Who is sadder this week….. a hard-core daffy Duck fan or an equally hard-core Wolfpack fan? There are numerous other examples one could use to compare the risks of making an emotional investment is a sports program.
Is it better to jump on board the what-if / maybe train as it leaves the station in early September…… and be derailed in ensuing weeks by the unforgiving fates who control injuries, bounces and referees. ……. or to give sparingly of heart and soul, better to dodge the slings and arrows of extreme fandom ???
I prefer to imagine that the vast majority of readers of this website have a majority of their toes anchored to dry land and forever remain well within sight of reality’s shore. Your investment in the on-field success of your program of choice is no more than relative pocket change however you measure that. I certainly hope so.
Several weeks ago I saw a headline on a national sports website following South Carolina’s come from behind OT win over Missouri. The Missouri placekicker who missed a chipshot in OT was subjected to vile castigation in a few tweets and on Mizzou’s version of a monkey board….. where their sickos gather. Judging from the headline one might assume there was a groundswell of anger that had turned the streets of Columbia MO into a killing ground. …… Nope, just a handful of pathetic goobers being pathetic.
A Chicken Little sports media making something outta nuthin’…… as usual.
This past Saturday night, I visited WRAL.com for their story on what had happened that afternoon over at The Wally. There were posted comments from five separate Wuff “fans” regarding Debbie Yow that were so vile they would make Richie Incognito blush. I don’t know how long those obscene spews were allowed to remain in public view, but every second they were up was an embarrassment to WolfpackNation.
Had I visited a similar site following ECU’s dismembering of UNC earlier in the season, I’m sure I would have seen Carolina’s Lunatic Fringe version of the same twisted mentality.
Another WRAL headline prior to the Fedorians embarking on their current three game win streak screamed “UNC Giving Up On Fedora?”. “UNC” doing WHAT? According to WRAL.com, the sicko spews of a handful of cross-eyed nitwits merited official reporting that Larry Fedora’s job was in danger. It wasn’t.
A Chicken Little sports media making something outta nuthin’…… as usual.
I’m sure there were very daffy Duck fans en fuego following the crashing and burning of Oregon’s season on Thursday night at the hands of Stanford. The expectations of Oregon fans have been so elevated over the past few years that going 11-1 and playing in a “real bowl game” is now under-achieving…… not unlike a Roy Williams or Mike Krzyzewski team being outed in the Elite Eight.
Recalling the jackass Carolina fan who leaned over the railing in St Louis to yell to Roy as he took the court to play Illinois for the National Championship in March 2005…… “Don’t let us down, Roy”. If I would cut Ol’ Roy slack for one of his patented “Roy did WHATs?” that was it.
Is it an either/or that your choices as a fan are to invest heart & soul in the outcome of “games” with your mental stability on-the-line…. or to enthusiastically support said team within the context of each individual competition…. resuming your real world role within an hour or so of games-end?
I’ve asked a number of former college athletes how long it takes them to “recover” from watching their team of choice lose a tough game. The longest period I’ve heard is “an hour or so” with the norm being “about 30 minutes”.
The specific circumstances of the game in question might factor into the “few minutes versus an hour or so” but all agree the agony of defeat is quickly dissipated. Alas, for the cross-eyed goober faction, disappointment is a chosen way of life.
With The Football Gods now busy writing the final chapters on this 2013 Season, the lofty expectations of August are well-tempered with the realities of November. For local programs, the expectations were never all that lofty. Which I consider a good thing.
Duke has exceeded last season’s giddy “Yippee, we’re going to a bowl!” experience with “Yippee, we’re going to another bowl!” Judging from the usual weak Wally turn-out for “a rival game” I’d say the lofty spire of Duke Chapel is not teetering from the seismic shock of Duke now being a legitimately competitive college football program.
“Amid the pines” the progression from September to mid-November has been in a decidedly positive direction. The always predictable return of fickle Tar Heel bandwagoners has been noted. The positive outcome at The Carter was a healing balm to the wounds inflicted by marauding Pirates several weeks earlier.
With the stars aligning that a November 30 encounter with Cutcliffe’s Juggernaut could mean Shreveport or no Shreveport for the Fedorians….. the majority of bandwagoners will likely withhold their full support so as to not be caught “embarrassed” by their blind allegiance to a false prophet.
The Heels’ success in November HAS officially exterminated the last remaining Bring Back Butch cockroaches…. we hope. Hallelujah!
Dawbers are definitely down on The Brickyard. The mathematics of breaking even are still in play but don’t bet the 401-K on it. Dave Who From Where has learned that with a lofty salary come lofty expectations and patience is not a virtue to be found in such circumstance.
IMO, gambling with high-risk play calls is commendable….. but the verdict from the cross-eyed and constipated crowd is not so favorable. Efforts to link DeVon Edwards to Fats Thomas, John Swofford or Julius Nyang’oro have not yielded any fruit YET but determined wuff-loons will keep searching.
With State & Carolina on-field fortunes going in opposite directions, that impact on impressionable youth in North Carolina high schools remains to be seen and felt. Going to be a no giggles and grins, nose-to-the-grindstone off-season at The Murphy Center.
The pressures of lofty expectations would seem to be weighing heavy upon Dave as one might expect. Meanwhile back in DeKalb, life is quite good.
Wuff marketing gurus have cancelled “Our State” billboard campaigns in the Triad and Triangle metro areas. A tentative schedule “east of I-95” is on-hold for the time being. The go-no-go on that to be determined in two weeks.
To paraphrase Coach Logan…. “Sports marketing folks should not write checks that their teams can’t cash”. OUCH!
Regardless, the likelihood of a new mid-field logo at The Carter to greet visiting Pirate loyalists is pretty much assured…… right Frau?
Champagne wishes and caviar dreams in Eugene, Lubbock and Baton Rogue have given way to that unforgiving bitch called Reality.
“Bring Back John Blake” signs sprouting in Norman! Naah, just kidding with that. There IS one “Bring Back Bud or Barry or even Chuck Fairbanks” sign however.
In Gainesville, pitchforks and nooses are selling fast as empty seats at The Swamp bode unwell for Camp Muschamp.
In Waco the giddiness flows like the Brazos after a frog-strangler…. but speedbumps loom.
Mack dodged another bullet but asbestos underwear is still recommended. Teasippers still in limbo….. while Aggies say bye bye to Eddie Haskell.
In Columbia MO, the Show-Mes have forgiven that kicker, sort of, and dream of New Years on Bourbon Street.
In Tuscaloosa, Nick is still King and Katherine & Dee Dee are still camera magnets…. but a War Eagle awaits at Toomers Corner.
On The Farm at Palo Alto, 10,000 Chinese savants say “what’s an Elway”?
On the banks of The Olentangy, Urban just keeps on winning but nobody much cares.
Maybe the best place to be this year is Minneapolis. BobLee Buddy “Phineas” Teague’s Golden Gophers are the toast of The Twin Cities. Gopher gear is selling fast at Mall Of The Americas. Gophers giddy about going to a real bowl in a city …… where Ruby Tuesday’s is not “our fancy restaurant”. Go Gophers Go! Murray Warmath Lives!
November marches onward towards December…….
