A thread posted earlier questioning the difference between southern and northern NM high school football has me scratching my head. I read the answers that have been posted so far, all of whom are seemingly southern leaning posters, and the answers seem to all be similar. $$$, community support, facilities (goes back to $$$) and so on. Pondering this question and the answers given has provoked me to go down a path that may be the wrong one to go down in today's political climate, but I shall go the route anyway.
My first response, and I did post in that thread, was that the biggest difference between northern and southern NM high school football may be the political leanings of the regions. I have always had a feeling that the more conservative the person, the more likely that same person likes football and the more liberal leaning the person the less likely that person likes football. I have also had the feeling that the further north one travels in our great state the more liberal the area seems to be. This has always been just my own perception (although voting records indicate it as well) and perception becomes folks reality so that is where I have been. Having thought more about it, I decided to take a look around the web and see what I could find. I found a blog saying that republicans leaned more toward sports in general than democrats, but that ideology didn't necessarily matter. In this blog however, the writer quoted a story written by the Post Game Staff ( http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201303/how-politics-correlate-sports-interests) titled "Which sport has most politically liberal fans?" The article also had a chart that showed where liberals and conservatives put there vote when it comes to sports. It turns out that the top sports watched by liberals is the WNBA (by far the most), followed by women's tennis, then men's tennis, and finally horse racing. These were the top of the liberals sports and the ones they had the highest turnout for. Liberal viewers also watch the NBA (actually second to the WNBA but less turnout for), Major league soccer and European soccer but have lower turnout for these. On the conservative side, the PGA & LPGA golf, college football, NASCAR, the NFL, NHL, and high school sports were the highest. MLB, college basketball, and the Olympics were also high. Some other conservative sports, albeit with less turnout, include the PRCA, Pro Bull Riding, and NHRA drag racing. After reading this article it seems that my speculation and perception over the years seems to be propped up by the writers of this article.
So, where do you stand on this? Is the main difference between NM football in the north versus football in the south have to do with how one stands politically?
My first response, and I did post in that thread, was that the biggest difference between northern and southern NM high school football may be the political leanings of the regions. I have always had a feeling that the more conservative the person, the more likely that same person likes football and the more liberal leaning the person the less likely that person likes football. I have also had the feeling that the further north one travels in our great state the more liberal the area seems to be. This has always been just my own perception (although voting records indicate it as well) and perception becomes folks reality so that is where I have been. Having thought more about it, I decided to take a look around the web and see what I could find. I found a blog saying that republicans leaned more toward sports in general than democrats, but that ideology didn't necessarily matter. In this blog however, the writer quoted a story written by the Post Game Staff ( http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201303/how-politics-correlate-sports-interests) titled "Which sport has most politically liberal fans?" The article also had a chart that showed where liberals and conservatives put there vote when it comes to sports. It turns out that the top sports watched by liberals is the WNBA (by far the most), followed by women's tennis, then men's tennis, and finally horse racing. These were the top of the liberals sports and the ones they had the highest turnout for. Liberal viewers also watch the NBA (actually second to the WNBA but less turnout for), Major league soccer and European soccer but have lower turnout for these. On the conservative side, the PGA & LPGA golf, college football, NASCAR, the NFL, NHL, and high school sports were the highest. MLB, college basketball, and the Olympics were also high. Some other conservative sports, albeit with less turnout, include the PRCA, Pro Bull Riding, and NHRA drag racing. After reading this article it seems that my speculation and perception over the years seems to be propped up by the writers of this article.
So, where do you stand on this? Is the main difference between NM football in the north versus football in the south have to do with how one stands politically?
