Let's Just Take a Breath (OT)

[Meeps]

5 hours ago, Grateful Dad said:

I have always hated Central State's fans.  Rude, immature, delusional.  Friends don't let friends go to UCiF.  I understand that.  But, I swear if you go back to the Central State's football message board during their last winless streak, you can read the same posts as we are reading here.  Without first hand information, people are filling in the information void with their own speculation and it spirals as others detect the blood in the water.  Fire this one, fire that one.  This young man sucks, this one has no talent.  This coach is too old to be any good.  Personal insults and ridicule leveled at our own people.  We are eating our young.  If I were a rival, I could find more ammunition to use against us reading this message board than I could ever think of myself.

I wonder why our fans watch our games (yeah, I know, not enough fans for our liking).  Is it like most of Florida, where most fans have never set foot on their chosen team's campus (or any campus, for that matter) but get to ridicule other fans because someone gave them a T-shirt?  Or is there a true emotional attachment to the university?

If one is thinking of the long term progress of USF, I think a different approach is warranted.  Just take a breath.  For those of us who have been watching this team for years, we can't forget the good times and the bad times.  Bad times fade upon the next success.  We should be able to absorb seasons that fall short of our expectations without losing our upbringing.  I sure would never insult a man to his face the way that some on here have done with the beloved anonymity that the internet affords.  I can't imagine reading those things were they written about me.

To be a good investor, one must be mature and have a long term view, not being thrown off track by a temporary setback.  Same here.  Stomping our feet, calling for the end of people's careers, wanting it all NOW - this is not the action of someone concerned about the long term health of our team, but rather of one who cares about their own immediate satisfaction.

Some hide their foot stomping behind "Well, I just have higher expectations than you (making me a better fan).  You suck as a fan if you:

1. Like RJS and don't think we should build an OCS right now without the money and a bunch of other needs not met
2. Don't stand the whole game
3. Don't go to every home game
4. Don't go to every away game
5. Don't stay to sing a song that no one knows the words to
6. Don't want to fire a coach with a winning record
7. Don't believe that every sports writer's biggest career moment is the opportunity to slam USF
8. Don't believe our ADs don't try to schedule major teams because of course, everyone want to play USF

I don't have the football acumen that many on here have.  So, I try to (and this may be foreign to some of you) enjoy my team's games realizing that we won't win them all.  I remember when there was no football at USF.  I remember the great years of sell out crowds and exciting plays.  I tore my MCL watching one game by jumping up every good play.

Remember, our expectations are not reality.  We don't play the game.  We don't coach the game.  We are consumers of entertainment.  When your team's performance affects your life so negatively, you might have to work to re-prioritize. But no matter your approach, you don't have the skin in the game that the players and coaches have.  If you make a bad call, if you call for other's firings, if you are just plain wrong, there are no consequences.  If some here were held to the same standards that they hold others to, there would be a lot of fired fans.  But since these fans know that they will not be held to the same standard, it is easy to be harsh and label it as "high expectations".

If you can't change your circumstances ( and we as fans can't), you must change your thinking.  Love your university and enjoy the entertainment that these kids and coaches are trying to provide you.  After all, it really isn't all about you.  Let's keep  our maturity and class.  Get through the storm with dignity.  But quit yer bitchin'.

Had me until you said USF, I think you meant University of West Central Florida Community College or UWCFCC for short. Lol