I agree that the rivalry has suffered because FAU and FIU have never been competitive at the same time so that the game is always fairly meaningless (record-wise) to one team. It's always hard for a team's fan base to get excited about a game when it's late in the year and your team's season is completely over. That was the case for FIU for most of last decade and it is our case right now. But to say that we are not rivals is crazy. When you say that you sound like arrogant USF fans that try and dismiss UCF as a rival. If you are located withing an hour of each other, play each other in every sport, and recruit against one another, I'm sorry to tell you, but we are rivals.

I know there is no team in this conference that I enjoy beating more then FIU...and while the FIU fans on this board won't admit it for some reason, I'm certain that most FIU fans feel the same (there's no shame in having a rival...it makes things more fun IMO). The one's that I am friends with certainly do.

My point is this, if our fans considered it a rivalry, it wouldn't be be hard to get excited about, REGARDLESS of the record....however, check out the photos you've so generously provided for PROOF, not theory, on how FIU fans in general (not just on this board) feel about our games against FAU. Yeah, that looks like a rivalry in the making...on the other hand, even though it is crazy and we have an abysmal record against them, if FIU plays scUM in ANY sport, the attendance will be astronomical compared to any other game on the schedule. I don't need to theorize about the psychology of why it is or it isn't a rivalry...I can show you attendance numbers and you can show me photos were I can prove to you that it isn't.

(11-14-2011 09:40 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I agree that the rivalry has suffered because FAU and FIU have never been competitive at the same time so that the game is always fairly meaningless (record-wise) to one team. It's always hard for a team's fan base to get excited about a game when it's late in the year and your team's season is completely over. That was the case for FIU for most of last decade and it is our case right now. But to say that we are not rivals is crazy. When you say that you sound like arrogant USF fans that try and dismiss UCF as a rival. If you are located withing an hour of each other, play each other in every sport, and recruit against one another, I'm sorry to tell you, but we are rivals.

I know there is no team in this conference that I enjoy beating more then FIU...and while the FIU fans on this board won't admit it for some reason, I'm certain that most FIU fans feel the same (there's no shame in having a rival...it makes things more fun IMO). The one's that I am friends with certainly do.

It's just another game. Trust me. We want to beat Troy, WKU, UL, MTSU and everyone else just as much as we want to beat you. Did you see any kraziness after the win on Saturday? Were we frothing at the mouth before the game? Was the stadium packed with FAU haters?

No, it was just another game for us to right the ship. We've done that and now are looking forward to the UL-M game.

p.s. I know when we go to your gym there is much vitriol toward FIU (similar to how we feel when we play UM), but the feeling isn't mutual....sorry.

(11-13-2011 07:48 PM)FIU Panther Fan Wrote:  A team doesn't have to have a rival, and it can not be manufactured.

That is just not true. Ask WW.

(11-14-2011 09:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(11-14-2011 09:40 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I agree that the rivalry has suffered because FAU and FIU have never been competitive at the same time so that the game is always fairly meaningless (record-wise) to one team. It's always hard for a team's fan base to get excited about a game when it's late in the year and your team's season is completely over. That was the case for FIU for most of last decade and it is our case right now. But to say that we are not rivals is crazy. When you say that you sound like arrogant USF fans that try and dismiss UCF as a rival. If you are located withing an hour of each other, play each other in every sport, and recruit against one another, I'm sorry to tell you, but we are rivals.

I know there is no team in this conference that I enjoy beating more then FIU...and while the FIU fans on this board won't admit it for some reason, I'm certain that most FIU fans feel the same (there's no shame in having a rival...it makes things more fun IMO). The one's that I am friends with certainly do.

It's just another game. Trust me. We want to beat Troy, WKU, UL, MTSU and everyone else just as much as we want to beat you. Did you see any kraziness after the win on Saturday? Were we frothing at the mouth before the game? Was the stadium packed with FAU haters?

No, it was just another game for us to right the ship. We've done that and now are looking forward to the UL-M game.

p.s. I know when we go to your gym there is much vitriol toward FIU (similar to how we feel when we play UM), but the feeling isn't mutual....sorry.

I didn't see any of that at your place for Saturday's game because the outcome of the game was pretty much decided before it started. I wouldn't expect FIU to have wild celebrations after beating a terrible team in a blow out.

Again...I get why this rivalry hasn't grown bigger to this point. It's hard when one team is good and the other is terrible. It's been the same with basketball too. We've never really played each other when it's meant something to both teams. Eventually, there will be a game between us that will mean something, and the rivalry will take off. But to dismiss the possiblilty is just silly given our proximity.

If you're willing to say that neither school has a real rival, I can accept that, but if you cannot see the greatest potential for rivalry lies with one another you are blind. Not saying it should be manufactured, but over time, I just cannot see how it will not grow into a rivalry unless one of you were to depart for another conference. Even then, I'd imagine you'd continuing playing each other nearly every year in most sports due to ease of proximity and such, probably not football since you only have so many games, but even in football playing each other at least semi-regularly would make sense.

You'll both develop rivalries over the years, but if I were to put money today on who the biggest rival for each school would be twenty years down the road, it would definitely be each other.

(11-14-2011 03:59 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  If you're willing to say that neither school has a real rival, I can accept that, but if you cannot see the greatest potential for rivalry lies with one another you are blind. Not saying it should be manufactured, but over time, I just cannot see how it will not grow into a rivalry unless one of you were to depart for another conference. Even then, I'd imagine you'd continuing playing each other nearly every year in most sports due to ease of proximity and such, probably not football since you only have so many games, but even in football playing each other at least semi-regularly would make sense.

You'll both develop rivalries over the years, but if I were to put money today on who the biggest rival for each school would be twenty years down the road, it would definitely be each other.

I am not saying that neither school has a real rival. Quite the opposite. I'm agreeing with you that FIU is our rival...they have been since we started playing football. FAU fans have embraced this from the beginning. FAU/FIU basketball games are always packed on our campus. I'm sure next year when we play them in football in Boca for the first time, it'll be a big deal. We have, for the most part, been the only side willing to invest in the rivalry. Why FIU fans claim they don't have a rival...or that UM is their rival (which is crazy since UM couldn't care less about FIU's athletic teams), I have no idea.

I'm willing to say we don't have a rival...we've been playing FAU in every sport for a while now, whether or not we've been in the same conference. Playing FAU is not a new thing for us, we've play them when they were in the ASUN and we were in the SBC. Its been tried in football for the last 10 years and its been tried in every other sport before that, the attendance is what it is. If it were to ever be more than what it currently is, then great, however, history has show that it's not going to happen.

(11-14-2011 03:59 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  If you're willing to say that neither school has a real rival, I can accept that, but if you cannot see the greatest potential for rivalry lies with one another you are blind. Not saying it should be manufactured, but over time, I just cannot see how it will not grow into a rivalry unless one of you were to depart for another conference. Even then, I'd imagine you'd continuing playing each other nearly every year in most sports due to ease of proximity and such, probably not football since you only have so many games, but even in football playing each other at least semi-regularly would make sense.

You'll both develop rivalries over the years, but if I were to put money today on who the biggest rival for each school would be twenty years down the road, it would definitely be each other.

What is the average attendances of both FAU and FIU combined for 2011?

It would be curious to see how attendance at a Shula bow would be if both teams were good that year. As stated we seem to be polar opposites in terms of records and timing.

FAU does get up for the games, and thier SG gets really behind it with the Bury the Burrow in red.

Its totally up to FIU, thier fans, and Student Goverment. FAU fans and admin are perfectly willing and have made efforts.

(11-14-2011 08:13 PM)OwlFamily Wrote:  It would be curious to see how attendance at a Shula bow would be if both teams were good that year. As stated we seem to be polar opposites in terms of records and timing.
FAU does get up for the games, and thier SG gets really behind it with the Bury the Burrow in red.
Its totally up to FIU, thier fans, and Student Goverment. FAU fans and admin are perfectly willing and have made efforts.

If you were better, you would have brought more fans. If we were both playing for the SBC championship, the place would have been packed and the media would have been all over it. However, sans the media attention, the same could have been said for any school which would have come to town with the championship on the line.

As far as I know a rivalry needs to have a thread of hatred running through it. You have that toward us (not sure why), we have it for the 'canes (I could write here all day regarding how they've tried to keep this university down from before our inception; but noone here would care to read about that). That's it, if we had a reason to hate you, we would, but we don't.

For all the complaining that is done over UL v ulm threads it's good to see that you Florida boys can get into pissing matches too. For some reason I have a real feeling that although this will go on for a few more pages it won't get bounced to the smack board.