Rah Team Rah

As college football season starts, I'm pondering a human behavior that I don't quite understand. I'm wondering why you root for a school a) you didn't go to and b) whose town you don't live in.

Those seem to me to be the two main criteria for rooting for a college. It's not like a pro team - how many of us will ever play for the Lions? - because you probably paid your tuition at a certain school and maybe you went to the football games there to cheer for your alma mater and sing your fight song.

I do understand living in a college town and rooting for that college. It's hard to get away from that team and you probably get invited to games and see the memorabilia all around town and your coworkers in that gear.

I also see rooting for a school your kids went to - after all, you probably chipped in to the tuition - and maybe the one your parents or siblings went to. I have no problem rooting for the school my dad went to until his team goes up against my school. Same for my mom's school, which happens to be in the same conference as my alma mater. But I don't obsessively follow these teams, it's more like, if I had to pick one that's how I'd decide.

I think a lot of people pick a school and root for it because it wins. I admit it's hard not to pick a side in the big state rivalry. You won't find too many people who have nothing to say about Michigan versus Michigan State, whether they went to either school or not. But I also think a lot of people pick the state's winningest schools, whether they went there or had any connection or not. That seems just like jumping on the bandwagon because you can and so you never have to mourn losses, and that's what I don't quite get.