Seriously, Stop Being a Prisoner of the Moment

Nov 14, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs fans ring cowbells prior to the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

When the going got tough for Mississippi State this past week, many Mississippi State fans let their inner Prisoner of the Moment take over.

Why do so many fans do this? Why do some Mississippi State fans fly off the rails when things are going bad? Our other editor Josh calls this being a prisoner of the moment. Granted, this also applies to people who go too far when things are going well, but we experience it far more when things get a little rough.

And Prisoner of the Moment syndrome was in overdrive after Mississippi State lost to Alabama 31-6 last weekend. I tried to convince people who were saying the team was toast after the loss to the Crimson Tide were being too much of a fair weather fan. And the reaction by a lot of people to the post was aimed at was “Just telling it like it is” or “Not a fair weather fan, just a realist”. And to all those realists, they seemed to think Arkansas and Ole Miss were just as good as Alabama.

And then people let Prisoner of the Moment syndrome completely overwhelm them again last night against Arkansas. The Bulldogs were up 31-14 and a late second half touchdown by the Razorbacks cut the lead to 31-21. Then Mississippi State committed three turnovers on their first three possessions of the second half and Arkansas capitalized with a touchdown on every single one of them and was up by 11. I sent this tweet out right after that.

If you clicked on the tweet, what you wouldn’t see is a fan who replied to me saying it was because the offensive and defensive playcalling was so inconsistent that Mississippi State was done. I went back to look for it, and he deleted it. I didn’t think to get a screenshot, but I should have.

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And whoever it was, he wasn’t alone. People were freaking out all over Twitter and Facebook. I could track lots of those posts down, but a bunch of people started deleting them because it was silly at the time, and it would have proved my point about people losing their mind and saying stupid things. But if you think they weren’t being said, what would have caused a former Mississippi State player to tweet this right after the game.

I’m sure he tweeted it because fans were blowing up his account with stupid stuff, or he was seeing it himself while the game was going on. This team is good. Is it as good as last year’s team? Probably not, but it certainly isn’t too far off. If Mississippi State wins the Egg Bowl, they’ll have nine wins on the season, just one less than last year. And if they won both the Egg Bowl and the bowl game, it’s the exact same record as 2014, and the Bulldogs would likely finish 2014 pretty close to where they did in the final AP poll as last year.

Next: Crazy game with an appropriate score: 5150

So let me give this advice for the week leading up to the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss is a good team with a quarterback who can sling it around the football field. He also has a sure fire first round pick wide receiver he can throw the ball to. Ole Miss is likely to score some points this weekend. It’s very possible the Bulldogs will find themselves in a tough spot. And if that happens, put a lid on your prisoner of the moment.