Living in Austin for a number of years, I know a significant amount of Longhorn fans. Some of the very people on this board I consider friends. I went to a lot of games, because I like gameday atmospheres, because I love cfb in general, and because at one time utee94 threw a heckuva tailgate.
But I never actually rooted for them, per se. I used to describe Texas as like watching your neighbors kids playing outside the window. They're not your kids and you don't feel a deep connection to them, but you like them anyway and you'd miss them if they weren't around.
This year, my new bride and I are of course watching more football together than ever. Meaning I no longer miss any UT games. For her sake I feel vaguely obligated to root for them. It's easy enough to root for a team....every time I'm forced to watch NFL I can arbitrarily pick a team and root for them. But I can't be crushed with her. I can't long for UT dominance in days gone by with her. I can muster an acceptable amount of enthusiasm for big wins, but I can't adequately feign heartbreak over a loss.
Don't know if a real secondary fandom is something you can ever truly grow into, unless I have a kid one day that plays for UT. And I'm guessing that's okay, because I don't expect her to live and die by my team either, and I wouldn't want her to fake it.
I feel like something clever could be attached to that last line, but my inner CharleyHooky is awol.
