Why do we Think like This?

[Boomergump]

The year starts and we each have in our minds what the coming season's record should be going in. There is tons of discussion and possible pre-season rankings bantered about. We play a couple games and then everybody scrambles and readjusts what their NEW projections are for a season record and bowl outlook etc etc. Beyond that, we have to forecast the next several seasons and predict the long term future of our coach and viability of his system, recruiting, and employment status.

Seasons are played one game at a time. What is going through my mind right now is what we have to correct in order to beat UNC. Personally, I don't see the benefit in looking beyond that. Season record? I just want our record this week to be 1-0.

I feel no pressure to re-adjust my season-long expectations. I feel no pressure to anticipate the possible bowl scenario this weekend. I am not disappointed because I thought we might be 11-1 heading into the ACCG. I am disappointed because we were 0-1 last week.

Is this really how we derive enjoyment from a season? Establish a set of expectations ahead of time, in terms of won lost records, and then obsess over how we are measuring up along the way? The nature of football is that there is one winner and one loser every contest. The excitement surrounds the drama that unfolds every individual week. That is why we go watch, isn't it?

Let's go cheer the Jackets on tomorrow, for its own merits, because tomorrow's game matters for that day, and that day alone. Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to win making next Saturday's drama a little more meaningful in the process.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[Jay Alexander]

Well said.

A weekend with a loss is better than a weekend without college football.

Let's enjoy the season. Go Jackets!

 

[4shotB]

Is this really how we derive enjoyment from a season?
Let's go cheer the Jackets on tomorrow, for its own merits, because tomorrow's game matters for that day, and that day alone. Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to win making next Saturday's drama a little more meaningful in the process.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

nice post. My satisfaction from watching most sports is derived from watching players play to their full potential and with crisp execution. That is pleasing to the eye and I can somewhat ignore W"s and L's to a degree. The loss to FSU last year wasn't troubling to me as we played pretty well overall. What diminishes the enjoyment is seeing the opposite - which is one reason I gave up on GT BB years ago. I simply abhor watching the game when people cannot perform basic high school level fundamentals (pass, shoot, dribble or defend) or there is a lack of underlying process, purpose or scheme. To a degree, our offensive execution (FB wise) over the last two weeks has been nearly as horrific.

What I have noticed over the many years of viewing sports is that the correlation between the two things (player potential/execution vs, the won loss record) has a pretty strong positive r value. the exact value of which i am too lazy to calculate. If we lose tomorrow after having played our best because UNC was simply better than us, well I can live with that.

 

[GTpdm]

When I get all wrought up about my expectations about our guys' performance, I always try to remind myself: no matter what happens on the field over the course of a season, I can always be proud of the work they do off the field, as real student-athletes.

Sometimes I get overly optimistic early on about a season, and something happens to bring me back to ground (this season being the example). Sometimes, it's the other way around (last season being the example). Sometimes, though, the cosmic wheel aligns and my rosy, early season vibes crystallize into reality (1990 being the example).

Regardless of what happens, though, we have an exceptional bunch of young men representing us on the field--let us not forget that. Let the rest of the season unfold, one week at at time...I aim to revel in it, no matter what.

Now where's my bourbon?

 

[lv20gt]

tomorrow's game matters for that day, and that day alone

No game just matters for that day alone any more than one play just matters for that play alone. Every play is a part of the game, every game a part of the season, and every season part of the program. People enjoy speculating about the game tomorrow, and for the same reason there is enjoyment to be had about the entire season, as well as the program as a whole.

 

[ATL1]

I wanna win every game. Idk if it's the Hawks Falcons or GT.

 

[ClydeBrick]

The year starts and we each have in our minds what the coming season's record should be going in. There is tons of discussion and possible pre-season rankings bantered about. We play a couple games and then everybody scrambles and readjusts what their NEW projections are for a season record and bowl outlook etc etc. Beyond that, we have to forecast the next several seasons and predict the long term future of our coach and viability of his system, recruiting, and employment status.

Seasons are played one game at a time. What is going through my mind right now is what we have to correct in order to beat UNC. Personally, I don't see the benefit in looking beyond that. Season record? I just want our record this week to be 1-0.

I feel no pressure to re-adjust my season-long expectations. I feel no pressure to anticipate the possible bowl scenario this weekend. I am not disappointed because I thought we might be 11-1 heading into the ACCG. I am disappointed because we were 0-1 last week.

Is this really how we derive enjoyment from a season? Establish a set of expectations ahead of time, in terms of won lost records, and then obsess over how we are measuring up along the way? The nature of football is that there is one winner and one loser every contest. The excitement surrounds the drama that unfolds every individual week. That is why we go watch, isn't it?

Let's go cheer the Jackets on tomorrow, for its own merits, because tomorrow's game matters for that day, and that day alone. Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to win making next Saturday's drama a little more meaningful in the process.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

When I get all wrought up about my expectations about our guys' performance, I always try to remind myself: no matter what happens on the field over the course of a season, I can always be proud of the work they do off the field, as real student-athletes.

Sometimes I get overly optimistic early on about a season, and something happens to bring me back to ground (this season being the example). Sometimes, it's the other way around (last season being the example). Sometimes, though, the cosmic wheel aligns and my rosy, early season vibes crystallize into reality (1990 being the example).

Regardless of what happens, though, we have an exceptional bunch of young men representing us on the field--let us not forget that. Let the rest of the season unfold, one week at at time...I aim to revel in it, no matter what.

Now where's my bourbon?

minds = rite

 

[iceeater1969]

A goal for this year
GAME 1 of 3-in the under card.
Destroy UNC tomorrow.
AFTER THAT DESTROY VIRGINIA AND MIAMI.
THEY THEN ALL FIRE THEIR COACH and start over.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Agree so much with Boomer here. One caveat. There is only one game every season that I can't help but peek toward...and contemplate as we progress...and want to win almost more than all the others combined....I ain't claiming it's healthy but it is what it is.

Oh yeah......ROLL TIDE!!!

 

[GTNavyNuke]

nice post. My satisfaction from watching most sports is derived from watching players play to their full potential and with crisp execution. ........ I simply abhor watching the game when people cannot perform basic high school level fundamentals (pass, shoot, dribble or defend) or there is a lack of underlying process, purpose or scheme. To a degree, our offensive execution (FB wise) over the last two weeks has been nearly as horrific...........

....... If we lose tomorrow after having played our best because UNC was simply better than us, well I can live with that.

+1 We have been awful on offense the last two weeks and ST has been bipolar in different phases. I have liked our D overall. I still believe that Fluke is just a fluke and will be exposed by the end of the season (again). But we were worse than Fluke last week and deserved to lose.

Now with our injuries on O, I see little hope for clean disciplined football returning on the O side.

I am looking forward to our D getting some good plays and stops in. The D is what I feel the best about .... they haven't regressed.

And the ST has regressed to the 2010 bad level of play (think AF) where every damn play is an adventure.

So for me @Boomergump , it's whether we are getting better or worse more than the wins or losses. I've noticed that our opponents want to win to. (tic) And sometimes they just play better than we do when we play well, like FSU last year.

 

[Declinometer]

Duke is very good defensively.
JT needs to stick his foot in the ground and get up field for the tough yards.
Skov needs to keep his head up and slide to the open space
Look for the offense trying to vary snap count (hopefully no false starts)
There will be a few long 1 on 1 deep passes to the WR's

 

[Captain killem]

Boomer I completely agree. I think the frustration comes when we see or have seen more potential than is being displayed. Our coaches will get this straightened out. Here's to one game at a time. Let's go Jackets it's ours for the taking let's make it happen.

 

[Skeptic]

Well said.

A weekend with a loss is better than a weekend without college football.

Let's enjoy the season. Go Jackets!

Not hardly.

 

[MWBATL]

Frankly, the MOST important element to me is simply this....2 weeks ago we had a chance to become really relevant in the national stage. Had we beaten Notre Dame we would have become the hot ticket of the year on ESPN, and recruits everywhere would be looking at us more seriously. We might even begin to attract more sidewalk fans, which we need desperately. Even last week we still had the chance and hope that we could bounce back with a special season.

All of that would have really helped build momentum for GT as a football program. Improved recruiting would help our chances at national prominence, and a stronger, larger, growing fan base would begin an upward spiral in media attention. Those things increase the odds of winning national championships.

Now, those hopes seem crushed (again) and we have only our own small GT community that really cares about GT football. We aren't even an afterthought anymore on the national stage, and any recruiting juice we might have gotten from another special season seems gone with the wind. We have had 2 very good years under CPJ and 4 rather mediocre years (yes, I call 7-5 mediocre). You can argue about expectations all you want, but I would like more than 2 out of 7 years to be very good, and would love one more special year before I pass ...and time is running out for me.

I get what you are saying. But you are much younger than I. When you are my age, you will realize that there are not that many seasons left, and yes, you do begin to hope for one more really special season like 1990 was.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Agree so much with Boomer here. One caveat. There is only one game every season that I can't help but peek toward...and contemplate as we progress...and want to win almost more than all the others combined....I ain't claiming it's healthy but it is what it is.

Oh yeah......ROLL TIDE!!!

Sorry, have never and won't start today rooting for Alabama. Chick Graning says hey.

 

[Boomergump]

And Folks, please don't get me wrong. There is plenty of reason to be frustrated. I am frustrated and disappointed right now. I guess all I am trying to say is that, for me, the source of my frustration is NOT that we may fail to achieve some season record that I had fabricated in my head.

The truth is, we still may be able to have a BETTER season than last year based solely on what water has gone under the bridge so far. However, that is highly unlikely to happen if we don't raise the level of our execution and just play better. That is why I am frustrated. I KNOW we can do better.

 

[jeffgt14]

My satisfaction from watching most sports is derived from watching players play to their full potential and with crisp execution. That is pleasing to the eye and I can somewhat ignore W"s and L's to a degree. The loss to FSU last year wasn't troubling to me as we played pretty well overall. What diminishes the enjoyment is seeing the opposite

This is 100% right. Let's just say I can handle the other team winning but I can't handle us losing.

 

[Declinometer]

This is 100% right. Let's just say I can handle the other team winning but I can't handle us losing.

Losing hurts worse than winning feels good.

 

[jeffgt14]

Losing hurts worse than winning feels good.

Not if we beat an undefeated UGA.

 

[Boomergump]

Losing hurts worse than winning feels good.

For me that is not universal. Losing after playing really poorly though, is the pits. It really is, and that is where we have been the last two weeks.