Southeast Ohio

[79Tiger]

I realize I am just a waterboy here but I am curious to know if anyone has had the experience I have had with the northern elitists when it comes to sports. I graduated from Ironton in 1980 and attended Akron University on a football scholarship. I couldn't believe how uneducated many of the students and many of my teammates were about the state of Ohio. I was always questioned about where I was from because of my accent. When I told them Ironton, they naturally would ask "where is that?" I would answer, southeast Ohio, on the Ohio River." Then came the many guesses as to what southeast town that would be near..Steubenville, Marietta, and many asked if it was near Cincinnati. When I was a junior, I received a call from our new defensive coordinator wanting me to show a recruit around for the weekend because he was from "southeast Ohio." Since he knew I was from Ironton, I thought maybe the recruit was from Portsmouth or at least actually from southeast Ohio. When he told me Steubenville, I started laughing. He asked why? I said Steubenville isn't in southeast Ohio. I declined the offer to show the recruit around on his upcoming campus visit. I was never asked to show recruits around after that. I quickly learned early on that southeastern Ohio ends at I-70 and at I-71 south from Columbus to Cincinnati. I know we have our rivalries here in southeast Ohio but after the experience I had, I cheer for any team that goes up north and beats those elites no matter what the sport.

[LetsGoPSU]

Having done quite a bit of business in North East, North Central Ohio I can attest that these people have no idea where Portsmouth or the surrounding area are located, "Isnt that around Cincy? "
In the football world tho, they do make some great points....they win championship, they fill stadiums on Friday nights and they line up against great teams from around the country. Its a whole different animal in the Northeast,these are huge schools with huge numbers that play exceptional football, because of exceptional coaching.If you ever want a fun weekend, go see a couple of games in the Canton, Massilon area, or catch a few games in Cleveland,

[Chieftain]

Pathetic thread, but humorous.

Reality is tough to deal with.

[FANOSPORTS]

The reality is that for many decades, many SEO people have had to move "North" to find decent work for decent pay (and I am one of those). A lot of people that have lived their whole life north of the dividing line (I-70 and above) have never been to SEO except for maybe passing through on the interstate or going on vacation every once in awhile. If you have no business or industry and other things to draw these people to your area they won't come, won't know or won't experience anything that we who were born and raised in the "southern territory" of Ohio have experienced in our lifetime. That's alright by me because I know where I come from and will never forget it even though I live up north now and have more than what I "need". I agree with TRH and it's not just in the sports arena. The "northerner's" talk differently, act differently and a lot of them have no clue (other than inner city people) what it's like: to drive old cars (and fix your own), to go hunting / fishing, to bale hay or sucker/pick and box tomatoes, to have delapidated and outdated housing for a large number of people, to have schools as old as their grandparents, to have to live in "trailers" (or mobile homes as they call them), to not have every kid in school have a car, to not be able to go to the "mall" unless you have to travel 30 or more miles, to be able to drive your mini-bikes or golf carts around town with no fear of getting a ticket, to have a school small enough that you can really make "friends" and know everyone in the school, to have real neighbors who care (and who really know your name), to not have "police officer's" on duty every day of the year at your schools. I could go on and on but I think everyone get's my point. Some of the examples above are good and some are bad but I wouldn't trade my experiences in SEO & West Virginia for anything. When I was in the Marine Corps years ago people would ask me what part of VIRGINIA (West Virginia was in) and when asking about Ohio they'd want to know if it was closer to Cleveland or Cincinnati. The stereotypes will always persist but you just gotta consider the source and go forward. Let'em think what they want TRH, we know where we come from and where we're going. Have a great day !!!!!

[Orange and Brown]

The reality is that for many decades, many SEO people have had to move "North" to find decent work for decent pay (and I am one of those). A lot of people that have lived their whole life north of the dividing line (I-70 and above) have never been to SEO except for maybe passing through on the interstate or going on vacation every once in awhile. If you have no business or industry and other things to draw these people to your area they won't come, won't know or won't experience anything that we who were born and raised in the "southern territory" of Ohio have experienced in our lifetime. That's alright by me because I know where I come from and will never forget it even though I live up north now and have more than what I "need". I agree with TRH and it's not just in the sports arena. The "northerner's" talk differently, act differently and a lot of them have no clue (other than inner city people) what it's like: to drive old cars (and fix your own), to go hunting / fishing, to bale hay or sucker/pick and box tomatoes, to have delapidated and outdated housing for a large number of people, to have schools as old as their grandparents, to have to live in "trailers" (or mobile homes as they call them), to not have every kid in school have a car, to not be able to go to the "mall" unless you have to travel 30 or more miles, to be able to drive your mini-bikes or golf carts around town with no fear of getting a ticket, to have a school small enough that you can really make "friends" and know everyone in the school, to have real neighbors who care (and who really know your name), to not have "police officer's" on duty every day of the year at your schools. I could go on and on but I think everyone get's my point. Some of the examples above are good and some are bad but I wouldn't trade my experiences in SEO & West Virginia for anything. When I was in the Marine Corps years ago people would ask me what part of VIRGINIA (West Virginia was in) and when asking about Ohio they'd want to know if it was closer to Cleveland or Cincinnati. The stereotypes will always persist but you just gotta consider the source and go forward. Let'em think what they want TRH, we know where we come from and where we're going. Have a great day !!!!!

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Great post!!