re: Calling all degreed Psychologists!!! Can you Analyze Negative Tiger Fans?

Here's a few observations from a clinician's perspective:.
? The pattern of communication between the two sides on Tiger Rant is a variation of Men From Mars, Women From Venus paradigm. Not saying one side male and other female because everyone has both styles of communication in varying degrees. One side usually thinks things are, and will be, fine as long as real or potential problems are NOT discussed. The other side thinks that UNLESS real or potential problems are discussed things will never be fine. Each side therefore thinks the other is perpetuating and/or causing problems because of their communication style. Good thing all of you are not married to each other.
? The degree of negativity and positivity is about the same for the posi-tigers and nega-tigers. The nega-tigers direct their anger toward Miles in varying degrees (anywhere from mild annoyance to one bad play called to fire him if every play doesn't result in a first down, with most in the middle with frustration about play calling.). The posi-tigers are just as negative but they direct their anger toward the nega-tigers in varying degrees (anywhere from mild annoyance in telling someone to shut up all the way to wanting the group eliminated, with most in the middle frustrated that the topic keeps coming up. Same degree of anger, just different targets. Nega-tigers think Miles will never change. Posi-tigers think nega-tigers will never change. From an emotional/developmental standpoint both sides are much more alike than they would like to admit.

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The degree of negativity and positivity is about the same for the posi-tigers and nega-tigers

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Sorry, I call total BS on this one. You surely must not read this forum much. People who call for the coach with the highest win percentage in his first 8 yrs in the history of the SEC (& the greatest coach in our history regarding results by far) to be fired after every small mishap are simply on another plane of delusion than perhaps any other folks I've personally ever encountered anytime, anywhere.

Unfortunately, these folks just about dominate this forum among others and are a substantial portion of the fanbase and certainly are the most vocal. There are many fans in the middle though who look at things honestly and actually understand what it takes to accomplish wins as we have. But some want to paint them as one extreme or the other.

It would be one thing if we were in say Tenn's position right now, but yet we are the winningest team of the 2000's, had our best season thusfar in 2011 (minus the NC game) and are showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon, competing annually for NC's.

Yet the "catastrophe syndrome" persists. Google "Nick Saban quote LSU fans Catastrophe Syndrome". Circa 2002 & 2004. A strange phenomenon indeed, no one explains it better.

Dont take my word for it, hear it from the horse's mouth. We have a vein of negativity in this fanbase that is unparalleled nationwide/historywide. And Saban has coached all over in all sorts of programs/regions/situations.

After Miles leaves, I would bet because of it, what we are known for here, we will never get a high profile, proven coach to come after him no matter how much $, and that speaks volumes.

And BTW, negatigers hurt recruiting bigtime, and most know it, but dont care. I think that speaks volumes as well. Fans who try to stay positive, they don't hurt recruiting at all. When fans are supportive of their coaches, players and programs, this indirectly translates to wins many times. The inverse, not so much.

are you and topwater married?

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No other fan base constantly bashes their own program.

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You apparently weren't around the state of Alabama during the Dubose and Shula years!

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when you obviously do this for a living

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You do realize this is an anonymous forum right? Besides, others chiming in claiming to have the same occupation have completely disagreed with him, in fact multiple posters in the thread claiming to be occupied in this same field have. Did you not read their assessment? And those posters have thousands of posts rather than simply one. People in the psych field disagree regularly anyway, you do know its a purely abstract & speculative science to begin with right? But you've got to know your patient to attempt any sort of accurate assessment.

He brings up some good points that I also agree with, but I can certainly tell that he doesn't read this forum often. And yes, I'm willing to challenge him on that.

Really tho, you probly don't like that the type of people I'm challenging are types more like yourself. Tell me, what denial am I in that you speak of? and be specific now, and bring substance, and I'll address it.

I never said that the program is perfect and doesn't need changes in places. Hell, all ball programs are always en flux, never static. But I can recognize what's right as well, and there's plenty more of that with LSU right now than absence of it. If you don't see that simple fact, then maybe it is you who is deluded. Or perhaps I'm just secure enough in myself to give credit where its due.

Look, like I said, Saban talked about this years ago. Its a recurrent theme, and was a mystery for him as well. He never mentioned a problem with too much positivity here, but he repeatedly mentioned the inverse. Ever read his book? So how can they be equal? They are not even remotely equal.

Just imagine how many potential recruits this crap has scared off from the program over the years. Many deluded folks on here have their hand in it, I certainly can say that I don't. There's a way to criticize without going apeshit and calling for the leader's head on a platter every five minutes. Especially one who cannot be fired, both due to his continuous results and his massive contract buyout clause. So I have to ask what the point of it all is, really? Its a futile exercise, to do it that way, the many times uninformed, seemingly always unwarranted but ever present hyper-criticism.

If people keep repeating things over and over again, no matter how outrageous, many will start to believe its true (especially weaker folks, who tend to follow rather than think for themselves, see : Group Psychology).

I think a bunch of bad apples in the fanbase infect many others with their foolish n loud rhetoric and projection. Call me crazy, but I guess I just agree with Nick on this one.

Younger fanbase (25 years old or less)were 16 or younger when things started to change from doormat to powerhouse so their perspective is one sided and cant appreciate where we are today.

The other ones lack the proper levels of serotonin which is a hereditary problem that can only be treated with meds.

I am not a psychologist.

Not gonna read 8 pages on this, but there is definitely a lot of residual 'mob mentality' among the Tiger faithful. Saban called out the panicked aspects when he first arrived, with the famous "deer in the headlights" interview... a whole lot of people think we in Louisiana will have the sucky end of things, and the first time something doesn't work right, they anticipate the world will collapse on us.

A good bit of Miles-hating is due to his continued success, combined with that anticipation of disaster. When Saban left, people thought we'd return to sub-.500 ball. It was our rotten karma to have gotten the best coach (one the nation adulated), but only as a tease, before he left us and we sank again. For these people, Saban's era only served to remove the numbness and indifference to losing, so things would hurt again when we lose. Miles instead wins, ... and the anticipated pain of loss increases. It's like Miles is only teasing us more. There's no way this guy will stay, and not leave us for Michigan. There's no way this guy with the buffoonish antics can win here more than the respected genius. There's no way that we don't drop back down to the Mississippi level again, therefore we prepare in advance so when it happens we don't get as crushed.
Take this season, objectively. Lots of bad things happened with key personnel all season, yet we finished 10-3, less than 60 seconds from 12-1. Any sense of relief or confidence from that? No, instead we have impending gloom and doom.

Compare LSU and Oklahoma. Most reasonable fans nationally, would agree Oklahoma is the better program historically, and should be at least on the same level. This season, both teams went 10-3 with bowl losses and lost at home to one of the BCS title contenders. In addition, both teams lost an additional game to another BCS bowl team.
Difference was, LSU scared the death out of Alabama and likely wins that game 8 out of 10 times, while Notre Dame blew Oklahoma out. LSU wasn't behind Clemson in the bowl until the last 2 seconds, while Oklahoma was blown out by A&M. LSU lost a hard game on the road to Florida, while Kansas State went in and beat Oklahoma in Norman.

Yet all is still lost here, for some reason; while in Oklahoma, next year is just another chance at making a run.

A whole lot of people here are still afraid nothing good will last, and they refuse to buy into success (even attempt to sabotage it), in order to avoid being hurt so much when things ultimately fail. What that does is prevent them from seeing the good things that are happening. It's like if your last wife cheated and left, and you end up not getting over that. Your next relationship will be doomed because not matter what the woman does, you prepare for her to do you wrong--- and that makes the relationship unbearable for all parties involved.

The only thing I will say the LSU fans are consistently negative about is officials. We always think we will get hosed.

I am not concerned about losing in the Chicken bowl. Our players have had to get up for better games than this. LSU's resume over the last 10-11 years is not that bad...We want to be in the NCG every year, and being in the hunt for it every year sure is exciting....We have a lot to be hopeful for (every season)...Lets look at LSU for what college football truly is...Talented players on the field playing football. 2013 baby!!