Thurman#1 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) First, a warning. There's a lot of sports psychology stuff here on how to recover from disastrous outcomes and keep moving onward and up. If you don't like that sort of thing, I highly recommend reversing out of this thread. So do me a favor, would you? If you're not willing to read it, pass by, horseman, yeah? In the whole first page of comments it looks like two people, maybe three, show they read anything. Which makes for conversation deep as a puddle on a flat piece of glass. So, if you're willing to read it, then feel free to blast it and me. If not, could you please head to one of the other threads available for your viewing pleasure? Great article, IMO. Lots of Bills content. Want to know why Diggs meets with Taiwan Jones before every game? Read the article. Wanna learn why people hang with Von at the lunch table? Read the article. Wanna learn just a bit about the sports psychologist for the Bills and Sabers? I didn't even know we had one till I read the article. https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/10/14/psychology-of-how-bills-got-over-playoff-loss-to-chiefs Subtitle: "Last year’s heartbreaking playoff loss to the Chiefs might have stuck with us, but it didn’t stick with the Bills. The psychology of a team that moved on." This excerpt is maybe 25% of the article: ------------------ "In an effort to understand the mechanics of such motivation, Sports Illustrated reached out to a handful of mental health experts in the athletic space to talk about the most effective way to bury a loss on the magnitude of the “13 seconds” game. While there are different tools in any therapist’s belt, most agreed that a general acceptance of what happened, the open and honest discussion of feelings, an eventual focus on the positives gleaned from the process that brought them there and a constructive discussion on what could be learned from the moment was a formidable recipe. While we might all enjoy the idea of McDermott lying on a bed of spikes for 13 seconds or spending 13 seconds in a pit of live rattlesnakes to atone for various defensive and special-teams missteps at the end of the game, the prevailing idea is that the right processes could avoid the need for a grand gesture. "What if, even when the outside world defines them by 13 seconds, the Bills don’t have to? Or, as Diggs puts it: 'If I hang onto it, it’s something that weighs me down. And I don’t like things weighing me down.' "Dr. Mark Ayoagi, the co-director of sport and performance psychology and a professor in the graduate school of professional psychology at the University of Denver, spent time under three different coaching regimes with the Broncos. "While he is careful not to make any blanket statements about football players or athletes in general, there are some critical points to understand about the competitive brain. "The first is that, 'they have to have some baseline of mental health to have made it to this point [in professional sports],' he says. Years and years of high-pressure competition, winning and losing force them to moderate and not stake so much mental equity on one performance. “They know that if you’re on the losing side it sucks and the winning side it’s great, but that both of them are gone by Monday,” he says. 'They don’t carry this around like a fan might. Or through an entire offseason like a fan might. It’s not that they don’t care; it’s that they have more experiences dealing with it.' "The second point: Ayoagi finds athletes to be in a better general headspace than the average population when sports performances are going well, but a lower general headspace when they are not. The issue, he says, is that many athletes feel they are unable to find a sympathetic ear due to the public knowledge of their high salaries and the perception that they can’t vent their frustrations because they play a game for a living. “'It’s like the question: Is sports more protective or exacerbating of substance use?' Ayoagi says. 'The answer is both. Athletes use less frequently, but when they use, they use more. It’s an analogy that holds true for mental health. There’s a lot of protective factors, but they also have a white-hot spotlight on them. And when they are not in a good space, all of a sudden their social support is gone. They can’t talk to anyone about this. [They think], who wants to hear from the guy with the $4 million contract?' "The plus side to these heightened negative feelings is that even a brief intervention can yield positive results in helping an athlete reframe or reshape a difficult moment. Ayoagi, for example, utilizes the baseline theory behind acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which encourages patients to accept the fact that our brain throws weird, anxious, scary, grotesque or depressing thoughts, images and stories at us all the time, and learning to accept this default feature and pivot toward something personally meaningful is an effective way of combating stressors." --------------- This is maybe 25% of the article. Lots of more specific stuff on what Taiwan Jones, Von Miller, Diggs and McDermott do to work on the mindset of this team. Plus, did you know they have a sports psychologist named Dr. Desaree Festa, working for both the Bills and Sabres? I didn't. Really good stuff, IMO. Edited October 15, 2022 by Thurman#1 5 1 2 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Darragh Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Psycho-babble 1 2 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said: Psycho-babble It really isn't. But not liking this kind of thing? Fair enough. I knew there'd be reactions like this, it's why I included the warning. Edited October 15, 2022 by Thurman#1 7 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 I think it's an issue when a fan's reaction to a loss is worse than the players'. Or when fans hold onto it longer. Players are the ones actually involved with a real stake in the game; their career. We, as fans, should be able to let go relatively quickly. A win or a loss is not a reflection of our personal lives. 2 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loedward22 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 24 minutes ago, LeGOATski said: I think it's an issue when a fan's reaction to a loss is worse than the players'. Or when fans hold onto it longer. Players are the ones actually involved with a real stake in the game; their career. We, as fans, should be able to let go relatively quickly. A win or a loss is not a reflection of our personal lives. I don't think you're taking into account the emotional investment that some fans have. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 3 minutes ago, loedward22 said: I don't think you're taking into account the emotional investment that some fans have. I am taking it into account and saying that some fans take it too far. 2 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loedward22 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 1 minute ago, LeGOATski said: I am taking it into account and saying that some fans take it too far. Oh I see. Yea, I'd say that's true especially when you hear about fans killing over soccer matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBBills Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) Still about 13 seconds... they got over it b.c it's a new season. End of story... This guy needed your clicks so he put 13 seconds into the title. 13 seconds matter more to the media than the fans. The article should say "Why media can't get over 13 seconds as well as fans or players do." Edited October 15, 2022 by TBBills 1 1 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repulsif Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 It says players handle hartbreaking looses better than fans ? huh You should watch again Four Falls of Buffalo and the Scott Norwood part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your Brown Eye Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 20 minutes ago, Repulsif said: It says players handle hartbreaking looses better than fans ? huh You should watch again Four Falls of Buffalo and the Scott Norwood part That's because his name is synonymous with Wide-Right for Bills fans. You're lying if you say that when you hear the name Norwood in any capacity or context you do not think of Wide-RIght. Anyone who knows football would not hesitate to answer the question "Who missed the game-winning field goal in Super Bowl 25?" His "loss" was at the most inopportune time, if it happened at the AFC Championship game, he would never be the punching bag he is today. His name is beyond football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 We’ll see how the Bills react to it on Sunday 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsatlastin2018 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 How I won’t… until the Bills win the SB… inFebruary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_In_NH Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 It’s a thing til you beat them in the playoffs. Then it will have been gotten over. 1 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayjent Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 They don’t get over it as much as they use it productively. The article does go there but buries it under some other premise of moving on. I suppose it’s all semantics, really, saying that they don’t hold on to the pain and use it to focus, but I do think the pain is there it’s just the type of pain that makes eventual success that much sweeter as a competitor. You can’t forget a wound like that, but you can stop the feeling of suffering and turn it into improvement and dedication. That’s what highly competitive people do - they use it to drive them and motivate them. If they just got over it, then it wouldn’t be a thing. The Bills wanted to show the Rams that they would’ve kicked their asses had it been them in the Super Bowl and thrash the Titans that had their number the past few years. They didn’t forget, they used it as motivation for this season. I fully expect them to be jacked up for KC and look sharp on both sides of the ball. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 2 hours ago, LeGOATski said: I think it's an issue when a fan's reaction to a loss is worse than the players'. Or when fans hold onto it longer. Players are the ones actually involved with a real stake in the game; their career. We, as fans, should be able to let go relatively quickly. A win or a loss is not a reflection of our personal lives. Absolutely. In my early 20’s I was one of those fans who would let a bad result ruin the next couple days and I’d experience genuine rage at particularly bad results. And this was during the drought years when there was a lot of that. I needed to have the realizations that a) none of this was in my control and b) relying on something out of my control to generate positive feelings like pride and fulfillment is a waste of my time. 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) win 52-7. make Chefs fans leave early, have Josh resting by mid3rd quarter. That will shut up Chef fans and reiterate that the rest of the NFL is on notice that there is a new sheriff running *****,The Mighty Bills are running *****, and even KC falls in line behind Edited October 15, 2022 by Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 7 minutes ago, Pete said: win 52-7. make Chefs fans leave early, have Josh resting by mid3rd quarter. That will shut up Chef fans and reiterate that the rest of the NFL is on notice that there is a new sheriff running *****,The Mighty Bills are running *****, and even KC falls in line behind People would still say that we beat them last year in the regular season too. The Bills just need to play their game every week and not care about that type of posturing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Good read and it explains a lot about the current Bills. 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 8 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said: People would still say that we beat them last year in the regular season too. The Bills just need to play their game every week and not care about that type of posturing. You don't think 52-7 Bills ass kicking at Arrowhead with the whole country watching would convince those in denial, that Buffalo is a superior team with swag? Yes, we must handle business, win east, win AFC, win Superbowl- focused one game at a time. But a Bills asskicking at Arrowhead goes a long way to erasing 13 seconds. We will erase it completely in Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorin' Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Kaizen mother *****! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.