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When football season arrives, do most Zags jump on the Cougar bandwagon?

PeteTheChop

PeteTheChop

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I haven't been to Spokane in some time, so I have no idea.

But ...

Gonzaga's local fan base has grown exponentially with the long-term success of the school's basketball program.

There are even some Cougs who have jumped on the GU/Mark Few bandwagon during hoops season.

Just wondered if that is being reciprocated in the fall. Do the Gonzaga students, alumni and Zag diehards in the greater Spokane area throw their support behind WSU since GU doesn't have a football team yet?

Like the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats.

Maybe "The Kennel Crazies" could bring their enthusiasm to Pullman on fall Saturdays and help pack Martin Stadium?

Just something different to think about as the new AD begins plotting ways to increase revenue.

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No, they don’t schedule “bottom feeders” per Mark Few so there is no way their fans would have any interest in WSU being successful.
 
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If Notre Dame was in Pullman, then GU students would be on board. But otherwise, no.
 
Most GU fans I know will come up to me and remind me "we have won the Apple Cup 4 years in a row" I have to ask how is there a "WE" associated with football when you don't have a football team.
 
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roses04 said:
Most GU fans I know will come up to me and remind me "we have won the Apple Cup 4 years in a row"
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Those must be Zags from the wet side.

Cannot believe "most GU" fans from east of the mountains — particularly those from Metro Spokane — would feel an allegiance to UW over WSU.

That doesn't make sense.
 
I don't think they care, honestly.

I always try to look at it from the other side. If Gonzaga had a program WSU didn't... would we all start rooting for them? I certainly wouldn't.
 
I wish they'd jump on our bandwagon in large numbers. We could use all the fans we could get.

I think they mostly look down on WSU since it is a less-selective and public institution. We do no favors for ourselves by being known for so many years as a party school (rightly or wrongly).

As for those who are WSU alums who jumped on the Zag basketball bandwagon years ago...I can't blame them. We all love success stories and winners, and theirs is a particularly compelling story. I don't root for them (except when they play the UW), but again, I completely understand why many would.

The Zags in basketball and Boise State in football have been amazing stories of programs rising when very few (no pun intended) thought they ever would.
 
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WSU did itself no favors by failing to turn right off Hwy 195 for most of the 90's and early 2000's. V. Lane only knew how to get to the airport.

Father Spitzer waltzed in and wined and dined every tom, dick and harry with a pulse.
 
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Observer11 said:
WSU did itself no favors by failing to turn right off Hwy 195 for most of the 90's and early 2000's. V. Lane only knew how to get to the airport.

Father Spitzer waltzed in and wined and dined every tom, dick and harry with a pulse.
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How do you know this?
 
Observer11 said:
WSU did itself no favors by failing to turn right off Hwy 195 for most of the 90's and early 2000's. V. Lane only knew how to get to the (Spokane) airport. Father Spitzer waltzed in and wined and dined every tom, dick and harry with a pulse.
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Having said all that, wouldn't you still say that, during college football season, Spokane remains very much a WSU stronghold?

WSU 75%
Eastern 10%
UI 5%
UW 5%
Others 5%

Would that be pretty close to accurate?

It seems like the Eagles get some pretty good coverage in the S-R.
 
PeteTheChop said:
Having said all that, wouldn't you still say that, during college football season, Spokane remains very much a WSU stronghold?

WSU 75%
Eastern 10%
UI 5%
UW 5%
Others 5%

Would that be pretty close to accurate?

It seems like the Eagles get some pretty good coverage in the S-R.
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They get coverage but what does that translate to? Whitworth football gets great coverage considering the size of the program/school.
Are we talking about GOING to games? Just verbally saying, "I'm a Cougar football fan"? Are we talking media coverage?
 
Coug95man2 said:
Are we talking about GOING to games? Just verbally saying, "I'm a Cougar football fan"? Are we talking media coverage?
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Let me try to clarify.

If you polled a sizable number of Spokanites who considered themselves college football fans to at least some degree, what teams would they follow or root for?

I'm guessing 3 out 4 would say the Cougs with the other 25 percent split between EWU, Idaho, Washington and maybe others like Boise State or Notre Dame.

Would that be fairly close?
 
PeteTheChop said:
Having said all that, wouldn't you still say that, during college football season, Spokane remains very much a WSU stronghold?

WSU 75%
Eastern 10%
UI 5%
UW 5%
Others 5%

Would that be pretty close to accurate?

It seems like the Eagles get some pretty good coverage in the S-R.
Click to expand...

There's more EWU alums in Spokane County than WSU alums.

Spokane is not a WSU 'stronghold' by any means. It could be but it's not.
 
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Observer11 said:
There's more EWU alums in Spokane County than WSU alums.

Spokane is not a WSU 'stronghold' by any means. It could be but it's not.
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Ok, where did you get those stats?

There used to be a map of WSU alums by county (and maybe by state) but I'll be danged if I can find one now. Googled it, went to the WSU site and the - gasp - WSU alumni site. Nothing there except solicitations to join, get a credit card, buy a tile, join some more.

That said, I have no idea what %'s you could or would apply to various teams. And I don't think it is apples to apples anyway. D-1, Pac-12 football is a much different animal than D-3 Whitworth (or whatever). Yeah you can choose to follow EWU instead of WSU, but when you turn on the TV on Saturday it is all about D-1. I think, despite all our snide comments, that WSU has a large following in Spokane, alumni and otherwise. Why do you think Highway 195 gets so jammed after the games? As far as the whole metro are goes, I don't think the numbers/%'s that actively support/follow the Cougs is very high compared to other remote, rural D-1 schools with a fairly large city 75 miles away. But that is not based on any data or facts. Just a feeling.
 
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When I lived in Spokane years ago I was a GU basketball fan in a passing "glad to see a small school do good" kinda way.
Then as a Hoopfest court monitor one year I had John Stockton's nephew playing on my court and Stockton watching from the sideline.
It was then I was no longer a GU fan in any way, shape or form.
And it wasn't necessarily because of how he acted towards me (which was very douchey), it was how he acted towards kids and other fans.
Throwing the baby out with the bath water? Maybe. But if he's the best that school has to offer, bye bye baby!
 
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Loyal Coug said:
Ok, where did you get those stats?

There used to be a map of WSU alums by county (and maybe by state) but I'll be danged if I can find one now. Googled it, went to the WSU site and the - gasp - WSU alumni site. Nothing there except solicitations to join, get a credit card, buy a tile, join some more.

That said, I have no idea what %'s you could or would apply to various teams. And I don't think it is apples to apples anyway. D-1, Pac-12 football is a much different animal than D-3 Whitworth (or whatever). Yeah you can choose to follow EWU instead of WSU, but when you turn on the TV on Saturday it is all about D-1. I think, despite all our snide comments, that WSU has a large following in Spokane, alumni and otherwise. Why do you think Highway 195 gets so jammed after the games? As far as the whole metro are goes, I don't think the numbers/%'s that actively support/follow the Cougs is very high compared to other remote, rural D-1 schools with a fairly large city 75 miles away. But that is not based on any data or facts. Just a feeling.
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It's tossed around fairly frequently at EWU fundraising events. I am good friends with a former EWU VP EWU as well. There are simply more EWU alums residing in Spokane County than WSU alums.

The point being, Spokane isn't 75% WSU/10% EWU.
 
There is a big difference between someone who “follows” a team and actual ticket and financial supporters. And that is the problem.
 
Observer11 said:
There are simply more EWU alums residing in Spokane County than WSU alums.
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Gotta admit, that's surprising to a non-Spokane resident like me.

Would you say this would be closer specifically for CFB in the Lilac City:
EWU: 45%
WSU: 35%
UI: 5%
UW: 5%
Boise State, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, etc.: 10%

Also, would you at least agree that most EWU football fans would list the Cougs as their favorite Pac-12 football program?

Especially with CML turning WSU into a consistent winner.
 
Let me jump in this conversation. I, my brother and one sister are Cougs. The other sister is an Eagle.

Pete, the first thing to understand is what constitutes an "alum". An alumnus has attended the school for at least one class. By that definition, I suspect that it is true that there are more EWU alums in Spokane County than WSU alums. Part of EWU's mission, which it has fulfilled pretty well, has been to be the night school for the area. There are many, many people who took a night school class at EWU over the years. EWU is also not primarily a residential campus. They fit very well with JC transfers, whether full time students or folks trying to advance their education while working.

My own sense of the situation is that Spokane County probably has more WSU alums who spent 3 years or more on campus. There are probably more EWU alums on a total, strict definition basis. And if you put both together you would probably only represent 15% or so at most of the adult population, so the question of who gets the support has to be taken in the context that most folks are not an alum of either school.

As you might expect, fan support tends to be more radical from folks who actually lived on a campus. For that reason, I think you could easily make a case that there are more serious WSU football fans than EWU football fans. And many of them (my sister being an example) root for both except when they play each other. Attitude re: the UW among EWU alums appears to me to be split primarily into two camps: those who tend to follow bandwagon success and/or grew up in the shadow of Montlake tend toward UW when rooting for FBS teams. Those who find arrogance offensive and/or did not grow up in greater Puget Sound tend to root for WSU.

I would say that within the Spokane Metro area probably 1/3 of the fans root for any WA team unless they are playing each other. At least a quarter probably root for the underdog in most cases. Probably 85% of the football fans are favorably disposed toward WSU, but a portion of that group would favor EWU or UW in a head to head match up; in that case the WSU portion probably drops to something like 70% vs. UW and 60-65% vs. EWU.
 
PeteTheChop said:
Those must be Zags from the wet side.

Cannot believe "most GU" fans from east of the mountains — particularly those from Metro Spokane — would feel an allegiance to UW over WSU.

That doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

I've only lived in Spokane for a few years but it never ceases to amaze me how many non UW alum Husky fans I meet here. And many of them are lifetime locals too.
 
How_did_this_happen? said:
I wish they'd jump on our bandwagon in large numbers. We could use all the fans we could get.

I think they mostly look down on WSU since it is a less-selective and public institution. We do no favors for ourselves by being known for so many years as a party school (rightly or wrongly).

As for those who are WSU alums who jumped on the Zag basketball bandwagon years ago...I can't blame them. We all love success stories and winners, and theirs is a particularly compelling story. I don't root for them (except when they play the UW), but again, I completely understand why many would.

The Zags in basketball and Boise State in football have been amazing stories of programs rising when very few (no pun intended) thought they ever would.
Click to expand...

Which is hilarious considering GU can't hold a candle to WSU academically. But like many a school back east, it is small and private, so people give it more credit than it deserves.
 
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