The Stages of Being a Horn Fan

"Replacing Vince is impossible. Our biggest question mark this year is QB. But, Charles is going to be a beast, Sweed is gonna tear it up and Ross is going to be a Butkus finalist. If Colt can just get the ball from point A to point B until Snead is ready to play, we'll have a decent season."

"Colt looked pretty good against North Texas. Ohio State lost its entire defense and we are returning a lot of starters from a national championship team. Plus, the game is at DKR."

"Colt "effin" McCoy and Aaron Ross just got us past ou! A lot of other teams have lost too. We may be able to stay in the hunt. After all, our only loss was to the #1 team in the country."

"Wow! Colt is a god! Close wins over Nebraska AND Texas Tech? The SEC is getting too much love for what they are doing. And why are 2 Big East teams ahead of us? We would smoke them!"

"Louisville beat WVU and just lost to Rutgers...OMG! Our strength of schedule is SO much better than Florida, Auburn or Michigan's. I wonder if Southwest has any airfare specials?"

"Well, KSU caught lightning in a bottle. Colt got hurt and our defense let us down. All the pieces fell in to place and we choked it. Oh well. So we'll just be going to Glendale a week earlier than we had hoped. A Big 12 title is still pretty stellar. I just hope we don't have to play Boise St. I want an actual challenge."

"If Snead plays a&m, we won't win by 3 TDs. Good thing Colt is 100% or we won't cover the spread."

"F*ck! 7-12?!? 7 to motherf*cking 12?!? Now I have to watch the ou/OSU game instead of enjoying my Saturday? Aggy is horrible!"

"I hear San Antonio is lovely in December."

*click*
*bang*

If this season has taught me anything...it is this: Never buy non-refundable airline tickets before the last 2 games are played. It's a bad idea.

It's sort of funny in a way. I mentioned this in another post, but I would have been happy with a 2-3 loss season this year with VY and Huff departing. I just envisioned Ohio St., Nebraska and Tech/ou would be the culprits. Now, 10-3 doesn't feel so fancy. Had we not beaten ou it would be downright depressing.

However...

After winning the 2002 title, Ohio St. put up a 7-4 season for an encore. Right now, they are awaiting the identity of their opponent with a guarenteed spot in the title game. While 4 years is a ways off...it's a lot shorter than the 35 years we waited for the last one. Just look at the state of the Miami program and be thankful that we are at least heading in the right direction. We have a ton of returning talent and a seemingly stellar amount of commitments for next year's team. As hurtful as the reality of this year's squad is, it isn't the beginning of a downward spiral.

I'd much rather take a month off to prepare for a bowl game then send a bruised and battered squad into the Big 12 championship game to lose. We still have pride left on the schedule.