Take a Step Back...Please

[Yosefus]

So your telling me there is a chance?

[APP93]

We are definitely fine. We have no shot at a NY6 like some kept talking about, which made our board look crazy. Even if GSU does not lose a game a 10-2 or 11-1 finish is still a very good season. We need to hope for a GSU loss but if we could somehow win out we still had a great season. I think we had some who have become so invested in being ranked and going to a NY6 instead of just worrying about each opponent. Because of that many are in panic because it is either that or bust in their minds. As long as we don't lose the next two games there is no reason to worry. Hopefully our coaches and players fight hard the next few weeks because we can still have a special season.

No, it does not make our board look crazy. It makes it look like a fan board. I am so sick of seeing fans being lectured on here for not being the right kind of fan. Every one of us has our own life with our own worries and concerns. Nobody should be lectured if they have to leave early or not go to the game at all. Nobody should be lectured if they want to talk about what might be. All of this is supposed to be fun. Part of the fun is getting excited about what could be and talking about it. Whether we, as fans, worry about the next opponent is completely irrelevant. We can think about the next game or the last game or the Texas A&M game in 2022 or where we are going to dinner after the game and it makes not one bit of difference to how the team performs. Some folks seem so wrapped up in trying to tell other fans how to behave and what to think that I wonder if they are enjoying any of this at all. This is a fan board. Just let fans be fans.

Amen!!!

[appchicago]

The mercurial, feast-or-famine nature of this board is a lot to handle sometimes. It’s certainly true of all fan boards, and maybe true of message boards and other semi-anonymous online communication in general. Either everything’s perfect or the sky is falling. No gray area.

But this weekend alone, there was a ton of gray area. SMU lost, we lost, and Cincinnati was in very real danger of losing to a bad ECU team. San Jose State made Boise work for their win as well.

So let’s say we ended up with better weather and a properly motivated team playing closer to potential. They close that 3 point gap and a little more and we end up with a W instead of an L. Let’s say also that one of a thousand things in close, high scoring games bounces ECU or SJSU’s way, clearing out Boise and Cincy. All of a sudden it’s us still in the conversation alongside Memphis, Navy, etc.

San Diego State made it back into the polls this week. They lost to a Utah State team that is in no way better than GaSo. SDSU didn’t even play this week. Their last game was a 3 point win over UNLV. Their best resume point is a win over a VERY inconsistent UCLA early in the season. But their clunker loss happened in September rather than damn-near-November. So they’re in the polls and we got 5 votes.

This is all a game of inches. We were maybe one underthrown pass or one blown assignment away from being in this thing. That’s not an excuse. We are where we are. But if the difference between “Cotton Bowl! We want ‘Bama! How are we ever gonna keep Drink?!” and “We suck! Fire em all! No discipline!” is that slim, what the hell are we doing?

Enthusiasm doesn’t make us look crazy. But there are a lot of folks who could stand to engage in some basic level-setting from time to time.

Thanks for the thread.

[appstatealum]

The board has become a little edgy. You are bound to offend or spark someone with every comment. I try not to get stirred up with everyone’s comments because most of us are passionate fans who are coming on here to vent because this is probably the largest collection of App fans all in the same place. It should be OK to post what you want, with obvious guardrails (God Bless America), and if people get riled up, skip over the thread. I think we can all agree, WE ALL BLEED BLACK AND GOLD.

Love you guys!