The unbridled negativism that sifts into this thread makes me wonder how much the cynical KU football fans' attitude impacts results on the field. And let me first say that I'm a total hypocrite. I'm there with the cynics. I've been at the games and I understand there are good reasons why Kansas football fans are cynical. When OSU pulled off the onside kick, I said to myself, "We're in trouble."
When we missed the two-point conversion against Tech in 2004, I knew that would haunt us. I knew VY would pull it out at the end during the 2004 Texas game. I knew the game had changed when Kerry Meier went out against Baylor this year. I never could envision us getting a road win against Toledo on the road with a green QB and eight new starters on defense. And hey, that's just the recent history. I also know there are a lot of the 40k fan base that think like me.
Maybe road games are different, but at Memorial is it possible that that cynicism from the crowd is passed on to the players. I've always loved the atmosphere of the stadium crowd and the emotion involved. I mean you can pretty much feel it running all through your chest. The ups and downs -- you can always feel the tone of the crowd in the air. In fact, some games I can remember where it just seemed to be the will of the crowd that KU won (2003 Missouri, 2004 KSU, 2005 NU). On those days, I just knew we were going to win and a lot of people felt that way. I couldn't explain why, but a lot of KU fans felt that way and a lot of people outside of Lawrence didn't feel that way.
I've seen it work against us as well. The only logical reason for that KSU win over us in Manhattan in 2005 was the will of their student section. I was there and they wanted it and they never let up on the noise. And they won.
We've witnessed some crazy losses. And by crazy, I mean there are some games that defy all logic. The fans point the finger at Mark Mangino and staff for "bad play calling" and "poor strategy." Of course, wrong plays are called and sometimes you do get out game-planned, but it really feels like thats the easy answer -- blame the coach. There's the thought that Mangino has taken us as far as he can -- he's not a big game coach. That doesn't feel right to me. The improvement has been so vast since 2001 that it would defy logic that it would not continue until the final level is achieved.
It feels like we are percentage points away from where we need to be to achieve that 8-9 game win level each year (check the scores for a less subjective evidence). Obviously, the player's attitude/confidence level is a big key in the equation. As a fan base, how do we factor in on that remaining percentage that pushes us to the next level? How are we affecting the players' attitudes? Order me a Kool-Aid. It can't hurt to look at the world through crimson and blue glasses, right?
This guy has the right idea.