Nice little nugget from Bob's Blog on being a fan

[tyke1doe]

You are right, it's a choice but in order not to feel crushed when the team loses, you have to give up some of the elation when they win. Everything has a price.

If you're playing the game you should experience the full range of emotions but if you are watching someone else play for a team you are not part of, you need to exercise control over your emotions from the start otherwise you're setting yourself up for an inevitable disaster over something you had no control over or influence upon.

People need to learn to put themselves first and take mcare of their own feelings because the teams certainly aren't going to - they hagve their own problems.

Translation: People need to get a life or a better perspective on life.
Yes, be a fan. Be upset if your team wins or loses. But hopefully you have enough of a life to realize that whether the Cowboys win and lose that's not one of life's most important things.

I can say before I was married and had children, and before the Cowboys won Super Bowls, I was more emotional about loses. I never cried or anything, but I recall the Leon Lett Thanksgiving Day blunder left me without an appetite. I just went to my childhood room (was at my parent's house) and went to sleep.

But as I started to discover more important things in life (and having tasted victory vicariously through the 92, 93 and 95 Super Bowl wins), I've become better balanced in how I handle wins and loses.

 

[kmd24]

I played in the WSOP main event in 06' have you ever played in it?

I don't specialize in tournaments, so no. I usually play during tourneys, though, because the action is often very good. Tourney players tend to be awful in cash games.

 

[yimyammer]

I don't specialize in tournaments, so no. I usually play during tourneys, though, because the action is often very good. Tourney players tend to be awful in cash games.

Yes sir, I think I add to that statistic, but my tight play keeps me out of trouble (but shrinks my max win). The cash games were great in Vegas at this years WSOP. I won every time I sat down and I don't have much cash game experience (more of a tourney specialist). I get pegged as a tight *** pretty quick and then I steal unmercifully. When I finally get caught, the table goes ballistic in shock.

 

[ejthedj]

Thank you, Bob

If only most of Cowboys fans felt the same way

 

[SultanOfSix]

When I was a young boy, I cried after watching the '81 NFC championship game between the 49ers and the 'Boys after "The Catch", and I remember yelling at the TV that he was out of bounds. My mom ran into the room and asked why I was crying because it's only a game. That is my first 'Boys memory.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Though I understand why fans feel the way they do after losses, I don't choose to feel that way. I'm just happy to have a team that I love to watch compete. If they win, it's a great rush, but if they lose, oh well, try again next time.

There's no glory in causing yourself anguish in the name of fanhood. You feel how you choose to feel.

Amen, kmd. That's exactly how I am.

I always think of how Parcells whined about how the losses hurt so much more than the wins felt good, about how he had "no mental defense".

Well, you don't have to feel that way. In fact, it's possible to be just the opposite. When we win, I love to celebrate and listen to the accolades and feel great all week. When we lose, I hate it -- but I also keep it in perspective, get over it, and look forward to the next week.

It's possible to be disappointed but to still see the big picture, which in this case is that there's a game next week and we're still in the playoff hunt. We haven't had a truly miserable year since 2004, when the team quit in the second half of the season. Now that was bad. As is the last game of the year every year when there's no Cowboys football for another six months.

But most of the time, losing is not that bad. Unlike that little boy Bob wrote about, adults should have some emotional control and toughness. When you get knocked down in football, what do you do? Whine and cry and pout and throw a tantrum? No, you get up, brush yourself off, and go at it again, knowing full well that you might get knocked down the next play, too. But you don't quit.

Sometimes I'm surprised that message board fans don't reflect the actual game more than they do.