I am a Chicago Bears fan. I watched every minute of that 55-14 blow-out loss against the Packers on Sunday night. It was what I refer to as a 'Murphy's Law' game - the Packers played out of their minds, and the Bears couldn't do anything right. As I watched, I watched my Facebook newsfeed explode with angry Bears fans - 9 out of 10 posts I saw were all about their performance (or lack thereof).
They should fire staff members before halftime. This is 'embarrassing' (we'll come back to this statement in a second). These players suck. I'm turning this off - when does Cubs season start? (As a Cubs fan, I thought this was extremely ironic). These were some of the less volatile quotes I saw. The last three days have featured pictures making fun of Bears players and coaches.
It was the worst performance of football I had witnessed at the professional level that I can remember. I understood where people came from, but it saddened me for a couple reasons.
The execution for the Bears on Sunday was atrocious - but no one that was freely criticizing the athletes that day actually were at the practices the previous two weeks. They have no idea about the amount of preparation that was put into place. They don't truly know why things didn't go well. Yet, some Bears fans went as far as to tweet the head coach's daughters threatening their well-being. I can't help but feel like we criticize them as athletes/coaches, and completely disregard them as human beings. If it was our child/sibling/significant other on that field, would we be so free and vicious in our criticism?
As a fan, I find myself critical of those I watch at times. When I see athletes that scream at their teammates, take plays off, celebrate arrogantly when they simply did their job (typically while their opponent is in the lead) - there are a laundry list of things that gets my blood boiling. However, having a bad performance happens to teams at all levels. It's disappointing when they don't perform well, but remember that these athletes have worked their entire lives to get to where they've gotten.
If the Bears right the ship this season, what a valuable lesson that would be for young athletes. Everyone loses at some point. Some losses can be blow-outs - even for the world-class athletes. It doesn't mean we didn't put the preparation in, and how we respond to them is what matters the most. There is a difference between disappointing and embarrassing. Embarrassing is when a team didn't put the work in for the task at hand. Disappointing is when a team does everything they can to prepare and still fall short. You will be disappointed at times and that's OK - but put the time in not to ever feel embarrassed.
Of course, the internet won't explode in the same manner if this happens. Social Media loves to crush the defeated and praise the victor. So why is it shocking to us when juniors athletes play tentatively, more afraid to make mistakes than they are willing to try and make the successful play?
We can't expect 12-18 year olds to watch ESPN or go online and watch people critique world-class athletes that have a bad game and then go to their competitions without nerves of the same judgment happening to them. I talk to kids all the time that I coach and ask them about what they feel when they play, and the amount of kids that are more afraid to make mistakes FAR outweighs the amount that are excited to compete. They're afraid of judgment from their parents and peers. And as Karch talked about in his webinar, one of the best pieces of advice he received was in regards to not being afraid to look stupid and not being afraid to make mistakes.
Kathy DeBoer just wrote a piece on the state of Division I Women's Volleyball - I close with one of her own statements as I share the same sentiments she does on this topic: "I often wonder if sharing my worries with you in this column serves any purpose beyond "getting them off my chest." I do so because I think our collective though about our game and its future is bound to be more lucid than my individual hand-wringing. I also believe that what happens with volleyball is up to us..."
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