I didn't think the officiating was lopsided, the coaching was terrible, or the players didn't play hard. I think we just lost. If I was just flipping channels and didn't love the ZAGS I would have thought it was a great game. Close throughout until the last two minutes.  You could tell that Santa Clara was having the most fun (the power of low expectations) Don't lose your heads Zags fans! We are.....thats right time to admit it....in a rebuilding year.  Ugh. I hate to say it but its time for everybody to relax and enjoy the close games.  You spoiled babies.  :) I know I hate it too. But seriously. We still don't have a clear point guard? Doesn't that scream rebuilding year? This is a talented but totally out of synch crew with very little experience.  I feel like the decade of excellence jinxed us.  Ten years has made us soft.  This is where we need to show some moxy as a fan base. Don't go crying and blaming and fussing.  We lost. Lose. Say the word. Practice accepting that sick feeling when you hope for something and then fail to get it.  It's how the entire WCC has felt for ten years!!! I know we never get to see it.  Too many years of blowout victories have made us squishy.  We are not Duke.  We are the Zags!!! We are not going away softly into the night.  We don't have to be ranked to be fans! Stiffin up your quivering lips and be a man/woman.  There is no crying in Basketball!!! Follow the jump to learn three ways to stop being a big baby when we lose. 

Three steps to not being big babies when we lose.

Step 1) Enjoy close games.  This only comes with practice, but if you can remember back when you were less tame you used to watch college basketball because you loved it. Remember watching those late east coast games rooting for whichever team was behind? Just hoping that you would see a last second win? That was the childlike love of the game that preceded your bloodthirsty hunger for constant winning.  

Step 2) Enjoy watching the young guys develop.  Part of what is amazing about college basketball is the rapid transformation of the players.  It is the same reason I hate hate hate the NBA. Boring.  Players don't develop they get traded. 

Step 3) Enjoy the gamble.  Part of what makes gambling addicting is that the odds are not always in your favor.  If the house always won nobody would play! Thats right. Every night is a gamble. That can either be fun, or depressing.  Or both.  Hope deferred is better than no hope at all.  Hope is a dangerous and powerful thing.  It is what makes the losing so painful and the winning so delicious.  Savor the whole range of emotions and you will find that you are a fan. A fan that can be pissed at the refs, the coaching, or the team, without crying about it.