Pause and Acknowledge

[Dtwncbad]

This has been a difficult time to be really pumped as an Angels fan.  I know I am displaying some negativity and complaining and being snarky, sarcastic and annoyed.

I plead guilty.

But just like when you are having a disagreement with your wife of 20+ years, you have to pause and acknowledge that you love your wife, want to resolve the issue, and your energy (while being negative) comes from a place of wanting things to be better.

I love the Angels.  I have been a fan for over 40 years.  I am married to this team and have ZERO interest in being married to any other team.

So while I may not be done complaining and being prickly, it comes from a place of caring.

I love you Angels.  I do.  But I am pissed at you right now because I am sick of being mired in the same old problem for years.

Can we bring this to a head and get it fixed, for the good of both of us?

 

[eligrba]

When my wife and I have a disagreement,  one of us always accepts their faulty thinking and apologizes.  My wife accepts the apology and we move forward.  

Preaching to the choir...

[totdprods]

This time last year I was watching many of my career dreams evaporate, losing significant money, working emergency grocery retail, and spending my nights without any baseball to watch. 

I'm plenty happy tuning in every night and watching even just Ohtani. Win or lose.

This is entertainment and while I want them to win and losing is enormously frustrating, this has been one of the more enjoyable years I've watched in years simply because I've dramatically changed my perspective over the last year. Watching the Angels lose is better than not having the Angels to watch at all.

Edited May 21, 2021 by totdprods

[Dtwncbad]

8 minutes ago, totdprods said:

This time last year I was watching many of my career dreams evaporate, losing significant money, working emergency grocery retail, and spending my nights without any baseball to watch. 

I'm plenty happy tuning in every night and watching even just Ohtani. Win or lose.

This is entertainment and while I want them to win and losing is enormously frustrating, this has been one of the more enjoyable years I've watched in years simply because I've dramatically changed my perspective over the last year.

That is great.  Without too much detail, the last year was grueling for me as well in terms of work.  It will not be possible to work that hard going forward.

I had zero time to watch games and I still don’t have enough time to watch games.  But I think the difference is I so much value my away-from-work time, it is so precious, that I want to make sure I am not wasting it on a “bad investment”. . .

I am glad you are really enjoying the Angels.  I would love to feel the same way.  In due time I am sure.

[Justin]

I have an appreciable lack of passion this season. I am not pissed at the team. I just accept that they are the same team they have been for the last decade: some wonderful position players and absolute dogshit pitching that they are unable or unwilling to address, year after year. 

I do not place nearly as high a priority on watching their games as I used to, and often I turn off a game well before it ends, something I rarely did in seasons past. However, I don't think this is a bad thing. Watching the Angels has long been one of my favorite hobbies and right now it's not making me very happy, so I'm not doing it as much as I used to. Shrug. 

 

[T.G.]

I know I don’t have any control over what happens on the field or in the front office. All I can control is how I react to what is happening. I choose to look forward to the next game after the last game is over, regardless of the outcome. I’ll keep doing this until there aren’t any more Angels games to watch.

Any joy or frustration I feel is temporary.

Everyone’s fandom is different. 

I hope I see another World Series championship for the Angels again, but knowing it’s out my control helps me keep things in perspective.

In the meantime, I feel blessed to be able to watch Trout and Ohtani on a nightly basis (when they’re healthy, of course).

[Stradling]

I echo what TG and Tots have said.  

Last year with work was very hard, but I am grateful because I was “blessed with work” where a lot of people lost their jobs.

So when things were really difficult and then we had no baseball for a few months it really sucked because the Angels were always my 3 hour escape from anything important.  

This year it is really easy to be appreciative of baseball and the Angels because it is our slice of normal.  That being said I find myself more bothered by negativity now more than ever.  I guess I look at it like “why can’t everyone just be happy we have baseball back”.  I can watch the Angels lose and know there is a game tomorrow and be fine.  But reading the constant bitching and complaining about everything related to the Angels is tiresome and most of the people doing it are really fucking dumb.  Somehow I let it get to me MUCH more than I did in the past.  I used to be able to smile while going at it with some dude from Canada.  Now the negativity lingers past the interaction, which never happened before, and I don’t like it.  

I need another hobby.  

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I echo what TG and Tots have said.  

Last year with work was very hard, but I am grateful because I was “blessed with work” where a lot of people lost their jobs.

So when things were really difficult and then we had no baseball for a few months it really sucked because the Angels were always my 3 hour escape from anything important.  

This year it is really easy to be appreciative of baseball and the Angels because it is our slice of normal.  That being said I find myself more bothered by negativity now more than ever.  I guess I look at it like “why can’t everyone just be happy we have baseball back”.  I can watch the Angels lose and know there is a game tomorrow and be fine.  But reading the constant bitching and complaining about everything related to the Angels is tiresome and most of the people doing it are really fucking dumb.  Somehow I let it get to me MUCH more than I did in the past.  I used to be able to smile while going at it with some dude from Canada.  Now the negativity lingers past the interaction, which never happened before, and I don’t like it.  

I need another hobby.  

[nate]

3 minutes ago, Lou said:

That must be worth at least 10 wickets

[Lou]

1 minute ago, nate said:

That must be worth at least 10 wickets

Nope, just one.

Dummy. 

[nate]

1 minute ago, Lou said:

Nope, just one.

dumb sport

[Lou]

Just now, nate said:

dumb sport

Says the guy who loves soccer. 

[nate]

BTW I am just thankful that Ohtani is on this team because without him this team would be unwatchable with Trout missing two months. Worst pitching staff since 2003.

[Stradling]

22 minutes ago, Lou said:

I’m about to sound incredibly lazy, but I don’t want to learn something new.  I want to create a hobby out of things I already know how to do.  Like make awesome French Fries and shit on Canadians.  

[Lou]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I’m about to sound incredibly lazy, but I don’t want to learn something new.  I want to create a hobby out of things I already know how to do.  Like make awesome French Fries and shit on Canadians.  

In that case, I have a great idea.

Develop a recipe for awesome french fries.

 

(I was going to say this initially, but thought I'd be nice)

[totdprods]

24 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I echo what TG and Tots have said.  

Last year with work was very hard, but I am grateful because I was “blessed with work” where a lot of people lost their jobs.

So when things were really difficult and then we had no baseball for a few months it really sucked because the Angels were always my 3 hour escape from anything important.  

This year it is really easy to be appreciative of baseball and the Angels because it is our slice of normal.  That being said I find myself more bothered by negativity now more than ever.  I guess I look at it like “why can’t everyone just be happy we have baseball back”.  I can watch the Angels lose and know there is a game tomorrow and be fine.  But reading the constant bitching and complaining about everything related to the Angels is tiresome and most of the people doing it are really fucking dumb.  Somehow I let it get to me MUCH more than I did in the past.  I used to be able to smile while going at it with some dude from Canada.  Now the negativity lingers past the interaction, which never happened before, and I don’t like it.  

I need another hobby.  

100%. I actually was getting to the point where I didn't know if I was going to really come and post anymore because so much of the conversation has just sort of devolved into negativity. Everyone digs their heels in and fights before thinking or contributing it seems. Too many of the comments feel like a long-form Twitter/Facebook comment section. It sucks. Just memes and the same whining. Part of that is because the number of posters has shrunk, but new folks aren't going to stick around without substantive discussion.

Thankfully it's usually pretty hard to get too twisted up about minor league updates so that's been my sanctuary.

 

[T.G.]

10 minutes ago, Stradling said:

...shit on Canadians.  

[angelsnationtalk]

Totally agree with this post. 

I'm a die-hard Angels fan. As most of us are that are on AW. 

I think we become more frustrated with this team because we want to see them do well and play in the playoffs. 

I'm on the same page.... I love you, Angels, but get your S*** together. For the sake of our well-being. 

[Slegnaac]

Even though it seems we have been Buttercupped (yet again), I keep hoping the 79, 82, 86, 02,  04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 14 Angels will show up.

Please don't keep me waiting. 

[Lhalo]

It’s strange because I had high expectations for this team and they completely let me down. If not for Ohtani and Trout I probably wouldn’t even tune in. I feel like I’m watching a slow motion car crash every game. 

[southpaw]

I just want the Angels to do what the Padres did this off-season. Get as much high quality pitching as possible. People with solid track records. Not hope he is healthy or can bounce back types.  I hope our minor league system can start filling the gaps. Our depth will always be tested. What is so frustrating is this has been a systemic problem for this organization for almost a decade now. Why can’t they seem to get their act together?  Staying in the middle of the pack is the worst thing this team has done the past few years. Not good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough to get the high draft picks. The lack of  international presence for years has hurt as well. Probably killed us the most.  So depressing. 

[UndertheHalo]

I’m pretty well past the point of “expecting” the Angels to not suck.  At least presently.  I sort of expect that they will because they do dumb shit all the time and really haven’t aggressively addressed the obvious problems.  That said, I love the team and it makes me happy when they’re good.  I enjoy goofing off with everyone here.  Ah well.  Hopefully they can turn it around this year.  Hopefully the project we’ve all been following for the last 5 or 6 years comes to fruition soon.  We have a decent number of prospects worth paying attention to and this coming offseason has a ton of stuff that’ll have to get straightened out.  Things can change quickly!  The Angels are interesting at least.  For better or worse. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by UndertheHalo

[tdawg87]

My excitement and happiness over baseball is pretty much gone. This team has killed that for me.

I still follow because it's fun trolling and shooting the shit with you guys but winning or losing just doesn't affect me anymore. I'm numb. I have so much more on my plate (love u @cals) that being seriously invested in a baseball team just isn't worth my time, especially when they really aren't worth following. I try to get excited watching Trout and Ohtani but I just can't anymore.

I've said many times before that I'm absolutely a fairweather fan. But I don't care. Being a "diehard" means nothing to me. It's just a game and when they lose 55% of the time I just have no interest in caring about that. Hell even if they roll off a 15 game winning streak and get back into the race I just don't see myself being all that excited.

It's sad, but it is what it is. Just a game, after all.

[fan_since79]

We need a #1, #2, and #3 starters and several reliable relievers. If we can add those, we will win. If we don't, we won't.

Some better coaching and development of the farm system wouldn't hurt either.

In any event, I'll continue to watch. I'm a glutton for punishment. After a few decades, you simply endure it. There's always the memory of that glorious 2002 season to keep my sanity intact.

[VariousCrap]

Team sucks.

Barely even watch anymore.

I'll check their score and think to myself, "Angels lost...again."