I suffered through ‘99, and it hurt, but even if I “expected” to only go 9-3 that year it wouldn’t have made it hurt anymore when we were #2 in the country and lost to the Gophers. We are currently #6 in the country, and even though I think there is a good chance we could lose to Wisky & OSU, I’m terrified of what I might do if we lost to Michigan, and MSU is a real threat, I still will be disappointed if we lose to ANY of them.

I will be very happy if we go 12-0 and go to the National Championship game. I will be ecstatic if we win the National Championship.

I will be slightly disappointed if we lose in the NC game, but will probably think something like, “we were the underdogs there, it was inevitable that we lost it”

I will be disappointed if we lose 1 game (to tOSU), but will chalk it up to having played a tough team at their stadium.

I will be pretty disappointed if we lose 1 game (to Wisconsin), but will chalk it up to playing a team that SHOULD be good, despite their previous 2 losses, and playing at their stadium.

I wil be very disappointed if we lose 1 game to ANY other team, and wouldn’t have a good “excuse” to tell myself about why it happened.

I will be very disappointed if we lose 2 games, though if they come to tOSU and Wisconsin then I’ll use the excuses above. I’ll still be happy about our wins, I’ll still cheer them on in their bowl game, but I’ll still feel that we missed out on a great opportunity this year to have an exceptional team.

In the end, whether or not I get my hopes up or not will not affect the team’s performance on the field. The only difference that hoping and not hoping are that if I hope we run the table and go to the National Championship game, then I’ll have 12+ weeks of happy hoping, while if I stay pessimistic then I’ll have 12 dissatisfied weeks in which case I’m only “right” if we wind up losing, in which case I definitely wouldn’t be happy anyway.

So yeah, pass me the kool-aid while I enjoy every moment of this wild ride!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Glass-of-water.jpg

is half empty.

If that’s a pet peeve of yours, I’ll break this glass over your head.

I don’t think it’s a lack of optimism. I think most fans are pretty optimistic that we are in for a great season. I think for most people it’s a matter of not wanting to get their hopes up. They just don’t want to be let down like the last two years. It’s kind of like not cheering on your pitcher when he takes a no hitter into the seventh inning. You let him sit on the bench by himself and don’t bring it up. There will be plenty of time to enjoy it when it’s over.

Nothing has changed.

We expected to be 6-0 at this point. We expected the offense to be pretty good (maybe not THIS good). We also expected the defense to at least stay about the same.

What I know is that what I expected from this team before the season, and what I’ve seen are about the same, and I think people are getting caught up in events elsewhere when evaluating this team.

I’ve got some news for you. Beanie Wells is still very, very good.

It will be a long time before I’ll forget him single handedly pound us into submission at home last season. Run, after run, after run, just totally wearing us out. To EXPECT to beat a team on the way to 12-0 that so thoroughly dominated us last season is irresponsible.

Hey, the team has its flaws. But we’re halfway through the season, ranked #6, and a metric assload of teams higher than us play each other.

There’s a path.

I’m drinking as much kool-aid as I can. We can move the ball on tOSU. Pryor will make freshman mistakes. Wiscy is too one dimensional.

We’re going undefeated. I don’t care if I look like a jackass in the end.

Is a great analogy, which I’ll beat to death. I can see JoePaPa’s point (in which it could be argued that we fans are not in the dugout, so we don’t have to be quiet—he’s shouting enthusiasm from the mountaintops), but would slightly disagree. You all’ve heard my soapbox in here before about the Power we hold, as fans and New Journalists here in Blogistan. So, I would argue that we are in the dugout, or at least back in the clubhouse, so I’m all for lettin our pitcher focus a bit, so he can bring his best stuff in these next few innings at Camp Randal, at home vs. scUM and against the ever-dangerous lineup out in Columbus.

Of course, if you’re hiking this fall, and want to shout from the mountaintops, out of earshot of our pitcher: ‘Penn State is running the motherphuquing table. See y’all in Miami in January,’ I think that’s a perfectly safe outlet.

…only the fourth inning.

of how hilarious and ridiculous all of this seems to be: “It’s ok to think of 12-0!” “No! You’ll just be disappointed again!” “We have to think of 11-1 and 10-2 as possibilities!” “Let’s look at the next 3 games as a best of 3 series!” “Oh fuck it. I’m buying plane tickets to Miami!” “What if we lose?!! How will I face myself in the mirror?!?!” “I’ve been posting online and thinking about Penn State football so much the last few weeks…where did my wife and kids go!!”

I’m right there with all you guys…and I LOVE reading all these posts from people who are as in the tank for Penn State as I am. Keep the insanity and the wins coming.

We have yet to play our 3 toughest match ups. We need to keep our eye on the prize.

We are also paying the price for not losing early. if you lose a game late in the season, you can’t rebound. But if you lose early, you have a chance to make your way back up the rankings.

eye on the prize.