In furtherance of Dinsdale's and JayDuck's threads

[Terry in Crapchester]

Both of those threads brought up an interesting topic, and one which transcends the particular game being discussed in those theads. How well do you handle it when your team loses? In that regard . . .

My name is Terry, and I have a problem.

Oh, it isn't quite as bad as it used to be. When ND lost to Miami 58-7 in '85, I actually spent a few days afterward trying to figure out a way I could get close enough to Jimmy Johnson to cold-cock him, without getting caught. I wouldn't do that now. So time and maturity have helped in this regard, but only to a certain point.

And JayDuck mentioned wanting to change for his kid. That goes for me as well, and there are things you'll do or tolerate for your kids that you'd never do for anyone else. Because of them, and because of work responsibilities, I've managed to shave my pissed-off time down to about a day and a half or so. But my kids know enough to give me a pretty wide berth for the rest of the weekend when ND loses.

Thing is, there's really no other sport which does this to me. I get pissed off for about an hour or two if ND loses a basketball game, but that's about it. Doesn't affect my mood in the least if ND loses in any other sport. And no pro sports results piss me off either.

It's gotten to the point where I've even thought of quitting following college football, cold turkey. Like that'll ever happen. In the interests of full disclosure, doubtless that at least part of the reason why I support a 16-team playoff is self-interest. In that event, a single loss would no longer be fatal to your season, so perhaps I could take a slightly more sane approach to losses.

So, I'm wondering how the other members of the board deal with a loss by your team? And what can I do to better cope with a loss, short of quitting following college football and/or hoping that the powers that be in BTPCF come to their senses eventually?

[TheJON]

I usually beat the shit out of my little brother. Do you have a younger brother or one you can kick the snot out of? If so, I would do that.

[Mr T]

OOC game or ACC game....takes me a couple of hours to get over a loss
Miami game....depends on how we lose. Some I have still yet to get over, like those wide rights they like to show every year...I got zero to :brad: in no time.
gaytor game....fucking would rather get stabbed with a rusty spoon than lose to those jort wearing mullet having sister fuckers.

[SunCoastSooner]

My freshman year we were 5-6... the year I graduated we were national champs.

I used to take it much more seriously than I do now. I have had some experiences now in life that give me a lot of perspective on the fact it is just game. I will be upset for a a small perios of time after a loss but within minutes I can smile when thinking about the bigger picture of life.

OU lost tonight but I had a blast. I got to be with great people and have an awesome time, before, during, and after.

[M Club]

i started placing michigan games within the context of the big picture just as soon as i realized we weren't that good.

[Van]

Face it, Terry...

And this goes for all of us...

"We are who we thought we were!"

We can try to mindfuck ourselves into pretending we're not upset, but we're lying, and we know we're lying.

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

Terry,
I don't have any advice for you at all, because I'm the same fucking way. When CU loses, at the very least the rest of my day is ruined, and depending on who they lost to and the importance of the game, the depression can extend for a couple days. My sister's birthday party is tonight, so I'm hoping to G0D that the Buffs win, or I'll just be a grumpy, petulant, mopey son of a bitch (surrounded by a bunch of Husker fans, no less). All I can say is that at least it goes the other way too. When your team actually wins a big game or (god willing) a national championship, it's the greatest feeling in the world. I've never had a kid (knock wood) or been married, but I can't imagine anything coming remotely close to the pure joy I felt when Rocket Ismail's punt return got called back on a clip in January '91 (sorry buddy), or when Kordell completed that Hail Mary in '94, or when Chris Brown and Bobby Purify ran all over Nebraska in '01. At least you get to enjoy those moments a helluva lot more than the "casual fans" who don't get all emotionally invested in the exploits of a bunch of 18- to 22-year-olds they've never met. Fuckin' suckers have no idea what they're missing...

[SunCoastSooner]

I've found that a near-death experience can do wonders for your sense of perspective, for this and everything else.

If you're joking not so funny from my perspective. If you're not I agree. Having cancer is what turned my outlook on on the games and life in general around. Win or lose I'm just thankful that I still get to see the games and the sport itself each Saturday still.

I actually thought this was a good topic when I saw this after I got in late Saturday night because just a few hours previous I was standing in front of a stage with an awesome small time band playing (The Zoo from somewhere in New York) and an attractive blond grinding on me in just in front and could only think how just a few years ago I would have gone home and wanted to brake shit after such a performance by Oklahoma... instead I was smiling and having a blast with friends and a hot chick. Guess what... the sun still came up Sunday morning and the blond was asking me if I wanted Starbucks or breakfast. :)

[Van]

Oh yeah? I'm older and more experienced than I was in early '06, and I'm still highly irritated by the Texas game.

[Moby Dick]

i take the good with the bad when it comes to the Sooners.

i quit being over confident when we got stomped by USC. I still try to put my friends in check when it comes to OU...but they still have this blind confidence that we're going to win every one, and if we dont they take the shit personally and want everyone fired. I have one friend i just quit watching games with cause he'd punch holes in his house.

what gets me most is...i refuse to talk shit when it comes to OU football (besides the fun on here). Mostly cause , it's BOUND to bite me in the ass. and when we DO lose...they come out of the woodwork to let me know about it. I'll talk shit with the best of them when it comes to the over-all history of the program..but when it comes to week to week games...forget it.

For a while i thought my wife was the badluck. we had sex for the first time before the OU/KSU big XII champ game...we lost.

she met my friends for the first time when OU played USC...we lost. my boy was born and a few days later we lost to Texas. my boy had his first bday and we lost to Colorado etc...

yea i'm happy with the wins..but with the losses i'm pissed for the day..and i'm quick to get over em.

[War Wagon]

I have one friend i just quit watching games with cause he'd punch holes in his house.

Moby, that was sooo 10 years ago. I swear I haven't put any new holes in my drywall since KC lost to Dungver in the 1997 playoffs.... which was right near the hole I had patched after they lost to Indy in the 1995 playoffs.

So, I'm cool now. Drop on by for some brews anytime.

Seriously, you can patch holes in your drywall but the empty feeling you have after another gut wrenching loss in a big game never goes away.

[Moby Dick]

I have one friend i just quit watching games with cause he'd punch holes in his house.

Moby, that was sooo 10 years ago. I swear I haven't put any new holes in my drywall since KC lost to Dungver in the 1997 playoffs.... which was right near the hole I had patched after they lost to Indy in the 1995 playoffs.

i remember that game in 95. watched it at MO's house, they gave me shit for wearing a DeBerg jersey.

[Cuda]

Oh, it isn't quite as bad as it used to be. When ND lost to Miami 58-7 in '85, I actually spent a few days afterward trying to figure out a way I could get close enough to Jimmy Johnson to cold-cock him, without getting caught. I wouldn't do that now. So time and maturity have helped in this regard, but only to a certain point.

werd. although if Hawkins loses to fucking Wyoming on my motherfucking birthday, I cannot guarantee that I won't plot to stalk him like a mugger does a central park jogger and fucking choke him into the nether world with my bare hands

[Q, West Coast Style]

My most regrettable moments as a college football fan:

1989: Half time of my soccer game as a kid in Oregon. I went to my parent's car in the parking lot to check the score of the Oregon/BYU game. The game was close and I was so tense about the game that I stayed in the car to listen to the radio and refused to play in the second half of my soccer game. (Oregon lost at BYU but would avenge the loss a year later at Autzen.)

1989: Same year (must have been hormones ore something): Oregon driving for potential game winning score against Huskies. Duck reveiver fumbled after a catch sealing Husky win. I stomped my radio into bits.

1996: Student at WSU. Cougs blow 21-3 lead against USC. After the game I spot John Robinson walking in the breezway between the stadium and locker rooms. I launch into a tirade about him being a fat piece of shit along with other words. I then fled the renta cops. (Yes I was wasted.)

2003: Wazzu at Notre Dame. Cougs blow 19-3 halftime lead and lose in overtime. Leaving the stadium I walk by a group of ND fans celebrating. They were just happy, weren't talking trash or anything. (In fact the fans at ND were great. Some of the best I've ever been around. Which makes my actions all the worse.) As I walked by I yelled at them, "Yeah, well at least we don't rape little boys." (Yes I was wasted.)

[GreginPG]

All I ask for is a wide berth when USC loses. Oh, and don't tell me (in the heat of the moment right after the game) that it's just a game. Yeah, I know it's just a fucking game. Just don't tell me that cuz at that moment, it's not. It's everything. I'm usually good after a few hours, more or less. I'll quietly stew about it for a few days and won't listen to any kind of sports talk radio.

[JayDuck]

Like I said in my thread, I don't want my daughter to see me moping around. She's too young to understand the 'why' of it, and really even if she did its a shitty rationale for me being anything other than happy anytime I get to spend time with her. Its not always easy to snap out of it, but I just force myself to act like it no matter how I feel, in front of my daughter. The nice thing is that it really just takes a few minutes of pretending to be in a good mood with my daughter to really put the game behind me.

If its just me and my wife around, I stew about it a little longer, since she's been used to it and accepting of it for years before we ever got pregnant.

The most annoying thing about bad losses/moments for me is dealing with people that really don't follow the sports much. Case in point after the Thursday debacle, I go into work and the owner of the company wants to talk about the game...now let me tell you about my boss. He's an Israeli that really only cares about soccer. Doesn't watch football at all, except for an occasional pro game and the superbowl. But his son is just starting this year at the U of O, so he watched Thursday's game. While I certainly understand that was a shocking first game to witness, you can only imagine the shit I had to sit through the next day of this guy who literally doesn't know the first thing about football trying to talk about a game that I just wanted to forget. On top of it all, being the owner of the company, I couldn't really just call him out for not knowing jack shit. I just had to sit there and smile...

Now that was torture. If it wasn't for my new found post-game serenity methods I may have lost my job last week.

[War Wagon]

I don't want my daughter to see me moping around.

She hasn't been properly indoctrinated yet.

When your daughter is more passionate about your team than even you are... that's when you know you've been a good Dad.

[Van]

Or...your daughter is fucking players on the team.

[Danimal]

There are times I get some damn mad I just gotta change the channel and watch a different game. The little woman can only listen to so much ranting.

[Terry in Crapchester]

I've found that a near-death experience can do wonders for your sense of perspective, for this and everything else.

If you're joking not so funny

If you think JSC is joking about this, you don't know him very well at all. JSC probably has had more near-death experiences than the rest of this board combined.

Or...your daughter is fucking players on the team.

We're talking about Wags' daughter, so I don't think there's much chance of that.

OTOH, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Missou players were hitting her up for advice on how to be more masculine.

[indyfrisco]

I used to take it much more seriously than I do now. I have had some experiences now in life that give me a lot of perspective on the fact it is just game. I will be upset for a a small perios of time after a loss but within minutes I can smile when thinking about the bigger picture of life.

OU lost tonight but I had a blast. I got to be with great people and have an awesome time, before, during, and after.

^^^ RACK ^^^

While I have not had really bad experiences to put things in perspective, I just grew up. It's a game. I am upset after a loss for a few minutes and then go back to life. Now...during the game I can become an enraged asswipe, but as soon as it is over, it's over.

[Cuda]

Or...your daughter is fucking players on the team.

We're talking about Wags' daughter, so I don't think there's much chance of that.

OTOH, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Missou players were hitting her up for advice on how to be more masculine.

Depends on which team you're talking about. If it's the softball team, chances are pretty good she's fucking them

[JayDuck]

This guy seems relevent to this discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW1bJeqYdG0