Sidewalk Fans

GT_05

GT_05

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ATL1 said:
Every CFB team should want to have triple the number of sidewalk fans as they do alum fans.
For the success of the program.
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This may be a “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” sort of deal but being a UGA fan in Georgia seems easy. Even before their NC run there was UGA crap all over the place. You can buy UGA apparel nearly anywhere, hats at any convenience store, and their logo is on the Subway cup you drink out of. GT goods seem to be in limited supply. Did UGA’s marketing pull in the fans or did the large number of fans create the market?



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DallasBuzzFan

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Sidewalk Fan here. Been going to Tech games (Multiple Sports) since my Dad took me to my 1st football game in 1967. I was 6 years old. I can't imagine any alum being any more of a FAN than I am. Everyone that knows me has no doubt where my fandom stands. I catch a lot of grief, but NOTHING could ever make it change. I have 5 daughters that are 100% Tech fans. My wife went to Bama, so she hates the Mutts as much a I do. So, ALL is good.
 
UgaBlows

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DallasBuzzFan said:
Sidewalk Fan here. Been going to Tech games (Multiple Sports) since my Dad took me to my 1st football game in 1967. I was 6 years old. I can't imagine any alum being any more of a FAN than I am. Everyone that knows me has no doubt where my fandom stands. I catch a lot of grief, but NOTHING could ever make it change. I have 5 daughters that are 100% Tech fans. My wife went to Bama, so she hates the Mutts as much a I do. So, ALL is good.
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I’m a Sidewalk fan as well, from my experience we are more fanatic than alot of the alums, in fact i would say a pretty decent percentage of them couldn’t care less about fb. I can’t tell you how many times when people find out i’m a GT fan but not an alum that i get this stupid incredulous expression and they just respond- why?
 

Sideways

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GT_05 said:
Until recently, I wasn’t familiar with the term “sidewalk fan” and I really don’t care for the term. It is, in my opinion, an unnecessary descriptor. Either a person is a fan of a team or they aren’t.

As a bit of a twist on this issue, I am a GT grad but I feel more like a sidewalk fan. I was part of the now defunct GTREP program. Students in this program would “attend” classes in Atlanta over a satellite feed two days per week and the other days students would go to class at the GT campus in Savannah. Now I live in the Atlanta area and I’m a season ticket holder in football and attend basketball games whenever I can...things I was unable to do as a student. The sad thing is that I feel like I don’t have an identity at GT because of this program I went through. Furthermore, I’ve found it difficult to integrate into the football crowd on game day. I bring this up because this is likely how a “sidewalk fan” feels when coming to campus. Things feel a little cliquey to me so maybe saying hello to a stranger on game day is a good idea. I went to the ND game when we played them in 2015 and a guy walked up to me and said, “Welcome to our campus.” Very classy.


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This is the deal as I see it. Tech has very few true "sidewalk fans" Many are like myself, we are sidewalk fans but we have some connection in our past. In my case, my father went to Tech and I grew up going to the games. Sidewalk fan has the connotation, deservedly or not, of being like the idiots one sees on you tube at UGA games. The infamous Uncle Lou being a prime example. Tech graduates are notorious for deriding those people which has led to a definite split in Georgia along class lines among other things. Tech alumni and fans are on one side and the inbreds and Dwags are on the other. UGA alumni (in my limited experience) are good people just apt to be blind about their team but that can be said of all of us. There is more than a little envy and prejudice going on with the way sidewalk fans from UGA view Tech. IMHO
 

Sideways

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UgaBlows said:
I’m a Sidewalk fan as well, from my experience we are more fanatic than alot of the alums, in fact i would say a pretty decent percentage of them couldn’t care less about fb. I can’t tell you how many times when people find out i’m a GT fan but not an alum that i get this stupid incredulous expression and they just respond- why?
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My response when questioned like that is: "I was raised right by my parents. I recognize that not everyone is so fortunate so in the spirit of magnanimity I will forgive you"
 
Techster

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This is a fascinating and layered topic, and I think it's one that goes along with the thread @ATL1 started:

https://gtswarm.com/threads/outstanding-article-on-cfb-atlanta-gt-hbcus.14107/page-2

Personally, I think Bobby Dodd gave up lot of ground with "sidewalk" fans when he decided to pull GT out of the SEC. Some blame pro sports, but the South is a college sports region, and the pro sports that came here were not very good teams. GT was a very good product, and because Dodd left the SEC and our program was bleeding money, we also become less attractive to recruits. Teams that use come into Atlanta started to build up their own "sidewalk" fan bases...more specifically, it helped UGA rise in stature.

As @Supersizethatorder-mutt attested, GT was packed for games during the last years of our SEC membership, but it wasn't only for SEC games, and BDS was full of GT fans.

It was unfortunate that Dodd let personal idealism get in the way because GT is still paying for that decision today.
 
UgaBlows

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There is a definite (and well deserved) exclusiveness vibe that one gets from a lot of GT alum, and I totally get it, it’s a hard as hell to get degree and most folks aren’t smart enough to earn one. That being said I really wish there was a way to bypass some of that when it comes to football games and becoming fans of the team.
 
JacketFromUGA

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UgaBlows said:
There is a definite (and well deserved) exclusiveness vibe that one gets from a lot of GT alum, and I totally get it, it’s a hard as hell to get degree and most folks aren’t smart enough to earn one. That being said I really wish there was a way to bypass some of that when it comes to football games and becoming fans of the team.
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My Wife and I call that TBS (Tech b**** syndrome)

Some have it worse than others.
 
Techster

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UgaBlows said:
There is a definite (and well deserved) exclusiveness vibe that one gets from a lot of GT alum, and I totally get it, it’s a hard as hell to get degree and most folks aren’t smart enough to earn one. That being said I really wish there was a way to bypass some of that when it comes to football games and becoming fans of the team.
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True story: A group of my college buddies and I were at a Miami game years ago. There was young kid who had a lot to drink. He was enjoying himself, as he should, but he started to use vulgar language and spill his drink on some of our dates. We gave him a couple of warnings, and his own friends were trying to get him to calm down. Which made him angrier at us for telling him to tone it down. After the third time, one of the guys in my group went and got security. When security came to talk to him, the young man pulls out his miniature wallet diploma and said "I graduated from Georgia Tech...did those people even go here?!" The cop started shaking his head in disbelief of the guy.

We all looked at each other and died laughing...then a buddy of mine said "Hey man, ALL of us graduated from GT, but you're the only one making GT grads look bad. Just cool it so we can all enjoy the game."

Luckily, the guy's friends were much cooler (and sober) than him and we agreed if they could keep him under control we wouldn't push the issue with security to remove him.
 
ATL1

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Techster said:
This is a fascinating and layered topic, and I think it's one that goes along with the thread @ATL1 started:

https://gtswarm.com/threads/outstanding-article-on-cfb-atlanta-gt-hbcus.14107/page-2

Personally, I think Bobby Dodd gave up lot of ground with "sidewalk" fans when he decided to pull GT out of the SEC. Some blame pro sports, but the South is a college sports region, and the pro sports that came here were not very good teams. GT was a very good product, and because Dodd left the SEC and our program was bleeding money, we also become less attractive to recruits. Teams that use come into Atlanta started to build up their own "sidewalk" fan bases...more specifically, it helped UGA rise in stature.

As @Supersizethatorder-mutt attested, GT was packed for games during the last years of our SEC membership, but it wasn't only for SEC games, and BDS was full of GT fans.

It was unfortunate that Dodd let personal idealism get in the way because GT is still paying for that decision today.
Click to expand...

GT has to win and win consistently. Get in the playoffs. Be sexy.

Atlanta loves front runners. Atlanta loves success.

Outside of that.
You can sponsor little leagues in the area to games.
Have the team do services in the local area. (I never see GT players working with APS, Fulton, & Dekalb are high schools)
Get the club groups to come out Asian American Association, Latin American Association, Key Club special group tickets. Embrace the nerd, Pokémon contest at the stadium, dungeon & dragons contest, some fun things to bring to the stadium and games.
Corporate seats sections.
Build soccer like clubs for the football team. That's another way of embracing the nerd.
 
B Lifsey

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Yep...brothers. Saw him at Christmas. He’s still big GT “sidewalk” fan.

My kids were a few years ahead of Austin’s and Searcy. I got to know Austin’s dad through band boosters, he was HS principal. Good folks.
 
4shotB

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jeffgt14 said:
It's just a term. Not a big deal. Always been a fan, wanted an engineering degree, but wasn't about to pay to go to GT. Settled on a much more affordable Tennessee Tech.
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Appreciate your support of GT. Also, I had never really heard of TTU until moving to TN. Over the years, I worked with and hired a few TTU grads (engineering). My experience is that TN Tech, while a bit "under the radar" outside of the state, turns out really top-notch engineers. In fact, I have recommended it to others looking to hire engineers right out of college.
 
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