Beaver Fans have Psychological Trauma and Inferiority Complex
Psychological Trauma is defined as:
A type of damage to the mind that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event.
Inferiority Complex is defined as:
The lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty about oneself, and feelings of not measuring up to standards.
First off, I’m not a psychologist, so this is all opinion and deduction from what I’ve seen. That said, I believe these problems are all due to the 28 year losing streak. Think about the snowball effect of this. It breaks a man down and creates several problems in logic:
1. After 28 years of losing records, a winning record was considered great.
2. Once a winning record is considered great, mediocrity (e.g. 7-6) is considered a successful year.
3. Any coach who can deliver the newly defined “successful year” of 7-6 or better is a “successful” coach.
4. Once 7-6 is the definition of a successful coach, inferiority complex sets in and replaces psychological trauma.
5. Once inferiority complex is the norm, fans believe to think 7-6 is what they deserve. This is why you hear “you can’t win in Corvallis” and all the other lines.
6. Beaver fans tend to feel “safe” in this environment, even if the environment is bad. For example, Gary Andersen was never fully embraced. Some rumblings that he wasn’t “one of us” (tribalism), they didn’t know him like they know Jonathan Riley, etc. This desire to feel safe is also supported by the definition of secondary inferiority, which is “A secondary inferiority feeling relates to an adult’s experience of being unable to reach a subconscious, reassuring fictional final goal of subjective security and success to compensate for the inferiority feelings.” Anyone who is an outsider is viewed as a potential threat, which brings me to my next point…
7. Beaver fans give their “safe” and “mediocre” coach Mike Riley credit for their best moment, the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. This is tribal loyalty to the “safe” guy. Even though another coach took them to that game, Riley gets credit from most of Beaver nation because “he recruited all those guys” (half true, he recruited some, Erickson recruited some, and also half-true because to deduct Riley would have taken them to that same game with those same players is a fallacy).
8. This problem is generational. Just like an abused child is more prone to abuse their children, a traumatized Beaver fan is more inclined to pass down this trauma to the next generation. Many younger Beaver fans get very defensive when the Beavers are criticized for this mediocrity, and they then bring up stories about how they were there with their dad when the streak ended, or how Riley has a +.500 record, or any of the other “hamster wheel” rationalizations we see over and over here or on Twitter. It becomes a culture that is reflected and amplified in the Beaver and National media. Listen to Parker et al closely and how dismissive and hostile they are of anything that challenges this comfortable narrative.
9. Duck fans become sharks to chum and feed off this inferiority. It’s sad, in a way, much like a guy predating on a sexually abused girl is pathetic. Much of this fanbase is traumatized and broken. We are easy prey.
That’s it. Those are my thoughts after reading Twitter and AB for the past 9 years. Again, I’m not a psychologist, and this is all observation, deduction, instincts, etc. I don’t want to get into a big argument about it. I’m tired of watching it, so I’m posting this so people can maybe look in the mirror and either accept or reject they do these things. If we get a few more to admit reality and truth, then that’s great. Most will go back to the comfort of hamster wheeling and feeling safe, because that is what humans do. My challenge: challenge yourself.
