Forget the loss to Clemson. The main event starts Saturday where Ball State plays some team from Bloomington. For most Ball State fans this is the game of the year. Indiana is in their eyes, our biggest rival.
That should never have been the case.
Just because your colors are the same as Alabama’s does not mean your school is good at football.
On paper Ball State has three rivals for football, (Northern Illinois, Miami U., Western Michigan) four for basketball, (add Butler) and five if you are a obsessed volleyball fan (add IPFW).
All of those schools are either in the MAC or close to Muncie and compete on the same level.
That’s why when people say the Indiana Hoosiers are a rival it’s shocking. The Hoosiers should be on a higher level.
If NCAA conferences were like basic cable the MAC would be the Syfy channel where most television shows are average at best. Sure, a show like “Battlestar Galactica” may come around once a decade but overall the quality is that of “Ghost Hunters.”
The Big Ten is NBC, where shows have higher budgets, bigger stars, and more viewers. But if you watch copious amounts of television you would know NBC has been rolling out some crappy programming the last several years.
The Southeastern Conference (we’ll call CBS) is kicking the Big Ten’s rear the past decade. NBC no longer has as many shows that are high caliber. If you watched the schmuck they were promoting during their frustrating Olympics coverage you know that too well.
Which brings us to IU football. They were not good even when the Big Ten had its heyday. So when the conference went into the basement IU was pushed out into the sewers. Today, only the upper third of the Big Ten is superior to the MAC. The rest is in danger of losing every time they play a MAC school. People would rather watch “Ghost Hunters” over crap like the “Jay Leno Show.” Conan O’Brien is laughing somewhere.
As much as I want to think Ball State has moved up to IU’s level we know IU did most of this to themselves. Despite superior facilities, and larger budgets Indiana struggles to be even with the Muncie neighbor.
Not helping the matter is that Indiana fans still feel superior. I have been to two football games in Bloomington including the Cardinals loss there in 2007. Indiana fans chanted “IU rejects” to the Ball State sideline.
The fact is I was accepted to IU out of high school. I picked Ball State because it was a better fit and I liked their communications programs. Being a Kentucky fan played a role too.
I am not an IU reject because they accepted me. Many Ball State students and alumni can say the same.
The other game is Indiana’s best of a generation, where the Hoosiers won the bucket and earned a bowl trip thanks to this field goal.
It is ironic that I was a witness to IU’s greatest football moment of the last two decades. From what I can tell, Hoosier fans despise Purdue but still respect them as a Big Ten peer. Respect for Ball State is a different story. Ball State is still a show on the Syfy channel to them that is not worth space on the DVR.
Since the 2007 season, Indiana has been a larger calamity than normal. The hiring of Kevin Wilson has been even worse than the hiring of Stan Parrish at Ball State. The embarrassments include two losses to Ball State to go a long with a 1-11 2011 season. Watch how the Big Ten Network tries hard to cover up the negativity of Indiana’s loss in Lucas Oil Stadium.
The real culprits are IU fans. Their lack of humbleness even though they eat nothing but humble pie every Saturday is frustrating. If IU fans would stop taking so much pride in beating up smaller teams this would not be a rivalry. I guess being better than Ball State is the only thing IU fans can hang their hat in football. If so that it is incredibly sad and it is time take that source of pride out. Let’s see if IU fans can take pride in being better than FCS Indiana State in football? I bet they will find a way.
Hey, I know what it’s like to root for a football team when the school only cares about basketball. Kentucky is the same way but at least Big Blue Nation can point to several winning seasons in a brutal conference. Indiana had Antwaan Randle El and still could not make it to a bowl game.
For Ball State, beating Indiana is no longer about owning a BCS team. It is about shutting up obnoxious IU fans who still do not know their place. That is why just merely winning the game is not satisfactory. I want Ball State to beat the holy hell out of these jokers. If Ball State has a three touchdown lead in the fourth and pulls its starters I will be ticked.
Sportsmanship has no standing in this one. We need to shut these fans up and taking a knee is not going to do it. Hopefully, once they realize that even Ball State can run the score up on them the perceived superiority IU fans have will be gone for good. Or at least until basketball season rolls around.
Sorry for being mean but I’m upset because of this…
What MAC fans should sweep under the rug this week
Quite a bit with little to boast outside of Toledo winning at Wyoming. UMass raised Indiana’s confidence by their incompetence. How can you lose 45-6 at home to Indiana? Indiana State is laughing as most FCS teams would do better. I guess that makes UMass an NAIA school. Even worse, they broke the leg of IU’s quarterback providing IU fans an excuse if Ball State destroys them Saturday. That is two strikes UMass. It should be three because no one wanted you in the league anyway. Can we kick the Minutemen out? Their television market is not worth this.
In other typical news, Eastern Michigan still sucks. How can a team with bowl aspirations get clobbered by Illinois State at home? Sure, Illinois State is one of the better FCS teams but Eastern was suppose to be over this type self destruction by now. Worse, this makes Ball State’s win a week earlier seem incredibly soft. The only saving grace is that only 7,654 fans were there. The 12,725 crowd in Muncie on Aug. 30 is looks a little better.
Well, time to shut some Hoosier fans up. Are you ready for your colonoscopy Bloomington?
Filed under: Ball State, BallStateFootball, Big 10, MAC |
Over The Pylon 
Take it you’ve been reading the ESPN conversation posts for this upcoming game. I couldn’t agree with you more that they are incredibly arrogant and they have no business spouting just how great they are when they have no evidence to back it up. Great job on beating a mediocre FCS team and a transitional FCS team that also was mediocre. Can’t wait till they take us on and we can shut them up. At least most of the Clemson fans were respectful enough and even so, have a reason to feel superior. I’ll take losing (begrudgingly of course) the rest of the games for the season if only we can beat IU.
In other news, yes I like the IPFW rivalry with Ball State in Vollyball too lol. Probably more so simply because I’m from the Fort Wayne area and went to IPFW for two semesters hah.
I look forward to reading your post game write up after Saturday’s game. Like my boy Dakich says, IU should win this game by a hundred.
Also just a note there is a misspelling, 11th paragraph first sentence fell should be “felt”. Perhaps IU’s School of Journalism would’ve been a better choice for you.
Good lord, is that an article about sports or a review from Entertainment Weekly about TV shows? I find it incredible that the writer (who confesses to being a Kentucky fan) would dare to deem Indiana fans arrogant, when he is part of a groupthink mentality at UK that is always alluded to as the the most arrogant (and foolish) fanbase in all of college athletics. Still, the writer should realize that MAC schools consistently play at BigTen schools because a.) BigTen schools have the resources and clout to demand that teams play in their stadiums exclusively and b.) the MAC conference has not produced a school worthy enough for BCS bowl consideration to merit a home and home series. Irregardless of whether IU is up to par with it’s BigTen brethren, one could say that Ball State does not have to play the level of competition that IU does during their conference schedule (if the writer or someone else is going to tell me that Wisconsin, Michigan State, O$U, etc. are on par with Western Michigan and Toledo, then good luck with that argument). You are judged by who you play against. Since Ball State just got flattened by Clemson, I don’t believe that this writer or any other Ball State fan should be trying to put BSU into the realm of BCS level teams. To try and say as such is ignoring reality….
Last year’s win was almost sweeter than the 2008 blowout, if that’s possible. Not sure what was my favorite part:
– Lame, arrogant IU students showing up at Lucas Oil Stadium in “Hoosier Takeover” t-shirts, only to be outnumbered by BSU students by a 3-1 margin.
– Connor Ryan’s gorgeous TD catch, the eventual game-winner.
– Chicken Kevin Wilson demanding BSU move the game from Muncie to Indy, thinking he’d have a de facto home game and less chance for a loss, having more BSU fans than IU fans there despite this, and Wilson going home with an L in his first game anyway (all while BSU ended up laughing all the way to the bank, both financially and athletically speaking).
– IU fans leaving in dead silence, their “2008 was a fluke” arguments blown to smithereens, while Chirps and “Ball State Swag” chants echoed throughout downtown Indy into the early morning hours.
– The team toasting the victory by singing “Fight, Team, Fight” to the student section.
So many choices, so many choices…
“Chicken Kevin Wilson demanding BSU move the game from Muncie to Indy….”
What in the world are you talking about? Wilson inadvertently spilled the beans about the game being played in Indy at his introductory press conference. Obviously, it was in the works long before Wilson was hired.
I think you are over estimating IU’s arrogance a bit here. The fact is that since IU has never been particularly competitive in football the fans (myself included) really have no reason to brag or boast much… We KNOW we suck on the football field!!! Sure, they have over the top fans who will be obnoxious and in your face no matter what the record shows. But most IU fans know exactly what our chances are of success… a “coin flip” is considered pretty good odds for us!!!
That being said, IU is still a Big ten team, and BSU is still in the MAC. Even the lowest level Big Teams will compete and often beat the better MAC teams. I say often, because there are upsets. There will never be a Big Ten/MAC Challenge in any sport because, well…. you know why.
So chill out, Francis. I can tell by your fervor that you love your team. I get that. But, I really have to say your UK underoos are sticking out the back of your BSU Zubas…. I am pretty sure you’re IU hatred is multiplied by your hatred of IU from your love of UK sports. Is that a fair assessment? I only ask because UK is indeed IU’s contemporary as a BCS level school. These kinds of degrading remarks coming from a UK fan are at least heard and not dismissed as the ramblings of a delusionsal fan.
You have to also know that IU doesn’t view Ball State as a rival in anything, and the fact you have a IU Hate Week speaks volumes about the level of your delusion. You’re like the kid who dyes his hair pink and wears eyeliner in order to “stick out” and get attention… “LOOK AT ME! I”M IMPORTANT TOO! GUYS? HEY GUYS? WHERE YOU GOIN!!? CAN I GET A RIDE????”
And while 2008 was a rout and embarassing, last year, in light of how IU got reamed by EVERYONE last year, isn’t completely a shock. Historically bad season. BSU was better prepared and caught IU off guard. But any more bitter or hard to take than the other losses? Not so much. Again, I think you feel slighted because IU fans don’t give two sh*ts about BSU. We just… don’t. Sorry, buddy.
John M. – it’s a fact. Wilson made it known he wasn’t going to play his first game on the road in Muncie. Rather than see the series canceled, BSU moved the game to Indy. Note the third game of the 2-for-1 is gone from the future schedules (we moved the game, but we aren’t giving IU a two-for-neutral series – part of the deal).
Redandyz- good to know you don’t care about us. You don’t care about us so much that you wrote a nearly 400-word post on a BSU blog to tell us how much you don’t care. That’s called “projecting,” just in case you wanted to know.