in than New Jersey.