Redskins Fans: Let’s Stop Being Pansies

[kleese]

First of all, I really wanted to expand my vocabulary in the title, but thought better of it. 

 

Secondly, one of my biggest pet peeves in my 20+ years of message-boarding (that sounds sad) is fans calling out other fans and/or questioning fandom. I do not like when I hear the more disgruntled fans say the more optimistic fans and/or fans that go to games and buy merch are part of the problem. I hate that actually. Conversely, I also do not like when the more optimistic crowd gets mad at the mor disgruntled crowd and claims they are lesser fans because they aren’t as willing to support them with their presence or dollars. 

 

After 25 years, the pessimism is earned. The negativity is legitimate. The skepticism is warranted. 

 

But what really irks me? What really annoys the heck out of me? 

 

The self loathing. The whining. 

 

Ugh, I’d like to see that go away. 

 

No one wants to hang out with whiny guy. I mean if you are at a movie and it’s pretty good, but your buddy keeps leaning over to say “yeah, but the ending is gonna suck.” Even if he’s right, it’s sort of like “hey man, can you just pipe down and let the movie ruin itself for me?” 

 

It’s almost as if some are disappointed when we win because the doom and gloom is temporarily lifted and they feel obligated to remind you that it can come back REAL fast. As if any Redskin fan can possibly forget that we’ve sucked for 25 years. I have enough reminders of that in my own memory bank. I don’t need another reminder during a brief snippet of happiness or optimism. 

 

For me, it’s not optimism or homerism, it’s how I cope. It’s how I stay invested. Just worry about RIGHT NOW. Does THIS game THIS week matter? I fully

understsnd that if I get hyped for this game that it is entirely possible, if not likely, that I will come out of it disappointed. I fully understand that whether we win or lose that we can still ultimately completely blow the season. I fully understand that the Redskins haven’t accomplished anything of sognifance yet or anything we haven’t seen many times before. 

 

But my feeling is that this cycle will end when it ends. And it will likely not be at a time we see it coming. I mean what if we kind of grind through this year like we’ve grinded these first five games... what if we get some bounces and catch teams at good times? What if we wind up 10-6 and in the playoffs? Even if we do it less than convincingly. Would it not be fun to be in the playoffs? Again, I understand that at 3-2 it is more likely we finish 7-9 than 10-6. I don’t dispute that. But it hasn’t happened yet. And my thought is, why start crying about it until we have real reason to cry about it. 

 

The Snyder thing is just a dead horse to me. Unless he dies it’s all wasted breath. I don’t mean that to be crass and I am absolutely not wishing for that. But at this point it just is what it is and for me I have made the conscious choice to roll with it and hope it one days just luckily lines up for us. My love of the Redskins trumps my hatred for anyone or anything else related to them. The Redskins are MY thing. Like I’ve always said, I will never let the Redskins ruin the Redskins for me. 

 

So here is the deal. We are 3-2. Dallas is 3-3. Philly looks kind of meh and certainly a few steps behind where they were last year. RIGHT NOW, this game REALLY matters. I’m really looking forward to it. And not because I am delusional about the outcome or what it might bring. 

 

I simply choose to not allow

my fear of what MIGHT happen to affect the enjoyment and anticipation of what MIGHT happen. 

 

I understand that in this relationship I am Charlie Brown and the Redskins are Lucy. I know that sneaky little hussy is likely going to snatch the ball away from me and I’ll land on my arse yet again. And all the other kids will laugh. I get it. But I’m still charging hard... because one of these days she’s going wait too long to pull it and I’m gonna kick that mofo to the moon. And I’d hate to be on the sidelines crying when that day finally comes. 

 

I hope no one takes this the wrong way...I am not calling out anyone’s fandom. I view it as a rallying cry of sorts. 

 

Cowboys fans don’t have much more to cheer about than we do over the same period. Hell, we’ve actually won one more playoff game than they have over the past 20 years. So it’s not like they have way more reason to pack our stadium than we do. As a Skins fan, this should be a fun week for you. A week to get excited about. Will it end with a nut punch? Yeah, maybe. But I’m not even wearing a cup. I’m not letting those Cowboys #£!? see me sweat like that. Screw them and their Star and their stadium and their owner and their city. A lot of crap has happened prior to this and there may be more crap after this. But right now it’s Redskins-Cowboys and I’m making damn sure everyone knows which side I’m on. Take that weak self-loathing pity elsewhere. 

 

Screw Dallas

 

Hail to the Redskins

[Koolblue13]

What do you expect from a fanbase that boos their team week 2 and let's any opponent take over their own stadium? 

[COWBOY-KILLA-]

Thank You! Pretty much my thoughts exactly and why I always tend to view it from the positive side of things. Teams find themselves sometimes, over the course of a season. I’m holding out hope we could be one of them this year. 

HTTR!! Krush the Cowboys!!

[hail2skins]

After the bounce-back win on Sunday against the Panthers, it has made me daydream about the next five weeks, with three at home against the Cowboys, Falcons, and Texans and two on the road against two teams who are struggling in the Giants and Bucs. I know our offense is struggling, particularly in the second half of games, but our D seems to be showing flashes of the early part of last year and seems to do as well as a defense can in today's NFL where the rules favor the offense. I think back to 2016, when, after starting 0-2, we went on a 6-1-1 string where the loss and the tie could've gone the other way, and seemed to be sitting pretty until we floundered down the stretch. Still, like Ed, it would be nice to see us run off, say, perhaps 4 out of these next 5 to perhaps get to 7-3 heading into the last stretch starting with the second Cowboys game on Turkey Day, and maybe us running off a few wins would generate some buzz about this team that has been lacking so far. 

 

I dunno……..I think a lot of my frustration is not with the Skins in particular, but with the league in general. I still watch the games because it has pretty much become habitual on Sundays in the fall for the past 40+ years. However, with all the rule changes and knowing that each play brings the promise of a BS late hit call, and its tough to be as emotionally invested in the games as I once was. Yes, you can say "just modify your expectations," but its tough.

 

I think the other part, at least specific to the Skins this year, has been the lack of buzz at the stadium so far. Yes, selling the upper deck has been a challenge for some time, as witnessed by the removal of a lot of seats since 2011. However, it is markedly worse this year.  We're all familiar with the lost seasons where we joke about some end-of-year home games where we say "How many folks do you think will show up for the 'play out the string' game against, say, Denver and Arizona last season?"  That scenario has been the reality at FedEx for all three home games so far, and it is sad. If you are not sitting in the lower bowl, you have been sitting in sections that are one-third to half empty. And look at the what the Skins are having to do to sell tickets to this game....offer package deals to other games, advertise the importance of this week, etc. I don't blame them for doing it, but its sad that it has come to this. Look at the Redskins page to see how many tickets remain for this game.  This will be better attended than the other three so far, but will not be a sellout. Ed, I'm sorry if I'm sounding like a "pansy" for pointing this out...….I will be at the game...…...but its reality. 

[Spearfeather]

The whole thing was good Kleese, but these were the Greatest Hits for me, I've alluded to a few times in various threads:

 

Quote

 

It’s almost as if some are disappointed when we win because the doom and gloom is temporarily lifted and they feel obligated to remind you that it can come back REAL fast. As if any Redskin fan can possibly forget that we’ve sucked for 25 years. I have enough reminders of that in my own memory bank. I don’t need another reminder during a brief snippet of happiness or optimism. 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

But at this point it just is what it is and for me I have made the conscious choice to roll with it and hope it one days just luckily lines up for us. My love of the Redskins trumps my hatred for anyone or anything else related to them. The Redskins are MY thing. Like I’ve always said, I will never let the Redskins ruin the Redskins for me. 

 

 

 

Quote

 

I simply choose to not allow my fear of what MIGHT happen to affect the enjoyment and anticipation of what MIGHT happen. 

 

 

 

 

[Cooleyfan1993]

What got me angry was seeing bickering in the prediction thread tonight all because of people just stating their (gasp!) predictions. Even if it’s an optimistic one or a less than optimistic one, why argue about it?? It’s what it is, a prediction. It shouldn’t lead to stupid ****. 

[NickyJ]

1 hour ago, kleese said:

Conversely, I also do not like when the more optimistic crowd gets mad at the mor disgruntled crowd and claims they are lesser fans because they aren’t as willing to support them with their presence or dollars. 

Not to be THAT guy, but the very first reply to this is....

 

39 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

What do you expect from a fanbase that boos their team week 2 and let's any opponent take over their own stadium? 

I love you Kool, but on that I disagree and couldn't help but find it a bit humorous.

[Spearfeather]

8 minutes ago, Cooleyfan1993 said:

What got me angry was seeing bickering in the prediction thread tonight all because of people just stating their (gasp!) predictions. 

 

That's not what it was about. No one was mad at anyone for simply stating their prediction.

 

And maybe we can leave that argument in that thread.

[kleese]

@hail2skins Two points to address from your post (I am too dumb to figure out how to do block quotes):

 

1. Sheehan mentioned it on his podcast today and I’ve been thinking it all year: the NFL has been off the charts entertaining so far this year. Best start to a season in many, many years. Great games, good endings, lots of scoring, but also some teams out there playing good D. Looks like a good influx of young QBs too. And looks like they’ve already backed off the stupid roughing penalties— only a handful since the Matthews debacles. It’s been a good start for the league and they needed it after a couple of down years. 

 

2. I’ve never cared too much about what’s happening around me. It doesn’t overly affect my level of enjoyment. I don’t think the empty seats are sad per se. It’s the price the team has to pay for being bad for so long. That generation of fans has already been lost— unlikely to get them hooked now. I accept it and so should the team. All they can do now is improve and give people more reasons to show up. This week will have more butts in seats and more juice than previous weeks. That will steadily build if they keep winning. Fixing this will take awhile. Continuing to play games that matter is the simplest fix. 

 

Oh and...

 

3. You are not a Pansy... if so you would have wilted in 1997 ?

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

1 hour ago, Koolblue13 said:

What do you expect from a fanbase that boos their team week 2 and let's any opponent take over their own stadium? 

.....I’ll be honest 

 

it’s real tiring when out of state fans have the most **** to talk. 

 

I truly believe that unless you live here, it’s a little different on your end. You truly just don’t understand 

 

 

anyways, I enjoyed the thread, Kleese. I’ll do my part. I’ll be in attendance 

[Renegade7]

I'm not perfect, maybe said something things I shouldn't have in the prediction thread, but what's the point of staying a fan of this team if all you can equate it to is misery? 

 

People feed off their emotions sometimes, good and bad, but sports is not supposed to be an avenue to crushing hope, more the opposite.  If you are constantly predicting and expecting your team to lose, you're doing it wrong, you're missing the point of sports.  It's supposed to be a distraction, even if you think you know what might happen, you don't really know until it does.

 

I get it, we've been irrelevant for the better part of 30 years.  There's absolutely nothing we can do about that except win this game, so lets focus on that.  And then the next one and then the next one, but one at a time, as life flies by you in an instant.  Stop rushing into the future full head of steam because you can't wait to get there and vindicate your feelings of inevitable failure, that's not what sports are for.

 

If you really must insist in wallowing in terrible news 24/7, go to the tailgate, there's like 6-7 threads just for that right now.

[Malapropismic Depository]

Hopefully we get decent rep in the crowd this Sunday.

And a whole lot more "Sack Dak" signs than "Fire Bruce and Jay" signs or "Doctson is soft, so hit him hard" signs.

[Renegade7]

15 minutes ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

Hopefully we get decent rep in the crowd this Sunday.

And a whole lot more "Sack Dak" signs than "Fire Bruce and Jay" signs or "Doctson is soft, so hit him hard" signs.

Whoa, somebody did that or you just talkin hyperbole?

 

@kleese  How much money you spend has nothing to do with how big of a fan you are.  If you are still here posting after all this, you're a die hard, some are just more morbid then others.

[Malapropismic Depository]

7 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Whoa, somebody did that or you just talkin hyperbole?

 

The latter

[HardcoreZorn]

Echoes so many of my thoughts. It really pisses me off to see so much slanted negativity and this smug attitude that you are such an idiot if you don’t see things for what they are. Which is etched in stone and can’t change evidently, all that matters now is we haven’t won 11 games in 20+ years or what have you. I’ve always understood the negativity toward Bruce for example, just simply disagreed with the prevailing thought it was all him that contributed to cousins leaving and that I respect the guy for bringing football competence to this organization. Even if it took 8 or so whatever years. The hatred runs so deep however, that it comes off as this “how can you be such a supporter of this bull****!” stance that they simply dismiss every belief contrary to “well Dan Snyder sucks, Bruce is his douchebag best friend, and we just lost the greatest QB in NFL history for NOTHING because of pure incompetence” type of take. You think I think we’re perfect? Some do, and have called me on it. I say horse ****, you’re interpreting things and reading things only that are contrary to what you are arguing. 

 

Ive said before, I don’t have the glory years. My childhood I grew up watching absolute dung. And while now we’re just halfway dung, I’ll freaking take it. It’s really the only thing I have to cling to, competence and improvement. And yes there is some. No I’m not delusional or desperate enough to want this team to be good that I can’t see the past. I just appreciate the present. Dissecting Alex Smiths play to the nth degree after a win is such a foreign concept to me as a fan of the team. Like I’m thinking about our kickass young defensive line and kinda pumped we are atop the division in mid October. It’s something. At least for me. Seeing that stadium on sundays makes me sick. I used to be able to tell all my friends who were Ravens fans that we are at least a fan base that supports their team in the darkest of times. Which made us a great fan base. Now I’m really not so sure. And that might make me more upset than anything about this franchise. But anyway, great post. I really do appreciate it.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I’m trying to get back to being a fan. I’ll be honest, right now, the franchise in general irritates the **** out of me. Everything about it represents misguided, undeserved arrogance and smugness.

 

That MNF game against the Saints really got under my skin. Not the game itself as much as the outside stuff. We had so many fans spend crazy amounts of Money and use their PTO most likely to go watch the team on the road. They packed Bourbon Street and were loud and proud. And what do we do? Lay a ****ing egg of epic proportions. Like at this point, I honestly feel like this franchise does not deserve the loyalty that some fans display. At all. 

Im on a self imposed ban from Fedex that is only getting broken Sunday because my friend was able to nab some great seats behind the Skins bench. Otherwise, I would have stayed home and flicked between the game and the RZ channel 

 

I honestly think becoming a bigger fan of football in general has been a part of it. Seeing how far away we are from even being a professional organization is just so ****ing irritating and annoying. It’s one thing to fail on the field. We aren’t alone in that. It’s just the epic failures off the field that are just blood boiling for me. The Scott thing?? Any other normal team can fire a GM and it is business as usual, move on the next week. Not here. Nope, we have to lie about not being at the Combine and then anonymously attack his character in the local media....****ing ridiculous. And look he was a super overrated talent evaluator. That’s cool. Whatever. Just act with professionalism. Just one time. Please.

 

We let a homegrown QB walk for nothing. Again, any other team trades the guy years ago. Not us. We franchise him TWICE and single handedly drive his price tag up. It’s unbelievable whether you liked him or not.

 

We have a team president that says wins and losses are the most important way to judge a QB...even though his W-L record at his position is worse than the guy he replaced who was wildly considered the worst FO guy in team history. 

 

And again we are barely 5 years removed from the Shanahan vs RG3 debacle and Shanahan vs Haynesworth. 

 

The losing sucks. But it’s the extracurriculars that have killed my love for the team. The Bills and Browns lose more than we do but they are miles better organizations than we are in terms of professionalism and fan interaction. 

 

This is all I know as a 25 year old living in PG County...where the team plays its damn games. And you know what’s even more disturbing??? The fact that the team is DEAD to my generation. Out of my core group of friends, ONE is a Skins fan. In fact, when I discuss football with people my age, I am shocked when I find a Skins fan. It just doesn’t really exist anymore. And i think that’s what the older folks don’t realize. This fanbase is going to die because of that right there (at this point, I’m rambling but screw it, it is therapeutic). Maybe it’s different if you live out of town (honestly me going to school in Philly for 5 years really kept my fandom strong for whatever reason until i moved back to MD in 2016) because you’re starved for content being away from the front lines. That’s just my guess. 

 

Also, seeing the Caps actually be a good organization and finally winning just makes me even more annoyed with the Skins. It’s no contest how they handle themselves and their fanbase. Even when they were still ****ting themselves in the 2nd round of the playoffs, the experience of going to Verizon Center for a game is unparalleled. Same with the Nats. Hell, even the Wizards are better in that respect. They still have a terrible FO but at the very least, it’s run professionally nowadays. 

 

but yeah, i realize that at some point i have to get back to actually enjoying the Washington Redskins. They are my hometown team and they represent my home. That’s why I cheer. They are a huge part of my family. That’s why i care so much. 

 

Still, it would be great just to get any small sliver of reciprocation. I mean they are just now finally cutting the smug “wait list” bs. It took them over 10 years to admit. 

 

But again, I’ll try to be better. 

 

I’ll cheer my ass off Sunday. Hope we kick their asses.

[88Comrade2000]

Well the pansification has been earned.

 

Sorry, the team has been consistent in the Gruden era and that is that we are inconsistent.  The team constantly under performs when you aren't expecting them and then over performs when you expect them not.

 

We are in year 5 and nothing has changed.  It's the same.  So, it's hard to see the good.  I have no hope with this current regime. We've reached the ceiling and all we will be doing is treading water for however long Gruden is here.   So it's Dallas week. It would nice to crush them but we have a poor record against them under Gruden. I would love to have that feeling like we did in 2012.  Yeah, it came crashing down in Seattle but in 2012 you had hope.   After 5 years, I have no hope in the future with Gruden.  Even a playoff birth won't do it. 

 

You can't even enjoy a win because the next week, you play the exact opposite.  Given the trend so far, it's hard to get up for Dallas; when one expects us to follow trends and have us lose this week.  The schedule looks favorable the next few weeks but I have no faith in this team to do anything. Given how the NFC/NFC East is shaping up this year; one could dream of a 11-12 win season. A good coach could squeeze that out of us, but I have no faith in Gruden to do that. To do something, he hasn't shown his entire time here.

 

So, I expect the rollercoaster to continue.  Good,bad, good bad.  Maybe a slight break and we go win, win but then go lose,lose. Same old, same old.

 

I'm done with Gruden and just waiting for him to be gone.  Can't wait for the new guy and have that hope rise again. Probably gets crushed as usual but that would be 3-4 years later.  If Browns fans can finally see some hope;especially after they replace Hugh Jackson; maybe one days Skins fans can see hope.  Beyond mediocrity and being awful but being consistently good.  It just won't be happening with the current coach.

 

So, I guess Gruden has pansified me.

[bakedtater1]

This was a much needed thread..thank you.

 

 

[bedlamVR]

@kleese I have to say .. I couldn't have said it better myself. So I won't but I just wanted to say thanks ?

 

[hail2skins]

5 hours ago, BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 said:

I honestly think becoming a bigger fan of football in general has been a part of it. Seeing how far away we are from even being a professional organization is just so ****ing irritating and annoying......This is all I know as a 25 year old living in PG County...where the team plays its damn games. And you know what’s even more disturbing??? The fact that the team is DEAD to my generation. 

Reading perspectives like this from a younger fan like BOW93 is why I still like coming to this site. As a middle-aged fan, I'm probably the opposite......probably less of a fan of football in general than I used to be. I really don't have a college team I cheer for, but once I invest the three hours on Sunday to watch the Skins (as I have for a lot of 45 years and pretty much every Sunday since moving back here 30 years ago), I'm pretty much done. Try to catch the NBC highlight show, but that's it. I really wanted to get excited to watch NE vs KC the other night, but really only had it on in the background until watching the last quarter. I did find myself catching the last part of the SF vs GB game the other night, and becoming happy that Kyle is not here anymore.

 

As for the points Ed addressed...…..yes, the league is trying to improve things, but still is littered with examples of ridiculous hits to the QB like some D-line guy on the Eagles has gotten ticky-tack flags in consecutive weeks and TJ Watt got fined for something ridiculous against Matt Ryan. And even the young guy from KC says he let go of Brady on TB's go-ahead run because he was afraid of getting flagged (I put that more on him).

 

As for the stadium, yes, its only what you make of it, but a lot of the point of physically going to the game is getting the rush of the excitement of your fellow fan......hell, and even trading friendly barbs with opposing fans. When those don't exist because less people are showing up, its a bit of a buzzkill. For the Colts game, on a beautiful day, there were a combined 10 people in the five rows (70 seats) directly behind me. This was after a convincing win over AZ. That's absurd. 

[DJHJR86]

5 hours ago, BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 said:

I’m trying to get back to being a fan. I’ll be honest, right now, the franchise in general irritates the **** out of me. Everything about it represents misguided, undeserved arrogance and smugness.

 

This entire post x 1000.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

@BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93

Couldn’t have said it better.  I lived and died with the Gibbs II regime because they were likable.  Vinny was a complete dolt, but Gibbs made the team likable.  There was absolutely stupid stuff going on like breaking the bank for Randle El and Archulletta.  They didn’t win all that much more than the current regime.  But they weren’t embarrassing in how they handled business. 

 

Since he left over a decade ago, we’ve experienced the absolute worst that Dan and Company has to offer.  Take wins and losses out of it, there is just nothing likable about how they’ve handled much of anything, professionally or personally.

 

All that being said, if the team wins enough, it’s easier to overlook that kind of stuff.  But they don’t and that’s why we are where we are as a fan base.  In fact, we appear to be in the worst spot you can be in.  Doing just enough not to be a complete dumpster fire but never enough to actually be a legit, sustainable threat.  All the while being rather unlikable in how they handle things, incompetent as to the way it setup, and to your point: smug arrogance about all of it.  

 

What I think gets missed in all of it, is that many of us “negative” fans care a lot about the team.  If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here.  But many of us have lost the kid-like fanaticism that plays make-believe every season.  There are pep rallies for folks that want to Hail! and high-five everything.  There are forums like these for folks that want to discuss football and what’s really going on. 

 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

I think rooting for the team and supporting the FO is two different subjects and the debate is some think they are intertwined as the same thing but IMO they are not.

 

I've been relatively upbeat about the team, pick them to win every game just about.  I fly to watch 2-3 games a year.  I buy so much Redskins gear its ridiculous. I go to training camp when I can.  I've had most of the players back and Jay for the most part.  I've probably spent over the years well over $5000 on stuff with the Redskins Charitable Foundation.  Even defended Larry Michael for well over a decade -- every time a thread pops up.  I pop on threads anything I hear story wise that I think people would be interested in and share it.  And like all of us here, i spent more time than I should posting.  So in the pure sense, I consider myself a pretty rabid and enthusiastic Redskins fan. 

 

Then, there is Dan and the FO.  And I fundamentally disagree with some of the FO backers or even those who don't like that label but have their back a lot and like to call out people for slamming them.  I get some of them see themselves as stronger fans for doing so.  I see that as silly.  But I don't mean so in a bitter way.  To each their own on that front.  And everyone is entitled to their own perspective on that front.  I can get bitter among others when the exchange gets bitter.  And it gets bitter on both sides of that exchange, I can say with assurance that some of the FO homers don't always argue with sunshine.

 

I've been relatively unhappy with the FO.  In my book, I think supporting the FO (if deep down you really don't like how they operate) to be a pom pom we got your back kind of way enables the dysfunction.  In my book, as a fan if you don't like something voice it.  I was proud that I was among the people who sent in a letter about Vinny years back, and ditto to Dan/Bruce before they hired Scot.  It was a bunch of us, taking the time to make an effort.  We organized and maybe it had a minimal impact, who knows. 

 

Vinny himself said that Dan indeed pays attention when fans (if he hears from enough of them) are upset at something specific and that's why he lost his job.  One of my jobs about 15 years ago was working for a public figure where I discovered that volumes of letters and communication about an issue CAN make a difference and change someone's mind.  So for me based on what I've seen in my career and my version of fandom, sitting back and endorsing things I don't like is the definition of not being a good fan.

 

Being a good fan to me is going to games and rooting for your team.  But if you think there is something fundamentally you don't like, say something about it.  If you don't and you try to spin everything in their direction -- that's how change doesn't happen.   Now if people like what they are seeing from Dan or Bruce, that's cool.  But if not. I actually respect the fans the most who are willing to bring a sign to Fedex or write a letter or whatever.  The opposite of love is indifference.  And we hear every now and then about fans just checking out.  

 

I bring up Bruce-Dan is because from what I've observed they and their moves have become to some the definition of being a homer or not.  And to me I just don't buy into that.  If anything I am an optimist, I don't think their behavior is completely out of our hands.  I think if enough people take action you can bring some changes.  It happened with the Scot hire.  We had some bad luck as to how it went down but it doesn't mean it can't happen again.

 

But yeah if its purely about being optimistic about the team.  I agree with the sentiment to an extent.  If its not being critical of what you don't like?  I don't agree.  

[DCtoSC_SKINS_LIFER]

IThank you for this thread, Kleese. It very much mirrors my view of this team and sports in general.  

 

I go all in for this team (and sports in general) as a fan, knowing that disappointment is not only possible, but likely. I spend the other 6 days of my week worrying about how I’m running my own business and supporting my family. I don’t have the time or desire to worry about how a sports team I am cheering for is being run and managed. I just continue to hope they eventually get back to putting a good product on the field, so my Sunday’s are filled with more W’s than L’s. Once I stop getting enjoyment out of the buildup to kickoff, I’ll stop watching. Simple as that. However, I don’t see that happening any time soon. 

 

HAIL

[Burgold]

I guess for some of us older fans (I'm an older fan? How the heck did that happen!) the question is how long can the fire of the glory years sustain us and how much is needed to either rekindle the sparks or make sure the pilot light doesn't go out. For me, the answer is not that much. I'm a fickle fan who just wants to root for his team. During the season, I don't think about Bruce Allen or the front office or Dan Snyder. None of that really matters to me. What matters is the team. And, we have a pretty likable group of players. Not a lot of stars, perhaps no superstars, but a good quantity of talent.

 

As for my fellows, the eeyores frustrate me. It's like Kleese says, the whining is annoying. I boo when we play stupid, blow an assignment, or worse, lay an egg looking like we didn't come out with a plan or play without any enthusiasm, but that's different than an approach of... we suck, we'll always suck, and don't you dare get suckered into enjoying a win because they'll just let you down. 

 

Football's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be a release. We have very real things to deal with in terms of family, work, country, environment, etc. So, every so often it's nice to disappear for a few hours to have some frivolous fun. I don't want to be a realist when watching my team. I want to be hopeful, loud, and a little bit crazy. Realism is for the rest of the week. Sunday is for fun.

 

That's my biggest fault with the whiners and the negative Nancies, they're determined not to have any fun and worse... determined not to let anyone else enjoy their fun.