Yeah, maybe. But it's much more likely that a simple sports rivalry attitude is what does it.
I mean, there's no real reason for the Michigan and the Ohio State crowds to be booing and slanging each other, or the Virginia and Virginia Tech contingents to be stealing each other's mascots and talking about what a bunch of losers the other one is, or Clemson to be be painting tiger tracks all on the roads through their rivals' campuses before a game.
No one cheers the mascots and the school fight song for the other side. It's a rivalry!
Lannis
Speaking of rivalries, here is an account of give and take that I have been involved in:
I spent a good part of my formative years at Caltech, so of course the MIT rivalry runs deep.
People in LA who are old enough all remember the Rose Bowl hoax.
At any rate, my friends and I when we were young, had MIT T-shirts printed on the front, and on the back we printed a Palm Tree and the words “because not everybody can get into Caltech”.
These were distributed in the hundreds on MIT’s campus along with MIT logo mugs that read Caltech once filled with a hot liquid. At any rate, we got a kick out of seeing a plethora of MIT freshmen walking around with our T-shirts because they didn’t bother to read the back.
Some years later however, the bastards managed to steal a genuine cannon that we have on campus and transport it and display it at the MIT lawn.
I admit, I like this nerdy $hit.
Another memorable rivalry is UT Austin football vs the Aggies, on the surface it comes across as borderline violent, but I have never been to a tail-gate where I wasn't forced by either side to sit down, have a beer and enjoy their brisket. Coolest environment ever.
This thread went to $hit, but it brought about some good memories.
Something more along the line of Guzzi enthusiasts, if you have never been to track day at Laguna, Willow Springs or the now defunct Texas World Speedway, some great camaraderie comes to life around 6am prior to inspection. It reminds me of how things used to be at El Mirage when every Saturday motorcycles of all stripes used to gather to hit the dry lake bed.
