I would like to say that I am rather passionate about the teams that I follow, so much so that I don't blindly cheer when my team scores a touchdown, or get blindly excited, because they merely won one game. Although it is indeed very exciting, I am not one of those fans.
Many fans call fans like me "spoiled," which couldn't be more incorrect. Many of those fans mistake competitiveness for entitlement. I am being competitive, which is what any fan is supposed to be.
I closely follow the big picture. I follow the things and events that lead to wins and losses. I want my team to win as often as possible. I want them to be set up to win in the future, and when I see something that can potentially inhibit that, I will be unhappy. I want my team to be on track to win a championship, after all, isn't that the point of the game?
Currently, LSU is not on track to win a championship any time soon.
What bothers me most about most LSU supporters is that they cheer just as passionately, almost more so, for the team that is playing against Alabama, as they do for LSU, the very team that they claim to be a fan of.
Allow me to be as clear as possible about this. The fact that they do this doesn't bother me. It's great to passionately cheer against a team that is in direct/indirect competition with your team. The thing that is extremely troubling is the reason why they do this. They will not admit it, but it has now become accepted that Alabama has the superior football program. Everybody, including LSU fans, knows that with their current teams, Alabama would beat LSU nine out of ten times.
So now, they have sort of a little man/little brother syndrome towards Alabama. They have to rely on other "big brothers" to beat the big bully in the neighborhood, because they can't do it themselves.
The most excited I saw LSU fans this year was not for an LSU win. It was when Auburn ran the field goal kick back to beat Alabama in the last second of the Iron Bowl. A close second was when Oklahoma beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl yesterday. A very distant third was our victory over Texas A&M.
To me, that is a shame.
This particular recruiting class presented an enormous opportunity for LSU to close the gap with Alabama with players like Leonard Fournette (who we have a commitment from), Speedy Noil, Gerald Willis, Cameron Robinson, Malachi Dupre, Hootie Jones, and a few others. All of these guys are difference maker-type players that LSU absolutely must have to get them back to elite status.
The losses of Louisiana's numerous top prospects to other schools reveals to us that LSU is not on track for a championship, much less on track to take the west from Alabama. The coach of a team on track for a championship would seize the opportunity that this talented senior class in Louisiana provided. A coach of such a team would not allow most of those players to play for teams that he is in direct competition with, and resort to "plan B or C," especially when he is losing a considerable amount of his star players on his current team.
Remember those ridiculous t-shirts that Alabama fans made after their first consensus number one recruiting class under Nick Saban? On them, it said, "Fear the future!" Much like those tacky t-shirts forecasted championships for Alabama, this current LSU recruiting class merely forecasts that LSU fans will continue to get more excited about Alabama losses to other teams, than they will be about a win by their own team. That is not evidence of a fan-base following a team that is on track for a championship. That is evidence of one that follows a team that will probably continue to finish second.
Now if you are excited about that, you are certainly entitled to feel that way. If you aren't as competitive as I am, and enjoy following a team that is second rate, then you are probably satisfied with the work that Les Miles and his staff is currently doing. Again, many of those fans call fans like me "spoiled," and they are certainly entitled to their opinions.
I, on the other hand, am not wired that way. Isn't the whole point of the game in college football to win the SEC/National Championship? When I see that my team is on track to be a champion, I can take losses much easier, and I get a lot more excited when my team wins.
That's why, lately, I haven't been as excited about LSU wins as other fans. That is why I take losses a little differently. I acknowledge that LSU is on track to be a winning team, but unless Les changes something, we will continue being a team that finishes second to Alabama, and maybe even third/forth behind Auburn and Texas A&M.
Something has to change.
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