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110%er [8083]
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The doctor is in: SC fans dealing with "unresolved grief"...
Aug 6, 2004, 7:44 AM
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The doctor is in: Help is here for USC faithful
By NEIL WHITE
Columnist
Posted on Fri, Aug. 06, 2004
Op-ti-mist, noun, 1. One who puts the most favorable construction upon actions and events or anticipates the best possible outcome. 2. A Gamecock fan at the start of every football season.
See? It’s right there in the dictionary. There’s no greater group of optimists in the world than USC football fans.
When players report today for the start of fall practice, fan optimism should again be at an all-time high. After all, the Gamecocks are currently undefeated and tied for first in the SEC.
These are fans who unfailingly have supported their team over 110 seasons despite an overall 494-502-44 record and a mere three bowl victories.
Some people might wonder what keeps these fans so optimistic despite only sporadic success. Talk didn’t know the answer to that so we set out to find someone who could analyze the unique psyche of Gamecock fans.
And we found the perfect person in Clyde Flanagan, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has worked as a professor in the USC School of Medicine since 1988. Flanagan graciously agreed to psychoanalyze these die-hards for us at no charge.
Flanagan characterized optimistic fans as those who can look at a half-empty glass and “focus on the full part rather than the empty part.” But he also believes many Gamecock fans have other deep-seated conditions that go far beyond simple optimism.
He said some of them likely have masochistic tendencies.
“They have a need for punishment,” said Flanagan, who added that they may have done something earlier in life that has made them feel guilty. So they now root for the Gamecocks as a way of punishing themselves. “It’s a neurotic conflict,” he said.
Hmmm, he could be right. Watching a team stay stuck on five wins through the month of November for two consecutive seasons is pure punishment.
Flanagan also suggests some USC fans are in denial.
“This unconscious defense is where the person blocks out any reality that reflects the unpleasant,” he said.
Hey, if fans deny the team has struggled to compete in the SEC, then it must not be so, right?
Flanagan attributes some of these feelings of denial to “unresolved grief.” (Talk certainly still has a lot of unresolved grief over that season-ending 63-17 loss to Clemson last year.)
Flanagan said a relatively healthier defense mechanism “is what we call rationalization. It’s another way of coping. They don’t look at the real weaknesses of the team. They can rationalize it.”
You know, that’s another good point. We certainly rationalized a lot of losses away by lamenting questionable penalties, poor field conditions and key injuries that have plagued the Gamecocks instead of blaming the players.
However, Flanagan fears a few Gamecock fans may suffer from a psychotic state of delusion.
This one is the most severe, where fans have an outlook that’s “way out of proportion to reality. What they believe is contrary to every objective viewpoint.” (These would be the people who thought the Gamecocks would go undefeated in Lou Holtz’s first season.)
But Flanagan softens it by adding that these folks aren’t completely psychotic. He calls it “a fixed circumscribed delusion. They’re not psychotic in other areas of their life, just this one.”
As a way of helping fans keep these neurotic symptoms and defense mechanisms in check, we asked Flanagan what they should do as the season approaches.
He recommended a little cognitive behavioral therapy for all Gamecock fans. (Inquire about rates within.) But he also offered this little bit of free advice.
“Be optimistic, but lower your expectations,” he said. “Keep the expectations realistic, but at the same time, keep hope alive.”
Hope, of course, is one of the great things about the start of a new season. “That’s what makes it fun. There are always surprises,” Flanagan said.
But many overly optimistic USC fans can’t help but think only of SEC titles and berths in the Bowl Championship Series. Flanagan doesn’t expect to see them on his couch.
“They don’t tend to seek help,” he said. “We call that resistance to intervention.”
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MVP [539]
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"Psychotic State of Delusion"
Aug 6, 2004, 8:05 AM
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Has there ever been a better description of Rusty the Rooster?
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null [54]
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I'm Speechless...This Is Great Stuff!!!***
Aug 6, 2004, 8:14 AM
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Rock Defender [54]
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HOF!!!***
Aug 6, 2004, 8:16 AM
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CU Guru [1409]
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Wow******
Aug 6, 2004, 8:32 AM
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Scholar [4739]
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HMMMMMMMMM.....
Aug 6, 2004, 8:40 AM
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that in no way applies to me, but if it does I can explain it....
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110%er [7575]
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Good Stuff!Neil White is a really good/funny writer.
Aug 6, 2004, 9:07 AM
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I always enjoy reading his stuff even if he is a coot.
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CU Medallion [64730]
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I just may have to renew my subscription to The State
Aug 6, 2004, 10:01 AM
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That's some funny stuff.
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110%er [8083]
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Neil White has gone and upset the Chicken Nation.....
Aug 6, 2004, 10:24 AM
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They are calling for his head over on the chicken sites; Threats, email campaign, accusing him of being a Clemson fan etc...
The only problem is, Neil is gamecock! He attends a lot of SC sporting events with his kids.
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Aficionado [159]
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Re: The doctor is in: SC fans dealing with "unresolved grief"...
Aug 6, 2004, 11:10 PM
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The only medicine for them is suicide. Good post by the way.
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