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Your personal guide to split loyalties

By Greg Vacek
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

The term "House Divided" has been used to describe members of the same family that root for different teams when those teams play each other. On Saturday, there will be many families that have both East Carolina and North Carolina connections with an acute interest in the matchup in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Is it okay to have split loyalties? Is it okay to be a fan of both teams even if the opponent of your favored team is considered a rival?

Georgia-Florida? South Carolina-Clemson? East Carolina-North Carolina?

A little common-sense logic should clear up any confusion you may be experiencing. Follow Bonesville's "Rules of House Divided Etiquette" in choosing where to commit your zeal and you'll be able to live with your conscious no matter the outcome:

1. Is one of the schools your alma mater? The time invested, education and life experiences make this the top reason people have a passion for a college team and relish every opportunity to return to campus. This trumps all of the factors below.

2. Was one of the schools attended by one or more family member? Parents and grandparents indoctrinate you with their school's game day traditions at an early age, or they may have helped pay for you or your son or daughter to attend. Sibling loyalty also plays into the equation as visits to campus to see your brother or sister create a special bond with the school.

3. Is your hometown team involved? Pride representing a town or region can be a big factor. Eastern N.C. needed something to cheer for after Hurricane Floyd wrought her destruction in 1999. The storm-stranded Pirates lifted a region by rallying to beat nationally-ranked Miami on a neutral field in 1999.

4. Does one of the institutions employ you or a family member? Workplace pride, not to mention ticket discounts or other perks, can sway the heart.

5. Is one of the schools the flagship institution for your state? This can be called the "Wal-Mart Rule." For Saturday's game, it applies mostly to fans that have never set foot in Chapel Hill. It can also be a motivator for transplants to North Carolina from another state.

6. Does one of the schools have a team that is dominant in a sport in which your team struggles or doesn't compete? Rationalizing on this basis can be useful for fans of schools that don’t have a football team or that historically experience little success in basketball.

7. The "Most Hated Team Rule" can also dictate your loyalties. There is always at least one team, that if it was playing the Russians, you would pull for the RUSSIANS.

8. Your buddies can exert a powerful influence. Through a friend’s constant, enthusiastic exposure, you can get familiar with a team and adopt an instinctive rooting interest.

9. National exposure can be hard to resist. A powerhouse program that you see on TV all the time can be the ultimate magnet for those that follow the "Bandwagon Rule." See Alabama and Notre Dame.

10. Conference allegiance can be a factor, but can only go so far. You may want your conference strength rating to improve by having league mates winning out of conference — although it wouldn't be a stretch to speculate that many Tar Heel fans pull against Duke (and visa versa) in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

11. Last but not least, there's the "Underdog Rule." No explanation required. It's always okay to root for the underdog as long as the opponent is not your team.

I know firsthand about a house divided. My mother attended Oklahoma and my father is a Nebraska alum. It was always fun at my house around Thanksgiving when the annual Oklahoma-Nebraska football rivalry took center stage. I am grateful that my father, who didn’t have ties to ECU, decided to start taking me to Ficklen Stadium on Saturdays. Those visits helped form my passion for Pirate football. For the Pirate Nation to grow, it needs more than just an increased level of alumni involvement. It needs support from adoptive hometown fans and fans across the region.

Recognizing that his team could benefit from new fans, Central Florida coach George O'Leary said to the members of the Rotary Club of Orlando: “You should be a Gator-Knight." He made the comments in an address to the club in 2011. "If the Gators aren't playing, we're the hometown team," he said. "I'm not telling you don't root for your team ... But, Seminole-Knight, Hurricane-Knight. Support your hometown team.”

While O'Leary’s request may be unconventional, real-life examples of his “Gator-Knight” concept regularly play out in other locales and for other schools. I am acquainted with two Clemson grads that have South Carolina season tickets. O'Leary would call each of them a "Tiger-Gamecock." I know a Marshall alum that lives in Raleigh and supports N.C. State by purchasing season tickets. He's a "Herd-Wolfpack" fan.

There are a number of Greenville area businesses owned by UNC-Chapel Hill alumni that are fierce supporters of the Pirates. My sister, a Pitt County native and a Tar Heel grad, texted me shortly after ECU's win over Virginia Tech last week with a “Congrats on the big win! Arrgghhhh!”

I'm not so sure my sister will be a Tar Heel-Pirate again this weekend, but I do know there will be some Wolfpack-Pirates, Hokie-Pirates, Gamecock-Pirates, Tiger-Pirates, a Cornhusker-Pirate, and maybe even a few Tar Heel-Pirates that will be wearing purple and rooting for an ECU victory at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday.

E-mail Greg Vacek

PAGE UPDATED 09/20/14 01:40 AM.

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