Fun and Football

grandpasknee

grandpasknee

All-Conference
Bo recently commented, and many agreed, that the players just don't seem to be having fun on the field. Watching the UCLA players do their little jig before kickoff aggrevated me, but it also was a glaring display of the difference between a team confident and having fun (UCLA) and a team afraid of failure to the point nothing about the game was fun anymore (NU).

Coincidentally, I noticed that very few of the fans in our immediate area were having fun either.

Finally, even fewer folks on HB seem to have any joy in just being Husker Fans and watching our young guys face off with the other team young guys. It seems we (I include myself) have made Husker Football too much a part of our personal identity. In referencing the team, most of us say "we". We make comments like being embarrassed, disgraced, etc....based on how the team and the coaches perform.

For me, this is a wake up call to refocus my identity on my life, and not on a team. I will forever love the Huskers, cheer for the Huskers and go to see the Huskers every chance I get. But I won't let the results on the field dictate how I feel about my life or my self worth. And I will have fun again just being a fan of those boys that line up every Saturday.

 
Their dancing was noticeably subdued on the kick right before half when we were handing it to them.

Its more fun when you're winning.

 
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I'm not sure what Bo can do to make football more fun for these players but I think it would benefit us if they started to have more fun, they would be more loose and play football instead of worrying about making too many mistakes.

 
I. Am. Just. So. Happy.

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In all seriousness, lets just watch'em play the rest of the season then make changes of needed. Its what week 4?

 
I think what Bo meant is to loosen the reigns a little and let his players play fast and with instincts. That's how I took it at least.

 
Even getting beat by Bama, the money badger still looked like he was having fun. Don't know how you do it. Maybe pull a UCLA and just run 3-4 basic defenses. Limit the offensive play calling to what we do really well and can the rest.

 
I've coached quite a bit of basketball, softball, baseball, and hockey for younger kids up to about 12 years old. I probably wouldn't be much good past that age. Anyway, myself and the guys I've coached with have always emphasized "having fun". I don't care what age a player is, if you can't have fun playing a sport (and in the end that is all they're doing-playing a game) then you should be doing something else. But, I would always ask my players; "who wants to have fun?" and of course all of them wanted to. But then I would ask them; "which do you think is more fun, winning or losing?" Most kids think and know winning is more fun than losing but I was always troubled by the amount of kids that weren't sure. Even at that young age some adults/parents had them convinced that it was all work and effort and hadn't taught them that it also needed to be fun. I understand that big time D1 football is not just fun and games but I am happy that Bo has acknowledged that the players need to loosen up and have fun. If that can be accomplished with our team, I guarantee they will begin to perform better. There is nothing more fun than winning and winning comes from having fun.

 
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I don't think anything would change about what we try to do. But the overall atmosphere, that's what they're trying to get at.

It's not a bad thought. What worries me is, isn't this sort of EXACTLY the kind of thing the defeated and dejected players of the '07 team were talking about at the end of the year? Making football fun again?
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