to me as a fan. When I was a kid, I just enjoyed the games. I wasn't very aware of who was coming up on the schedule. I didn't worry (or care) about the "national" perception of the team. I just attended nearly every home game for a decade and watched every one I could on tv and enjoyed it.

As I got older and got more into ESPN and the rise of the whole BCS thing, I started to put crazy expectations on the team in order to be satisfied with them. They had to be "relevant" and that required undefeated seasons and top ranked recruiting classes, style points, etc, etc.

Forget that those special years come once in a great while for nearly every team in the country. A school will rise up and dominate for a short period of time, but they always come back down after a few years. For bigger schools in bigger conferences, those years come more often, but an undefeated or one loss season does not happen very often. That's not very often to be happy with the team.

Of course this is all philosophical. I don't think I can change over night, but I'm kind of tired of this level of expectation. I rarely go undefeated or even one loss at work every day. I rarely get the Heisman with my kids. If I go out of my way and really try hard, I might get MVP with my wife, but in reality those moments come along once in a while. If I required them every day to be happy with myself I'd be miserable most of the time.

Why do I expect more from the team? If they represent my values, stay out of jail, and play their best I hope I can find joy in that like I did when I was a kid. And then when those special seasons come along I can really enjoy them. (When they won the NC I was very young and just thought BYU did that every year.)

As an aside, if my satisfaction is to come from the team representing my values, which includes basic decency and sportsmanship, then I will NOT find a lot of joy in the way the team is currently playing and I don't. Quit taunting guys. Quit hitting them late. Just play the game. Show some class. Be BYU. (I don't think I should post on Sunday mornings anymore, bleh.)