As I walk around Tallahassee in recent days, there is a buzz around town, an excitement that has not been there in some years. With the recent success surrounding FSU football, it has given the city of Tallahassee something to be proud of. However, I have noticed a growing trend that has been seen over the past few years. This trend has been the infiltration of other colleges memorabilia being sold at stores or malls throughout our fine city. It has outrage me to see local stores trying to profit off the buzz of the current hot college team rather than the hometown team. For example, come to Tallahassee and walk into any of the local Wal-Mart and you will see up front and center Florida merchandise and then FSU merchandise scattered throughout the apparel. Another one that I really enjoyed was at the Publix one minute from my house, they are selling their reusable grocery totes and are pushing to sell the Florida one that was draping over their credit card device. I don't mind businesses trying to make some money, but why insult the locals and only cater to the bandwagon fans that won't care about that team once they start to lose.
I was recently visiting my family in Gainesville and for some reason found myself in a major store at the mall. So I decided to see if they had this problem as we did in Tallahassee. Come to find out they did not, all orange and blue Florida stuff all over the place and not a sign of FSU merchandise. This made me pretty upset to think about my local town of Tallahassee and how they could disrespect our teams. I have to give Gainesville props for not letting monetary profit turn their back on their local team, even during tough times.
Tallahassee has always had two local college teams: Florida A&M and Florida State University. And the two have coexisted wonderfully over many years because they are not competitors. Last I checked University of Florida was at least 140 miles away and should not have any relevance in this town. So I am calling for the locals of Tallahassee, who love their local school(s), to support their team and ask their local retailers to get rid of the junk with other school's names on it and reclaim this town. If they want they merchandise they can order it online or head to their place of business. This is Seminole country and this town is extremely proud of them and we want them to know that we are behind them and not a bandwagon fan.
