Loyal & True?

As I was leaving the Oklahoma State game on Monday night, I overheard a student say, "Where is Iowa anyway?  Is it north?"  His friend said, "I think it's somewhere in the middle."    His response, "Yeah.  I think you are right.  It's somewhere near North Dakota."  It was the proverbial nail in the coffin.  My basketball team is sliding, the fans aren't showing up, and apparently, our students are idiots.  Cool story.

This will be a little bit of a soapbox blog.  Take it how you will.  I need to get this off my chest and then move on.

One thing Oklahoma State fans do well, besides wearing America's Brightest Orange, is support their teams.  We pound our chests and toot our horns.  "We support ALL our teams, not just football."  "We are good fans who cheer for the Cowboys, win or lose."  "No matter what, we love our Cowboys."  To a point, it's almost obnoxious.  We spend a lot of time telling people what great fans we are.  The popular phrase to throw out is, "Loyal and true!"  It's in the alma mater, it must be true.

But is it?  Because everyone is abandoning the basketball team.  They are sliding and underachieving and you can't find a basketball fan to save your life.  On Monday, I went back and forth of whether or not I should drive to Stillwater for the game.  I was on day three of the flu and felt completely exhausted.  But I got in the car and made the drive.  Because, as I explained to Husband, "I will regret not being there.   I need to be there."  What a heart breaking feeling to look around at a half-full arena on a night that celebrated one of the greatest coaches to ever serve that university.  Where were you?  I'm guessing you were on Twitter, complaining about the current coach.

When did being a fan become solely based on who the head coach was?  Isn't it supposed to be about the school?  About the name on the front of the jersey? About the orange?  Players and coaches come and go, but the team is always there.  How sad that the fans aren't.  How sad that the fans choose instead to berate young men, no older than 21 behind the security of a twitter handle than show up and cheer them on.

As bad as you feel as a fan, imagine how they feel.  They chose Oklahoma State over every other school who wanted them.  Many of the guys on the team are from out of state, with no real idea what life in a town like Stillwater would be like.  But they came.  We had a reputation for a rowdy arena and loyal fans.  And now we have neither.  Now when they get older, they can tell their kids, "by the time I was a senior, no fans showed up.  I should have gone somewhere else."

So just do everyone a favor, stop saying you are a huge Cowboy fan if you aren't.  If you only cheer for them when they win, you should qualify yourself as a "fair-weather fan."  There's a difference.  And sure, you can be disappointed, I know I have been.  As the final buzzer went off on Monday, I shouted an expletive and promptly left.  But at least I was there.  I thought you would be too.