Ah, The Sweet Bliss of Apathy

[ouwasp]

Sometimes I wish I could be like my mother-in-law or my wife. Oh, they want OU to win because the rest of the family does...but it's not a big deal when OU loses to the pokes...or anybody else. They don't even know who is playing.

Tonight, after my poke pastor took a gentle dig at the Sooners (his son played at OSU, so he gets a pass, this time), I got to thinking about how I used to be with the Dallas Cowboys. I knew the roster up and down from the 70s to the mid-90s. Knew the schedule front to back. Never missed a whole game. After they fired Barry, and free-agency suckage kicked in... <shrug>...I stopped caring. Haven't watched an entire game in yrs, unless you count ones I went to sleep in front of.

I don't want to unplug on the Sooners! It seems as if Boren and Company are unplugging on us, though! What a sad time we live in as Sooner fans. Will it become as bad as the Dark 90s? Never dreamed Bob would allow that...

[BoulderSooner79]

I didn't really care that much about the OSU loss. It didn't really represent this year's team as we were playing with our passing arm tied behind our back and every pre-season goal already lost. So maybe I'm making progress on that apathy curve. (It probably helped that I don't live among Poke fans).

Now those other 3 losses….

[SoonerorLater]

Sometimes I wish I could be like my mother-in-law or my wife. Oh, they want OU to win because the rest of the family does...but it's not a big deal when OU loses to the pokes...or anybody else. They don't even know who is playing.

Tonight, after my poke pastor took a gentle dig at the Sooners (his son played at OSU, so he gets a pass, this time), I got to thinking about how I used to be with the Dallas Cowboys. I knew the roster up and down from the 70s to the mid-90s. Knew the schedule front to back. Never missed a whole game. After they fired Barry, and free-agency suckage kicked in... <shrug>...I stopped caring. Haven't watched an entire game in yrs, unless you count ones I went to sleep in front of.

I don't want to unplug on the Sooners! It seems as if Boren and Company are unplugging on us, though! What a sad time we live in as Sooner fans. Will it become as bad as the Dark 90s? Never dreamed Bob would allow that...

They're probably not apathetic they just most likely don't care.

As for your pastor, if it were me he would be getting a steady diet of OU paraphernalia in the collection plate each week.

[8timechamps]

I can't unplug from the Sooners. If it was going to happen, the Blake years would have done it for me.

I'm a college football fan way ahead of the NFL. I was a mild Cowboy fan growing up, but it wasn't the end-all be-all like the Sooners were/are. I live in Denver now and have had season tickets to the Broncos for almost a decade. I love Bronco football. We tailgate before most home games and it's an unwritten rule that Sunday afternoons are sacred when the Broncos are on the road. I don't think I've missed watching a game (live or on TV) in about 15 years.

That said, it still takes a backseat to OU football. I just am not as invested emotionally. My youngest son is the same way, and he's only experienced Oklahoma when we've gone back on trips. He's just like I was as a kid, he lives and breathes OU football. He's a freshman in high school and he and his buddies talk sports a lot (like most boys his age). He always talks about OU, and when they lose, he hears it from his friends. However, it's nothing like living in Oklahoma.

For me, college football is such a regional interest that cheering for OU is more than just cheering for the school, it's like cheering for the area, my hometown. NFL football can't compare in that regard. Sure, if I'm traveling to San Diego I can talk about the Broncos and stick out my chest, but it's not the same.

Things aren't as bad as they seem right now. We're just fresh off of a very disappointing season. By next spring, we'll be excited about the coming year and convinced our boys will be back to their winning ways.

The hard part is the next seven months.

[8timechamps]

I didn't really care that much about the OSU loss. It didn't really represent this year's team as we were playing with our passing arm tied behind our back and every pre-season goal already lost. So maybe I'm making progress on that apathy curve. (It probably helped that I don't live among Poke fans).

Now those other 3 losses….

Yep, I'm convinced that this week is going much better than it would if I was still in Oklahoma. Not a Poke fan in sight.

[SoonerBorn]

We cut the cable a few years ago - just couldn't justify the cost for what we were getting. I said at the time that the hardest thing for me would be giving up Sooner football on those days it wasn't broadcast on a major channel. At first we made sure to go to restaurants or friends houses that showed the game.

I let go, and I have to tell you it's done wonders for my blood pressure. My mood isn't tied to the rise and falls of the Sooners.

I wish they'd done better this season and the losses are very frustrating. If you check soonerstats though, each of Stoops' 7 or 8 win seasons have been followed by an 11, 12, or 13 win season. Keep the faith.

[Wishboned]

We cut the cable a few years ago - just couldn't justify the cost for what we were getting. I said at the time that the hardest thing for me would be giving up Sooner football on those days it wasn't broadcast on a major channel. At first we made sure to go to restaurants or friends houses that showed the game.

I let go, and I have to tell you it's done wonders for my blood pressure. My mood isn't tied to the rise and falls of the Sooners.

I wish they'd done better this season and the losses are very frustrating. If you check soonerstats though, each of Stoops' 7 or 8 win seasons have been followed by an 11, 12, or 13 win season. Keep the faith.

OU had a streak of winning the Big 12 on even numbered years too. That's fallen by the wayside.

[Pride1Mom]

The apathy I see was going to the game and seeing all of the tickets being held up for sale. Then seeing all of the ORANGE in the seats around me. Shame on the season ticket holders that did not show up for the last game of the year and for the seniors that have work so hard for the program. I am sure when the players saw the crowd leave after the third quarter, thinking that 14 points was a good enough lead, did not help! I have never understood leaving early when the tickets cost so much, you would think you would want to get every minute of what you paid for. There is no such thing in being in a hurry to leave a crowd of 85,000, so just be patient.

[badger]

Forgive my apathy, but the biggest donation I made to OU was tuition ending about 10 years ago. If the big money donors, season ticket holders and others who think they should have a say in things related to OU football want to get up in arms over a 8-4 season, please don't go overboard and make rational OU fans look foolish in the process. Please don't cause yourself or anyone else bodily harm, but I'm aware that I'm in no position to stop you if you want to go crazy.

Or, you can do what a few college students at heart are doing and have your own sort of crazy this bowl season. Get a bunch of alcohol. Pretend you are a fan of some mid-minor team on any given day (or the Sooners on Russell Athletic Bowl day). Go berserk about your Memphis Tigers or Central Michigan Chippewas. Have fun. It's the holidays.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Boren hasn't unplugged on us. He's just allowed Castiglione treat us like marketing prospects instead of season ticket holders/fans. It's about money now.

The smallest example of this is the coaches' roadies in May/June. For decades, they were free. Our dad used to take us when Switzer would come down to Dallas every spring to regale the faithful here with stories of recruiting and the prior season.

Now, there's cost involved. So, if I'm taking the wife and kids along, it does become an expense. But, what is it really worth in the internet age?

In the Switzer days, it meant a lot because there wasn't a ton of information on recruiting beyond newspaper. Now, there are dozens of services with websites. Same with analysis. Tons of websites and information.

So, we're talking about discretionary income. And, it comes down to, do we spend the $80-$100+ to go see the coaches and have them tell us what we've already seen on the internet, or do we, maybe go have a nice dinner, or take the kids to Hawaiian Falls, Main Event, or some other thing they'd be more interested in.

[cvsooner]

Confession time: I haven't watched a game in real time in two years; always TiVo it and then watch later. For one thing I don't have to sit through the inane commercials, and another, I can get through a game in about an hour. Does wonders for my blood pressure too. Some games I haven't even watched yet (Baylor this year, for example.) It allows you to do a pretty good post mortem, pro or con. Freed up about three hours on every fall Saturday as a result.

[dwarthog]

Hopefully you cut your regular "tithe" down to a quarter after that dig.

[SoonerStormchaser]

Tonight, after my poke pastor took a gentle dig at the Sooners .

Heh...the priest of my former church in Norman is a Poke alum...never misses a shot across the bow...still love the guy enough to let him marry me and the missus nearly 8 years ago and baptize our daughter before we moved overseas.

[8timechamps]

Confession time: I haven't watched a game in real time in two years; always TiVo it and then watch later. For one thing I don't have to sit through the inane commercials, and another, I can get through a game in about an hour. Does wonders for my blood pressure too. Some games I haven't even watched yet (Baylor this year, for example.) It allows you to do a pretty good post mortem, pro or con. Freed up about three hours on every fall Saturday as a result.

I've watched my fair share of games on DVR. This year, I did that with a lot of the 11:00 kick-offs (10:00 my time).

Honestly, if there were a way to pay for live sports only, I'd cut my cable off and use only the internet.

Anyway, back to the DVR, it does make watching the game much easier. But, some games like OU/Texas, I have to watch live.

[BoulderSooner79]

I DVR some games as well, but that techniques suffers from the "could you skip a bit, brother?" syndrome. It's way too easy to skip ahead when you know the outcome already and things get a bit slow. Also the conversation between plays does shed light on the game even if the announcers are annoying. And it is dang near impossible to watch later and not know what happened unless you ignore every other game played or is being played later as the scores scroll across the screen during other games. Not the same experience as watching live.

[OU68]

Lived through Gibbs, Blake, Smelly - this too shall pass.

[tycat947]

Boren hasn't unplugged on us. He's just allowed Castiglione treat us like marketing prospects instead of season ticket holders/fans. It's about money now.

The smallest example of this is the coaches' roadies in May/June. For decades, they were free. Our dad used to take us when Switzer would come down to Dallas every spring to regale the faithful here with stories of recruiting and the prior season.

Now, there's cost involved. So, if I'm taking the wife and kids along, it does become an expense. But, what is it really worth in the internet age?

In the Switzer days, it meant a lot because there wasn't a ton of information on recruiting beyond newspaper. Now, there are dozens of services with websites. Same with analysis. Tons of websites and information.

So, we're talking about discretionary income. And, it comes down to, do we spend the $80-$100+ to go see the coaches and have them tell us what we've already seen on the internet, or do we, maybe go have a nice dinner, or take the kids to Hawaiian Falls, Main Event, or some other thing they'd be more interested in.

It's ALL about the money and it's not just OU! You see all these mid-major schools begging to join the Power 5 conferences. People are not attending collegiate sporting events as much because they can watch anywhere, anytime on their smart phone/tablet/computer. The venues don't have enough bandwidth for everyone to access the net. We have to continuously spend money to upgrade facilities (for student athletes) because things change so fast. OU is doing nothing different than any other collegiate blueblood athletic program...trying to keep up with the Jones. Everything is trying to get an edge....Headington Hall, renovation of OMS, etc, etc. It's literally an arms race of collegiate proportions. If fans don't care about having the nicest facilities and players don't care about having the largest weight room, then it will end but not before.

[SoonerStormchaser]

It's literally an arms race of collegiate proportions.

And there's the reason why tuition is insane...and students carry an average of $25K in loans upon graduation. All for a degree that might not be worth jack **** in a few years.

[Piware]

Spot on. This is like a kidney stone and this too will pass.

[badger]

And there's the reason why tuition is insane...and students carry an average of $25K in loans upon graduation. All for a degree that might not be worth jack **** in a few years.

The government and schools also found another source of student loans to jack up rates with: Parents and grandparents. And of course, in New Jersey you can also go after divorced parents for every penny.