Why We Are Fans!

Welcome to the refreshed Corn Nation! To celebrate the new look and feel of our sports communities, we’re sharing stories of how and why we became fans of our favorite teams. If you’d like to share your story, head over to the FanPosts to write your own post. Each FanPost will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 Fanatics gift card [contest rules]. We’re collecting all of the stories here and featuring the best ones across our network as well. Come Fan With Us!

Jon Johnston:

I have been doing CN for so long, this is my second trip through a “Why Am I A Fan?” campaign. The first was a campaign for EA Sports, you know, those guys who used to do a COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPORTS VIDEO GAME, but they don’t anymore, so I don’t bother buying any EA Sports games either. The first contains my history as a Nebraska fan, something I’m not going to recount here. Instead, we’re going back toJuly, 2010, the date of the first article on the subject and moving forward to now.

I don’t have to recount the hired and fired coaches, nor the wins and losses. Those are easy to review, and if you’re reading this site, chances are you’re over six years old, so you probably remember most of that stuff yourself.

I still find Nebraska football as exciting as ever - even though my energy levels weren’t what they were before, it’s still thrilling to watch our beloved Huskers play, regardless of sport. I tend to move from sport to sport as the seasons progress (IT’S BASEBALL SEASON DAMMIT), even though what 90% of fans focus on is football because they sorely need a winning team to feed their egos, and that includes the ego of the state, as if the land itself cries out for a winning football team, but only if they’re running the ball while doing it.

I recently saw a comment (or someone asked me) in regards to the media, and whether or not the media allowed trolls to guide their narrative, whatever narrative that may be. I’m sure that the vast majority of Husker fans aren’t nearly as negative as I think, but the negative people are the ones that tend to weigh on you more. A lot more.

Some I can dismiss as cranks or trolls, and some are actually hilarious in their attempt to attack you (such as the guy who last year sent me an email saying I was a First Ballot Hall of Fame GaySlur, which I just took as he thought I was good enough to be First Ballot Hall of Fame, something you have to admit is a pretty high compliment). That one I actually enjoyed.

Remember back when it was thought that if we got rid of anonymous commenting on many web sites that people would act much better because other people would know their real identities? Good lord, were we idiots. Go onto any Facebook group, maybe even your own timeline and it’s pretty clear that there are plenty of people perfectly happy to share their anger with others.

I did this bit about Where Will Nebraska Football Be in Five Years at the beginning of May, and in it I stated:

Instead, we’re a fan base that wants someone fired after every loss. If we’re going to get back to winning championships, we must establish an attitude in our fan base that reflects that attitude. Winners aren't made overnight, they take time, patience, hard work, and luck.

Am I the one being too negative?

Perhaps. The “Five Years” included a poll that garnered over 3000 votes, with the Top Vote getters being Mike Riley Will Win A Big Ten Championship with 32% /972 votes, and second place being Riley Will Win A Big Ten Championship AND Get Into the College Football Playoff with 30%/903 votes.

That means we’re a much more positive fan base than I currently give us credit for. If you happen to be thinking “maybe someone’s gamed the system”, then it could be true for you, too.

So what are we going to do about it?

If you answer - “Not worry about it until the offseason is over...”, congratulations. That’s probably the best answer. As for me, maybe I’ll keep that article in mind. And try to generate better content for the next couple months.

You?

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