Day 52

So last night I was in Grand Rapids, MI and was eager to watch my young Jayhawks play Nevada at the Fieldhouse. I've said all year I was going to be patient with this young team. Well it is so frustrating to watch mistake after mistake on offense and watch guys commit dumb fouls. I won't bore you with the details, but we lost by 2 and had a chance to tie at the end, but couldn't get a shot off. It made me start to think about how impatient and fickle sports fans can be.

Being a Cleveland Sports fan my whole life, I know nothing but disappointment. I feel like I've seen every single possible way to lose in my 29 years on this earth. I've seen "The Drive" in person. I've seen "The Fumble." I've seen "The Shot" in person. I've witnessed Jose Mesa shaking off signs from Sandy Alomar only 2 outs away from a World Series title. I've seen my KU Jayhawks be a #1 seed three times and a #2 seed once in my 4 years of college, yet always find a way to choke before getting to the Final Four. I've seen my Jayhawks finally get to the promise land, only to shot 12-30 from the free throw line and lose by 3 to Syracuse. But I always go back for more. Some say I am a glutton for punishment. That is probably true.

I have seen a change in perceptions of sports fans in this technologically savvy day and age. Now everyone seems to have an opinion, whether it be callers venting to local and national sports talk radio hosts about the coach of their favorite team or anonymous "fans" going on chat boards on the internet to complain about their point guard's lack of heady play down the stretch of a game. The bottom line is this - winning cure all. This season when the Tribe was leading the league in one run losses, our manager Eric Wedge was being called out as an amateur by fans and newspaper columnists. But during our white hot streak in August and September, he could do no wrong and he was touted as a possible manager of the year candidate. This summer Bill Self was being lauded as a recruiting genius when he scored the late signing of Brandon Rush. Today, the chat boards are crazy with "Bill Self can't coach" posts as our record dropped to 2-3, worst start since 1972. As I said, winning cures all. I'll say this, Billy boy has until February to show me some growth with this young team before I start calling him out.

Song of the Day: "Work" by Gangstarr