Coping with losses

[bringmagicback]

what I do is realize its college kids putting an orange bouncy ball in a hoop. THen I think, how did this loss effect me, then I realize it doesnt. I also realize the coaches can coach better than me and the players play better than me.

From the sports fan point of view, I think, will we still get selected for the tourney, then I think yes, then I think thats all that matters.

 

[CRcyclone6]

Heroin

Kelly Kapowski.

 

[3TrueFans]

[video=youtube;urcqQC02YbY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urcqQC02YbY[/video]

 

[CycloneVet]

This season is so eerily similar to Clyburns year

1. Can't seem to get a break late in games, that year everyone made last shots, this year we lose in OT

2. We have a former walk-on getting minutes, Ashton this year, Bubu that year

3. We are undersized, we have been for awhile not just Clyburns year, but my point remains.

4. We have a few players that are unbelievable 1 game and disappear the next. Im looking for Nader to suck next game then blowup at WV. Will Clyburn tended to do this same thing.

5. We a defensive stopper that shoots the 3 ball well, MT vs Chris Babb.

I know a few are a bit of a stretch but...

 

[CycloneBBFan]

Well said 88clone. This one is close to home. My family is fourth generation Cyclones with my grandfather graduating in 1913. My 83 year old mother beat cancer without chemo or radiation. She is a huge BB fan. Her hopes and dreams are to see ISU make to final four. At the end of the day the miracle of life trumps any game.

 

[TheHelgo]

Part of the problem is the expectations that have been built up for the year / this group of players. During the McDoormat years, coping was MUCH easier since expectations were fairly low and there wasn't the constant chatter of 'final four' potential. Losses now are much more painful because almost every game is a nailbiter (regardless of the competition), our expectations are higher, and many see this year as our 'last chance' at a deep run (I don't necessarily agree with this, but it is our last chance with Niang, McKay and probably Morris).

As far as coping, I also try to focus on the more important things in life like other posters have mentioned. I look at my 5 and 3 year old kids and remember that in the long term a game is really insignificant.

With that said, I also don't want to minimize the impact of sports. Watching and cheering for ISU is an escape for me much like most of you I am sure. We do it as entertainment and a way to have something to get excited about and provide an escape (entertainment) from our daily lives working, studying, etc. Part of that escape is obviously a shared hope for victory, and when we suffer a nail-biter loss, it is very disappointing in the short term. Often, I cannot help but re-run key turning points of the game through my mind wondering why it couldn't have fallen the other way, or why a decision that seems obvious wasn't made. Other than focusing on what's important in the long term, I also avoid CF until the next day as part of coping.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I look at my wife, who won a long battle with cancer and realize that was a bigger win than the one we could have just had. I also look at a picture of my son, who passed away 4 years ago and realize it's just a ******* game.

That is perspective. So many things that are so much more important than this.

I've been through 30 or more seasons as a fan, and you just never know how it's going to end up. We may have great success in the tournament and forget about the trials on the way there. We may not. You just never know, so it's pointless to get worked up in advance.

 

[acody]

I think as a fan base we need some help in doing this, what do some of you guys that don't participate in the post loss meltdowns do to cope with your Cyclone frustrations. I myself enjoy playing Call of Duty on my son's X-box 360. Something about the sound of a headshot with my trusty Remington 870 with a pistol-grip makes me feel better about the latest loss.

I'm not lecturing, but try not to take this so seriously. One of the problems today is everything is under intense scrutiny with every game on TV and non-stop social media making everyone feel like they vicariously have some type of control.

 

[Antihawk240]

With hindsight 20/20, Monday night, I called a horrible play during the final 45 seconds of my sons 4th grade basketball game and they lost because of it. I felt horrible, I mean really really bad. So I went and dropped $45 and bought the team all ice cream at the ice cream parlor 25 minutes after the game. As I sat there crying in my cone I looked up and realized the kids had pretty much forgot all about it and I was the only one pouting over it.

As my 4th grader and I were watching the game last night we came to realization halfway through overtime the Cyclones were going to lose, I asked him if he thought Monte would like an ice cream cone?

So I think we have struck up a new family tradition. Ice cream following a Cyclone Basketball loss then proceed to move on with life.

 

[DiehardClone]

I look at my wife, who won a long battle with cancer and realize that was a bigger win than the one we could have just had. I also look at a picture of my son, who passed away 4 years ago and realize it's just a ******* game.

With hindsight 20/20, Monday night, I called a horrible play during the final 45 seconds of my sons 4th grade basketball game and they lost because of it. I felt horrible, I mean really really bad. So I went and dropped $45 and bought the team all ice cream at the ice cream parlor 25 minutes after the game. As I sat there crying in my cone I looked up and realized the kids had pretty much forgot all about it and I was the only one pouting over it.

As my 4th grader and I were watching the game last night we came to realization halfway through overtime the Cyclones were going to lose, I asked him if he thought Monte would like an ice cream cone?

So I think we have struck up a new family tradition. Ice cream following a Cyclone Basketball loss then proceed to move on with life.

Some days I wonder why I even bother looking at CF. Then comes two unforgettable comments, in the same thread, that make me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Thank you.

 

[ZB4CY]

I may throw my socks at the tv or something, but nothing too dramatic.

 

[DesignerClone]

With hindsight 20/20, Monday night, I called a horrible play during the final 45 seconds of my sons 4th grade basketball game and they lost because of it. I felt horrible, I mean really really bad. So I went and dropped $45 and bought the team all ice cream at the ice cream parlor 25 minutes after the game. As I sat there crying in my cone I looked up and realized the kids had pretty much forgot all about it and I was the only one pouting over it.

As my 4th grader and I were watching the game last night we came to realization halfway through overtime the Cyclones were going to lose, I asked him if he thought Monte would like an ice cream cone?

So I think we have struck up a new family tradition. Ice cream following a Cyclone Basketball loss then proceed to move on with life.

One of my favorite posts of all time! Thank you for this!

 

[fsanford]

Cuss, then 5 minutes after the game I am over it.

I mean in 2 months I wouldn't care about a loss, so just speed up the get over it process to a few minutes after the game. Score is not going to change right?,

 

[CycloneErik]

Well said 88clone. This one is close to home. My family is fourth generation Cyclones with my grandfather graduating in 1913. My 83 year old mother beat cancer without chemo or radiation. She is a huge BB fan. Her hopes and dreams are to see ISU make to final four. At the end of the day the miracle of life trumps any game.

Awesome! My grandma wants this, too, but she's quiet about it.
Tough woman had a hospice reservation for her cancer last year, and then went ahead and beat it. They kicked her out of hospice before she could ever get there.

So, Cyclones, win this thing for all of those cancer-crushing Cyclone grandmas!

 

[DesignerClone]

Scotch tends to do the trick.

Our just being a Cyclone fan for more than 10 years will also numb you out a bit.
We lost to a ranked team, in their house, far away from home. I'm not sure what in ISU's history suggest we should be really upset. This team is still gonna be the first team ever to make it 5 trips in a row to the dance for ISU.

It's like anything else really; frame of reference is everything. I would have loved to have seen a game like these close road losses during Orr's years. If you are old enough to have witnessed the debacle that was a Cyclone road game, these nail biters would have been glorious! Then there's the unspeakable futility of being a conference McDoormat, that was eons further into the abyss.

But alas, we've become a bit spoiled in the last five years. I believe that a huge reason for the meltdowns are due to a palpable and speculative fear that this is the beginning of a return to basketball irrelevance a la McDoormat. For some, it already started with the loss of Fred. Therefore, when folks gnash their teeth and froth at the mouth, they are doing so with a larger foreboding future in mind.

 

[CyclOwnd]

i hook up an IV of vodka to my veins and start drivings gravel back roads with my main beams off

 

[NorthCyd]

It's like anything else really; frame of reference is everything. I would have loved to have seen a game like these close road losses during Orr's years. If you are old enough to have witnessed the debacle that was a Cyclone road game, these nail biters would have been glorious! Then there's the unspeakable futility of being a conference McDoormat, that was eons further into the abyss.

But alas, we've become a bit spoiled in the last five years. I believe that a huge reason for the meltdowns are due to a palpable and speculative fear that this is the beginning of a return to basketball irrelevance a la McDoormat. For some, it already started with the loss of Fred. Therefore, when folks gnash their teeth and froth at the mouth, they are doing so with a larger foreboding future in mind.

I think you are right fear being the main driver for the meltdownS. With that in mind it's a little unfair to say the fanbase is spoiled.

 

[CyclOwnd]

I look at my wife, who won a long battle with cancer and realize that was a bigger win than the one we could have just had. I also look at a picture of my son, who passed away 4 years ago and realize it's just a ******* game.

 

[madguy30]

...aside from spending too much time on CF, I simmer a bit, which feels quite embarrassing considering it's over a bunch of college kids doing something that is nothing compared to other parts of the world/life.

In the moment, I've not watched the last minutes or so of WV, Tech, or last night. I know what's about to unfold, and there's no good in watching that kind of debauchery.

 

[Rural]

People stack up their own expectations into something untenable.

Look at some of the pre-season predictions for the last two years, calling for stuff like 4 to 6 loses.

That's near impossible unless you are truly dominate.