How The Other Half Lives
Laker Nation has a gotten a little taste of how the other half lives the past couple weekends and boy do they not like it. I haven’t heard more calls for immediate firings since the Lakers lost back-to-back games to Saginaw and Northwood in 2004. This is with only two losses as well. If Mitchell and crew go on to win their remaining eight games this season some of those folks will still chirp for wholesale firings.
I am in no way defending some of the play the last two games, but there has got to be some kind of level-headed approach to be found amongst the GVSU fan-base these days…right? I mean not everyone is doom, gloom and needing to be talked down from the ledge…right??? I’m as dissapointed and worried as the next person, but as a fan and alum, I have to keep it all in perspective. It’s not the end of the world.
For years, I have wondered what the reaction would be when the program hit a skid, a speedbump, the same adversity that EVERY other program in the country at any and all levels has faced before as well. I have to say I’m somewhat dissapointed in my fellow fans. How easy it is to forget. How insatiable our appetites for success and glory have become. We seem to forget the amount of work it takes every year to sustain that success. We seem to forget all the variables in sports, and life, that can make that record skip a beat now and then.
Some people were extremely against the hiring of Matt Mitchell based on his connections to Tim Selgo. The playoff exit last year and these two losses has given those voices a microphone to spew hatred and disgust. I will agree that it’s not the kind of “easy winning” we’re used to and have obviously come to expect without exceptions. I am however wholly dis-heartened to hear chirps of people not wanting to come to games anymore. Seriously?? Those voices awaken my deepest and worst fears. Saturday night, I was as shocked and frustrated as any Laker fan after the sudden loss to Indianapolis. I saw on Facebook and message-boards other Laker alums like myself venting their shock and frustrations as is to be expected.
I then began to witness people disstressing of a desire to not attend any more games this year due to the losses and potential for further losses. That’s when my frustration turned. I was left somewhat speachless. Is that what we have become as a fanbase? If we win by 50, we leave because it’s “boring”? If we lose in the final minutes of the game, we hate the program and everything to do with it??
I understand what it is to be a fan and the importance of the Grand Valley tradition. I will however take this as a moment to urge people to get behind this team. Supporting them will do far more good than not showing up to games. The program needs its fans now more than they have in years. It is likely that this team won’t make the playoffs now even if they go 9-2.
Take this as a humility pill. Allow yourself to be thankful for what you’ve been priviledged to watch the last decade. This gives you a glimpse into how the other half of D2 football fans live. Enjoy every moment, soak it in, appreciate where this program has gone.
Remember 2004?? WE BELIEVE!! The blood is in the water and every team we’ve pounded on for the last ten years wants a piece. Protect the pride folks.
Thank you and I hope to see everyone at Lubbers on Saturday for Findlay!
GO LAKERS!