This season has been worse than many, if not all, from the last 50 years, but you only get 50+ year traditions if you persevere with things through hard times as well as good. I would very much agree with you that each generation should improve upon what has gone before, as evolution is all about, but I wouldn't say that applies to this situation.MellowYellow wrote: ↑23 Apr 2018, 14:55 Another good post Gulliball! I like the way you bring some level headedness to the table. I have the greatest respect for traditions of our club. Maintaining longstanding traditions are normally meaningful and joyful and seal the passages of time providing us a sense of place.
Nonetheless, when a tradition becomes an obligation it’s time to rethink its purpose. Our supporter should all want to participate in following a tradition and not feel bound by it or inconvenienced. When supporters find themselves feeling compromised because we must follow a tradition that is no longer meaningful or makes us feel uncomfortable, maybe we need to ask ourselves “Why are we doing this?”
You rightly give descriptive words for our previous seasons i.e. good, average, bad, horrific ... But for me none of these apply to this seasons debacle and if only to protect children from unsuitable material, I will refrain from giving my descriptive account of this season, needless to say its not pretty.
'Tradition is the illusion of permanence' and there is nothing I want to focus on this season (players included) that I wish to remain permanent, other than change which is the only thing permanent in life and if this means breaking with tradition so be it.
Lower league fans like to deride fans of Premier League sides, and much of this is based on the notion of supporting your local side, loyalty through bad times, you wouldn't know what it's like to support a side that... etc etc. That is what we're going through as a fan base just now - it's been going on for 5+ years now, is very painful at the moment and there's no end in sight... but if you give it out you have to take it. This is the moment when the club needs its fans, and if that backing isn't there then with the dangers we face there might not be a club in 5 years' time to make it a 55 year tradition.
As its basest level, I would equate it something like to being a parent (without being one myself...) There are probably moments when children do bad things, but as a parent you don't ever stop loving them. Very few fans will ever change who they support (and if they did would be heavily criticised...) so what we are left with is in effect unconditional love. Torquay are our team and we're stuck with it. We all want just good times, but there will inevitably be some struggles as well.
Possibly in some parts this comes down to the fact that I run the fan-voted MOTM threads after each game, and have done so since August 2010. In the last few years it can be very hard to post these after every game, regardless of whether we've lost 5-1 at home to Braintree, lost to a side with no goalkeeper, just been relegated to part-time football... and you know it's just going to invoke anger, sarcasm etc in reply. It would be easier to avoid that, say there will be no man of the match this week, but is that actually a better situation in the long run? Looking back now, I would say that giving MOTM to John Campbell in the 5-1 defeat is better than saying 'we're Torquay United, we should not be losing 5-1 to Braintree, so no-one deserves to be awarded Man of the Match'. That's why I post a MOTM after every game, regardless of the result, and will continue to do so. Who should draw that line of what is or is not a good result or a good season? What if we had lost 5-4 to Braintree, John Campbell had scored 4 and given the performance of his life, should he not be Man of the Match because Torquay are full time, once played in front of five figure crowds and should not lose to the likes of Braintree?
The bulk of our history has been as the underdog against 'bigger' sides, and now the shoe is on the other foot. But both are part of our history, which is what things like the Player of the Year award recognises, and why is it important to hold this in 1996 and 2007 just as much as 2004 or 2009. Luke Young is hardly going to get major plaudits for winning this, but this season is just a valid a part of our history as any other. Much less successful, and that is why it will not be remembered fondly, but you can't just ignore it. If he's been the best player this season, he deserves to get the Player of the Year award, regardless of how the club has performed. If nothing else, it's basic record keeping and documenting of our 119 year history as a football club. If you want a more emotional reason then some of the very best moments in our history have been during adversity - Bryn the police dog wouldn't have mattered one jot if it was to decide who came 8th and 9th - we had to be a bad side, in a relegation battle, for that to be so memorable. You can still have good moments, enjoyable experiences and relative successes when the side is underperforming.
Slightly longer than I had intended as a reply, but just my two cents... I'll be at the game tomorrow and will be voting for Luke Young.
