(Also, I am officially rooting for osu to win, because there is a piece of paper in my office that says I got a law degree from osu, and I need an emotional return on that investment, which sure as hell ain't coming from the practice of law.)

I'll give it a shot Casper so hopefully you can understand a non-fan's perspective on the Evil Empire. Granted, I have lived out of state for a couple decades, but I have disliked tOSU since I was very young. The following is an exchange that I had with an OHIO alumnae with whom I graduated from Lancaster High School, and who is a die hard tOSU supporter.

Context for the exchange: on FB, I changed my profile image to hounds tooth two days prior to the game last week, and with ZERO verbiage from me at all, just the image change. Two days later, at halftime of the game, she makes a comment: "you certainly are a bitter Ohio alum." I deleted her post, but replied with a PM to her, and this is an exact copy and paste of our exchange:

Me: "So out of curiosity, what about my profile pic made you view me as a bitter OHIO alumnus? I actually feel I am an awfully loyal, dutiful and proud OHIO alumnus, and it is difficult to discern otherwise by the litany of pro OHIO posts I make in service to my alumni chapter friends here in Massachusetts. ; - ) I'm certain you meant no disrespect.

Her: You are a great alum, one of the Ohio's best and I'm sorry if I made you think otherwise. The bitter comment was related to the fact that I feel like you resent and bitter (sic) toward Ohio State and all that they are and the attention they get because Ohio doesn't get that. Ohio will never get that attention, you can't compare the two. And, just because you are an Ohio alumni doesn't mean you can't be an Ohio State fan. 80% of my OU friends are Ohio State fans. The only time I won't cheer for Ohio State is if they are playing Ohio and I will always cheer for Ohio over anyone. Maybe you are an Alabama fan and the hoods (sic) tooth was in honor of that loyalty. I assumed it was your slam at Ohio State. I certainly meant no disrespect.

Me: No worries friend, clearly the hounds tooth was in support of Bama, however there is absolutely no correlation to being a bitter alumnus. I do find it curious why people believe I should be a tOSU fan, particularly considering the fact that I didn't attend tOSU. It is actually quite queer to me, the notion that I would choose to support an institution of higher learning to which I never attended, but that's just me. I also feel it very curious that anyone really cares what I feel about tOSU, save for the fact that it is important to them that I like what they like. Since I was very small, and long before I ever thought of attending OHIO, I disliked tOSU. My loathing was solidified when Woody punched Charlie Bauman in the throat in the 1978 Gator Bowl. I can remember that like it was yesterday: what it looked like to be a poor sport on a national stage. tOSU athletics has stood for that in my eyes ever since, and to be reinforced through events such as their treatment Earle Bruce and John Cooper on termination, the complete deification of a serial cheater in Jim Tressel, the irrational protection of an enabler like (former band director) John Waters, who if working in the private sector would have clearly warranted immediate termination for not taking swift and punitive action against offenders after sexual assaults were committed on students under his care, etc, etc. Perhaps you could correlate my feelings for tOSU to those of a tOSU fan always wanting to see Michigan lose, or a Red Sox fan always wanting to see the Yankees lose. How about this: I'll promise that I won't hold your allegiance to tOSU against you if you don't hold my disdain of tOSU athletics against me?! ; - ) I also find it interesting that people believe I have a jealousy of tOSU's attention, when that couldn't be further from the truth. I actually love OHIO just the way that it is and feel it is gaining in notoriety, especially since Rod McDavis has been President. New campuses in Dublin and Cleveland, increases in the endowment, more nationally prominent scholarship winners than ever; how could things be better for what was a quaint little regional college when we were in school? Unfortunately, I often feel ashamed that more alumni aren't attuned to how well OHIO is doing nationally, and continue to simply view it as that little party school they attended. I also believe that tOSU as an institution is worthy of praise in many areas, for example the Wexner Medical Center. Why would I begrudge them of that? Their successes have absolutely noting to do with my wanting them to lose every single athletic competition in which they participate. Now I also must admit that there are many things that have occurred in history between the two schools, such as in 1997 when tOSU sued OHIO to prevent it from using the word OHIO on its athletic uniforms, that have really soiled my view of tOSU as an academic institution, you bet. Or such as when in 1917, the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical University in Columbus tried to get the Ohio General Assembly to allow it to change its name to the University of Ohio, and was begrudgingly forced to settle on tOSU as its name, but there is clearly a smaller subset of OHIO alumni like me to whom things like that are important. I can't rightfully understand why it wouldn't give an OHIO alumnus pause to support an institution that sued their alma mater to prevent it from using the rightful name OHIO, as it has been know for 211 years. The fact that they continue to use "OHIO", our alma mater's name, as their own in cheers and with flags absent the requisite "state" flags, despite all the other major "state" named institutions in the country actually taking ownership of being (enter state name here) State, grates me to the core on every occasion. You see, every time a State fan says "Go OHIO!" in reference to tOSU, they are sullying our alma mater's name with the poor sportsmanship they have exhibited since 1870, via events such as those I cited above. And on matters such as that, as it applies to a select subset of OHIO loyalists like me to whom those things are important, we'll remain over here in our corner, tilting at windmills like Don Quixote! As they say, "the horse is out of the barn", and the repeated theft of OHIO's good name will continue ad infinitum. It's all good between us though, and if you have indeed read to this point, I can confirm for you that I am not crazy. I just feel things like these are important, and I take my stewardship of OHIO very seriously. I don't expect you to take as important what I view as important, and I'll respect your right to hold your views also. Go Ducks, and more importantly, Go OHIO! Beers on me at Jackie O's after the Buffalo game on January 24th.

Her: Once again, I'm sorry if I offended you. I was truly only kidding you as I do know that you are a loyal OHIO alum. I grew up in an OSU house, my husbands family is entirely OSU, clear back to his grandparents and I live in a divided house. My son Andrew is Junior at OHIO and when I asked him about college visits he said, "Mom, I've wanted to go to Ohio University since I was 10, you loved it there and it feels like home to me every time I walk onto that campus. I don't want to go anywhere else!" and then I have a 15 year old who lives and breathes scarlet and gray, as does my husband. Andrew and I love our Bobcats, but we do choose to support OSU, as long as they aren't playing our Bobcats. I will say that the using of Ohio by OSU does piss me off, especially script OHIO and I tell my husband that every chance I get, which then makes him mad. Would love to take you up on that beer on the 24th however (I have a prior commitment, edited for anonymity). Take care and Go Bobcats!"

So apologies for the long setup to a short point regarding your not understanding why anyone wouldn't support that team up north in Columbus. I could have come up with dozens of additional items that I could cite that led to my making my point, but I was like already sounding like a bore to her because she clearly likes just being a fan of that place. Addressing your question in short form:

Some people want to follow the local team
Some people want to root for a winner
Some people want to like what other people like (friends, family, prevailing sentiment)
Some people actually attended that team's school and have an ingrained loyalty due to that

And then there are some people who will take the time to determine for what an institution stands BEFORE determining if they want to support their teams/institution. That one applies to me, and I don't appreciate and never have appreciated what they stand for. Hence, I will never support them. Doesn't make my view right or wrong for anyone except for me. But people sure do get pissed about rooting against them, and it really is the most insane and incomprehensible thing I have ever come across.

And the beauty of it for me is that in theory, I have the opportunity to root for every single team in FBS at some point, except for one, and that one I will always root against.

+1

And when you do your editing, please note the following Latin usage:

alumnus = masculine singular
alumna = feminine singular
alumnae = feminine plural
alumni = masculine plural (can also be used for mixed gender)

You're an idiot.

to answer your question- Yes its easy to blame them and yes I can hate them for not denouncing their favorite team the minute they step foot in Athens. Hate might not be the right word though, its more of a disdain of or contempt for.

I grew up a big fan of Eddie Murphy's standup. I recently watched Delirious and was amazed at how homophobic and sexist it was. Over time I have acquired new information and life experience that has changed my perception of it. Rooting for OSU as an Ohio grad simply because it was the only college in the state you were force fed as a child is not an excuse to continue supporting an institution you are not affiliated with or gain no benefit from.