Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

To my dear fellow poster joebagadonuts. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dear Hogs, It is Monday, 15 October 2007. Yes, the day after you know what, -again-. And yet … we are here alive and the world is still turning. The way I see it we have two options. Either, a) we suffer the emotional and physical hangover of an irresponsible, incompetent and unintelligent loss and let it linger for an ENTIRE week making our lives and the lives of those close to us at home and work miserable; OR b) we tell it like it is and live with it from now on until the end of the season. Sure, I am an experienced and practicing fan of option 1 above. My family knows when to withdraw from the TV room and close the door behind them as soon as they see the game going to the dogs. They know when it is best to leave me cursing at players, coaches, the front office, the refs, the announcers, and even the commercial advertisements! I am an expert at getting down on what could have, should have, and would have happened if ONLY they had done this and that. I have considerable experience at coming back to the board and either VENT in anger and frustration in search of a catharsis or let the steam build while restraining myself to try to make as much or little sense from the loss through a “rational” explanation. But when I exercise option 1, not only do I ruin Sunday for myself. I ruin Sunday for my family as well. And that is only the beginning … then it is the turn of my co-workers, family, friends and fellow posters here, or even the unlucky person who phones me at a wrong time at the office over the ENTIRE week. But no more. I have decided to exercise good judgment starting today. I have decided to select option 2. I have decided to keep in perspective not only a loss, no matter how irresponsible, incompetent and unintelligent it might be, but the ENTIRE record (wins and losses) of the Washington Redskins throughout the ENTIRE season. Football is a great game but nothing more and nothing else than a great game. It is not fair to my family, friends, co-workers and fellow posters here to be affected by my anger and frustration as a result of a football game, no matter how great the sport as a whole might be. But most importantly, it is not fair to me. You see, I can and probably should get all worked up about the things I can change and make better in my daily life whether with family, friends and work. Sometimes it is not only the things that I do but the things that I do not do but I should. And that is the problem. A loss and the ensuing emotional and physical hangover that is inherent with option 1 prevent me from doing well the things that I should do well. And it also affects me negatively by not doing at all things that I should do. This is quite selfish and childish in perspective but it is the outcome of allowing irrational passion to interfere with my growth as a mature person and fan. So, I have chosen option 2. Let’s look at it and tell it like it is once and for all: joebagadonuts gave us a great blog a while back entitled A Giant Pain , in which there is a paragraph that is worth quoting: Onward, Upward. I see three possible outcomes from this game. One, … . Two, … . And three, which may be the worst of them all, the Redskins continue to play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde football, beating a very good team here and there, and then losing to mediocre teams. Like that cheerleader in high school, they stroke our hope, then leave us with blue…..um, feelings. Yes, we have a schizophrenic team with not one but two radically opposed personalities. We will win a few more and lose a few others, about 50% / 50% if you ask me. Our team is nowhere near on its way to win a Super bowl but they are giving us good enough “entertainment” to keep following the season and potentially put up with the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome from week to week. We knew from the start that this was not our season, at least not yet. In any event, whoever goes to represent the NFC to the Super bowl is going to be embarrassed by the Colts or the Pats in a blowout. So, hey! Do not let the mediocrity of the NFC and the schizophrenic behaviour of the Washington Redskins organization affect you personally and those around you. Look at the individual player success stories from game to game and throughout the season. There is much to celebrate if you look at individual achievements, valuable lessons and the performance of certain units. We have improved a lot from the 2006 disaster in several important areas. I am still optimistic about the progress of our team this year. Yes, I know that football is a highly competitive activity. That is why it attracts us. That is why we are fans. But even the most physically competitive sport that I choose to follow is not worth it in terms of affecting negatively my personal and professional life. After all, I do have a life and when everything is said and done, football and this board are entertainment and a valuable source of information on it. Hopefully I can draw some lessons from these hobbies that allow me to improve the activities that define me as a family member and a professional. Please do not assume for a second that I am giving up on the Washington Redskins. I will follow every game. I will follow every play in each of them. I will cheer as loud as my lungs allow it. I will only do it removing all the negative elements that may distract me from being a better person, a better fan and a better THN poster. Yours truly, Redskin in Canada PS This Blog was going to be entitled “Anger Management for (Redskin Fan) Dummies” but I want to make it a tribute to the hindsight of…