What constitutes satisfaction?

T

tmfr15

Starter
Nebraska is seeking to break a conference championship drought that stretches back to the 1990s. And most of us believe that a win in the championship game would be enough to keep us happy for a while.

Would it? Or would we just raise the bar?

Wouldn’t there be some people who would express disappointment if we got beat soundly in the next game? Wouldn’t the same questions be asked then about the coach and the direction of the program?

Did we totally miss something by dismissing the win streak that we went on in 2012 that set us up to play for the title? And all because of one fluky 60 minute stretch.

Consider what’s going on in Mississippi right now. Mississippi State hasn’t won a conference title since 1941. And Ole Miss is not far behind with a drought that stretches back to 1963. Only two teams have a longer drought.... Vanderbilt, 1923; and Iowa State, 1912.

Should those two teams be disappointed if they don’t end the drought this year? Or should they be satisfied that they were, at long last, competitive?

In a world where one-loss and multiple national title winning coach Nick Saban is expressing frustration that the fans aren’t happy because his Crimson Tide isn’t winning by enough, one has to ask the question.

Will we ever be truly satisfied?

 
Nope...answering your last question...nope.

Look at Bama fans right now...they are pissed off with Saban this year.

Heck I can remember losing to ASU and all the complaining...then losing to Texas and the bitching.

No, there is no sanctification IF YOU WERE A FAN of the team in the mid 90s.

If you were young and not a fan yet and all you know is how things are currently, then you would have a better chance of being satisfied.

Its like if you have only banged girl with real cans...its great...and you can't compare it to fake cans...but once you get your hands on those fake cans...well...things change!

 
No, it is human nature to never be totally satisfied, at least when it comes to things that have the ability to improve.

So yes, if we only lose 3 games this year, the bar gets raised a notch. And then when we lose only 2, it gets raised another notch etc.

Then, when we are in Bama shoes, we will complain about not beating people badly enough. It's just the way it is.

I do think there is some validity to what teacher said about NU fans who experienced TO's career and especially the mid 90's. I have seen numerous people right here on HB who seem to be fairly content or satisfied with the way things are currently. Many of them seem to be younger people and they seem to have lower expectations than many of the older posters. Not all by any means but generally speaking. But, even these people will say they are not satisfied but it sure doesn't prevent them from sticking up for the current situation of 9 wins, 4 losses, the coaching staff, etc. They stick up for it every chance they get but, when asked directly, they claim no one is saying they are satisfied. Just have a funny way of showing it I guess. Likewise, the Nellies have trouble acknowledging anything good that happens. They (myself included) are constantly and always nitpicking the things that could/should improve. So, to some extent, satisfaction is dependent upon the specific person but nobody should ever be totally satisfied when there is any room at all for improvement.

 
JJHusker1 said:
No, it is human nature to never be totally satisfied, at least when it comes to things that have the ability to improve.

So yes, if we only lose 3 games this year, the bar gets raised a notch. And then when we lose only 2, it gets raised another notch etc.

Then, when we are in Bama shoes, we will complain about not beating people badly enough. It's just the way it is.

I do think there is some validity to what teacher said about NU fans who experienced TO's career and especially the mid 90's. I have seen numerous people right here on HB who seem to be fairly content or satisfied with the way things are currently. Many of them seem to be younger people and they seem to have lower expectations than many of the older posters. Not all by any means but generally speaking. But, even these people will say they are not satisfied but it sure doesn't prevent them from sticking up for the current situation of 9 wins, 4 losses, the coaching staff, etc. They stick up for it every chance they get but, when asked directly, they claim no one is saying they are satisfied. Just have a funny way of showing it I guess. Likewise, the Nellies have trouble acknowledging anything good that happens. They (myself included) are constantly and always nitpicking the things that could/should improve. So, to some extent, satisfaction is dependent upon the specific person but nobody should ever be totally satisfied when there is any room at all for improvement.
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For me the fans that I see are the least satisfied with the program are the ones that were somewhere between 12-16 years old in 1993 and saw one of the best five year runs ever by a team. Those are very impressionable years and what really shapes their memories of what they think NU should always be like.

Many older guys, like myself, that grew up watching NU in the late 70's through the 80's we may have a little broader view of what is satisfying. Not saying all older guys are like that, but many are. For me being consistently good is very important. Winning conference championships and national championships is something I want to see, but I also recognize it is much harder to do now in this world of college football.

 
I'd be happy going to the CCG, but I'd be satisfied by winning it. If we lost after that we'd most likely be losing to a team way better than us so whatever. I should mention I was born in '92.

 
teachercd said:
Nope...answering your last question...nope.

Look at Bama fans right now...they are pissed off with Saban this year.

Heck I can remember losing to ASU and all the complaining...then losing to Texas and the bitching.

No, there is no sanctification IF YOU WERE A FAN of the team in the mid 90s.

If you were young and not a fan yet and all you know is how things are currently, then you would have a better chance of being satisfied.

Its like if you have only banged girl with real cans...its great...and you can't compare it to fake cans...but once you get your hands on those fake cans...well...things change!
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Right on brother!

 
I think the weekly meltdown threads of fans of elite programs losing their minds is enough proof that nothing constitutes satisfaction.

We literally won't ever be satisfied, as a whole.

 
Mavric said:
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Damn, those guys are OLD! It's crazy to think those geezers were once rock and roll's bad boys.

I'm satisfied with 5-1 right now and I was a student at UNL during the 90s run. To think it would be so easy to replicate, or even get close to what NU accomplished in the 90s would be to minimize what they accomplished. Either they were really great, or it was easy, but it can't be both. I think NU fans are seeing now just how difficult it is to be one of the best teams in CFB.

 
NUinID said:
For me the fans that I see are the least satisfied with the program are the ones that were somewhere between 12-16 years old in 1993 and saw one of the best five year runs ever by a team. Those are very impressionable years and what really shapes their memories of what they think NU should always be like.

Many older guys, like myself, that grew up watching NU in the late 70's through the 80's we may have a little broader view of what is satisfying. Not saying all older guys are like that, but many are. For me being consistently good is very important. Winning conference championships and national championships is something I want to see, but I also recognize it is much harder to do now in this world of college football.
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I guess I haven't noticed that age group (currently 33 to 37 yrs old) being the least satisfied. It's very possible because I don't make it a point to know how old everyone is who posts here. I was about 30 yrs old in 1993 and pretty well experienced the 70's, 80's, and 90's of Husker football. I feel like my expectations are on the high side here on HB and my satisfaction on the low side. I attended UNL, and all home games and some away, 81 to 85ish. I would say those were my most formative years as far as what I expect of this football program. Those were some of our most impressive years (Rozier, Gill, Fryar, etc.) but they also contained some of the most heartbreaking losses and set backs (Penn State sideline screw job, failed 2 point Orange Bowl conversion, etc). I went through all those years where Tom "couldn't win the big one" and where we got our asses handed to us on a regular basis by those Florida teams and Oklahoma frequently. I think I have a pretty realistic outlook on why I feel we should currently be doing a bit better than we are. Much of that feeling is driven by it having been so long since winning any kind of championship, being ranked top ten, etc. But the thing that probably bugs me more than anything is the lack of signature wins, the numerous times we come out and lay an egg in big games, the couple blowout losses we seem to sustain every season, the other couple of games where we come out and severely under perform against teams like Wyoming or McNeese or Minnesota, etc. I don't expect mid 90's domination. I do expect for the team to play at a high level every week of the season.

 
JJHusker1 said:
NUinID said:
For me the fans that I see are the least satisfied with the program are the ones that were somewhere between 12-16 years old in 1993 and saw one of the best five year runs ever by a team. Those are very impressionable years and what really shapes their memories of what they think NU should always be like.

Many older guys, like myself, that grew up watching NU in the late 70's through the 80's we may have a little broader view of what is satisfying. Not saying all older guys are like that, but many are. For me being consistently good is very important. Winning conference championships and national championships is something I want to see, but I also recognize it is much harder to do now in this world of college football.
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I guess I haven't noticed that age group (currently 33 to 37 yrs old) being the least satisfied. It's very possible because I don't make it a point to know how old everyone is who posts here. I was about 30 yrs old in 1993 and pretty well experienced the 70's, 80's, and 90's of Husker football. I feel like my expectations are on the high side here on HB and my satisfaction on the low side. I attended UNL, and all home games and some away, 81 to 85ish. I would say those were my most formative years as far as what I expect of this football program. Those were some of our most impressive years (Rozier, Gill, Fryar, etc.) but they also contained some of the most heartbreaking losses and set backs (Penn State sideline screw job, failed 2 point Orange Bowl conversion, etc). I went through all those years where Tom "couldn't win the big one" and where we got our asses handed to us on a regular basis by those Florida teams and Oklahoma frequently. I think I have a pretty realistic outlook on why I feel we should currently be doing a bit better than we are. Much of that feeling is driven by it having been so long since winning any kind of championship, being ranked top ten, etc. But the thing that probably bugs me more than anything is the lack of signature wins, the numerous times we come out and lay an egg in big games, the couple blowout losses we seem to sustain every season, the other couple of games where we come out and severely under perform against teams like Wyoming or McNeese or Minnesota, etc. I don't expect mid 90's domination. I do expect for the team to play at a high level every week of the season.
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It's really not the lack of big wins or championships that bothers me. It's the embarrassing blowouts and the games where we come out unprepared and get beat due to simple lack of fundamentals and basic execution. Those are the games where I'm unsatisfied. I can handle not winning it all but I can't handle looking like one of the worst teams in CFB.

 
JJHusker1 said:
NUinID said:
For me the fans that I see are the least satisfied with the program are the ones that were somewhere between 12-16 years old in 1993 and saw one of the best five year runs ever by a team. Those are very impressionable years and what really shapes their memories of what they think NU should always be like.

Many older guys, like myself, that grew up watching NU in the late 70's through the 80's we may have a little broader view of what is satisfying. Not saying all older guys are like that, but many are. For me being consistently good is very important. Winning conference championships and national championships is something I want to see, but I also recognize it is much harder to do now in this world of college football.
Click to expand...
I guess I haven't noticed that age group (currently 33 to 37 yrs old) being the least satisfied. It's very possible because I don't make it a point to know how old everyone is who posts here. I was about 30 yrs old in 1993 and pretty well experienced the 70's, 80's, and 90's of Husker football. I feel like my expectations are on the high side here on HB and my satisfaction on the low side. I attended UNL, and all home games and some away, 81 to 85ish. I would say those were my most formative years as far as what I expect of this football program. Those were some of our most impressive years (Rozier, Gill, Fryar, etc.) but they also contained some of the most heartbreaking losses and set backs (Penn State sideline screw job, failed 2 point Orange Bowl conversion, etc). I went through all those years where Tom "couldn't win the big one" and where we got our asses handed to us on a regular basis by those Florida teams and Oklahoma frequently. I think I have a pretty realistic outlook on why I feel we should currently be doing a bit better than we are. Much of that feeling is driven by it having been so long since winning any kind of championship, being ranked top ten, etc. But the thing that probably bugs me more than anything is the lack of signature wins, the numerous times we come out and lay an egg in big games, the couple blowout losses we seem to sustain every season, the other couple of games where we come out and severely under perform against teams like Wyoming or McNeese or Minnesota, etc. I don't expect mid 90's domination. I do expect for the team to play at a high level every week of the season.
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I see what you are saying. I won't argue that we have games that we underperform, but I am going to give other teams credit for being better than they were in the past. The quality of play of teams we normally consider to be bottom dwellers as risen a lot over the past 2 decades. There are just a lot more teams that are decent than used to be. Nebraska used to be able to count on playing about 5 games a year like we had against Illinois. They were terrible that night. Now if you don't play well on a lot of Saturdays you can get beat by almost anyone. It is not just Nebraska this happens to either.

 
I really don't know what constitutes satisfaction.

We won the NC in 97 and then went 9-4 in 98. I wanted Solich gone.

As I got older, I seemed to come to terms with all good things come to an end.

With Callahan, it was different. 2 losing seasons in 4 years is too much for my team to have. So he had to go. I guess I am critical of Bo's tenure but patient enough to see what will happen moving forward with him before making another coaching change.

 
NUinID said:
JJHusker1 said:
No, it is human nature to never be totally satisfied, at least when it comes to things that have the ability to improve.

So yes, if we only lose 3 games this year, the bar gets raised a notch. And then when we lose only 2, it gets raised another notch etc.

Then, when we are in Bama shoes, we will complain about not beating people badly enough. It's just the way it is.

I do think there is some validity to what teacher said about NU fans who experienced TO's career and especially the mid 90's. I have seen numerous people right here on HB who seem to be fairly content or satisfied with the way things are currently. Many of them seem to be younger people and they seem to have lower expectations than many of the older posters. Not all by any means but generally speaking. But, even these people will say they are not satisfied but it sure doesn't prevent them from sticking up for the current situation of 9 wins, 4 losses, the coaching staff, etc. They stick up for it every chance they get but, when asked directly, they claim no one is saying they are satisfied. Just have a funny way of showing it I guess. Likewise, the Nellies have trouble acknowledging anything good that happens. They (myself included) are constantly and always nitpicking the things that could/should improve. So, to some extent, satisfaction is dependent upon the specific person but nobody should ever be totally satisfied when there is any room at all for improvement.
Click to expand...
For me the fans that I see are the least satisfied with the program are the ones that were somewhere between 12-16 years old in 1993 and saw one of the best five year runs ever by a team. Those are very impressionable years and what really shapes their memories of what they think NU should always be like.

Many older guys, like myself, that grew up watching NU in the late 70's through the 80's we may have a little broader view of what is satisfying. Not saying all older guys are like that, but many are. For me being consistently good is very important. Winning conference championships and national championships is something I want to see, but I also recognize it is much harder to do now in this world of college football.
Click to expand...
Pretty much sums it up.

Obviously, Championships are the ultimate goal that you are continually working towards. If we win the CCG and don't make it to the playoffs, then obviously, our ultimate goal wasn't met and you always look to see what can be improved on to get there. HOWEVER, I'll be pretty happy. I won't be throwing a hissy fit wanting coaches fired...etc. after losing one game after winning the conference.

 
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