Dr. Saturday - NCAAF

I expect Michigan fans to get a little emo over their team's six-game Big Ten swoon, Wolverine partisans being noted for their unparalleled skill in ennui, languor and the other stoic arts that derive naturally from surviving cold, bleak winters, a crumbling economy, long losing streaks to hated rivals, etc. The last three years of Michigan football have been like something out of a Morrissey song, and from the sounds of his regular Monday press conference, Rich Rodriguez has finally succumbed to culture of melancholy:

It eats at your soul. I don't coach football, I live it. ... When you put so much into it and you don't have success, it certainly eats at you. I've lost before. I'm not used to this, my staff isn't used to this. It gnaws you to the bone.

When the negativity starts coming from the head coach as well as the local newspaper in the span of a few hours, that is some heavy duty angst.

It is also, according to a forthcoming study from Ohio State that examined fans' anxiety levels during the cataclysmic OSU-Michigan game in 2006, the right underlying emotion to facilitate an explosion of the greatest euphoria in Ann Arbor if the Wolverines somehow manage to pull out of their doldrums to upset the Rose Bowl-bound Buckeyes and secure an improbable bowl bid this Saturday:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For sports fans watching their favorite team play, the greatest enjoyment comes only with a strong dollop of fear and maybe even near-despair, a new study suggests.
[...]
"You need the negative emotions of thinking your team might lose to get you in an excited, nervous state," [researcher Siliva] Knobloch-Westerwick said. "If your team wins, all that negative tension is suddenly converted to positive energy, which will put you in a euphoric state."

That's why the fans of the winning team – in this case, Ohio State – who felt the most sense of enjoyable suspense were also those who at some point were most convinced their team would lose, she said.

Science has spoken: The more convinced you are you're going to lose, the better winning is. Do not attempt to argue with science.

And for the Wolverines, if they want to have any chance of enjoying the proceedings Saturday: Don't take heart. Buck down. Look on the dark side. There is no hope for you yet.

- - -
Hat tip on OSU study: EDSBS

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9 Comments

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  1. cantcatchuf
    1. Posted by cantcatchuf Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:20 pm EST

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    That study only proves why Tressel has thrived at tOSU.
  2. HMC
    2. Posted by HMC Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:20 pm EST

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    Thats why Cleveland will rejoice so much after one of its teams wins a championship... not even the die-hards are fully convinced it could happen, since its been so long...
    Oh, and by the way, notice the lack of Spam after my post. Kind of nice, isn't it?
  3. poolben@...
    3. Posted by poolben@... Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:20 pm EST

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    Eh... at least we are still Michigan and they have to live with going to Ohio State- winning in life counts for something, right?
  4. Ancient Chinese Secret
    4. Posted by Ancient Chinese Secret Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:24 pm EST

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    You know, I had the same thoughts before the 2007 ND/USC game. Long losing streak to the hated rival...in the middle of a hellacious season...maybe, just maybe, the football gods would smile upon us and give us the upset of all time to validate the suffering and pain.
    38-0, Trojans. And ND had to wear the Technicolor Explosion "throwback" uniforms. Michigan fans, there is truly no hope.
  5. bigboo's bro
    5. Posted by bigboo's bro Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:55 pm EST

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    Hopefully the Michigan Regents will realize that the RichRod deal was a coyote ugly hire, and gnaw through the Athletic Director appendage that he hangs on to get rid of both of them. A bloated ego unencumbered by loyalty to players or schools does not seem to be the surefire recipe for success that the AD must have promised.
  6. mikez34
    6. Posted by mikez34 Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:35 pm EST

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    RichRod needs to realize you have to scheme to your players ability. Square peg round hole.
  7. bigboo's bro
    7. Posted by bigboo's bro Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:04 pm EST

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    mikez34, good point, but with RichRod it doesn't matter if it is round hole or square hole, because you will end up getting the cornhole.
  8. Misopogon
    8. Posted by Misopogon Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:14 pm EST

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    Good point, Doc, except you're behind. We moved past ennui during the second half of Illinois, and woe was in the rearview mirror long before Wisconsin started its own private quarter. Emo? That was like pre-season!
    We're on to Hamlet now!*
    Any studies on how fans come back from The Bard?
    * 'Alas, poor winning! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy!'
  9. Scott
    9. Posted by Scott Wed Nov 18, 2009 2:06 pm EST

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    Way to hire an a$$hole, crook, Michgan!

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