Gopher Teams’ Collapses Testing One Fan’s Psyche

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spermophilus

spermophilus

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(Posting on both Football and Basketball boards)

This epidemic of Gopher teams collapsing down the stretch is getting very, very, stale – and is testing the boundaries of my patience. I am an alum, and a life long, die-hard Gopher fan – an apologist, really. Yet, with the basketball team, here we are again - seeing a very promising and enthusiasm-building beginning of the season deconstruct into another kick-in-the-groin buzz kill. I have peripheral friends and acquaintances, who have always held back jumping into the deep end of Golden Gopher Fandom pool for exactly the kind of reasons we have seen just with “The Big Three” men’s sports just in 2008-2009 . . . . Fear of getting your investment of both energy and dreams crushed in the cruelest of ways. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jumping off the S.S. Goldy, but it’s damned hard to recruit new plebes that aren’t alums or otherwise predisposed to allegiance to the “Ol’ Maroon and Gold” (as proudly sung in the Minnesota March).

My solution ?!?!?!

Let’s Stop Playing After 2/3 of the Schedule is Done!!!!

To wit . . .

Would that be the case, our football team would have been at a .875 winning percentage (7-1) thru 8 of 12 games, our basketball team at a lusty .850 winning percentage (17-3) thru 20 of 30 scheduled games, and our hockey team at a .659 winning percentage (12-5-5, or 29 out of a possible 44 points)! A collective .770 winning percentage through 2/3 of the schedules played. Since hitting the 2/3-of-the-way mark: the football team went 0-4 (not counting the bowl game loss), the basketball team is 2-4, and the hockey team is 1-4-1, or a collective 3-12-1, or a collective .219 winning percentage. While of course the early parts of all three teams’ schedules contain “winnable” non-conference foes, you would expect – no, demand – that the second number is .500 or higher.

Let’s hear your thoughts, or other words of wisdom and healing for a bruised and battered loyalist in need of bucking up.

In Goldy We Trust
 

That about sums it up. Great post.
 

collegiate sports are to be a source of entertainment only. check your ego at the door and enjoy being a spectator - win or lose.
 

Chin up...

it's always rough sailing aboard the SS Goldy. Even in the calmest of seas I can always be seen looking for the black clouds that are sure to come. It comes with the territory. I've noticed a phenomenon that happens whenever the topic of the (in my case) the basketball Gophers comes up. I will use this year as an example. People in November ask me, the hopeless life long Gopher hoops junkie "hey, how are YOUR Gophers gonna be this year? Hey you gotta love Tubby, should be a fun year." After beating Louiville and climbing into the top 25 it became. "Man, THE Gophers are playing great, you must be having fun." Some that used to look at me with pity are now the slightest bit envious when it gets to be game night and they know I'm off to the Barn. This has lasted through...about the Indiana home game. Now the old looks return, now the questions are about YOUR Gophers. "Hey, Whats wrong with YOUR Gophers?" Yes, they are MY Gophers once again. Things are always better when they are "THE" Gophers and not "YOUR" Gophers. In summation, I have no advise or healing wounds, just enjoy the weather when it's calm, revel in the silver linings that appear all too infrequently. I've got a feeling better days are on the horizon.

(Of course in the back of my mind I know we will be dashed against the rocks and all suffer a horrible death. Have a great weekend!)

This reply is for Spermy, I screwed up on the "reply" thing.
 



Great advice from my father

It is during these times, when things get difficult, that I think back to some great advice my father gave me a long time ago. ... "Enjoy the journey."

As fans we get so caught up in the end goal (NCAA) that we don't allow ourselves to enjoy the thrill of the chase, yes, even the "downs" that go with it. That's part of the deal when you follow a particular team. We get frustrated and have times when we want to abandon ship, but we just can't do it. The bandwagoners come and go, they're a dime a dozen, but the staunch ones stick it out through thick and thin. That's what makes the "ups" more exhilirating and the "downs" more excruciating. ... the connection we feel isn't convenient or fleeting.

My father also passed along this poem to me (a lot of you of have probably seen it before), which seems apropos as the Gophers try to work their way out of their current doldrums. Gopher players & fans, remember, "Don't Quit", which is the name of the poem.

"When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must; but don't quit.

"Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

"Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

"Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit."
 

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