Everyone hates Bama. Growing up in a small town in west Tennessee, everyone had a college football team and more specifically, a SEC football team. Most people in town were Ole Miss, MSU, Arkansas, and of course, Tennessee. One thing all these fans wanted every year was to beat Alabama. A team’s success most seasons is defined by other fan bases by how well they play Alabama, so naturally a hatred builds when Alabama kicks the shit out of 95 pct of the time. Of course, there were also some Alabama fans and to their credit, they took the “hatred” with a smile because the “eagle does not respond to the crow” or something like that.
Everyone hates Bama. I didn’t realize how far the hatred of a college football team could travel until I visited Provo, Utah this past Saturday. BYU was playing host to Arkansas during a back and forth, non-stop scoring contest that was so much fun to experience. To my left was a couple from a small town in Wyoming but most everyone else around me lived within an hour of Lavell Edwards stadium. Now, I have been to plenty of football games in the south where the Alabama score flashes on the scoreboard and they are losing for the first time in the season and the crowd roars as if their team scored a touchdown. This has always made sense to me because at least these other schools are in the same conference, but here I am in beautiful, serene Provo watching an entertaining game Saturday when from behind me I hear “Alabama’s losing!!” I look to the scoreboard to see 28-10 in favor of the Vols with time left in the first half and most of the crowd cheers along. The couple to my left and a gentleman behind me both said quite viscerally and with passion “Lets go Vols!” For no other reason than “Everyone Hates Bama,” these beyond friendly BYU football fans cheered for Tennessee. One thing about hatred that I gleaned from my time at the game is even though BYU wanted Alabama to lose, there weren’t any “F*ck Bama” chants or anything negative. Instead, it was “lets go Vols.” Using an opportunity to root against a hated team in a way that still uplifts and adds positivity to those around all while still sharing the same hatred for that team.
Everyone hates Bama…at least those from Tennessee and Utah.
SingleHighSports.com