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Some social media sites are looking for a flashy way out of the blogosphere.
The line between professional journalists and bloggers seems blurred to the point of: what exactly are they doing? Since social media was invented, hundreds of newspapers have folded, radio and TV stations have down-sized staffs and, as a result, some experienced journalists have turned to blogging.
With nothing more than personal opinions dominating these blogs, there is a need for gimmickry to distinguish one from another to a gullible readership. As long-ago newspaperman H.L. Mencken once said, “No one ever went broke from underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
There is a guy out there called BigGameBoomer, who this week published a chart of logos, ranking the 20 best and 20 worst student sections in college football. I like it since Carolina ranked second best behind Washington. But what kind of research goes into such a ranking?
From chugging brew with their buddies and watching six games on TV, do they use the best camera shots to decide what is the most raucous student behavior? Do they dispatch a reporter to 50 campus stadiums, since off-campus shouldn’t count if it’s as far away as Hard Rock Stadium is from The U?
Anyway, the chart has Washington No. 1 after a dramatic win over Oregon, a game that could have gone either way. The Ducks’ Nike-robed student section wasn’t ranked.
Carolina’s crowd has been fantastic for five years, and its amped-up students may be as good as any in the country without their section having a fancier name than the Tar Pit (is that even used anymore?). Notre Dame is listed third best, and the green meanies sure follow their Leprechaun’s lead on organized chaos.
Virginia Tech, which is known for its “Sandman” student section, was only No. 14, and Florida State, back to its boisterous self like the Bobby Bowden era, is No. 19. Colorado, whose student body came in through the transfer portal, is 17th best.
Under the Worst Student Sections, Duke is No. 1. That has been the case forever, since in most years the Dukies don’t bother going to Wallace Wade from their beds or tailgates. But their SRO crowd for Notre Dame was as wild a scene as anywhere in the country.
Michigan, the Big House with more than a hundred thousand seats, is second worst and I wonder if because the seats slope dramatically away from the action, kind of like how the Final Four in a dome affects sound as well as view. Much cozier Ohio State Stadium isn’t listed on either side of the chart.
The one that really made me laugh was South Carolina, as the 20th worst student section. Have you ever been to loud and proud Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia? Clearly, no one from BigGameBoomer has.
Featured image via Eli Melet
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OK, not very accurate as we should be #1, and South Carolina at least in the top 20.