When thinking of this year's football team, there's one thing we are all thinking: How much worse can it get?
A $13.7 million renovation of Scheumann Stadium, a 19-8 record the last two seasons, two consecutive bowl appearances and being nationally ranked last season were supposed to bring a new era to Ball State football, one that included not losing to FCS teams.
This new era is starting to look a lot like the old one.
That old era included students being so excited to see the end to a 21-game losing streak that they tore down both goal posts and threw them into the Duck Pond in 2001.
Maybe we have been spoiled the last two seasons. When ESPN2 came to Muncie to cover the game against Toledo in 2007, the campus was abuzz about it. By the end of last season, it had become common place for ESPN to cover a Ball State game. Going to the Central Michigan game last year in Mount Pleasant - where they weren't used to ESPN being at every game - made me realize how lucky we were to have such a good team and how much fun it was.
That being said, we, Ball State students, have become both spoiled and forgetful.
The underclassmen have never seen a losing season and the upperclassmen seem to forget that from 2004-2006, Ball State won two, four and five games, respectively.
Just because the first two games have been, for lack of a better word, embarrassments, doesn't mean that it's time to jump overboard just yet. Few remember that during his freshman year, Nate Davis was pulled out of a game after throwing three interceptions. Forget all about Stan Parrish not winning a game as a head coach since before the majority of students at Ball State were born and the fact that the defense hasn't shown much progress from last season. For those who were here last year, be thankful for what you were able to witness. For those who weren't, just wait. Once Kelly Page, his receivers, his line and his running back of the future, Eric Williams, have had a year or two to work together, there is a good chance some of last year's successes could be repeated.
Maybe that's how new eras start; have a very good team every three years, then every two, then every year.
Maybe it's not time to jump overboard, maybe we just need to understand it's going to take a little time to steady the ship.
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