So today I want to take a viewpoint from a portion of the Syracuse football fanbase that I see that occasionally differs from me. I want to try to look at things from their perspective in the context of what would help me believe in this team.
After the Clemson loss, I saw the social media posts about not winning big games or the same old Cuse, they’ll just fail the rest of the way. And while I disagree with this assessment, let’s just look at it from their standpoint.
Syracuse football now sits at 4-1. Some seem to think the 4 were “simple” and don’t hold much value in terms of determining if this team is good. So what could change that to build interest and get fans excited going forward, especially for the last two home games?
To me, if I’m trying to see it through their eyes, what if Syracuse football beats No. 14 North Carolina at Chapel Hill? What if they go down to Tallahassee and defeat No. 5 Florida State? Or what if they win both (which also clinches a bowl bid by the way)?
Syracuse football needs to win one of its next two ACC clashes.
Now I know some fans read that and in their brain, that can’t possibly happen. Or some could see beating one but not the other. Or maybe even some are open minded and if you can win one or both, now they’re excited again.
The problem is as I see it that many fans are afraid to believe in this team. They think if they do, they’ll be let down like previous teams. As Faye in the hit TV show “Ted Lasso” once said, “it’s the hope that kills you.”
But much like Ted, I believe in hope. Like Head Coach Dino Babers said, I don’t think of this team as the same as last year’s team. I’m not comparing them to any other team and willing to take the season one game at a time.
But this isn’t about me and fans who think like me. This is about those fans who see the struggling seasons and base more on those than the winning seasons. So if you want to win them over, win big. An Orange win over Carolina or Florida State might just go a long way to getting them to believe again.