Mark, we can reclaim any subject, or any mood, if enough of us are willing to participate.
Your attempt at "creative writing" is a good example. Most of us simply cannot take part in the destructive threads that tear at the team without any redeeming factor.
Let's all lighten up a bit. The world is NOT coming to an end.
Mark, you continue to set the mood, and most of us will happily contribute. The sun WILL come up tomorrow, and we will be here to enjoy it. That's what life is all about.
Yeah Crash.... I know. Isn't it funny that we used to disagree wildly there but that generally things were civil. (We've ALL - at times -gone too far based upon our own personality flaws.)
Somehow, even though we went off-topic a great deal and I was (am) one of the worst offenders at that, it just seemed more about football as the game that I love.
I am really trying to get a handle on the changed dynamics and the why and how of it. Too much of the armchair sociologist in me, I suppose.
I can’t help you to get old. That you will do by yourself. If you need help coping with getting older, remember this…Old age is a state of mind.
I have told others on here my philosophy. There is a school of thought, with which I agree, that says “Old age begins when you stop learning, whether that happens at 20 or at 80.”
If I am around for many more years, I hope that, at the end, I will still be young.
My theory is that the doomsday crowd appears larger than it really is for a few reasons:
They like to repeat the exact same (negative) thought in multiple threads.
They like to restate (negative) points that have already been made by others, even though it adds exactly nothing to the conversation.
They cannot be deterred from their mission of spreading negativity, and anypositive comments simply compel them to restate their negative views. In contrast, people with a more positive outlook are much more easily frustrated by all the negativity, and retreat into "listen-only" mode as a defensive response.
Admittedly I've tuned out for most of the past month, but has the atmosphere here during this year's slow start really worse than it was during the same stretch last year? IMO it was as bad, maybe worse, last year - it's just more tiresome each time around.
Understandably there's more of a "won't get fooled again" vibe right now but a few solid showings, a labour day win, a sign that we have a starting QB, the off-season - any reason for optimism at all - and the gloom should start to lift.
The beer has been exceptionally cold this year, another home game Saturday - what the heck, ya never know.