Defining the loss, redefining themselves

Columnist calls FSU football team to action

If you even glanced at the front page of the sports section, you know that FSU lost to the University of Findlay this weekend.

With the ending of the Bulldogs’ three-game winning streak, Saturday’s loss has the potential to be a negative turning point for the season. Who will we see take the field next Saturday in the homecoming game against Northern Michigan University? Will it be the Bulldogs of old for whom winning was not an option? Or the new and improved version I have come to know and love this season?

If I may be so bold, I’d like to challenge the team to indeed use the game as a turning point. Use it as a positive turning point. Define the loss. Do not allow it to define you.

It is no secret that in the past many FSU students have regarded the football team as “losers.” As much as it pains me to say it, given the Bulldogs’ track record this accusation is not entirely unwarranted. However, the team has an opportunity this season to change their reputation.

For the first time in a long time, FSU is not faced with an unsolvable puzzle. All the pieces are there just waiting to be put together.

Senior quarterback Tom Schneider has great leadership and decision making to go with those killer passes. Could there be a better name to run free in the secondary than the alliterative and illusive junior running back Skyler Stoker? Freshman Victor Bodrie kicks footballs, and junior linebacker Tayo Moss just kicks ass. And who could forget senior receiver Mike Ryan? His display of deadliest catches puts the Discovery Channel to shame.

It’s the beginning of October, there are five games left in the regular season, and this loss itself means nothing. What does mean something is what this team chooses to make of it.

Will the Bulldogs succumb to defeat, or will they rise above it to victory? One thing is for certain: if FSU wants to win half as bad as I want them to, their choice is obvious.