Alum or community member?

[blue&orange]

I’ve been a giant SU fan for 4 decades but I attended a SUNY school and Lemoyne for graduate work. I’ve recently wondered how many on here are actually Alums? I’ve never had any affiliation with the school but have followed them closely for local pride. Is it odd to be so invested in a college team when you didn’t attend the actual college?

 

[JDubbin]

Grew up in Syracuse 5 minutes from campus in the Westcott street area, and a 2005 grad… I’m deep in this Orange life

 

[Cusefan0307]

Alum that grew up in the Mohawk Valley and has lived in Syracuse and Baldwinsville the past 15 years.

 

[sutomcat]

I’ve been a giant SU fan for 4 decades but I attended a SUNY school and Lemoyne for graduate work. I’ve recently wondered how many on here are actually Alums? I’ve never had any affiliation with the school but have followed them closely for local pride. Is it odd to be so invested in a college team when you didn’t attend the actual college?

Both. I know lots of people who are not alums but are big fans. I think it is pretty common.

 

[David332]

Townie from two hours East and proud of it. I’ve lived in the Capital Region my entire life. I used to think I couldn’t be a Cuse fan cause I didn’t go there, that’s just not the case.

College football needs all of the following; the University, student athletes, students, alumn and townies. Remove any one of those components and the entire program collapses.

 

[Reyes39]

I'm a townie. Lived here all my life and bleed orange & blue. I always thought it was normal but the past few years I have ran into people who found it odd.

Maybe it's only weird because I consciously made the decision to put myself through this year in and year out...

 

[PAcuse]

Was born in Waterloo, NY, and my family is from Romulus, NY
I didn't live there long but my grandfather would always talk about these great RBs he would go to watch at Syracuse. Miss hearing his stories about Brown, Davis, Little etc
I was hooked!

 

[MikeSU02]

New Berlin, NY > Johnson City, NY > Cuse undergrad > Cuse grad > NYC

Have been a fan for as long as I can quite literally remember. Wanted to attend SU since I was little.

[EDIT: to answer the question, I was fully invested before ever stepping foot on campus and if I didn't attend Cuse, I would still be a fan; by no means was Syracuse the *only* school I visited, they just gave me the most scholarship money.]

 

[qdawgg]

I’ve been a giant SU fan for 4 decades but I attended a SUNY school and Lemoyne for graduate work. I’ve recently wondered how many on here are actually Alums? I’ve never had any affiliation with the school but have followed them closely for local pride. Is it odd to be so invested in a college team when you didn’t attend the actual college?

I’m an hour and 15 mins away local. My brother is older than me and was a big BB fan. My early dome memories are of Lawrence Moten then John Wallace later. I became a big FB fan during Mcnabb. All before graduating HS. Think maybe Mcnabb’s last year or last 2 years I started college.

Didn’t go to SU. Went the SUNY route also; parents didn’t even have $ to help me go to SUNY and kids who fail 8th grade don’t go to SU I did eventually get my crap together and did something with myself. Lol.

I don’t think it’s odd in the very least to be this invested and not have graduated from SU. I have thought here and there about getting my doctorate from SU but in my profession a doctorate does nothing for me on the pay scale especially for the time/$ investment. Doctorate wouldn’t even improve my salary 5% from where I’m at with my masters, which is sad.

Anyway, my point with all that is. I do wish I had an SU degree, more of a pride thing but it has no impact for me personally on how invested I am as a fan. I’ve been living, breathing SU as my college team from the start.

 

[rrlbees]

Community. fan since 1962.

 

[GreekFreak]

Alum from the Capital District. Met my wife at SU. I graduated in’81 and have had ST’s since then. My eldest child was born on the day before the 1987 Penn State game and my wife insisted that I still attend the game - probably my favorite game ever attended for a myriad of reasons. Have seen some horrendous football and some tremendous football. Looking back, I didn’t appreciate it enough when we could compete with anyone in the country…or going to games not hoping we would win but wondering how much we would win by. Good times!

 

[Oswego93]

Born in Oswego. Attended SU Football camps in the last year of Mac's tenure, and the first 3 of P's. Went to college (and played) at St. John Fisher, and later returned to SUNY Oswego for a second bachelors. I currently reside in the Ithaca area.

I wish I could quit SU Football (I successfully weaned myself off of SU hoops and the NFL about 4 years ago), but it is proving to be a difficult habit to break.

 

[Domedog84]

Non Alum. Parents are from Liverpool, I grew up in Dryden. Parents had season football tickets since the dome opened and I started going to games consistently in the Graves years. Went to UB and moving back to Buffalo soon. Spend way more on Cuse than I ever will at my alma mater.

 

[FasterCuse]

Townie.

Grew up about 40 minutes from the Cuse during the McNabb era and my first game in the Dome was 1998 come back win vs VT. Needless to say I've been hooked ever since.

As for school, I'm a first generation college student who ended up attending a SUNY school and graduating with my MBA because my parents didn't have the means to send me to SU.

I now live in the B'ville area and have a couple of kids I'm trying to convince to become SU fans.

I don't find it weird that we have so many townies as die hard fans because we have no major league sports in the immediate vicinity. However, I do think some people not from the area find it weird when they find out I'm an SU fan who never attended SU.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I’ve been a giant SU fan for 4 decades but I attended a SUNY school and Lemoyne for graduate work. I’ve recently wondered how many on here are actually Alums? I’ve never had any affiliation with the school but have followed them closely for local pride. Is it odd to be so invested in a college team when you didn’t attend the actual college?

Yes

 

[orangesox44]

Born and raised in Cuse…. Always lived within 10 minutes of the dome, Literally cut my skin and I bleed orange!

 

[GoSU96]

Both

 

[BigNastyJon]

Both townie and alum. I was one of the few people in my large extended family that is an alum, but everyone in the family bleeds orange.

 

[HastingsCuse]

Law school alum and parent of alum. Utica area > LeMoyne undergrad > SU law (wife too) >NYC area > oldest son SU grad (2013).
My only games at Manley were the Magic Johnson games that I attended as a LeMoyne student. I applied to the law school while working as a Peace Corps teacher in Africa so I never saw the law school until I showed up for the first class. Became addicted to Cuse sports because of Pearl. I saw every Pearl scrimmage and game in the Dome from Athletes-In-Action to the Navy debacle. Was at Nebraska game too.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Townie and grad school.

 

[OburgOrange]

Neither. Foreigner, and no, not the band. There’s a few of us here.

 

[TheHaze315]

Community. Born/raised in the Cicero area and still living here.

 

[Deleted member 8116]

Yes

Why?

 

[OrangeinBoston]

I’ve been a giant SU fan for 4 decades but I attended a SUNY school and Lemoyne for graduate work. I’ve recently wondered how many on here are actually Alums? I’ve never had any affiliation with the school but have followed them closely for local pride. Is it odd to be so invested in a college team when you didn’t attend the actual college?

Alum, 2 kids are alums.

 

[djorange1989]

Alum from Long Island. NYC/Seattle/NYC/Chicago since graduating