fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3202 ]

[ SECRET POST #3202 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3202 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Mine below.

FSers who have attended very sports-focused colleges, how did you deal with it? I'm attending grad school at a college that is very into football, which is a sport I don't really care about, but I live close to campus so I always get to experience it. The thing is though, I've only been here 2 months but I spend my Saturdays feeling sad about all the binge-drinking -- I've seen way too many people before 3 in the afternoon who are so drunk they can't walk and the sidewalks are always covered in solo cups, beer bottles, and liquor bottles that people have just dropped on the ground. And on top of that I've been street harassed more here in a few months than in the past 5 years, and always on game days. Today a car full of drunk guys screamed "YOU'RE A LESBIAN" at me when they drove by. And obviously being mistaken for a lesbian is not inherently insulting, but they clearly meant it as such, and what made me feel worse was that no one around me looked shocked, or rolled their eyes at it.

Anyway, for anyone who went to a school like this, how did you deal with it? I don't want to spend the next three years feeling like I have to stay in my apartment on game days Or Else, but that's how it's feeling like right now...

While I do not personally attend a sports-centered college, I have lived in a town that owns one for my entire life, so I feel confident in saying: Yes. That's what you do. You stay indoors on Game Day.

Sorry, but that's the life.

I lived and worked in the shadow of Lambeau Field in Green Bay for 6 years. There is no alternative but to remove yourself from the situation. If the town's too small to avoid it there isn't much choice, but I now live in a college town with a football/drinking problem of that magnitude - but far from campus and thus I never see any of it.

so OP, if you don't want to stay in, try to spend the day somewhere across town.

I guess you could find somewhere to hide out other than your apartment but yeah, that's the basic principle.

Nothing like going to University of Cincinnati during Bearcats season. Unless you're predisposed to liking sports, you very quickly learn to hate UC, football, other students, and even bearcats, which is a shame because bearcats are pretty cute.

What I ended up doing is blocking it out as much as possible. I refused to talk to anyone about sports and I avoided walking by the stadium.

One thing I noticed is that people are nicer to you if you wear university-branded clothing. But it's best to avoid talking to anyone about sports because that niceness will go away if they find out you don't actually give a damn about football.

The binge drinking is perhaps best dealt with by calling the police. A lot. Most cops -- especially campus cops -- are pretty useless but drunks are a danger to themselves and everyone else and most cops know they should be removed to dry out.

Dealing with street harassers is trickier. I'd argue your best option is to have someone with you and when someone catcalls, respond to them and tell them firmly, as if talking to a child (or a particularly unruly pet) that their behavior is unwelcome. I'd also report them to police/campus police.

Edited 2015-10-10 20:49 (UTC)

agreed. good comment.

...any chance of transferring out?

I went to the University of South Carolina and for the first 3 years, hated football. I found friends who also did not attend the games and we'd find stuff to do together.

One friend and I made it a ritual to go to the mall that day because everyone else was either at the game or at a bar watching the game so we'd have a nice leisurely stroll around the mall. Another friend and I would pick different movies to watch and hang out indoors.

I found friends who lived further off campus and we'd have non-football parties/barbeques to just avoid the craziness around campus. So yeah, we stayed inside but at least we weren't alone so it felt different.

Hope this helps!

JMU was pretty terrible on game day. I mean, the parties there were terrible at any time, but game day parties were exceptionally terrible. I wish I had some advice for you, but all I can say is that you should get some pepper spray and avoid everyone.

I went to a Big Ten college and wasn't as affected because I lived more on the edge of campus, but... yeah, some days you just stay in or get out of town. Maybe make your own plans for fun things to do on a daytrip, or make it movie marathon and pizza day.

I can't imagine going to a school like that. I'd probably bide my time and then attempt a transfer to a different school.

Find something else to do on sports day? Maybe find people who also don't enjoy the sport and hang out with them.

> sidewalks are always covered in solo cups, beer bottles, and liquor bottles that people have just dropped on the ground.

Oh, my school wasn't even an athletics powerhouse (we're known for volleyball and water polo), but this was still an accurate description of any given Saturday in Isla Vista. It's up to you whether you think drunken sports fans are better or worse than year-round drunkenness with no ostensible school-wide reason. All I can say is, I lived somewhere else.

Go to the movies. Go work in the library or whatever lab/office/common space you have access to. Take a day trip out of town. Or, yes, hide in your apartment.

Look into moving to another part of town where this might not be such a problem.

Grad school was a bit like that for me. Nowhere near as bad since I lived on the opposite side of campus from the stadium. It was mainly just the shock of going from a private university with no football team or big sports culture (the most popular sport was hockey and the arena was never more than half full during regular games) to a big ten school. I did live along the route between where most of the frat houses were and downtown where the bars were, though. People would go into the alley next to my building and vomit and even poop and tgat was just a regular Saturday night!

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[ SECRET POST #3202 ]

Advice thread

Oh, sports.

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