Bowl chances are finished. A maximum of five wins is the best Arkansas can achieve in the 2023 season. Not ideal for the program. Not ideal for you, the fans of the team.
We, as mere mortals (read: not people in a decision-making capacity) cannot change the former. But it’s up to you how you respond individually in response to a potential three-win season.
So it had this author wondering as Wednesday progressed.
What, exactly, do you, the average fan want from the football team in the final two weeks of the season?
Anecdotally, with texts to friends, some of the responses:
- Look like a team with a direction.
- Two losses to ensure Sam Pittman’s exit.
- I don’t care. I’ve already given up.
Granted, others responded in different ways, but I wanted to take note of those three because they were the most extreme. At least, they were the most extreme of the responses I received.
The first obviously makes the most sense. Always build toward the future. That’s the approach, Pittman, almost finished with his fourth year, has taken in his press conferences. It shows the desire to make the most out of your current situation, something all of us should do every day, frankly.
The second response is harsh. The person who sent it knew it was harsh, but s/he is fed up. It’s a tone reflected on message boards and social-media comment sections most often, even if it doesn’t reflect the majority of fans.
The last one is curious. The person followed up by saying s/he is used to such a feeling and that s/he is entering the age where it just doesn’t matter anymore. Now, this person has some significant things going on in his or her life, but nothing out of the ordinary. I left the exchange feeling that s/he was just getting too old care much about trivial matters.
To this author, that is the one that makes the most sense, especially as I begin to enter my theoretical middle-age years. Letting my life and my disposition be affected by my favorite teams is just not something that interests me anymore.
I also realize that’s probably unusual, seeing as how fan is short for fanatic, after all.
So the question now gets posed to the masses? What do you want?