Off Topic: Why do some of you do this

[papachaz]

(10-03-2011 01:00 AM)harveybirdman Wrote:  I hate this about myself, but I literally cannot watch a game without coming completely unglued when the Falcons start getting outmatched. Chat can sometimes become out outlet to vent those frustrations. I imagine that others use the functionality with similar intent.

But like Peyton always says, if you let a football game wreck your life then you have some emotional problems or have some seriously misplaced priorities. Still at some point it becomes so much more than a game. Let's face it, for some of us life is hard. Not getting into specifics because that's all relative, but suffice to say football is a welcome distraction from many of life's problems.

Eventually your team becomes a microcosm of your life, and you want nothing more for them to succeed on the ultimate stage not unlike you want success for yourself. Any setback the team experiences and causes an unwelcome parity between one's own struggles therefore the frustration can become magnified.

I haven't watched more than at passing for the past two weeks, and it some respects it makes the weekend a bit more enjoyable. However I do miss watching the team, but I don't know what to do about next week. I know I'm going to get carried away again...

excellant post and explanation. i gave this a plus one.

in addition i'll add my thought. 40 years as a Falcon fan. We've seen it over and over and over and over and....well add 30 something more 'overs' you get the point. then TD, Smitty and the current crew come along and give us hope that "hey, this ain't my daddy's Falcons anymore"....only there are just a few things they can NOT seem to grasp and fix. you know, stuff like 3rd quarter collapses, giving up 3rd and long on defense, what appears like a total inability to make adjustments IN GAME, always seeming to be able to make even a 3rd or 4th string or otherwise bad QB look like he will get voted to the probowl after playing us.

and the absolute worst one of all. Even though we've squeaked out a lot of wins in the past 3 years, and two more this year, 98% of the time we seem to play DOWN to the level of the opponent of the week. this week is a perfect example of that, there is absolutely NO FREAKING WAY that this game should have been close at all. Are we ever going to get that fire, that killer instinct that we just go out and totally dominate and humilate the lesser teams consistantly? like the AZ game last year, when is that going to become the 'norm' for us. We keep hearing about all this talent we have, when is it going to be used correctly?

[Peyton]

(10-03-2011 01:00 AM)harveybirdman Wrote:  But like Peyton always says, if you let a football game wreck your life then you have some emotional problems or have some seriously misplaced priorities. Still at some point it becomes so much more than a game. Let's face it, for some of us life is hard. Not getting into specifics because that's all relative, but suffice to say football is a welcome distraction from many of life's problems.

I don't mean to preach when I say that, people can determine for themselves how important football is to them.

The truth is that I 've had substantially increased stress the last couple of years, with my job, with my company, with my marriage, with money, with my three kids, with my friends and business partners, and with my health too. And I was involved in a federal lawsuit last year with my former employer where they tried pretty hard to destroy me. They failed.....barely......so far.

So....if you hear me say that I don't get "concerned" about football, understand that I've had a tough couple of years, and I'm not really trying to minimalize football for anyone, it's just that I have a hard time getting too upset about it these days.

[kibitzer]

Can totally relate, Harvey and Peyton. Won't get into it here, since this isn't the "real talk" thread. But yeah... rough couple of "life" seasons for me the last few years. My team gives me some escape from that on Sundays. (Usually, lol). Definitely hard to watch your team imitate life, when those you love are just not coming anywhere close to living up to their full potential.

[harveybirdman]

It's cathartic to see people with similar views on life and the Falcons.

kb & Peyton, you have my empathy for what it's worth. I'm going through similar struggles, it's been a rough year.

[Radical]

Guess it's just me then. Nothing has ever really rattled me into coming unglued in the heat of the moment. I just can can't wrap my head around someone saying, "fuck this team" just because we give up a few touchdowns. Not that seeing that stuff doesn't bother me, but it just seems ridiculous to just go off the deep end every time things aren't going smoothly for us. It isn't even like we constantly lose close games or have a history of falling apart or losing after big leads. Even if we did, if it bothered me that much I'd just step back from it and remind myself that it's just a game we watch on television.

Don't take this as something personal, but I don't think I could deal with working in a group or team setting with some of you guys. Some of you have pretty horrific attitudes when dealing with adversity... and that's my condescending put-down for the day.

[Beef]

I wish we would get this VOIP Ventrillo thing going. You'd be surprised how people's tone changes when they're actually able to talk and then be immediately talked back to and are accountable for conversational tone and context. It's actually much more civilized and friendly when it's harder for people to hide behind simply typing.

[TeamPlayer1]

(10-03-2011 09:37 AM)papachaz Wrote:  excellant post and explanation. i gave this a plus one.

in addition i'll add my thought. 40 years as a Falcon fan. We've seen it over and over and over and over and....well add 30 something more 'overs' you get the point. then TD, Smitty and the current crew come along and give us hope that "hey, this ain't my daddy's Falcons anymore"....only there are just a few things they can NOT seem to grasp and fix. you know, stuff like 3rd quarter collapses, giving up 3rd and long on defense, what appears like a total inability to make adjustments IN GAME, always seeming to be able to make even a 3rd or 4th string or otherwise bad QB look like he will get voted to the probowl after playing us.

and the absolute worst one of all. Even though we've squeaked out a lot of wins in the past 3 years, and two more this year, 98% of the time we seem to play DOWN to the level of the opponent of the week. this week is a perfect example of that, there is absolutely NO FREAKING WAY that this game should have been close at all. Are we ever going to get that fire, that killer instinct that we just go out and totally dominate and humilate the lesser teams consistantly? like the AZ game last year, when is that going to become the 'norm' for us. We keep hearing about all this talent we have, when is it going to be used correctly?

Why do teams come back on us in the 3rd quarter? Why are we always having to pull the game out at the end?
We go into our "prevent" soft zone, play at least 10 yds off" make them go the whole field, defensive scheme. With that mindset we give up some big plays and give the other team some momentum. Our D then gets on their heels and it happens again.
By its very nature a defense is aggressive but we are not in the 2nd half.
I can't stand it! Rather than playing all out to win we wimp out and try not to lose!

[mdrake34]

Looks like it's been a rough year for most of us. I very unexpectedly lost my father on January 20th.

[phocis850]

(10-04-2011 03:36 PM)Beef Wrote:  I wish we would get this VOIP Ventrillo thing going. You'd be surprised how people's tone changes when they're actually able to talk and then be immediately talked back to and are accountable for conversational tone and context. It's actually much more civilized and friendly when it's harder for people to hide behind simply typing.

Is that how we can control you

[The Falcon Jedi]

Right when Halftime came I remember saying, "dont get too excited, here comes the infamous 3rd Quarter". And what happened....

We suck in the 3rd Quarter, and we always blow leads after half time. Nothing at all that happened that game surprised me, other than the fact that we actually Won at the end.

The problem with the Falcons is that when they stumble and start to melt-down, they cant seem to recover. They keep screwing up left and right drive after drive, like 10 drives in a row, until finally its the end of the game with 1:25 left to play, then they decide to tighten up when its almost too late.

Ive seen this team do this so many times, that we all know whats going to happen before it happens now. If we get up 21-7 against the Packers, I can guarantee you the Packers will run off 24 points to take the lead in the 4th Quarter, and probly win the game. I just dont trust this team holding a big lead. Id be more comfortable holding a small lead or tied, that would keep them playing with urgency.