Why So Angry?

There's more than one way to enjoy a football game. Whatever your preferred reasons for enjoying the game, they are all equally valid. There is no "right way" to be a fan.

You can hit up the tailgate scene with PodKatt, break down the schemes and playcalls with Billy, analyze the talent and athletic performance with Paul, count yards and stats with the guys at Football Study Hall, just get delusional with me, or any other method. You want to break down film, stats, narratives, or nothing at all? Go for it. Heck, you can do some combination of all them.

There's no limit on how you choose to enjoy the game.

The key word there is "enjoy." There's been an unending din of constant bitching from the LSU fan base over the last few weeks and if we're honest, dating back to a certain January bowl game in 2012. LSU is 7-2, ranked 13^th in the BCS standings, and have lost two games on the road by a combined 6 points. There's two huge games left on the schedule which promise to be pretty exciting. Oh, and the overriding emotion from the LSU fan base is one of extreme anger.

I'm not talking about being angry the minutes or hours after botching the Ole Miss game. I'm talking right now. From taking a quick look around the LSU message boards, people seem to be pretty darn pissed off right now. If you want to be angry, that's perfectly valid and I don't much feel like talking you out of it, but really... maybe you ought to consider a new hobby.

At the end of the day, watching LSU football is a hobby just like any other. It's no different than building model airplanes, collecting stamps, or learning to cross-stitch. It's an exercise in enjoying things. And it's not like other hobbies don't have their soul crushing moments as well. I'm sure there are passionate stamp collecting debates raging on the internet right now that I'm blissfully unaware of.   That's a good thing. Passion is one of the perks of being alive.

Rooting for a sports team brings just as much heartbreak as it brings joy. For every 2007 national title, there is the dismal 1998 season. Part of the joy of following a sports team is the hope of victory and, yes, the times they fall short and break your heart. It's those failures that make the successes so sweet.

This team is not going to win the national title. It very likely won't win the SEC either. But it wins more than it loses and by any rational measure, times are good. I can understand being disappointed, but I just don't get the level of anger and vitriol. I'm not saying LSU fans who are angry are wrong, I'm just saying, I don't get it at all. I don't understand.

If this team can't bring you a little bit of joy, then why on earth are you watching? If nothing but a national title will make you happy, boy, are you setting yourself up to be miserable. Heck, by that standard, even an Alabama fan has been miserable more often than not.

This isn't about accepting mediocrity or any such nonsense. This is about making a concerted effort to enjoy the thing you say you enjoy. If a 7-2 team is making you miserable, you may need to re-evaluate your life decisions. It's almost as if you want to be miserable.

Is this season disappointing? Sure. But there's still three more games plus a bowl game to play. That's four more LSU football games before the long slog of No Football. Football weekends are pretty rare, so we need to cherish those weekends. There's even an Alabama game in two weeks and I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited by that. I've been looking forward to it for about ten months now.

There's many ways to enjoy the game of football, but you first need to remember to enjoy it. This stuff is supposed to be fun. So have fun.