and alums.
This week I agreed to be the Managing General Partner of a real estate LLC. Yes, I am easing out of real estate but this was a great opportunity and really I am doing it to help a friend who is still building his real estate portfolio. So, to make this about fans and alums...
our first meeting was the other night. It was an informal meet & greet as members of the LLC got to meet each other and to develop our business plan. One guy comes in wearing a Liberty Football shirt, and then a husband/wife couple come in both sporting Appalachian State shirts. I was not wearing any school garb. During the wine and cheese mixer I engaged them in conversation. Let me get to the point, the Liberty guy played football there, just completed his enlistment in the Army, discharged while stationed at Fort Polk, and is a humble, down to Earth fellow. We spoke briefly about Liberty joining CUSA and he is pleased since he now resides in Louisiana and he'll be able to see them play more.
The Appy State couple...good folks and they will make strong members of the LLC. They live in Natchitoches, she works at NSU, and he works for a local construction company. They said they have been going to see Appy State play when they come to Monroe and Lafayette. And...they hate Louisiana Tech! and "their arrogant fans." I played it cool and asked why. Has Appy State ever played Tech in any sport? No, they said. Just that Tech thinks it is "all that" and "it ain't shit". When we were saying our good nights later I said to the Appy State couple, "I will pass on your warm thoughts to Tech fans, since I am a proud Tech alum and fan." Should have seen the look on their faces. They started stammering, we didn't mean anything, ya know, it's just fan talk stuff.
I think it's funny. Fans talk chit on message boards (and I do too!) but face to face will act differently, usually much better.