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***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

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  • ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

    A Small Minority


    "One day I found out that my urine was acting like a powerful foaming agent. I don't know why. I thought that I could take advantage of my ability by hosting foam parties in the pub toilets. My landlord wasn't keen. He didn't think that people would be interested. In fact, he said that it was a disgusting idea. I said that I would rather go to a foam party than watch the ---- football, but he said that I'm in a very small minority, and the big screen stays."

    I realize that college basketball is a niche sport. I'm reminded of it every time a bunch of hipsters make fun of it on The Onion.com, and I'm definitely reminded of it every time I flail my arms in desperation as UNI tries to win a key road game. The amused looks on my friends' faces as I watch in our living room holds testament to that. Some of these people, though, have started fights with their girlfriends simply because the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings or vice versa, so there you have it.

    There is no outlet for expression quite like a college basketball game. The only thing I've found that even compares is the atmosphere at a minor-league hockey game. There's pageantry, sport, personal honor, a lot of advertising, and a large helping of community pride. UNI has somehow transcended the status of "Small College Basketball Team" into the new and frightening realm of something else entirely.

    The Cedar Valley is largely ignored by the rest of the country at large. There are 164,000 people estimated to be living here, so it was only a matter of time before a few of them started speaking up. It was a UNI alumnus named Greg McDermott that came in and set things in motion. Over time, the university has received national attention as well as the people who live here. The national consensus is vague, and often times amusing. Anything from our stoicism to our compassion is pointed out by some, the impossibly pretty college girls being pointed out by others. All in all, we're a hilarious image of perfection in some people's eyes.

    One quick survey of how Iowa Hawkeyes fans feel about UNI and it's supporters paints a very different picture, however. Pushy. Rude. Too big for their britches. Small fish in a big pond. Arrogant. Pesky. Iowa State fans in sheep's clothing. Little Brother. Thugs. Division II (hello, Gary Dolphin). It goes on and on.

    Ask a UNI fan how they feel about an Iowa Hawkeye fan, however, and the picture starts to take shape. Ignorant. Entitled. Delusional. Indignant at the idea that UNI fans may not possibly care for the Iowa Hawkeyes or their repeated insults. Nearly psychotic with desperation at the idea that UNI has the premier basketball program in the state, and one of the best in the Midwest in the last ten years. You get the idea.

    Basically, nobody's perfect.

    This, folks, is what we call the beginnings of a rivalry. Or, as one of my favorite characters in all of cinema put it: "Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent." UNI fans have turned their "little brother" label against Iowa, and Iowa has rightfully responded by continuing to dominate the state landscape in college football, something UNI will never be able to do.

    Chuck Klosterman once provided a great perspective on the difference between a nemesis and an arch-enemy. For UNI, their arch-enemies are Creighton and Drake. Does anyone argue this? (I guess that's what the reply button is for.) Creighton because their psychotic jealousy of UNI's camaraderie is palpable whenever the two teams meet. Drake because it's student body is saturated with fraternity and sorority types, and think that UNI is a bunch of smart-aleck bumpkins. If the shoe fits...

    UNI's nemeses are CLEARLY Iowa and Iowa State, however. They are the only two entities that could possibly make UNI fans feel inferior. This is likely due to their budgets that will always be larger, and their fanbases which will sometimes feel like brightly-colored seas for small purple islands to float in perilously.

    But here's where the nemesis part comes in: Iowa and Iowa State have to claim UNI as a nemesis as well. Here is a small college in the middle of the Midwest. It's in a community that's barely considered a city in the eyes of cosmopolitans. It hasn't even been Division I for fifty years, and yet this small group of farmers and townies from Northeastern Iowa refuse to shut up about how great they are. Here's the kicker, though: UNI HAS proven that they can matter on the national scene.

    My only point is this: if Iowa and Iowa State fans want to bring up football, perhaps we should respond in kind that we are the kings of the foam parties.

    "Once it starts, it never ends."
    -Eldon Miller

  • #2
    Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

    Nice article!

    I'd like to add Wichita State to that arch-enemy list as well.
    Raised a Hawkeye, Panther by choice.






    Comment


    • #3
      Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

      I thought about Wichita State, but they really only annoy me when they're not quite as good as we are. This last year they weren't so bad, because they KNEW they were better than us.

      But yeah, I'd still call them an adversary.

      "Once it starts, it never ends."
      -Eldon Miller

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

        College basketball is a niche sport?
        UNI isn't exactly splitting atoms in terms of academics. -run&blade

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

          Originally posted by TH1974 View Post
          College basketball is a niche sport?
          It's only one man's opinion, but I think so. The rest of the country kind of marginalizes the sport, at least until March Madness rolls around and they can talk about brackets. Otherwise, if it weren't for ESPN's coverage of it during the winter (and, as history will prove, it was ESPN that really nationalized the sport in the 1980's, along with CBS' Tournament coverage), you really wouldn't hear a lot about college basketball. The NFL is truly king, followed by college football, and so on.

          Again, just one man's opinion.

          "Once it starts, it never ends."
          -Eldon Miller

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

            Good job Marc! Good article.
            UNI FIGHT

            Originally posted by 9YRPLAN
            iowa sucks, fran sucks, their schedule sucks, iowa fans suck

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

              Originally posted by Marc Wigim View Post
              The NFL is truly king, followed by college football, and so on.
              I don't disagree that football is more popular, but college basketball is at or near the top of the "and so on" in your list. Wrestling, soccer, swimming, gymnastics are niche sports.
              UNI isn't exactly splitting atoms in terms of academics. -run&blade

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

                Originally posted by TH1974 View Post
                I don't disagree that football is more popular, but college basketball is at or near the top of the "and so on" in your list. Wrestling, soccer, swimming, gymnastics are niche sports.
                Okay, yeah, I see what you're saying now. I'm sure any wrestling fan will tell me to keep quiet, at least college basketball's postseason is played on television that most of the country can see (Big Ten Network, coughcough) You're basically describing sports this country only cares about during the Olympics. At least my favorite sport has a heyday that comes more than once every four years.

                "Once it starts, it never ends."
                -Eldon Miller

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

                  does that mean that if I beat up a basketball fan, it's a hate crime because they are a minority?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: ***ARTICLE*** A Small Minority

                    Originally posted by JayJ79 View Post
                    does that mean that if I beat up a basketball fan, it's a hate crime because they are a minority?
                    That depends if they are an admitted basketball fan, or just ball-curious.

                    (going away forever now)

                    "Once it starts, it never ends."
                    -Eldon Miller

                    Comment

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