Childhood Trauma Prevention
Posted 08-29-2014 at 04:56 PM by Barry from MS
My 1st blog, so be gentle.
Since following this team in the shadows of my uncles and a dad griping and throwing stuff at the TV in the early 80's, I am amazed at just how far this New Orleans Saints team has come along over the past 3 and half decades of my existence.
We expect the playoffs, now. Our goal is home field advantage throughout the playoffs to help secure the ultimate goal of a second Super Bowl championship.
We gripe and forecast doom when our team loses a close game on the road to fall to 6-2 (@ Jets 2013). We get irritated when Drew passes for +300 yards and win by less than a touchdown, simply because we only ran the ball 20 or fewer times for 50-70 yards. We just didn't win pretty enough. Just remember...Carl Smith was our OC for over 10 years and many pillows were thrown at the TV and many disgusted, exasperated rants are still lingering in the atmosphere just above a little house in south Mississippi.
One example I can think of which can tell you just how far we have come is from the end of the 1983 season. We're gonna discount that embarrassing 1-15 campaign, which ultimately carved doubt and pessimism into my personality with this 1-15 1980 "team" being my earliest memories of anything. Go figure.
December 18, 1983 with our Saints sitting at 8-7 playing the 8-7 LA Rams in the Superdome. It was for that final 1983 playoff spot with the winner going to the playoffs, potentially the Saints first playoff appearance since coming into existence in 1967. What happens? Rams 26 / Saints 24.
The Rams scored on a safety, on a punt return TD, and on TWO interception returns for TDs...the tell-tale sign of a team self-destructing before my young eyes. 23 points in which the Rams offense didn't have to score itself. But the Saints kept our hopes alive, until the Rams got the ball back late in the 4th Quarter and our defense (which had been pretty good all game) let them get into field goal range. And, of course, Mike Lansford hits a 42 yard field goal with 6 seconds left to win the game.
We expect greatness, and we should. Payton is one of the best coaches in the league, and Drew is in the top-tier of QBs in the league and has been since 2006. We have a defense that is legitimately top-tier and nearly elite. We expect greatness from this team, this coach, and these players. It is warranted.
So all you young'uns reading this (if I didn't lose you within the first 2 sentences of this, that is), be thankful for what you currently have. Your first memories don't have to be a 1-15 train wreck disaster season or a full-scale stab-yourself-in-the-face implosion in front of a home crowd to blow a first-ever playoff spot. Things could be much, much worse...your childhood trauma more than likely won't be Saints-related.
Since following this team in the shadows of my uncles and a dad griping and throwing stuff at the TV in the early 80's, I am amazed at just how far this New Orleans Saints team has come along over the past 3 and half decades of my existence.
We expect the playoffs, now. Our goal is home field advantage throughout the playoffs to help secure the ultimate goal of a second Super Bowl championship.
We gripe and forecast doom when our team loses a close game on the road to fall to 6-2 (@ Jets 2013). We get irritated when Drew passes for +300 yards and win by less than a touchdown, simply because we only ran the ball 20 or fewer times for 50-70 yards. We just didn't win pretty enough. Just remember...Carl Smith was our OC for over 10 years and many pillows were thrown at the TV and many disgusted, exasperated rants are still lingering in the atmosphere just above a little house in south Mississippi.
One example I can think of which can tell you just how far we have come is from the end of the 1983 season. We're gonna discount that embarrassing 1-15 campaign, which ultimately carved doubt and pessimism into my personality with this 1-15 1980 "team" being my earliest memories of anything. Go figure.
December 18, 1983 with our Saints sitting at 8-7 playing the 8-7 LA Rams in the Superdome. It was for that final 1983 playoff spot with the winner going to the playoffs, potentially the Saints first playoff appearance since coming into existence in 1967. What happens? Rams 26 / Saints 24.
The Rams scored on a safety, on a punt return TD, and on TWO interception returns for TDs...the tell-tale sign of a team self-destructing before my young eyes. 23 points in which the Rams offense didn't have to score itself. But the Saints kept our hopes alive, until the Rams got the ball back late in the 4th Quarter and our defense (which had been pretty good all game) let them get into field goal range. And, of course, Mike Lansford hits a 42 yard field goal with 6 seconds left to win the game.
We expect greatness, and we should. Payton is one of the best coaches in the league, and Drew is in the top-tier of QBs in the league and has been since 2006. We have a defense that is legitimately top-tier and nearly elite. We expect greatness from this team, this coach, and these players. It is warranted.
So all you young'uns reading this (if I didn't lose you within the first 2 sentences of this, that is), be thankful for what you currently have. Your first memories don't have to be a 1-15 train wreck disaster season or a full-scale stab-yourself-in-the-face implosion in front of a home crowd to blow a first-ever playoff spot. Things could be much, much worse...your childhood trauma more than likely won't be Saints-related.
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Great read at an apropos time of the season..Posted 08-30-2014 at 05:27 AM by jeanpierre
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