Apparently I hit a nerve with Pac-10 fans who seem to take issue with… lots of things. But Kyle got all pissy in the comments and did so in a very lengthy way, so I figured it would be more clear to respond to all of the comments in a full post instead of a comment.
First… from “Anonymous”:
The SEC actually went 1-2 against the Pac-10. Or, more accurately, against UCLA, including the “ass raping” (to use your terminology) of LSU in the national semi-finals. True, UCLA didn’t show up for the final game, but don’t try and make Florida’s win more than it was. Florida won the game, not the SEC.
First off, the SEC won 12 games in the tourney as compared to the Pac-10’s 8.
Secondly, Florida is in the SEC. When a member school wins, the conference wins. This is not only self-evident, but reinforced by your own comment where you talk about the SEC going 1-2 against the Pac-10. If the SEC didn’t win the title game, how did they register a win in your little example? Or were there other games I missed in which the conference as a whole took part?
Now, on Kyle’s comment, broken up for ease of reading and responding:
First off, I now know who actually made that post, and it wasn’t me. Second, I also know it was posted anonymously. So I’m not sure what’s funnier: the fact that Pete actually went in and changed a post from Anonymous to my name (simply because he thought I might say something similar to that), or that he believes that Florida’s win validates him.
I actually do this quite a bit when people get brave when posting anonymously. Sometimes I get it wrong. It happens. I’m still not convinced that I’m wrong, but it’s possible.
I also find this language instructive: “he believes that Florida’s win validates him”. I’m not sure where Kyle has been for the last, oh, 7 months or so, but not only do I not need validation in fact, I don’t believe that I do either, and I don’t go around looking for it. For a brief explanation of what’s going on here, you might want to see this link.
Your comments from your texts last night, as well as your post have led me to this question though (and it is what I would have addressed had I actually posted): Who claims victory via their conference? How did this start? Why would anyone do this? Although, to be fair, Pete is really the only person I’ve ever met that has done this. Most people may root for a school to win a game, but Pete is the only person who will call after a game acting like it was his school that just won.
First, I didn’t “claim victory.” I did not say “I WON!” I said “MY CONFERENCE WON!” And I said that because it did.
Second, lots and lots of people root for their conference. One of my good friends actually picks a team to root for in every game he watches. I understand that it might be tough to do if you’re from a mediocre conference, but pretty much all the SEC fans I know cheer for their conference. Had it been Tennessee vs. UCLA in the final game, I’d be torn… but I’d just turn it into a win/win: if UT wins, I’m proud of my conference. If UCLA wins, well, it serves UT right, those redneck bastards. Further, Kyle has met people who cheer for their conferences. At the very least, all of the SEC kids at the party last night were cheering for the conference.
It’s not that uncommon. There’s also a pragmatic reason… it makes the SEC look good, and the better the conference looks, the better its members look.
Finally, I did not act like my team won. I’d have been more obnoxious had that been the case. I also tend to give as I get when it comes to shit-talking… which might give those of you who know Kyle a clue as to how obnoxious I was about it.
I remember watching the Rose Bowl this year between USC and Texas. USC is in the Pac-10 (same as UCLA). However, I was rooting for Texas to kick the shit out of USC. Had USC won, I wouldn’t have called up Mario yelling and screaming about how great I was because USC won (I wasn’t calling up any of my friends at Oklahoma the year before when USC delivered an ass raping to the Sooners).
I can see why Kyle might root for Texas. Some people have limited foresight. When your conference wins a bowl game, it helps the whole conference because it helps everyone recruit, it makes those teams better down the road, which means more bowl appearances, which means more money for every team in the conference, which helps those teams, and so on. Also remember that while going undefeated is usually necessary to win a national title, having a strong conference (and, therefore, strength of schedule) helps a lot. It also boosts that team’s beginning of the season rank for the next year, and if your team beats that team, it means they’ve got a chance to jump higher than they otherwise would have, all other things being equal.
I would also not recommend calling people to tell them how great you are. Especially because something you had nothing to do with happened. I didn’t (and wouldn’t) do that… but it’s obvious that, at this point, Kyle needs to exaggerate and use hyperbole… strawmen are a lot easier to argue against.
So tell me Pete, why would you claim victory because a school in your conference won? For that matter, why would you root for a school in your conference? I can understand wanting your conference to look good, but acting like Alabama was National Champs simply because Florida won doesn’t make sense to me.
I expect the phone calls from Reynolds, and deservedly so. Hell, I’d even expect calls from Melissa, simply because she’s a USC grad. But from Pete? Where did Pete go to school? Alabama? Please, explain this to me Pete.
All of these things have been covered above except for one: I’m sorry I called you, Kyle. I didn’t realize it would piss you off so much. I guess I expected a grown man to act a little less like a petulant child. I should know better than that, especially after the little away message temper tantrum regarding the PILF dodge-ball tournament.
By the way… when do I get my money for winning the pool?
You’re extremely fortunate that I have a girlfriend who is more benevolent and kind than I am. Were that not the case, you wouldn’t have won the pool because you wouldn’t have been in the pool. Most of the time people don’t get to play in pools for free and hold-out the entire tournament waiting to see if they’re going to win before they decide whether or not to play. As it stands, I reduced the amount of the first-place prize (on principle that you don’t really deserve anything), paid out for third place also, and have a check for your winnings. I’ll leave it in your mailbox.
If you need help spending your loot, I might have some suggestions for you. Let me know if you need a hand.
Maybe I need to spell things out more clearly for the less intelligent amongst us, but SEC vs. Pac-10 is conference vs. conference. Florida vs. UCLA is team vs. team. One has nothing to do with the other. You’re trying to make the two the same thing, but they’re not. The SEC may have the best team in the nation, but that doesn’t make it the best conference in the nation.
Additionally, your comment was that the SEC “owned” every other conference, not that they had a better record than, or won more games than, every other conference. If we’re looking at Conference vs. Conference, the SEC still went 1-2 against the Pac-10. You can say teams from the SEC outperformed teams from every other conference, but you have no support for the contention that the SEC owned the other conferences.
Speaking of “less intelligent”…
Conferences don’t play games, members do. It’s not complicated. When UCLA plays Florida, it’s Pac-10 vs. SEC.
Not only do they have something to do with each other, they’re inextricably linked. You cannot have one without the other.
Also, just because you disagree with the reasoning I’m using doesn’t mean that I have “no support.”
The SEC had more wins than any other conference in the tourney. They outperformed.
You can disagree if you want, and that’s fine, that’s what opinions are all about… but let’s not get ridiculous and over-reach.
First off, I don’t believe I ever said I wasn’t going to play in the tournament. I believe that by signing up, I did, in fact commit to playing. But then again, I’m sure everyone paid you their money before Saturday, right? In fact, unless your tournament standings are incorrect, as of today, there are still 9 other people who haven’t paid. But then again, it wasn’t about how much money I got, but the fact that in the pool I was in, you didn’t win, and I did. And that, in itself, makes me feel good, especially when you decide to change the rules during the game simply because it’s well, who you are. And unlike you, I didn’t expect you to act like anything but a sore loser instead of a grown man, so you changing the rules doesn’t surprise me.
I know it’s beneath you to apologize to someone when you accuse and berate them of committing an act, when they in fact didn’t actually commit said act and had nothing to do with it, so I won’t hold my breath to hear you admit you were wrong.
And again, another discussion with you, and I keep going back to an old quote, “Never get into an argument with an idiot. They’ll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.” Congrats Pete, another victory for you. Hopefully now you won’t have to react poorly like you did with the tournament pool.
Can’t we all just get along?
Kyle, honey, I’m not bitter about losing the pool, nor did I change the rules.
It’s important to keep in mind that a) I never expected to win the pool and b) of the two pools I ran, I had the highest scoring bracket. Luckily for you, that bracket could only win one of the pools.
The rules were that you had to pay $5 to be in the pool. You never paid. The fact that you’re still in the pool is a testament to my graciousness, not some god-given right of yours.
I’m not sure how you figure I’m a “sore loser” considering you got infinitely more prize money than you were owed, got it the day after the game, and my first comment about the pool itself was a word of congratulations.
Given those facts, I’m not sure what it would take for me to be anything but a “sore loser”.
Let’s also keep in mind that I never made a final determination about the prize money, only that it would be 75/25 if things worked out like I thought they would. They didn’t. Some people didn’t pay (like you, for example) so I changed the prizes to compensate the people who should’ve won the pool but for my nice gesture towards you.
As for admitting I was wrong, there are two facts:
1. A comment that sounds exactly like something you have said before was left; and
2. You claim it wasn’t you.
The person who left it hasn’t owned up to it, and there’s no real evidence in support of your allegations. I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t believe everything you say as the gospel.
And PS: the paid/unpaid numbers aren’t current, so the “everybody else is doing it” business isn’t going to fly.
I think I’m gonna have to side with Waldie on this one. It’s one thing to have pride in your conference (which I don’t have, I root for the Big Ten teams I don’t like to lose everything they play, but I understand and respect the opposite view), it’s another thing to act on it.
This seems to be a very law school specific thing, winning in order to talk shit. If the law students couldn’t throw victories of their teams or conferences in each other’s faces, I don’t seem much motivation for them to watch sports. Case in point: the weekly Colts/Patriots trash-talking on every Friday and Monday of the NFL season. Not to mention the fantasy football leagues.
Just like the use of “we” when referring to sports should be used judiciously(Bill Simmons 20 Rules for Being a Sports Fan #7), “. If your team defeats a good friend’s team in a crucial game or series, don’t rub it in with them unless they’ve been especially annoying/gloating/condescending/confrontational in the days leading up to the big battle. You’re probably better off cutting off all communications in the days preceding/following the game, just to be safe.” (Rule #15). Whether whatever happened in this case was warranted, I won’t say, but generally, IU law students should take this one to heart a little more.
I think the Law School kids, by and large, follow that rule pretty well.
The problem is that there are a handful of people who don’t know how to behave in any way other than “especially annoying/gloating/condescending/confrontational”. And everyone is certainly welcom to their own opinions, but the fact of the matter is that there are no rules for picking what team you cheer for, and no rules for how many.
I generally choose to root for the SEC as a whole. Lots of SEC fans (pretty much all of them I know) do. Some folks make exceptions for their one hated rival, but by and large virtually all of the SEC fans I know want their conference to win games.
I hope by “cheer for” you don’t mean “are a fan of.” Because there are rules about that. You can cheer for whoever you want, I find it very hard to sit back and take a disinterested view of a game I watch with teams I don’t care about, but that’s totally different.
Does the difference between cheering for “your school” or “your conference” really matter at all? Either way, you’re still not part of the team, so you have nothing to gloat about or even be proud of. =)~
Sure, Ken… try telling that to parents who aren’t on their kids’ little league teams.
I’m guessing that hated rival in the SEC is Auburn. :o)