Let's talk OTA's

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

My problem is that our forums are increasingly packed with idiots who can't think critically and rationally without separating their fanboy feelings for the team. You should not be one of them, you've been here too long.

We all love the team and yes we all want them to win, of course. But for discussion to be at all meaningful we have to have people actually thinking about what they're saying. You can't sit here and in one breath dismiss people who don't like our chances and then in the next breath say you only hope for the playoffs, not expect the playoffs.

I just ask that we start making some f'ing sense or this board will end up like ExtremeSkins in a hurry.

You keep insisting on "rational" fans. Isn't fandom in itself an irrational venture? To be a fan is to embrace the irrational.

We are all fans of a team which hasn't won squat in 20 years and has been terrible most of those years. Rooting for the Skins thus is inherently irrational.

A truly rational fan would root for the Seachickens, since they just won and therefore are most likely to win in the future. Or maybe the Broncos. But not the Skins.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Lotus

You keep insisting on "rational" fans. Isn't fandom in itself an irrational venture? To be a fan is to embrace the irrational.

We are all fans of a team which hasn't won squat in 20 years and has been terrible most of those years. Rooting for the Skins thus is inherently irrational.

A truly rational fan would root for the Seachickens, since they just won and therefore are most likely to win in the future. Or maybe the Broncos. But not the Skins.

Like I said, you need to separate the heart from the head. If we all come in here saying I LOVE THE REDSKINS, THEY'RE GOING TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL then this would be a pretty dumb place for discussion.

Obviously we all desire the playoffs, a title, etc. But discussion is worthless if we don't inject realistic reasoning.

Your hopes and your thoughts can coexist without being 100% the same thing.

[SirLK26]

Originally Posted by Lotus

You keep insisting on "rational" fans. Isn't fandom in itself an irrational venture? To be a fan is to embrace the irrational.

We are all fans of a team which hasn't won squat in 20 years and has been terrible most of those years. Rooting for the Skins thus is inherently irrational.

A truly rational fan would root for the Seachickens, since they just won and therefore are most likely to win in the future. Or maybe the Broncos. But not the Skins.

When in doubt, roll out petty semantics!

I'm sure most of you became fans during the glory years, when we were a great team. According to you, that makes all those fans that jumped on during that time, rational. And sure, the Redskins have sucked recently and we continue to be fans, which you cited as a reason for us being irrational, but in fact, not changing teams only makes us rational, due to understanding that once you're attached to a team, you can't wholly change. Thus, the vast majority of Redskins fans are, in fact, rational. The only ones that aren't are the ones saying we're one of the best NFC teams, those who say we'll go winless this season, and the bandwagoners from 2012 who are still hoping that the team they're not fully attached to yet will become good again(probably none of these variety left. LOL.). BA-DUM-BUM KSSSSSH!

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by SirLK26

When in doubt, roll out petty semantics!

I'm sure most of you became fans during the glory years, when we were a great team. According to you, that makes all those fans that jumped on during that time, rational. And sure, the Redskins have sucked recently and we continue to be fans, which you cited as a reason for us being irrational, but in fact, not changing teams only makes us rational, due to understanding that once you're attached to a team, you can't wholly change. Thus, the vast majority of Redskins fans are, in fact, rational. The only ones that aren't are the ones saying we're one of the best NFC teams, those who say we'll go winless this season, and the bandwagoners from 2012 who are still hoping that the team they're not fully attached to yet will become good again(probably none of these variety left. LOL.). BA-DUM-BUM KSSSSSH!

The bolded statement in itself is irrational, based on an emotive rather than reasoned argument. A purely rational person is never "attached" to a team as you describe, as the most gratifying (and hence rational) approach is to root for the winner, whomever that might be.

More to the original argument, I understand Schneed's objections. I come to the Warpath rather than some other place because I find the arguments here are more reasoned. It is a good thing to be able to see past the rose-colored glasses when you can.

At the same time, to expect fans to never have irrational attachments seems like expecting a squid not to have tentacles. To be a devoted fan is to embrace a measure of irrationality by definition.

[SirLK26]

Originally Posted by Lotus

The bolded statement in itself is irrational, based on an emotive rather than reasoned argument. A purely rational person is never "attached" to a team as you describe, as the most gratifying (and hence rational) approach is to root for the winner, whomever that might be.<snip>

Well then. I guess I am an irrational person. Weird, because I thought I was being so rational in this whole debate.

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Everyone just needs to be more patient, as painful as that sounds. I expect 7 to 9 wins this year. The division is up for grabs. I think this can be a division winning 9 to 10 win team. To me that's a realistic goal.

This.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Lotus

The bolded statement in itself is irrational, based on an emotive rather than reasoned argument. A purely rational person is never "attached" to a team as you describe, as the most gratifying (and hence rational) approach is to root for the winner, whomever that might be.

More to the original argument, I understand Schneed's objections. I come to the Warpath rather than some other place because I find the arguments here are more reasoned. It is a good thing to be able to see past the rose-colored glasses when you can.

At the same time, to expect fans to never have irrational attachments seems like expecting a squid not to have tentacles. To be a devoted fan is to embrace a measure of irrationality by definition.

Agreed. I'm sure I've been guilty of that at some point. I remember acting quite "irrationally" after Griffin ripped off that 76 yard TD run against the Vikings.

Just trying to correct for the egregious fanboy statements that sometimes get thrown around on the message boards. If we don't hold ourselves to that higher standard then our discussions will suck.

[SirLK26]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Agreed. I'm sure I've been guilty of that at some point. I remember acting quite "irrationally" after Griffin ripped off that 76 yard TD run against the Vikings.<snip>

LOL. I went back and read the 2012 Vikings-Redskins gameday thread yesterday, and couldn't keep back the grins. The enthusiasm for Griffin was incredible, especially after that run. Wish I would've been on the board that year. Good times.

http://www.thewarpath.net/redskins-l...-game-day.html