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Excitement for the season lowest I've seen

Granted, I'm only 40 years old and maybe some of the fans that are older may have different perspective; but I've never seen such a lack of excitement for the beginning of the Husker season. This is from conversations with friends, strangers and message boards. It's sad to see the program decline to this point.
The people in my circle really want Mike Riley to prove it in year 3. I don't think they are really sold on the current state of affairs. But they aren't dis-interested.

For me, I want Nebraska's identity back as soon as possible. I do not accept Nebraska football as a passing team with a sucky running game.
 
All the Husker fans I know are cautiously optimistic, but have a great deal of excitement. Most believe we're better through addition by subtraction. Most thinking 8-4 would be a good year with 10-2 being a very realistic possibility if Lee lives up to the hype and the defense is improved. Both being true is highly probable, and should not be discounted. Anyone who isn't excited for the 2017 version of Husker football needs to have their pulse checked.

Call me crazy, but one thing that adds to my personal excitment is what BTN writers are saying. Everything they write points to Wisconsin and Northwestern as the favorites, for obvious reasons. They have been down on the Huskerson the past 2 seasons, IMO, just paying us lip service because we're Nebraska, but not really believing we're going to take the West. This year seems different. We seem to be everyone's dark horse and everyone seems to be hedging their bets about us. They don't want to bet on us because we've disappointed for 6 years. But they see the recruiting, they see the talent building, they see the depth building, they see the coaching and the process taking hold. It's impossible to ignore. The jury is still out, but the pieces are falling into place and this year has the potential to be a "breakout" year for the program as a whole... and everyone seems to know that. The BTN writers don't want to bet on NU, but it seems equally, they don't want to bet against us. It actually seems like we could live up to the hype and deserve more than lip service. We're a true unknown, with more upside than we've had in more than a decade, and that, IMO, makes us one of the most intriguing teams of the season nationally.
 
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Count me and a whole bunch of Nebraska fans I talk to as optimists. Virtually no one I talk to has low expectations. But then, maybe I suffer from association bias. Every year after the bowl game I am optimistic about next season and can't wait for it. Then more often than not I am disappointed at some point during the season. The alternative is being pessimistic all summer, expecting gloom and doom, and maybe being pleasantly surprised. The reason I like my way is I am optimistic for 8 months a year rather than pessimistic. It is the way I roll, but everyone has his own way to look at things, I get that.

alternative (ôl-tûrˈnə-tĭv, ăl-)

  • n.
    The choice between two mutually exclusive possibilities.
  • n.
    A situation presenting such a choice.
Can it be both?

Not according to the words you use and their definitions.
 
Granted, I'm only 40 years old and maybe some of the fans that are older may have different perspective; but I've never seen such a lack of excitement for the beginning of the Husker season. This is from conversations with friends, strangers and message boards. It's sad to see the program decline to this point.
I am more amped up than any time since the glory years. You are crazy man. Get your hormones checked.
 
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Granted, I'm only 40 years old and maybe some of the fans that are older may have different perspective; but I've never seen such a lack of excitement for the beginning of the Husker season. This is from conversations with friends, strangers and message boards. It's sad to see the program decline to this point.

Granted, I have been working a lot for the last month, but I haven't had a single person bring up the Huskers for a long time now in any in-person conversations I have been in (at work, see people I know while shopping, local convenience store), including me.

Message boards seem to be filled with both hesitancy and excitement. Many want the 9-11 wins, but (maybe due to the media predicting fewer than 8 or 9 wins) seem to think anywhere from 5 to 9 wins is possible.

The Season Predictions thread from August 18th had a total of only 23 posts. That surprises me with all of the excitement the posters on here say that there is (according to this thread). Maybe it's just a tough season to predict so many didn't want to make a prediction. Who knows. There was some excitement from many posters in the thread though.

I am very excited and anxious. Saturday night can't get here soon enough!! GBR!!
 
It's just that no one wants to put themself out there and predict 9 or 10. Not many want the message board blow back that comes with that. It's easier to have a wait and see and remain firmly planted on the fence, and write things like anywhere from 6-6 to 9-3 regular season. There is always a disclaimer.

secondly, there are about 100 threads on here where people talk record, the post just weren't in the prediction thread. My opinion
 
For me personally I have an extreme amount of curiosity for this season. I am not a pessimist, but I do think there will be some struggles this season. I do think that if the Oregon game goes badly, it could really derail the season. I do think the get Wisconsin or Iowa this year, I don't know about both.

I am curious to see how our running game looks. I have hear from reporters and radio personalities that have been at practice and it seems like they have been putting a lot of emphasis on the passing game and the running game is kind of an after thought. I hope that isn't the case. I would also really like to see a more physical team this year.

Curious!!!
 
Granted, I have been working a lot for the last month, but I haven't had a single person bring up the Huskers for a long time now in any in-person conversations I have been in (at work, see people I know while shopping, local convenience store), including me.

Message boards seem to be filled with both hesitancy and excitement. Many want the 9-11 wins, but (maybe due to the media predicting fewer than 8 or 9 wins) seem to think anywhere from 5 to 9 wins is possible.

The Season Predictions thread from August 18th had a total of only 23 posts. That surprises me with all of the excitement the posters on here say that there is (according to this thread). Maybe it's just a tough season to predict so many didn't want to make a prediction. Who knows. There was some excitement from many posters in the thread though.

I am very excited and anxious. Saturday night can't get here soon enough!! GBR!!
My friends who love football have a cautious optimism. However, those who used to be the more casual fans just don't seem interested anymore. It may be a result of the last few years in Lincoln or perhaps just a changing society. There are so many other avenues of interest that those folks just don't have any care.
 
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My friends who love football have a cautious optimism. However, those who used to be the more casual fans just don't seem interested anymore. It may be a result of the last few years in Lincoln or perhaps just a changing society. There are so many other avenues of interest that those folks just don't have any care.

Your friends from the women's groups you are in?
 
Your friends from the women's groups you are in?
No friends and family in Nebraska. Plus some of us actually have the ability to talk about that pigskin (or is it a cowskin or maybe its pleather because we women love pleather), and once in blue moon we talk to men (after they have spoken to us first of course). Bless your heart.
 
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Most every pessimist I know thinks they are pragmatic. Most optimists tend to overlook flaws.

There certainly are some people that are realistic, but it isn't very common.
Well stated. I saw no flaws in this post. :)
 
Well it certainly isn't worse than going into last year. Cautious is part of it. However there are a lot of different levels of fans. The hard core will always look forward to it regardless of the expectations. But you will always have a certain amount of people that really like Nebraska football but their excitement and engagement fluctuates with our success.

A good examples is the national polls. Past years I would be studying them and schedules to see who above us could possibly lose and help us move up. This year?.........well its just not the same in the pre-season. We need to win 3 or 4 games to get to that point.
 
Hey OP, go to your nearest Hy-Vee and walk around the parking lot yelling Huskers suck. Then come back and give us your latest take on fan excitement.

Actually you might have proved his point. If you were to do that people would give you a couple of hard glances. Go back in the past and you did that you would have gotten a much worse reaction.

The OP isn't saying their isn't interest.....he is stating it is the lowest he has seen. I personally think last year pre-season was the lowest I had seen.
 
Actually you might have proved his point. If you were to do that people would give you a couple of hard glances. Go back in the past and you did that you would have gotten a much worse reaction.

The OP isn't saying their isn't interest.....he is stating it is the lowest he has seen. I personally think last year pre-season was the lowest I had seen.
I completely disagree with all of this. In fact, I really haven't noticed any change in interest in years. The only time I can recall any even barely noticeable change in interest was in 2004 because of the lingering resentment from some over the Solich firing. But that was still a relatively small number of people. Generally, if you are interested in the Huskers, you're interested in them every year and there's really no change in how interested or excited you are. How good you think we will be can change from one year to the next, but not the interest or excitement.
 
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Hey OP, go to your nearest Hy-Vee and walk around the parking lot yelling Huskers suck. Then come back and give us your latest take on fan excitement.
OK, I just did that in front of a group of guys in Omaha wearing Husker gear and their only response was, "We don't care if you insult the Huskers, but shut up about our beloved Bluejays."
 
Granted, I'm only 40 years old and maybe some of the fans that are older may have different perspective; but I've never seen such a lack of excitement for the beginning of the Husker season. This is from conversations with friends, strangers and message boards. It's sad to see the program decline to this point.
I'm pretty darn excited!! DONU has a lot to prove and they are going to do it! This is the first time since the Solich years that I feel on-board with our coaching staff. I hope the best for Riley and his staff. I want him to succeed so much, for us and for him... he's a great guy and a GREAT representative for The University. I want Riley to succeed so bad... he's everything Nebraskans are... he just. Gets. It.
 
I'm pretty darn excited!! DONU has a lot to prove and they are going to do it! This is the first time since the Solich years that I feel on-board with our coaching staff. I hope the best for Riley and his staff. I want him to succeed so much, for us and for him... he's a great guy and a GREAT representative for The University. I want Riley to succeed so bad... he's everything Nebraskans are... he just. Gets. It.
This is well said...

With Callahan we had Cosgrove and Elmassian that you had to take.

With Pelini, we had Papuchis, Els and Cotton, among others.

With Riley at the start we had Banker and Read. The jury is still out on Davis and Cav, but the defensive side appears set. It's hard not to be all in on these coaches.
 
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This is well said...

With Callahan we had Cosgrove and Elmassian that you had to take.

With Pelini, we had Papuchis, Els and Cotton, among others.

With Riley at the start we had Banker and Read. The jury is still out on Davis and Cav, but the defensive side appears set. It's hard not to be all in on these coaches.
You are so right! But, it's very calming that Riley seems dedicated to doing everything that he can; looking for other riders to muster up his dream.
 
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Granted, I'm only 40 years old and maybe some of the fans that are older may have different perspective; but I've never seen such a lack of excitement for the beginning of the Husker season. This is from conversations with friends, strangers and message boards. It's sad to see the program decline to this point.
I don't think it's lack of excitement. I believe it's the unknown. There are so many different things happening with this team this season, no one knows what to expect for sure. New QB, DC, DB coach, ST coach, etc.
 
My lack of excitement is related to football in general. I feel guilty (as weird as that sounds) for supporting football and cheering the team on. I know that realistically, most of the players playing (in college or pro) will have CTE in 20-30 years. I saw what happened to my grandma and can't imagine that happening to people 20-30 years younger than her. It's why I am hesistant to go to the game tomorrow despite a free ticket. I am a huge Husker and Texans fan and yet, I am I am struggling to maintain interest. I feel like I am supporting the Roman coliseum anarchy but just delaying the inevitable body deterioration by 20-30 years. I understand that rationally that I shouldn't think that but I can't believe how reluctant I am to attend the game tomorrow. I mean, a free ticket, I almost want to pass on it. Ugh, I hate having any sort of conscious.

EDIT: Also, I'm drunk.
 
This is what happens when you hire MR rodgers and quit recruiting and let the board of regents instead of football
Experts run the team. We have been in decline since Solich was selected.


BC could have been good if we picked the D.C.

BP could have been good if we got him a recruiter and stopped being weak

Riley is a nice guy
 
The Oline is still taking a beating in terms of expectations, but last year we were starting three walkons at times, one whose accomplishment was that he had been around for several years. The RS frosh just were ready. And knock on wood, the upperclassmen on the line are heading into the first game healthy and ready to go. The depth is still young, but there has been competition for those spots. If injuries do occur, Cav has some options. Conrad can swing out to tackle, Wilson can come in for Farmer or Foster. I feel a lot better about the line.
Why do we need to
Rely on walk ons - where is the recruiting
 
Why do we need to
Rely on walk ons - where is the recruiting
Good call… We should've recruited 12 Juco Olinemen. Then we wouldn't have depth issues. The way the coaches have done it, by recruiting high school lineman, takes too long.
 
I am excited for the start of every season ... this excitement is based on hope and possibilities

I look forward one day to be excited once again on the basis of expectations and probabilities


there is a difference IMO ... all fanbases (Illinois,Pursue, Minnesota, Colorado State, Washington State, etc...) are excited based on hope

other fan bases (FSU, OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin,..etc) are excited based on expectations
 
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I am excited for the start of every season ... this excitement if based on hope and possibilities

I look forward one day to be excited once again on the basis of expectations and probabilities


there is a difference IMO ... all fanbases (Illinois,Pursue, Minnesota, Colorado State, Washington State, etc...) are excited based on hope

other fan bases (FSU, OSU, Minnesota, Penn State, Wisconsin,..etc) are excited based on expectations
Assuming Michigan here, correct?

Good post, and I can't wait to get back in the expectation and probability category as well.
 
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