Who Are You For?

In Montgomery people will often decide whether or not you are socially acceptable to hang out with based on the answer to one question.   The first question many locals will ask is not “what is your family name,” nor is it “what do you do”; it is “who are you for?”   Alabama is ALL about college football, specifically the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) or Auburn University (War Eagle!) teams.  People will literally, and I do mean literally, decide if they want to be your friend based on which team you are “for.”  I’ve even heard of instances where someone will turn around and walk away without another word if the wrong team name is uttered during introductions.  I guess even southern hospitality has its limits.

It is commonplace to see cars with all sorts of bumper stickers, tags and flags (often all on one car) declaring everlasting love for one of the local college teams.   People will actually choose the color of their car based on their college team colors (crimson for UA and orange for AU).  There seem to be an unusually high ratio of crimson and orange cars in Alabama.  Many houses sport flags and door mats declaring their team of choice.   I haven’t seen a crimson or orange house yet but am braced for it.

 On occasion, you will hear the term a “house divided” which refers to a household where the wife is “for” one team while the husband is “for” another.  There is a flag for that too!  People joke about the fact, that it is more contentious to be in a relationship of “a house divided” than it is to be of different political parties.  That’s how serious the locals take their college football. 

Boston sports fans are known for being some of the most supportive (if not fanatic), however, after observing the local sports fervor in Montgomery, I contend that Boston sports fans come in a close second.

Having lived in Massachusetts for most of my life (with a brief stint in NYC), I know all about sporting rivalries… Red Sox vs. Yankees, Patriots vs. Jets, Bruins vs. Rangers, etc.   However, all of those teams are separated by geography.  In the case of UA and AU, there is no such differentiation.  Both teams are in the state of Alabama.  

I still have not completely figured out how people decide who they are for but I suspect it comes down to who your family traditionally routed for and/or whether someone attended one of the schools.  It could be that people decide who they are “for” based on something completely random.  I submit my husband Emmett as a prime example.

Emmett, back when he was single and 18, decided he was for Alabama after he met a pretty girl at a party and she was a huge Alabama fan.  At the time, he had no idea about the rivalry of UA and AU.  He just wanted to date the girl; lucky for him he said “Alabama.”  Once he had declared who he was for, that was it; he never looked back.  He is now the biggest Alabama fan there is.  He would rather go to regular season Alabama game than the Super Bowl.  I think he actually shed a tear when they lost to LSU earlier this year and I’m pretty sure he shed tears of happiness when they won the BCS Championship last week. It’s like I said, completely random.

When asked, who am I for?  I respond “Alabama of course!  Roll Tide!”  It’s become a knee jerk reaction.  I am an Alabama fan by marriage/default; it is for the preservation of my marriage.  I am not 100% sure that Emmett could accept it if I decided to switch teams and declare my love for Auburn.  He’s not in the market for a "house divided” flag. 

As an aside: Kudos to both teams!  Alabama was the 2009 BCS Champions; Auburn was the 2010 BCS Champions and Alabama is the 2011 BCS Champions.  Three years running the BCS Champions have been state of Alabama teams.  That’s a lot to be proud of.

So, if you happen to visit us, and someone asks you who are you “for,” it may be just polite conversation, or it may be someone is determining whether or not you are worthy to befriend.