The usual cast of characters are in mid season form. Let's see, our QB is not elusive enough. Our kicker doesn't kick it into the end zone. Our WR's are never open. Our opponents suck. We can't score a TD every time against a FCS team. Our OL blows. The backup QB's need to run the "regular" offense. We suck when we are ranked. The coaches aren't creative. Let's hope we are not favored against Duke. The QB throws into coverage. The freshman are uninterested. The opponents make terrible calls.
For a bunch of alleged smart people, there is no shortage of space on the clown car. You want some credibility? Then be balanced with your comments instead just expected us non-alums to take it at face value that you are smart due to your sheepskin.
Non-alum here as well, PPD. I'll just toss in my two cents. First of all, these
are some incredibly smart people - sheepskin or not. I think what you're seeing is the natural pessimism that most fans - unless you're a fan of the Harlem Globetrotters - tend to have, as the "expect the worst and hope for the best" mindset opens you up to a lot less heartbreak than if you hadn't realistically allowed for the possibility of things going south. And in our particular situation, you have to remember what many of us long-timers have been through . . . what we've borne witness to has been HISTORICALLY bad; bad beyond belief.
It's probably similar, sportingwise, to someone who's lived through the Depression - even after that was long over and times were better, many of those folks remained, shall we say, extremely guarded with their money; it had been ingrained in them by their experiences. Even fast-forwarding to the modern version of the program, in the last few years we've managed to end Duke's epic losing streak, lose to New Hampshire AND succumb to the greatest comeback in NCAA history (and ALL of
those were at home, on top of it
). Our good friend Wrassler could probably expound on this, but the pessimism you're seeing is, I imagine, a sort of defense mechanism against the inevitable pain that comes with being a fan. And, since so
much has gone so
wrong, so many
times with our program that -- E-Cat's admirable optimism aside -- it's kind of natural to expect something to blow up, just when it looks like it won't. We may not be a
huge fan base, but the ones who
are here have certainly paid a lot of dues, and deserve to see good things happen with our program. Given our history, though, it just gets a little dicey to start EXPECTING things to go our way. THAT'S the mindset that both Fitz and Chris Collins are trying to change, and I personally believe both will be successful at doing just that. Some of our posters are more optimistic than they're letting on; I don't think expectations have ever been higher.
