Believing

I want to talk about myself for a second, because I am afraid there are too many people out there that are a lot like me.  I want to talk about school spirit, encouraging and inspiring each other; I want to talk about heart and putting it all on the line, about how hard it can be to believe in one's self when no one else believes.  I want to talk about sports.

I love sports.  If the stories are true I played soccer one season when I was little.  I also played baseball so many years I stopped counting.  I started to play football as a freshman in high school (my quiet nature paired with an overly confrontational coach ultimately deterred me, much to my chagrin).  Backyard football and basketball, the only church league basketball season (which we won), Thanksgiving day Turkey Bowl, Wednesday night basketball with friends (Tuesday when we got older), two-hand touch football at every scout camp I ever went to.

I love watching sports too.  NCAA football, basketball. Premier league football (soccer) or any soccer (even in Spanish), hockey, baseball.  Needle threading passes, flawless crosses, one-timers, one handed grabs, alley-oop dunks, even good defensive plays these all bring me to my feet.  "That just happened!"  There is something beautiful about sports, well played.  In a moment of brilliance the athlete can become an artist creating a moment in time that is a masterpiece.  Everyone, even me, can do this.

What is the problem?
Good question, no doubt.  I was getting there!  The problem is that as a university student, I have only attended a single game and that was at the urging of my best friends growing up, one of which now lives in Louisville.  We went to WKU @Louisville earlier this season (Dec. 23, 2011).  This dismal display of spectator-ship is not for lack of wanting.  I have watched several games on television, no small feat, considering I have no television service.  Rivalry games and SEC paycheck games come and go while I only think of how awesome it would be to watch these in person.

The 2011 football season conclusion brought with it some personal scrutiny; some say the toppers received no bowl bid because attendance was too low and FBS post season is driven by the almighty revenue dollar.  I am not going to say it is true, but after the two previous seasons and the poor start to this season.  I began to doubt; I viewed several games this football season up until the turning point.  Despite finishing the season 7-1, I never viewed another game after the 0-4 start.  I can tell you, I saw a team that was not living up to their potential the turn around came as no surprise to me.  Nevertheless, when they finally started believing in themselves, I let them down.  I vowed after that it would not happen again.

Here we are barely three months later and the basketball team stunned the Sun Belt and seems to have pointed out that I let it happen again.  I always hope they will do well, they are my team.  At the Louisville game, I saw a good team that could have won.  After that loss they started losing more and I stopped paying attention.  I never stop believing, but what does that count for when no one knows it.  Even two weeks ago, I was reading some random article about NCAA bracket projections.  The author was breaking down every conference, making picks, and who to watch for.  I went to the Sun Belt and there was not even a mention of WKU, it was disappointing but not even he could keep me from believing (albeit silently).

I was reading this the other night, I would recommend it.  There were several things that coach Harper said that really struck a note with me.  Specifically, "Diddle Arena is gonna be a place of enthusiasm, a place of excitement and a place where you’re gonna see a basketball team play as hard as you’ve ever seen."  When the coach says it like that, then to me it says that there is need to improve.

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I have been thinking about what else I wanted to say, because there is plenty more.  I am afraid, that I will be unable to effectively communicate what I feel.  It has been difficult searching for the right words; however, I must at least try.

It is a cruel world for the losing teams.  While there will always be fair-weather fans, teams that have a history of consistently producing better teams are more likely to have fan support throughout.  The fans know, or at least believe, it is probable that the team will turn it around soon.  The more sporadic teams will still have a devout fan base, but there will be far more people that are looking around deciding if this is going to be an on or off year.

I am just not sure that is the message that we should be sending.  It is not supportive, it is not encouraging.  It is giving up one someone before time has expired.  The thing about some schools (like mine) is the athletes are not so different from the rest of us.  Most of them are not going to play at "the next level".  Most of them are student-athletes because it either provides them with an opportunity at a free/reduced education or they love playing the game.  It is almost like they are working to put themselves through college, but they have the disadvantage of not being able to actually take any money from their employer.

(This has been waiting for me to finish it for over a week as of now...I'm just posting it now and maybe one day I'll finish it.)