Let me preface this with the obvious: I will always root on the Buckeyes to win. Regardless of the sport. Regardless of the record. Regardless of the opponent etc. I’m a massive Buckeye fan and barring outrageous circumstances, always will be. BUT, that being said…

This fanbase needs losing seasons. As a collective group, a large majority has gotten so ridiculously used to being successful that we no longer enjoy success. When we are successful, it’s never good enough. When we do struggle or lose, it’s like the entire world is falling apart. This includes everyone from avid fans like myself to casual fans who only tune in occasionally. We can’t enjoy a game unless it’s a record breaking blowout. Every mistake is a reason to fire or bench someone. Disagree with someone who says that? You just get labeled as a homer. Frankly, the fanbase’s attitude is getting more and more toxic

I’m sure I’ll get downvotes from the people who disagree, but the examples are everywhere. In case you’re struggling to recall some, here’s a few recent examples.

• Vs Purdue last weekend, we’re blowing them out in the 2nd quarter, 42-7. Purdue (who has a good offense mind you) goes and scores a TD to cut the deficit to 28 POINTS. People in the message boards are calling for players to be benched, how bad this defense is etc. Even though Purdue’s good offense has only scored 14 points!
• Also the Purdue game, in the second half, the defense was clearly in prevent mode. Letting them take small chunks to prevent the big play. The game was NEVER in jeopardy, but man, people all around were ticked. We end up beating the #19 team in the country by 28, but instead of enjoying the win, people are incessantly complaining.
• Just last night, the men’s basketball team went down to Xavier. For any freshman and sophomore (like half of our rotation), that was their first time in a hostile environment. VERY FIRST TIME. We are playing several transfers who are new. This is clearly a team that will need time to gel together. They lose a tough, hard fought game on the road. Afterwards, people are calling for Holtmann’s head. Others say this team is destined to miss the Tournament. Just because of one loss, the sky is falling.

I don’t have time to type out more examples, but you get the picture. People refuse to enjoy anything less than perfect. And in sports, perfect is almost unheard of. OSU football has been perfect twice since 2000. There hasn’t been a perfect men’s college basketball team in my life time. 99.9% of fanbases would kill to have our success, yet our fanbase is ready to hang people cause we didn’t win by enough. 

We’re spoiled, and holy cow do we act like it. I never want to see the Buckeyes lose, but maybe a couple losing seasons would knock some sense into people. Maybe then we could actually enjoy a win. Or not fall apart because of a loss. Either way, I hope something changes, because it’s getting harder and harder to watch games with people. It’s getting harder and harder to read these message boards and comments. It’s getting harder and harder to actually enjoy it myself, because everything surrounding it is so negative.