How Important are the Bengals to You ?

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-18-2022, 01:22 PM)Science Friction Wrote: Really good stuff. I'm really enjoying reading this. Let me ask you this. What's up with some of those Gameday thread folks? I've only been a participant on this board for a year or so and many of you have been here a lot longer and know more about the board than I do. There are some great fans on this forum(Jungle Noise) who, like me, are very invested in the team. But that Gameday forum is a different tiger , altogether. There are some folks who are there every week who hardly ever post here. They are clearly hyper-invested in the team emotionally. Some of those folks remind me of the 17% or so of UK basketball fans who go a little overboard when it comes to their Cats. Let's just say they have a ...well , ... interesting perspective(lol). 

I also concur with other who have said that they deal with losses better than they used to. Not saying that the losses don't still bother me because they do. But I can let them go and move on to the next week better than I could when I waas in my twenties. I guess it's a maturity and a perspective thing. I'm thankful now if I just wake up in the morning. At 25, if the Bengals didn't win, my whole week was effed up. I like being invested in my sport team because it makes the ride so much fun. Last season was an absolute blast. . There's  emotional risk-reward factor, obviously.

Sometimes, when losing becomes a pattern and expectations of winning are too low for zero, then apathy starts to set in. It's a defense mechanism, I think, but it's sad, nonetheless. It's kinda where I'm at with UK basketball and the Reds. I still watch and hope for wins but I'm not hopeful for the end result to be good. Losses don't register much on the emotional scale anymore.

When I was 25, it was the end of that horrible 90s run. I was numb to losing by then.