Why be a fan?

I saw this article by George Will today, about why people become over-the-top passionate about Alabama football. Although I don't think I'm likely to be buried in a UNC-themed coffin (see the article for the reference), I would think his diagnosis would be much the same for ACC basketball fans.

I like George Will OK, but I think he's over-reading this cultural thing. The reason that Alabama football fans/Carolina basketball fans seem unusually passionate to Will has nothing (directly) to do with southern culture. It has a great deal more to do with the fact that very few people in the South grew up with any kind of professional sports team to follow. For us, college sports were the professional level; it was all we had. The reason no one in Boston cares about Boston College sports is that they're distracted all year by the Bruins, Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox. Trust me -- there are plenty of face-painting nut job fans of those teams, but the reason they don't have RV's to attend games is that it's not necessary for them to make road trips to see them. They're right there in the back yard.