Football insanity

by TheElusiveShadow on Aug 4, 2008 3:21 PM CDT

I'm looking oh so forward to the upcoming season, but I also sort of dread the emotional roller coaster it may bring. If we beat OU and Mizzou, we'll all dare to hope to win out and get into the national title game... but then we have to go to Lubbock, to Lawrence, OSU always seems to bother us, and A&M would love nothing more to ruin our season. If we beat OU and Missouri and drop a game here... I'd be pretty devastated due to yet another close-but-no-cigar season. I remember how depressed I was in '06 when Colt went down against K-state and we lost. Brutal.

If, however, we lose to either OU and Mizzou, we'll be holding out hope for at least an at-large BCS bid, and once again, tensions will rise as teams in the Big 12 will try to knock us down a peg. Conceivably, even a loss here wouldn't rule us out of the national title race., which again just creates high hopes that can come crashing down.

If we lost to both... then I can see myself exceedingly nervous that the season will be a pretty rough one. If Texas fans aren't satisfied with 10 win seasons, then only winning 8 or 9 (or, gulp, seven) will be pretty tough to swallow. It'll make my fall semester pretty miserable and I can see myself in a sour mood most of the time. I'll be watching games all wound up, trying to will the young players to grow up and the team to come together to give me hope for the future.

And some may wonder why I, and other football fans, endure such craziness. People have told me that they are glad they are not Texas fans, because they don't have to go through all the emotional nuttiness that they've seen me and others go through. They may have a point.... but then I remember that legendary game on Jan. 4, 2006. I wasn't even close to born when Texas won their title in 1970, but the culture of the fans have taken the 35 years of absence with great pain and pride, which was passed on to me as well. Perhaps I'm only speaking through a silly, young person's perspective, but I imagine all the heartache and near misses of those three and half decades were washed away when Texas defeated USC in arguably the greatest football game of all-time. It was worth it when hope had all but faded and Longhorn fans around the country were silent watching Tarell Brown and Michael Griffin lay on the grass, watching the defense with their heads down on the sideline, watching USC players chant "Short-horns" and flash our legendary sign upside-down... but then watching the stalwart #10 rally the troops for the most glorious six minutes and forty-two seconds a football team can muster. Watching the defense respond to Mack's challenge, "You make one stop, and you'll win the national championship," by stuffing the force that was LenDale White and the USC offensive line. And then, when everything was on the line, watching the unflappable Vince Young walk into the corner of the endzone as if he was taking an afternoon stroll in a park. In less than seven minutes gametime, Longhorn fans went from despair to unbridled joy.

Again, I was not alive to remember all the pain and misery Longhorn fans endured for so long. But I think I have some idea... and I think that that game made it all worth it. Thus, if football is a game of disappointment, heartbreak, and bitterness, it is also a game of exhiliration, of teamwork, and of victory. I'm not saying following a team isn't worth it unless it produces a championship. I don't believe that. But with the lows come times of victory and jubilation, and whenever I wonder why the heck I put myself through that every year, I remember that night on Jan. 4, when there wasn't anything much better in the world than being a Longhorn fan.

This year may be rough. I don't know. But I'm going to proud of those guys who play their guts out and I'm going to be proud to support my team. If we are so greedy to share in their times of celebration, we should also, as true fans, be there in their low times. If the emotions are hard on us, I'm sure it is much worse on them.

Win or lose... Hook'em. Bring this "tough schedule" of 2008 on.

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Well said, sir

As one who HAS been around all those years, let me say that my love for the team comes not from the occasional championship, but from the tantalizing possibility each year the stars may line up and the team will make a championship run. Win or lose, it’s the chase that provides the thrills. If we give it a good shot and come up short, so be it. Next year may be different.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Aug 4, 2008 11:54 PM CDT 0 recs

Don't fear the dread. It's your ticket.

There is a rule in play here; really, an equation.

Your pain will be the inverse of the emotional investment. Sometimes with an exponential component.

If you’re fully vested, you can experience a lot of pain at thresholds you might never have realized. Hormones, environment and alcohol are all multipliers in this respect.

EX: If some fast cat SC DB had come out of nowhere to hit VY as he ran for final TD and not only stopped him, but forced a fumble through the end zone giving the ball – and game – to SC, you’d still be hurting and would be looking at decades of a similar pain. You can get a little used to it but you don’t out grow it. It’s like the love of your life leaves you at the last second when you absolutely trusted and love her to the max. That kinda pain. Very personal.

That being said, there is an enduring part to one’s relationship with Texas football. As Caradoc notes, there’s always a next year.

I’ve actually used this with a friend of mine who became suicidal and would call me out of desperation and frustration, usually late at night, always wanting to be talked out of something rash even though he’d never admit.

He was a damn good friend, always, but had his heart broken in love, just shattered, and could never put it together. H became a serious alcoholic.He was a brilliant lawyer who saw his drinking buddies, also fine lawyers, die young in their 30s as a result of their self indulgence. He knew the truth: his behavior was suicidal, just slower than the fast options he was always presenting. I never took those threats seriously. I told him the truth – I didn’t let him off the hook – but I never abandoned him either like everyone else in his life. He didn’t live where I lived at those time, so such a situation never got to that point.

My friend had one of the great outbursts I’ve ever heard after a Texas loss, but i’m sure y’all may have heard more. After a particularly galling loss to OU, he destroyed thousands of dollars worth of furniture in his home. That was funny at first, but really incredibly stupid before long…and yet I knew exactly how he felt. I’ve felt the impulse after a heartbreaking loss, like the Georgia game in the Cotton Bowl, or to Stanford scoring 60+ or the same to OU. Serious anger at the whole situation, the kind where you don’t wanna see anyone until it goes away on its own and you can come to grips with it.

Of course, dancing your hysterical butt off on Guadalupe can be the other side of the equation. And that’s what you do know (if you survive long enough), all these extremes will pretty much balance out. Take big advantage of the great ones. You’ll need ‘em later.

For my friend in dire straits, my final entreaty was always.”you’re gonna miss the f*ckin’ season. You know, we’re gonna whip OU’s ass. Too bad you’re dead ass won’t see.”

This story, this life ended well. He met a woman who not only put up with him, but loved him regardless of all his failures and destructiveness, his seemingly utter addiction, still an amazing thing to witness. He provided well for her kids but never had any of his own. Then a grandchild came to them to raise and in that grandchild he found the strength to walk away from the powerful elements of addiction. He gave it up for love, just like he got into it in the first place. Things can balance out.

And for us, it’s a special wonder that that child will be a Longhorn fan, for one of the deep and abiding loves my friend has to share is his love for the Texas Longhorns.

So, there’s always the twinge of dread in the early season expectations and even more if the wins pile up, and the NC feels closer and closer. If you love the Horns, it’s always going to be that way. It’s a hell of a ride because you will get thrown off occasionally.

by whills on Aug 5, 2008 2:03 AM CDT 7 recs

holy shit dude

That is by far the coolest thing I have read today, thanks!

by TX HOCKEY! on Aug 5, 2008 12:38 PM CDT 0 recs

i second that

made my day too….............

"Nobody leaves this field until we beat the hell out of them".................... L.J."Louis"Jordan in 1913 before kickoff of the Texas/ou game.

by ouALWAYSsux on Aug 6, 2008 10:10 AM CDT up 0 recs

Thanks to Shadow for the post that inspired mine.

And we’re just affirming for the younger fans this is a long term love affair.

Hook ‘em.

by whills on Aug 6, 2008 12:41 PM CDT up 0 recs

Win the Big 12 South

That is a worthy goal for this year, and we don’t have to beat any of the North teams during the regular season to do it. Of course, it still involves beating OU, but what else is new.

Aside from winning the South, I just want to see the ‘Horns play, win or lose, with killer instinct and flexibility all year.

by a0nyme on Aug 5, 2008 3:37 PM CDT 0 recs

I don't think that is possible

Someone else could lose to texas in that scenario, win the rest of their conference games, and then take the South Division title b/c they have a better record in conference than texas’ three losses.

by Beergut on Aug 5, 2008 7:48 PM CDT up 0 recs

VERY TRUE

I was 8 years old and devastated when our 30 game winning streak ended against Notre Freakin Dame Jan 1971. As a child, I thought we’d never lose.
So yes, the peaks do even out the valleys, like sitting in the stands watching us lose to Baylor 50-7 in 1989 or getting your heart ripped out against Georgia (10-9).
Jan. 4th, 2006 did in fact wash away much of 1984-1997, and makes us older types appreciate Mack, but 4 or 5 more Big 12 and one more National Title wouldn’t hurt either!

by Longhorn90 on Aug 5, 2008 7:26 PM CDT 0 recs

Amen

I was in the Cotton Bowl with the loss to Georgia, I remember “Route 66”... and OU hanging 60+ twice on us too. I watched Texas lose in the Cotton Bowl to Notre Dame when Earl was a senior, and I remember the drubbing Miami gave us in our ill fated Bowl Game with them. All of those games brought misery

I also remember James Street and the “Game of the Century” in Fayetteville; Texas playing Auburn and putting Bo Jackson out of the game with a big hit. I also remember beating a Nebraska team in the inaugural Big XII championship game when we weren’t supposed to be able to do so. Also there is Vince and the 2005 Rose Bowl through the MNC Game on Jan. 4th 2006. It does balance out… and if I had to do all over again I would do so in heartbeat.

Oh and Shadow, you don’t have a silly young person’s perspective… you are right that period of late 2004 and into 2005 leading up to the victory over USC made up for all the heartbreakers in the past. There will be more heartbreakers… maybe one or more this season, but… there will be the magic again too. After all “We’re Texas”. Thanks for the posts Shadow and Whills

1 Peter 2:17

by HornsFan87 on Aug 7, 2008 9:09 AM CDT 0 recs

Win or lose, I'm excited for the challenging ride this year.

Like many of you, I was brought up on Texas football- baseball and basketball too for that matter. I grew up in Austin and followed the Longhorns daily in all 3 sports. Today, I live in Virginia, but I still catch every game and purchase every possible television sports package and radio broadcast necessary to ensure that I don’t miss a snap. Personally, I don’t normally drink during the games- odd I know- because I like to concentrate on every play as if my life depended on it. Another oddity of mine- I watch every football game to the end and always welcome a lopsided victory as opposed to a close exciting game. I don’t care if we are up by 30 points. I want to see us score 2 or 3 more before the end for good measure.

As far as this season goes, it will be challenging due to the upcoming schedule; however, win or lose, I expect to see a fire lit under the asses of each and every player in effort to achieve victory. Will Muschamp excites me to see the defense play this year- regardless of talent available- the swagger should be present, and the hard-hat blue collar mentality should be a fresh change of pace to last year’s defensive struggle.

As noted by many, Mack Brown’s tenacity and anger looked very influential in the Holiday Bowl last year against Arizona State. I hope to see that same game face throughout the duration of this season. A combination of “Mack on Fire” and “Muschamp’s Blue Collar Concrete Slab Crushing Team” should prove to be an exciting team to watch this year. Win or lose, stay on the wagon- and when you’ve reached the end of your rope-tie a knot and hang on. Texas football will always have a prestige others teams cannot even dream of achieving. Texas has been in the past and will continue to be, an inspiration of class, desire, and achievement without sacrificing any of the forementioned.

"I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn’t recruit me and he said: "Well, Walt, we took a look at you and you weren’t any good.
- Walt Garrison

by 512 on Aug 8, 2008 10:21 AM CDT 0 recs