(Assume in the latter case that the original expectation was for at least mediocrity, with some hope of being a little better — the question is too easy if you go from “top contender” to “garbage,” or if your team’s been consistently horrible for a long time.)
I wonder, because I assumed the latter would always be worse, but then I thought, what if your team was expected to do really well, but didn’t live up to expectations? That’s pretty painful too, isn’t it, to be confident and pumped up from all the pundits drooling, but then see those lofty hopes not turn out as well as you’d hoped — unlike some fans, who might be more resigned, and not get their hopes up?
Delusion often plays a big part in disappointment. This is an annual ritual with the Redskins, for example. The simple fact is, they are bad, but during the offseason, nobody in town can see it. Then they play games that count, and it becomes quickly apparent how bad they really are, but because of the unrealistic expectations going in, everyone is unreasonably disappointed rather than realizing they are seeing what they should have expected.
Well, every team but one eventually ends up being disappointing, but many of them provide some excitement along the way. So I’d rather have my team do well enough to make it interesting, hopefully making it deep into the playoffs before the disappointment comes, than just be bad from the start.
If you mean that they are going to be bad from the start either way, it would be better to go in with low expectations.
I’d rather my team be bad than disappointing. Cheering for a bad team can be fun (I’m remembering the Colts in the 1980’s) because it’s such a rush when they actually do win one.
A disappointing team just disappoints and leaves me thinking: “You bozos could have gone somewhere if you had only played up to your talent.”
Disappointing keeps me entertained, like for example the Giants this season. Sure they’re 3-8, but they’ve been competitive in parts of many of those losses and have had some pretty high quality drives to hang my hat on for next season. I reasonably expected them to have a legitimate shot at a “successful” season, which I define as any season in which the last game they play is a meaningful game. That’s all gone now; none of their games are meaningful from here on out.
I’m also a (secondary) fan of the Jets, who are legitimately bad. That’s much worse, in that I don’t even much care about watching the games at all. The disappointing Giants are giving me way more entertainment than the bad Jets.
EDIT: It should be pointed out that disappointing is much easier to stomach with two recent championships to appreciate, both in the last 7 seasons, which is tops in the NFL. Going back 9 seasons adds in the Steelers as a tie with two, and 11 seasons adds in the Patriots with two as well. You have to count 13 years before the Giants are no longer tied for most Superbowls, so it’s hard to be too down on a disappointing season. If they hadn’t won a championship since the 80s, disappointing seasons would be much more frustrating.
I’m an Oakland A’s fan. Their recent history is one of disappointment, but they’ve also had periods when they were bad. I prefer disappointment. One reason is that I’m a fan of the sport as well as a fan of the team. Baseball is a beautiful thing to watch when it’s played well, and it can be excruciating to watch when it’s played badly.
Another thing about following a bad team is that the games can get boring. It isn’t very interesting to watch a team that’s 20 games behind in the standings being blown out eight runs to one.
Disappointing. At least, if they are a contender all season, I can enjoy watching their games. In a 30-team league, 29 willl disappoing – it goes with the territory.
Did you ever reflect that maybe 98 or 99 percent of all NBA players lost the last college game they ever played? It’s easier to live with disappointment than with hopelessness.
Unless you a fan who jumps on bandwagons, you will probably only have about 5-10 national championships in the major sports to celebrate in your lifetime. All the rest is disappointment.
Disappointing.
The Twins were just so bad this past season that I never even bothered to watch or go to a game.
The Wild on the other hand have a very talented and promising team but have been disappointing as of late only winning 50% of their games this month. But I’'ll still watch them and pull for a turn around and go to a game every month.
