Orange Kool-aid Detox Thread: stay sane and enjoy the season

#1
BruisedOrange

BruisedOrange

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#1
[This is NOT a recruiting thread to enlist new members for the NegaVols. Theirs is one way of protecting against disappointment, but I think it's really just manipulating yourself to stay unhappy so your emotions don't take a hit when Tennessee has a bad day. It's like protecting yourself from a series of dating disappointments by marrying your first bad date. It works--but at a cost.]

How many of you VFLs are this week remembering past seasons when you got so high on certain players and overall team expectations before the season, but later felt cheated, manipulated, or let down by the way the season unfolded? We've all been there, and the longer you've been a Tennessee fan, the more aware you are of that repeated pattern.

But do we have to deny ourselves the childhood joy of anticipation? Do we have to deny hope and dreams? No. That just takes away the joy of being a fan.

I'm asking that this thread be devoted to posting comments or articles that TRY TO BE OBJECTIVE about the coming season and specific players. We know the reporters who cover Tennessee will be hyping the possibilities. They know they will gather more readers, more subscribers, if they post headlines and stories that generate excitement. That's just basic Drug Pushing 101. That's audience manipulation. And we love it!

So I'm starting this thread to provide an Orange Kool-aid Detox Center, a place to archive articles and comments that bring us down to earth, that help us VFLs keep our expectations balanced. This isn't the thread to push back against critique--it's the thread to read, reflect, and admit, "Yeah... I guess that's true; it's possible that things could fall out that way." The articles posted here should just provide a healthy reality check, to keep "hope" from becoming an "expectation," and to us from becoming the ugliest of SEC fans--the Entitled Elites! (C'mon, do a little soul searching: do you really hate Bama and Georgia fans... or are you envious? Do you secretly want to be that obnoxious voice from the mountaintop? That's the voice of the seriously insecure.)

Here's an article/video to prime the pump. McElroy addresses Tennessee about 6 mins into the video, but most of what he says is in the article.

Greg McElroy believes expectations for Tennessee are 'getting a little out of control'

Enjoy the journey, fellow VFLs. And arrive sane at the summit.
 
#11
#11
BruisedOrange said:
[This is NOT a recruiting thread to enlist new members for the NegaVols. Theirs is one way of protecting against disappointment, but I think it's really just manipulating yourself to stay unhappy so your emotions don't take a hit when Tennessee has a bad day. It's like protecting yourself from a series of dating disappointments by marrying your first bad date. It works--but at a cost.]

How many of you VFLs are this week remembering past seasons when you got so high on certain players and overall team expectations before the season, but later felt cheated, manipulated, or let down by the way the season unfolded? We've all been there, and the longer you've been a Tennessee fan, the more aware you are of that repeated pattern.

But do we have to deny ourselves the childhood joy of anticipation? Do we have to deny hope and dreams? No. That just takes away the joy of being a fan.

I'm asking that this thread be devoted to posting comments or articles that TRY TO BE OBJECTIVE about the coming season and specific players. We know the reporters who cover Tennessee will be hyping the possibilities. They know they will gather more readers, more subscribers, if they post headlines and stories that generate excitement. That's just basic Drug Pushing 101. That's audience manipulation. And we love it!

So I'm starting this thread to provide an Orange Kool-aid Detox Center, a place to archive articles and comments that bring us down to earth, that help us VFLs keep our expectations balanced. This isn't the thread to push back against critique--it's the thread to read, reflect, and admit, "Yeah... I guess that's true; it's possible that things could fall out that way." The articles posted here should just provide a healthy reality check, to keep "hope" from becoming an "expectation," and to us from becoming the ugliest of SEC fans--the Entitled Elites! (C'mon, do a little soul searching: do you really hate Bama and Georgia fans... or are you envious? Do you secretly want to be that obnoxious voice from the mountaintop? That's the voice of the seriously insecure.)

Here's an article/video to prime the pump. McElroy addresses Tennessee about 6 mins into the video, but most of what he says is in the article.

Greg McElroy believes expectations for Tennessee are 'getting a little out of control'

Enjoy the journey, fellow VFLs. And arrive sane at the summit.
Click to expand...
I thought Kool Aid played for Bama. lol
 
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#12
#12
I don’t have an article or video, but common sense says we take a step back because we lost a Heisman caliber QB, the best WR in the nation, another All-American caliber WR, and an absolute monster on the OL who was arguably our best player on the roster.

Add in there is no guarantee our secondary will be any better and that makes me less bullish on the 2023 Vols - 8 wins would not shock me whatsoever, but I’m obviously hoping CJH sprinkles his magic on this roster and we have another special season.
 
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#16
#16
Obviously, the only reason to be a fan is for the feelings, to experience the highs. And I know this thread will take plenty of hits. But this thread is not intended for everyone.

Some fans make themselves and their families miserable when things don't go their way. Disappointment effects their relationships and their job performance. If the people closest to say to you, "You take these things too hard," then maybe this will help you get things back in balance where you can be yourself, win or lose.

This is technically an over-simplification (so hold your fire, neurologists), but accurate enough in principle to make application.

Dopamine is a chemical secreted in our brains that brings on feelings like happiness, pleasure, reward, and motivation. When you fall in love, become infatuated with someone or some thing... you're feeling the effects of dopamine. When your dog gets so excited he's bouncing and barking with joy to see you, or anticipation because you picked up the leash or his favorite toy... that's your dog on dopamine. And it's kind of insane.

But it's also dopamine when you finish a project and feel satisfied or proud of the accomplishment. That good feeling helps create motivation to repeat that experience the next time we face a project. Our brains are wired to crave dopamine because it motivates us toward doing good things. (The problem for fans is, we don't DO anything. We don't practice harder or spend more time in the film room. We just crave more good feelings and spend more time and money pursuing those feelings.)

Note also that when you're in love (infatuated), the dopamine doesn't wait until you see her to start dripping on your poor, helpless brain. The dopamine starts when you only anticipate seeing her.

So when we see Tennessee score, or break off a 20-yard run, we experience a hit of dopamine excitement. When we (old timers) hear a replay of John Ward's voice, we experience a hit of dopamine from the memories of excitement and satisfaction we associate with that voice. And when mid-July rolls around... the dopamine remembers, and we start getting that little dopamine buzz, just from anticipating dopamine hits when the season actually starts.

And this is the point of making this post:
We begin to self-medicate--start the joy-juice of dopamine flowing through our brains--simply by anticipating something good.

When an excited VFL posts hopefully that "Vols are going to be National Champions this year!" ...the act of making, posting, and reading that statement generates dopamine. He's getting a hit off his own statement. He may feel like he's making a sound, objective statement, but he's actually just self-medicating when he does it. If we keep reading that or saying that, pretty soon (because we get reinforcement from our brain drugs) we actually believe that!

But what happens when what we anticipate doesn't happen? The dopamine stops dripping and we get cut off from our drug supply!

This is what we read each Fall Saturday in the Live Game Thread. Tennessee goes 3-and-out on their first possession, and guys who were so high on Tennessee before the game started, immediately start posting how we're gonna lose this game! That's not what their intellect is telling them. They're smarter than that. But that's what their brain is yelling because it's drug supply was suddenly cut off. And that changes our personalities.

Dopamine is no great evil. But some of us misuse it to the detriment of our relationships and our own happiness. So understand what's going on in your brain and cheer wisely. There's a reason it's called dope-amine.
 
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#18
#18
The Original Fade said:
I love it when fans instruct fans on how to be fans
Click to expand...
As indicated, this is only for fans who are not satisfied with their usual fan experience, who complain every fall about how the coverage of the team in August gets them overly optimistic and feel set up for failure.
 
#22
#22
Not necessary to make it complex. As in any life situation, consider the worst case scenario, the best case scenario, and the more likely scenarios.... and prepare yourself emotionally for whatever comes.

There are nightmare scenarios where the Vols could slip all the way back to a 7-5 type of season. Bad breaks, wrong injuries at the wrong time,... things can happen in football. The Vols could take the next step forward to such a degree that the fact that the UGA game is in Neyland... matters... a lot. Catch a tailwind and have Milton play to a high level... and UT could run this schedule with 1 or even zero losses.

An 8 win season would be a slight disappointment but still a step forward for the program. A 9-10 win season seems to be a fairly reasonable and high hope.
 
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#25
#25
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