Jump to content
toonkee

Why, Reno? Why?

Recommended Posts

i thought about this for a while, why reno cares more about their team and playing unlv than unlv cares about reno

 

i think there's a bunch of factors but it's pretty easy to understand. a lot of people from vegas go to college in reno. these people probably think of themselves as a bit adventurous or rebellious or whatever really, it takes a bit more effort to attend reno than unlv if you're from las vegas. those people are probably going to have a bit more school pride than the people that just stayed home for college. plus reno is a college town, there's not much going on outside of school activities. it fosters a sense of pride for your school, especially athletics. kids that stay in vegas and go to unlv are often working part or full time jobs, college is just another time commitment for them. unlv is the definition of a commuter school imo. i think things are changing and will change when the situation around the university improves but when you've got so many students from the valley, living at home is an easy and economical option.

 

in terms of sports, there's no doubt that reno has had more football success than unlv. unlv is one of the worst d1 programs ever. there's really no way to spin it. combine that with having one of the more historic basketball programs, it's real easy to not care or follow unlv football. students only get up for the reno/unlv game when it's in vegas because it's a fun tailgate atmosphere, there might have been 5-10% of people in my classes that actually cared about the outcome. unlv and vegas just isn't a college city and certainly not a unlv football city until the team puts together a few years of... well anything really. 

 

in basketball, i don't think the programs have had much history to admire and remember. outside of just being in different conferences for so long, one team has had a lot of success and another has had very little. i personally don't look at reno as a rivarly game because we're not really competing for the same recruits. i have higher expectations than what reno has had to offer up to now. i'm much more upset when the rebels lose to unm/sdsu and byu a few years back. i think most unlv fans have a lot more respect for those programs than they do reno basketball. i do think having the 2 teams in the same conference will be ultimately beneficial and if reno can keep their head coach for a while and build some sustained success the rivalry will certainly take on new meaning. not much different than how the unlv/sdsu has grown over the past decade or so

 

right now unlv is losing fans by the truckload. every year that comes and goes where the football and basketball teams are in the shitter is just another year of students and future alumni that will have not been turned into life long fans. i graduated in 2012 and i know everyone who went to those games will, to some degree, follow unlv basketball and will continue to follow unlv basketball probably forever. there's a reason so many people and season ticket holders are from the tark era. sports can be infectious but this recent run of trash is unlikely to convert many people into lifers which is a shame

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been talked about before, but I think Nevada has a more traditional college fan base whereas UNLV is the de facto pro team for Vegas. Most of their fans are from elsewhere, or only really follow the basketball team when it's good. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I call those meth-heads from up state "Reno" because it makes them mad.  That's it. That's what rivalries are about...pettiness.  It's the equivalent of them calling themselves "Nevada"...it pisses us off. This isn't that hard, and in my opinion it's a silly question.  Our diplomas give us the reality check when they both name University of Nevada before the city.  Grads from BOTH campuses see the name of the university they attended before they see Reno or Las Vegas.....When both sides stop caring about pissing each other off it will be a sad day because it will mean the death of a pretty awesome rivalry that deep down neither wants to see diminish....Its a symbiotic relationship fueled by playful hate. So I hope the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas never stop trying to be better than the other (however you want to define it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

UNR, UNLV, AFA, USU, SJSU, UNM, CSU, SDSU, UW, BSU and UH fans are all mental giants compared to FresNecks.

8830452_448x252.jpg      Image result for fresno state bulldog gang

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Wolfster said:

Chris Ault trained our fan base to hate UNLV for 30 years. It just spread to other sports.

Agreed, this also has a lot to do with it. And I don't think Ault just  decided to hate UNLV one day....it was by design. He knew that a good, heated rivalry is good business for both schools. I think the question being posed to begin with shows the disinterest on the part of UNLV fans and that some just don't get it. Every high school and college has an cross town rival or in state rivalry or over the border rival....it drives interest in the games. Schools hold pep rallies, build bonfires, have parades, to name a few ways that schools promote rivalries. There have been studies conducted that the existence of rivalries improves group cohesion and fosters a sense of belonging.

Plus, people who go to other in-state schools are plain stupid and ugly. It's science and cannot be fiddled with.  

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Rod_the_Rebel said:

I call those meth-heads from up state "Reno" because it makes them mad.  That's it. That's what rivalries are about...pettiness.  It's the equivalent of them calling themselves "Nevada"...it pisses us off. This isn't that hard, and in my opinion it's a silly question.  Our diplomas give us the reality check when they both name University of Nevada before the city.  Grads from BOTH campuses see the name of the university they attended before they see Reno or Las Vegas.....When both sides stop caring about pissing each other off it will be a sad day because it will mean the death of a pretty awesome rivalry that deep down neither wants to see diminish....Its a symbiotic relationship fueled by playful hate. So I hope the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas never stop trying to be better than the other (however you want to define it)

I can only speak for myself, but I suspect that others feel the same when I say that calling us Reno doesn't make me mad one bit. I do find it funny, however, that people from Vegas do make such a big deal out of it and refuse to call the Wolf Pack "Nevada". Even the media in Vegas does it. You want to talk about another level of.......call it hatred or insecurity or whatever.....then look no further than that. I think most UNLV fans really can grasp the naming convention that applies to every other state named team and how it also applies to the Pack, but they play the game in get under our skin. I'm guilty of being sucked in a time or two because it's hard to tell on a message board if someone is playing or just dense and dammit! I'm not going to stand for either! 

 

Most days, I witness some sort of encounter where UT grads and aTm grads are firing barbs back and forth and its always in good fun....its about tradition and pride more than anything else. Maybe that's it. There is no sense of pride among UNLV fans. And who can blame them? They're there because nobody else would take them. It's the isle of misfit toys of universities....and Rebel Robert is the Charly in the Box. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Headbutt said:

Oh crap, so that's what the N stands for. 

Signed UNLV grad.

 

 

I can't believe an outsider had to help out here.  Get your stuff together guys.

LoL. Outsider here as well, but that one "perplexed" me as well Headbutt. Acronyms aside, they are the university of NEVADA Las Vegas... but he's right in a way... there IS no NEVADA, in UNLV! :P

"Make a mistake once and it becomes a lesson, make the same mistake twice and it becomes a choice."
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this is going to sound very non-relevant, but UNLV and NEVADA have the SAME issues (although on a way smaller scale) between UAA and Alaska (Fairbanks) Hockey/Basketball. We call Alaska-Anchorage UAA and Alaska-Fairbanks is supposed to be just "Alaska." Nobody in Anchorage will acknowledge UAF as simply "Alaska." They are officially the Alaska Nanooks (www.alaskananooks.com) but will always be UAF to UAA fans. Not sure how the state of Alaska can get around it other than official renaming the University, "The University of Alaska," or renaming UAA "Alaska State University."

I am wondering if there ever was an idea of naming UNLV simply as "Nevada State University" to let UNR have their desire name (UN). It might be too late as there is already a Nevada State College in Henderson.

ALUMNI - UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE (UAA) '97

ALUMNI - TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY (TXST) '00

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Slapdad said:

I can only speak for myself, but I suspect that others feel the same when I say that calling us Reno doesn't make me mad one bit. I do find it funny, however, that people from Vegas do make such a big deal out of it and refuse to call the Wolf Pack "Nevada". Even the media in Vegas does it. You want to talk about another level of.......call it hatred or insecurity or whatever.....then look no further than that. I think most UNLV fans really can grasp the naming convention that applies to every other state named team and how it also applies to the Pack, but they play the game in get under our skin. I'm guilty of being sucked in a time or two because it's hard to tell on a message board if someone is playing or just dense and dammit! I'm not going to stand for either! 

 

Most days, I witness some sort of encounter where UT grads and aTm grads are firing barbs back and forth and its always in good fun....its about tradition and pride more than anything else. Maybe that's it. There is no sense of pride among UNLV fans. And who can blame them? They're there because nobody else would take them. It's the isle of misfit toys of universities....and Rebel Robert is the Charly in the Box. 

First this guy says it doesn't make him mad one bit, and then he admits that sometimes it does "a time or two".  It's just a simple example of a Reno'er trying to be elitist, but failing to really hide the true feelings.  No sense of pride for UNLV? That's a pretty good one. I would argue that 77-104 vs the worst team unlv has ever fielded enstilled the first bit of pride that UNR has ever had, which allows them to hire Michael Buffer and sell out their cute 11,000 seat arena. Im happy that for the first time in UNR's much longer history (which they so pridefully remind us) that they're just now beginning to have pride in their own campus instead of finding ways to Sh*t on the younger brother which is much easier to do when you have nothing to show for your own school.  It plays into what I said....the day the two schools stop trying to be better than the other will be sad because it's a great in state rivalry built on playful hate and pettiness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, nvspuds said:

I don't hate UNLV...I also tend to look more at Boise State as a rival for Nevada because those two schools have shared conferences almost continually since the 70's..There is a lot of history there.

 

 

Maybe Boise is more of a "rival" but no doubt the school as a whole has more disdain for UNLV than Boise. You guys aren't getting fancy uniforms and Michael Buffer for the Bronco/Pack bball game. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Slapdad said:

I can only speak for myself, but I suspect that others feel the same when I say that calling us Reno doesn't make me mad one bit. I do find it funny, however, that people from Vegas do make such a big deal out of it and refuse to call the Wolf Pack "Nevada". Even the media in Vegas does it. You want to talk about another level of.......call it hatred or insecurity or whatever.....then look no further than that. I think most UNLV fans really can grasp the naming convention that applies to every other state named team and how it also applies to the Pack, but they play the game in get under our skin. I'm guilty of being sucked in a time or two because it's hard to tell on a message board if someone is playing or just dense and dammit! I'm not going to stand for either! 

 

Most days, I witness some sort of encounter where UT grads and aTm grads are firing barbs back and forth and its always in good fun....its about tradition and pride more than anything else. Maybe that's it. There is no sense of pride among UNLV fans. And who can blame them? They're there because nobody else would take them. It's the isle of misfit toys of universities....and Rebel Robert is the Charly in the Box. 

Agreed up until the bolded and all that followed. There is plenty of Rebel Pride in UNLV fans. We have had a tough run lately, but we still have Runnin' Rebel fever. If we didn't have pride, Rice would still be here. In fact, sometimes our pride causes us to make hasty decisions that others don't have the cajones to make (like firing a coach midseason).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, toonkee said:

The cannon is more important to you.

UNLV has never looked at a basketball game against UNR the way you guys treated last night.  

Why is your hate stronger for UNLV than UNLV's is for you?

Why is this rivalry more important to the north?

Honest questions.

More than 30% of Nevada's enrollment is comprised of kids from Clark and other parts south of Tonopah.  Perhaps the better question is, why do kids from the area despise UNLV so viscerally?

"You pukin morons are just plain too dumb."

-bluerules008 aka jibscout aka Hal "Mosquito Man" Newman

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, battle.borne said:

The most interesting dynamic in the rivalry is that nearly half of Nevada's undergrad enrollment is comprised of kids from Clark and other parts south of Tonopah.  Perhaps the better question is, why do kids from the area despise UNLV so viscerally?

Could be any number of reasons. Lots of kids who go up there, still have friends who go to UNLV here. It's an opportunity to go at each other in a friendly way. Could be they just hate Vegas. This place isn't the most kid-friendly community to grow up in. For some reason they learn to tolerate it when they have to come back here to get a job though.

UNR is on an upswing in hoops right now. I can imagine most of the front-runners who are too young to have ties to the Kruger and Tark days are more than happy to go up north and sheer on the up and comer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, mugtang said:

Part of it is the north vs south dynamic.  The politics, balance of power in the State, old guard vs new.  

Agree - having lived in both R/S & LV I can vouch that the north has more long time Nevada residents than the south and that gives UNR fans that have longer and deeper feelings on the games.

And in the LV area most of the new population has no ties to anything Nevada (the state) and that's why UNLV is limited in market penetration, especially in FB where the MWC is seen as small time to people used to cheering for their old P5 state teams

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, SharkTanked said:

 

UNR is on an upswing in hoops right now. I can imagine most of the front-runners who are too young to have ties to the Kruger and Tark days are more than happy to go up north and sheer on the up and comer.

Yeah tbh our students have only recently began to pay attention.  During last years games it was dismal showings nearly the entire year with a few exceptions. Nevada students are very finicky. 

"You pukin morons are just plain too dumb."

-bluerules008 aka jibscout aka Hal "Mosquito Man" Newman

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, battle.borne said:

Yeah tbh our students have only recently began to pay attention.  During last years games it was dismal showings nearly the entire year with a few exceptions. Nevada students are very finicky. 

As are most students outside of the Blue Blood programs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, SharkTanked said:

As are most students outside of the Blue Blood programs.

Our game against Baggies was eye opening. Their student section was always packed but in our loss up their it couldn't have been more than 1/3 full.  They were loud, vulgar and obnoxious but so many band wagoners were gone.

"You pukin morons are just plain too dumb."

-bluerules008 aka jibscout aka Hal "Mosquito Man" Newman

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...