GoPokes wrote:Hello folks
Been lurking for awhile. Moving to Laramie soon and getting excited about some UW football. Spent four years in the stands at every Texas A&M home game (way before SEC and Manziel madness). Then graduate school had me pulling for Texas Tech and later Oklahoma State. All of these institutions have strong support for their football programs and a bit of the underdog/scrappiness/toughness that I sense UW has (although Texas A&M no longer plays second fiddle to Texas).
Anyways, given the football programs I have supported I am pumped about watching UW cowboy football and seeing what UW does in the Bohl era.
With all that being said, what do you all think is great about UW football? Cool traditions, game day atmosphere, War Memorial etc? Also, how does the UW football atmosphere compare to other colleges you have associated with?
Feel free to throw out what you like about Laramie and Wyoming in general.
Go pokes
Welcome. Hope you enjoy UW.
Great things about UW football (or athletics in general):
1. State Support - A truly unique situation for FBS college football. The only 4 year school in the state (not just the only FBS program, but the only 4 year school in the state). This means the entire state pulls for the Pokes. Granted, the entire state only has 500k people, but still. What always strikes me when I come back to Wyoming to visit (I live in Texas now) is how synonymous the branding of Wyoming the State is with the University of Wyoming. You can go to any town in the state and within minutes see the Steamboat logo and folks decked out in UW gear. Down here you see such a mixture of allegiances, but that's not really the case in Wyoming.
2. Geographical Setting - The highest elevation of any D-1 school (FBS or FCS) at 7200' set in small town in the nation's least populated state. Laramie is also the coldest FBS locale by significant margin in terms of annual mean temperature (Minnesota is 2nd) and the windiest in terms of average wind speed. Whether or not this is "great" is certainly up to interpretation but I love that UW is so unique in this regard. We are remote, colder than hell, and the snow falls sideways, and we like it that way. Plus, it seems to really annoy SDSU fans for some reason, which is always a benefit.
3. Tradition - Wyoming had a long record of success from the late 40's through the late 90's in which they produced a number of great coaches. Some ended their career at UW (Roach, Eaton), but many moved on to higher profile gigs and became well known names in the sport (Wyatt, Devaney, Dye, Erickson, Tiller, etc.).
4. Beer Song - Great song, ironic performance (alcoholic beverages are not sold at UW athletic events, unless you are in the Wildcatter suites).
5. Traveling Support - This is more of a UW athletics thing in general. Wyoming fans always travel very well to bowl games (perhaps due to the rarity in which we participate, but still) and conference tournaments for basketball. Wyoming definitely punches above it's weight in terms of traveling fanbase. Other MWC members might suggest it is just because Wyoming fans are trying to get out or Wyoming in the winter
Anyway, I think it is actually more symptomatic of the depth of support that UW receives. We don't have the largest fanbase in the MWC as you would expect being the 2nd smallest school (Air Force Academy) in the league located in the by far the least populated area in the league but the fanbase that we do have is very dedicated. They travel long distances through inclement weather to support the Pokes and they support the Pokes via donations and membership in the Cowboy Joe Club. CJC is our booster organization as is always near the top of the league in members and donations. We don't have a large casual fanbase, but our hardcore fanbase is solid.
