Spoiled, expectation-driven fans ruining our love of football

I remember sitting in my family’s living room on Oct. 11, 1997.

I was 9 years old at the time and was just molding my personality into what it is now – a purple and gold-blooded, full-fledged LSU-loving Louisiana boy.

But what I was witnessing on this muggy October night changed my opinions about football forever.

LSU had just beaten the No. 1 team in the country, earning a 28-21 win against Steve Spurrier and the Florida Gators.

Fans stormed onto the field in jubilation after the win and there was legitimate buzz and excitement around the state.

For the rest of the year, we watched every LSU game at some sort of family gathering. Some of the outcomes were good, some were bad, but either way, we had fun doing it.

They were our Tigers. And we loved them unconditionally.

Flash forward a few more years to Dec. 30, 2000.

I was now 12, and I could recite NFL and college rosters by heart at this point.

But on this day, the script was similar, as the New Orleans Saints (who had never won a playoff game at that time) were fending off a late rally from the defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams.

With the Black and Gold up by three with a few minutes to play, Rams punt returner Az-Zahir Hakim muffed a kick, giving the Saints a 31-28 playoff win – their first-ever playoff win.

Again, fans were legitimately excited. And even though the Saints lost the very next week in the second round of the playoffs, we were all still collectively happy and proud of the team for what they had done.

Man, how things have changed.

And not for the better, either.

Because since that time, we’ve been blessed with two national championships for LSU and a Super Bowl title for the Saints, as well as approximately 2 million nervous wrecks who do not appreciate their teams nearly as much as they should anymore.

Let’s start with LSU.

You grab a Tiger fan on the street and ask him his/her opinion of the team, you’ll get one of three responses.

One: “We’re doing OK, but we need to get better. We’re not good enough to be a championship team.”

Two: “Jordan Jefferson stinks. We need to fire Gary Crowton, too.”

Three: “Les Miles is the devil and he cannot hold Nick Saban’s jockstrap. It’s time we show him the door.”

OK, so maybe there are a little bit exaggerated, but you know they’re close to the actual responses you’d actually get. The absolute best you’ll hear from someone is that the team is doing “just OK.”

What?

Is that serious?

Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, we’d have sacrificed our right arms to be ranked No. 10 in America. Heck, I remember a time when I was thrilled for LSU to be ranked at all, much less their current No. 10 status.

If one thinks being in the Top 10 is bad, explain your reasoning to the other 110 teams behind you in the standings – some of whom think they’re actually having a pretty good season.

If an LSU fan thinks their team stinks, then they need to flip the channel every once and a while to another station and watch a few other teams play a game or two. Because if No. 10 is bad, then what’s the adjective to describe a team like Washington State, Akron or New Mexico?

Being 5-0 with two wins against ranked opponents and three wins against SEC opponents is as good as you can possibly be at this point in the season.

After five games what do you hope to be? Super duper 5-0 to the third power?

Suck it up and stop your whining. Booing the offense doesn’t make them play any better. You know what it does? It makes them tense. It makes them fear mistakes, because they don’t want to be booed again.

My resident office workers should try this to prove my point. Set up an airhorn in your office and rig it to go off in your ear every time you have a type-o.

After a while, I think you’d be typing slower and would be overall less effective, too.

Relax, live a little. It’s LSU football. It’s supposed to be fun. This is not supposed to be a source of added stress.

And now to the Saints.

Another pretty big mess here.

One week, it’s “Who Dat?” The next week it’s, “What’s up with Dat?”

The Saints started the year off 2-0, and all was well in the Who Dat Nation.

Fans touted that the repeat season is among us, and the Black and Gold will have no stiff competition in the NFC.

But an overtime loss later (yes, they didn’t even lose in regulation), and now they’re scrubs who are believing their own hype.

I’ve heard everything this past week.

I’ve heard rumblings that Garrett Hartley is a scrub.

I don’t think people were saying that last February.

I’ve heard people tout that Sean Payton takes too many risks, and he really hamstrung himself by burning that timeout on the field goal against the Falcons.

Again, I don’t think people were saying that after a certain onside kick I remember last February.

And I’ve heard that this past loss should have been expected all along, because after all, Drew Brees was on the cover of Madden, so he’s cursed now.

OK, OK, maybe I do believe that one a little bit.

But the fact of the matter is the Saints are still one of the best teams in the NFL. Without a shadow of a doubt.

I just don’t understand all of the uneasiness and the stress of having to be the clear cut best.

I understand the fulfillment of winning.

I do.

But I also understand how things used to be – back when football was fun and we loved our teams more than we did the way that they played.

And I really wish we could get back to that.

Because football is played during the weekend, and I don’t like to stress when I’m not at work.

I’m tired of being spoiled.