Tired of Negativity

[West Coast Blue Fan]

Ugh, not another debate about what a "true fan" is.

I guess I'm a fan of high taxes because I pay them and don't say anything negative.
I guess I'm a fan of traffic jams on Highway #1. I know the new bridge will one day be completed and I'm thankful my tax dollars and my toll dollars will help this.
I guess I'm a fan of dogs. I watched that game against Edmonton from pregame to the final whistle. That dog also shat on the bed in the first half, but I didn't do anything about it because it dried up and didn't smell as bad in the 2nd half.
I guess I'm a fan of Tim Hortons. I was just happy they actually had a Lions donut and were actually throwing some support behind the team, no matter how small it was.

I love my world of Orange skies and rainbows and unicorns.....and it never rains here either.

[pdxlion]

Thanks jrower. Finanlly a post that I can agree with.

[notahomer]

Ugh, not another debate about what a "true fan" is.

I guess I'm a fan of high taxes because I pay them and don't say anything negative.
I guess I'm a fan of traffic jams on Highway #1. I know the new bridge will one day be completed and I'm thankful my tax dollars and my toll dollars will help this.
I guess I'm a fan of dogs. I watched that game against Edmonton from pregame to the final whistle. That dog also shat on the bed in the first half, but I didn't do anything about it because it dried up and didn't smell as bad in the 2nd half.
I guess I'm a fan of Tim Hortons. I was just happy they actually had a Lions donut and were actually throwing some support behind the team, no matter how small it was.

I love my world of Orange skies and rainbows and unicorns.....and it never rains here either.

The 'true fan' debate was going fast/furious over at Riderfans the other day. Glad its not just any team. I've heard Canuck fans complain like this too.

[ziggy]

Ugh, not another debate about what a "true fan" is.

I guess I'm a fan of high taxes because I pay them and don't say anything negative.
I guess I'm a fan of traffic jams on Highway #1. I know the new bridge will one day be completed and I'm thankful my tax dollars and my toll dollars will help this.
I guess I'm a fan of dogs. I watched that game against Edmonton from pregame to the final whistle. That dog also shat on the bed in the first half, but I didn't do anything about it because it dried up and didn't smell as bad in the 2nd half.
I guess I'm a fan of Tim Hortons. I was just happy they actually had a Lions donut and were actually throwing some support behind the team, no matter how small it was.

I love my world of Orange skies and rainbows and unicorns.....and it never rains here either.

I'll have what he's smoking! Sorry, don't get the jist of this post?

[CatsEyes]

Pessimism doesn't help much. However, optimism does have its problems too. Many of us remember the 11-0 start to a season that ended terribly. A small minority (not me) started to warn us that some 'signs' were there. That season and the playoffs ended badly, IMO. We got to watch the Esks drink out of the Grey Cup on our turf. So, blindfully having faith is not going to do it for me.

I for one was excited coming into this season. I saw a swagger and confidence that left me hoping this would be a good year. I enjoyed the preseason game where the Lions well, IMO.

Now, we are 0-3 and seeing so many of the same mistakes and the same 'yah buts'. One of the Coaches (Benevides?) had a slogan 'shut up and win' . I'd like to see the players and coaches follow through on that mantra.

That's pretty much where I'm coming from as well. It's not so much negativity as realism and the fact that we've seen this over and over and over again with no signs of change or improvement. The words and promises are hollow. In my deepest heart I want them to win, and I'm sure they do too. Where is the disconnect? I'll still cheer for them and hope for the best, but I'll do it over here in the colonies where nobody loves us and watch the games from the comfort of the 52" HD screen.

[Lionheart]

It may be that I am a young fan and have not been let down much over the years and eventually I will develop this negative attitude that other fans have, but at least now I like to look at the positives

With age comes wisdom. With wisdom comes experience. With experience comes the ability to spot trends, and point out the negative ones.

See them repeated enough and frustration sets in.

Understand that those around you who are negative don't necessarily hate the product. They want to love it and see it improve as much as you.

But, as I tell people, if you want unconditional love, stop being a sports fan and get a dog.

This is an uncanny post. You not only stole the proper quote, but my reply.

[cromartie]

It may be that I am a young fan and have not been let down much over the years and eventually I will develop this negative attitude that other fans have, but at least now I like to look at the positives

With age comes wisdom. With wisdom comes experience. With experience comes the ability to spot trends, and point out the negative ones.

See them repeated enough and frustration sets in.

Understand that those around you who are negative don't necessarily hate the product. They want to love it and see it improve as much as you.

But, as I tell people, if you want unconditional love, stop being a sports fan and get a dog.

This is an uncanny post. You not only stole the proper quote, but my reply.

Well, I mean, why else would you get a dog?

[pennw]

I would question the "with age comes wisdom " part , haven't really seen evidence of that in general .Some get wiser with age , many do not .
As to the negativity part I would have to agree with our thread starter . The negativity on this board is getting tiresome . There is more to life than just football .
Jrower , if it were me , I would just tell my dad the truth and only watch the game with him if he agreed to curb the attitude .

[CatsEyes]

Yes there is more to life than football, but in case you didn't notice, this IS a football message board, so that's what we talk about here. I don't see a lot of negativity here. I see experience and realism and people expressing their opinions.


Oh and in case you also hadn't noticed, the Vancouver Lions are now 0-4. Are we allowed to express some concern now or will that hurt your feelings too much?

[joe kapp22]

Well, needless to say I've watched a lot of BC Lions football this yr.

What strikes me is we are not that far away, the problem(s) to me revolve around a Secondary that must be more physical, and an offence that can do some things, but does not consistently finish plays.

The offence will only get better, the Defence I'm not so enthusiastic about, poor scheme, poor effort, poor preperation I literally watched KB hand off a Wr to the Safety, and point the Safety to the route the Wr was running (looked like a square in) and the Safety just did not recognize the play quickly enough and it went for a long completion.

I've watched opponents literally run over our Db's and score TD's consistently, they just manhandle them, and I do not really know what the solution for that is.

Last yr Wally brought in John Brown from Retirement in TN, he was a coaching assistant for the TN Volunteers, he seemed to stabilize things, we need a reprise of that this yr as this Secondary just lacks something, attitide, hunger, whatever it is we can watch T Lulay go off for 400 yds per game and still not win.

[pennw]

Yes there is more to life than football, but in case you didn't notice, this IS a football message board, so that's what we talk about here. I don't see a lot of negativity here. I see experience and realism and people expressing their opinions.


Oh and in case you also hadn't noticed, the Vancouver Lions are now 0-4. Are we allowed to express some concern now or will that hurt your feelings too much?

Uh , actually none of this has hurt my feelings at all . In fact I'm having a great day so far even though we are 0-4 . Hope you're having a nice one too !

[CatsEyes]

Uh , actually none of this has hurt my feelings at all . In fact I'm having a great day so far even though we are 0-4 . Hope you're having a nice one too !

Lol that was directed more to the original poster I'm actually having a fabulous day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the coffee's brewing and the Lions are 0-4. This doesn't really bother me, because this is pretty much what I expected. I just wanted to make sure people's tender sensibilities weren't offended if the grown ups were a little critical of a team that has been pretty much stagnant since 2008. This is, coincidentally or not, the same year we got a new OC and sadly the same year we lost Bobby Ackles. It just gets frustrating when year after year, more of the same happens, empty promises are made, and nothing changes. The only thing that has really changed for me is that I won't be spending my entertainment dollar on the LM. I will still cheer for them and fly my flag, but I won't be holding my breath for anything good to happen with this team while the status quo is maintained.

[Sir Purrcival]

This is, coincidentally or not, the same year we got a new OC and sadly the same year we lost Bobby Ackles. It just gets frustrating when year after year, more of the same happens, empty promises are made, and nothing changes..........

[jrower]

I would question the "with age comes wisdom " part , haven't really seen evidence of that in general .Some get wiser with age , many do not .
As to the negativity part I would have to agree with our thread starter . The negativity on this board is getting tiresome . There is more to life than just football .
Jrower , if it were me , I would just tell my dad the truth and only watch the game with him if he agreed to curb the attitude .

I did this week. Told him I wasn't going to watch with him. He told me he would keep a lid on it, so I gave him a chance and he was much better. However, he did complain about the commentators. They do tend to make a lot of really stupid comments. When they are not being idiots they point out the obvious. TSN needs new play by play and colour commentators. But my dad did a lot better this week. It helped that the game was a good one and the team played fairly well.

Yes there is more to life than football, but in case you didn't notice, this IS a football message board, so that's what we talk about here. I don't see a lot of negativity here. I see experience and realism and people expressing their opinions.


Oh and in case you also hadn't noticed, the Vancouver Lions are now 0-4. Are we allowed to express some concern now or will that hurt your feelings too much?

I see negativity still. It really really sucks that we are 0-4. I hate it. I want to see them win. However, people are making stupid, negative comments. The moment the team loses everyone starts saying how they sucked, how no one played great, how everyone needs to be fired. It is like with the Canucks. They came within a game of winning the cup and they lose and the fans think the whole team should be shot in the head and replaced. That is a stupid attitude.

How many of you would still be saying how much everything sucked and how the team has no hope if they had won? No one would be saying how much the defence sucked. The defence didn't suck. They didn't play great, but they didn't suck either. We lost by 8. We were down by just 1 late, but failed to produce. It was another close game. I count 3 of those now. I am fine with people expressing concern, but there is a difference between that and saying that everything sucks and that the season is over now. It isn't. Especially since there is a team even worse than us in our division and Toronto is not doing well either. If we can fix the issues we have, we have a great shot at the cup. 4 games do not make a season. No need to lose hope and commit suicide. The team won't do that and neither should the fans.

Half way through this week's game I was thinking to myself that people should be a lot happier. The things they were complaining about most were fixed. The running game was established and it was great. Robertson was very good. The pass rush was great as well. Even better than it has been in past weeks. They had amazing pressure on the QB on most of the plays. Unfortunately our secondary had issues. The negativity I refer to is how the difference between a win and a loss changes what people say. If we had won people would have been praising our run game and our pass rush and many other aspects of the team. However, we lose and I see people saying that the running was just ok, and that the pass rush was still bad. Complaints about ever aspect of the game. I don't understand it. That is negativity. Worrying is when you are nervous and talk about the negative aspects that are actually there, but you also see positives. That is what I do. Negativity is when you start to critisize EVERY aspect of the team whether it was bad or not. Negativity is when you fail to even remember the good parts of the game. Negativity is when you start acting as if this is what you expected from the team even though it is a great team with potential and who had an awesome preseason. Negativity is what I see from everyone. Negativity is dangerous. Worries are not. Look at the positives. The team has hope. There are 15 weeks in which they can get in Grey Cup contender form. Saskatchewan sucks worse than BC. Toronto sucks too. If you think the season is done now, you are mistaken. The riders should be 0-4 as well and the Argos are 1-3. Think about the situation before you start saying it is hopeless.

[Anglophone]

Remember: It's likely that all we'll have to do to make the playoffs is beat Saskatchewan. Hopefully Montreal will destroy them on Sunday. In that case, we're still even with them. We can then focus on putting up a good fight in the WSF.

That's not saying that there are not a lot of areas that we need to improve upon to stand a chance in said playoff game. There certainly are, but we have 16 weeks to work on them.