Middle “fans” try to “Paint Nashville Blue”

Oh no, this is a real thing:

“Vanderbilt is a local rival who we’ve got to make sure know their place.” I mean, if you didn’t hate fans of THEM Middle already... So, Middle Tennessee State thinks they’re going to do what every SEC school does and invade Nashville with their own fans. I guess this was the logic behind scheduling a home-and-home with Middle: if Vanderbilt fans won’t show up to watch Vanderbilt football, at least somebody will. And according to the Facebook page, Middle has already sold their ticket allotment for the game.

That said, it’s hard enough to get Middle to paint their own stadium blue: they averaged 17,210 fans at their home games in 2015. They once scheduled a game against Louisville at LP Field, called it a “home game,” and sold tickets to Louisville fans to boost their average attendance enough to stay in FBS. We all know that Middle students and alumni won’t actually risk getting stuck in I-24 traffic and missing their actual team’s kickoff against Virginia Tech, which is at 7 PM.

This is a solid effort to treat Vanderbilt as a rival school. But so long as the referees don’t keep their yellow flags in their pocket when Middle lines up with 13 players on the field when Vanderbilt kicks field goals... oh, hell, our kicker will probably miss anyway. But at least Vanderbilt students and alumni don’t root for a school that we didn’t even go to just because they won a national title 18 years ago. Look, don’t insult our intelligence by wearing blue. Just wear orange. We know that’s what you really are.