MMQB - It’s Okay to be Ambivalent About this Football Team

After Saturday’s loss to Michigan State, the internet was ablaze with a bevy of reactions:

• Penn State can still go 10-2
• Penn State will be lucky to win another game
• PSU can still make a NY6 game
• PSU won’t make a bowl
• The Lions are terrible
• The Lions are good, but lost to a team that had been underperforming

And so on and so forth.

Further, in just the few hours after the game, I saw lots of people swing from one end of the spectrum to the other. Every viewpoint prompted argument, one way or the other. And you know what? That’s perfectly fine. It’s okay to be ambivalent about this football team.

am·biv·a·lent

amˈbivələnt/

adjective

1. having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

I, personally, have experienced pretty much every emotion following that loss. Still a young team in a rebuilding year; no reason they couldn’t close the Spartans out; they were a dropped interception away from winning; if the offensive ineptitude hadn’t popped up again, they wouldn’t have needed an INT in the first place.

I always try to stay level-headed when it comes to college football - sure I want the team to win, but in the grand scheme of life, it’s not the biggest deal to lose a game. But given that just a couple weeks ago, there was a real shot at the playoffs, and to come up short again is a tough pill to swallow.

So: feel how you want to feel. However you’re feeling, it’s perfectly fine. Remember, though, that we’re all fans of the same team, and we’re ultimately all on the same side. Disagree with each other all you want, but in the end, it’s all love.