November 17, 2008

What is the state of Georgia fandom?

Senator Blutarsky digs into David Ching's thoughts on the state of the Georgia Bulldogs football fandom and finds that almost every fan emotion - optimism, depression, and even rage - may very well be justified.

While the 9-2 Bulldogs are on the cusp of going to one of the better non-BCS bowls, there's no mistaking that the fanbase is emotionally battered. Everyone in red & black expected to be playing in Florida in January; however, everyone expected it would be in the National Championship, not the Capital One Bowl. And that has Georgia fans... in a tizzy.

The "What the hell is wrong with this team?"-itis has engulfed the UGA faithful.

Blutarsky offers perspective for the Dawg faithful:

1. The psychology of being the preseason #1.
In hindsight, this didn’t do the coaches, the team or the fans any favors. Richt tried to walk a fine line between embracing the opportunity and warning about being too big headed, but it seems clear at this point that many didn’t heed the latter. The team and its fans knew Georgia was talented; the outside validation may have altered the mindset of the kids. It was apparent early on that the level of intensity for this season had diminished from how the prior one had finished.
2. The schedule.
It’s funny. We looked at the schedule prior to the start of the season as both a badge of honor and as an incredible burden for the team to overcome. As the year wore on and it’s become apparent that some of the schools the Dawgs have played have gone on to disappointing seasons, it seems that we’ve discounted this. Well, guess what - Sagarin says this is still the sixth toughest schedule in the country. Nobody ranked ahead of Georgia has played a harder one. Lost in the sloppiness of the Auburn win is the fact that the Dawgs went 3-1 on that long stretch away from Athens, which turned out about as well as we probably hoped before the year started.
3. Youth must be served.
If nothing else, it’s clear from the way the season has gone that Richt and his coaches have recruited extremely well from a talent standpoint. That’s been both a blessing and a curse. There’s a perception - in my opinion, one that’s justified - that this team has coasted too often on its athletic ability this year at the expense of focus. Given that, plus the injuries and the expectations/burdens put on true freshmen to contribute significantly, it’s been quite the accomplishment to be where we’re at with this team. Maybe we’ve taken a little too much for granted here.
4. Failing to show up on the biggest stages of the season.
This is the one that bugs me the most. I can live with losing to Alabama and Florida this year. In both cases, the better team won. It’s the complete absence of being competitive for a half at a time that’s hard to stomach. We fans have been sensitive for a long time about how this program is perceived nationally (the whining about the drop of Georgia’s national ranking to #2 early in the season is cringe-worthy now, isn’t it?); complete meltdowns like the first half against ‘Bama and the second half against Florida don’t help our self-esteem. And, as I’ve posted before, this is becoming a troubling habit with this team - troubling not from some sort of negative style points perspective, but rather as an indication that focus and motivation are seriously lacking.

It's number four that can absolutely wreck a fanbase and cost a great coach his job. And Blutarsky is right, in the big games this year the Bulldogs have taken whole quarters (and whole halfs!) off - just not even looked like they cared that a football game was taking place.

More than anything, I think the fans are taking exception with the team not "showing up". If that doesn't improve, it's going to be a very long offseason for the Dawgs.

Comments:

What is the state of Georgia fandom?
Senator Blutarsky digs into David Ching's thoughts on the state of the Georgia Bulldogs football fandom and finds that almost every fan emotion - optimism, depression, and even rage - may very well be justified. While the 9-2 Bulldogs are on the cusp of going to one of the better non-BCS bowls, there's no mistaking that the fanbase is emotionally battered. Everyone in red & black expected to be playing in Florida in January; however, everyone expected it would be in the National Championship, not the Capital One Bowl. And that has Georgia fans... in a tizzy. The "What the hell is wrong with this team?"-itis has engulfed the UGA faithful. Blutarsky offers perspective for the Dawg faithful:
1. The psychology of being the preseason #1.
In hindsight, this didn’t do the coaches, the team or the fans any favors. Richt tried to walk a fine line between embracing the opportunity and warning about being too big headed, but it seems clear at this point that many didn’t heed the latter. The team and its fans knew Georgia was talented; the outside validation may have altered the mindset of the kids. It was apparent early on that the level of intensity for this season had diminished from how the prior one had finished. 2. The schedule.
It’s funny. We looked at the schedule prior to the start of the season as both a badge of honor and as an incredible burden for the team to overcome. As the year wore on and it’s become apparent that some of the schools the Dawgs have played have gone on to disappointing seasons, it seems that we’ve discounted this. Well, guess what - Sagarin says this is still the sixth toughest schedule in the country. Nobody ranked ahead of Georgia has played a harder one. Lost in the sloppiness of the Auburn win is the fact that the Dawgs went 3-1 on that long stretch away from Athens, which turned out about as well as we probably hoped before the year started. 3. Youth must be served.
If nothing else, it’s clear from the way the season has gone that Richt and his coaches have recruited extremely well from a talent standpoint. That’s been both a blessing and a curse. There’s a perception - in my opinion, one that’s justified - that this team has coasted too often on its athletic ability this year at the expense of focus. Given that, plus the injuries and the expectations/burdens put on true freshmen to contribute significantly, it’s been quite the accomplishment to be where we’re at with this team. Maybe we’ve taken a little too much for granted here. 4. Failing to show up on the biggest stages of the season.
This is the one that bugs me the most. I can live with losing to Alabama and Florida this year. In both cases, the better team won. It’s the complete absence of being competitive for a half at a time that’s hard to stomach. We fans have been sensitive for a long time about how this program is perceived nationally (the whining about the drop of Georgia’s national ranking to #2 early in the season is cringe-worthy now, isn’t it?); complete meltdowns like the first half against ‘Bama and the second half against Florida don’t help our self-esteem. And, as I’ve posted before, this is becoming a troubling habit with this team - troubling not from some sort of negative style points perspective, but rather as an indication that focus and motivation are seriously lacking.
It's number four that can absolutely wreck a fanbase and cost a great coach his job. And Blutarsky is right, in the big games this year the Bulldogs have taken whole quarters (and whole halfs!) off - just not even looked like they cared that a football game was taking place. More than anything, I think the fans are taking exception with the team not "showing up". If that doesn't improve, it's going to be a very long offseason for the Dawgs.