Stockholm Syndrome
by Achilles on Oct 23, 2006 9:45 AM PDT
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Folks please welcome Achilles - one of our newest frontpage on BN. - Nestor
Hey everyone, Achilles here, friend of Nestor's since the Mt. Olympus days ...
In the course of rehashing the Notre Dame game this morning, a colleague asked me why I thought so many fans were so passionate about defending Karl Dorrell's coaching performance.
I replied without thinking:
"They have Stockholm Syndrome."
Use Google to research Stockholm and Wikipedia's entry ranks first. While not an acceptable source for a philosophy paper in Westwood, it's sufficient (and sufficiently similar to many other web definitions) for our use here. Wikipedia says:
The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage exhibits loyalty to the hostage-taker, in spite of the danger (or at least risk) in which the hostage has been placed. Stockholm syndrome is also sometimes discussed in reference to other situations with similar tensions, such as battered person syndrome, child abuse cases, and bride kidnapping. This recognized psychological condition takes its name from a 1973 bank robbery in Stockholm Sweden, where the robbers held bank employees hostage for nearly a week. The victims became sympathetic and emotionally attached to their captors and later defended their captors after they were freed. The term was coined by Swedish psychiatrist Nils Bejerot.Further research reveals that there are four conditions which must be met in order for Stockholm syndrome to be diagnosed:
2. The captive's perception of small kindnesses from the captor within a context of terror
3. Isolation from perspectives other than those of the captor
4. Perceived inability to escape. As they pertain to Dorrell supporters, let's start at the end and work back.
Number four is a "perceived inability to escape."
This is obvious.
Read any of the popular UCLA fan boards. On any given day, in any given thread you will find those who make the claim that "there is no point in complaining about Karl Dorrell. He isn't going anywhere."
(Of course, this is only a perception, it isn't necessarily a reality.)
Condition three reads: "Isolation from perspectives other than those of the captor."
At this point, we have to wonder if the conditions may be self-imposed.
Clearly, Dorrell supporters live in a world where they are exposed to perspectives other than that of their captor. But, do they choose to hear them?
My feeling is this. The message boards are not representative of the rest of the world. The outside world no longer respects the football program. The outside world does not consider UCLA football an elite program; rather it's an afterthought in the national college football conversation.
It's only in the isolated and insular world of the message board are they free from perspectives other than those of their "captors." Obviously, the message boards allow - to some degree - the presentation of other points of view. But it's only here that the status quo viewpoint that supports the coaching regime is dominant.
Condition two is also present, It relates to the captive's perception of small kindnesses from the captor within a context of terror.
Laugh out loud, does this circumstance even require elaboration? In an environment where a couple of passes out of the shotgun in a spring practice are taken as proof positive that Dorrell is "opening up the offense," where looking good against Utah is cause for concern that the quarterback might "go pro after this season," and where falling being three scores to Oregon but outscoring them in the second half is seen as progress, it goes without saying that the happy-and-content crowd will latch on to any small crumb to nurture their support.
The first condition is more problematic, if one's goal is to prove that Stockholm syndrome exists within Bruin fandom. I'm going to argue that it is in effect, but that the perceived threat is metaphoric and not actual.
A similar phenomenon existed during the latter days of the Lavin-era. Those who supported him longest (most supported him for a short period, at least) were in part unable to admit their error because their very personas were linked to his success. The admission that Lavin was not a good coach was a threat to their psychic survival. Simply put, acknowledging it was time for a coaching change required admitting one was wrong.
And in the alpha dog atmosphere of fan message boards, admitting error risks credibility survival.
Use a search engine to research Stockholm syndrome and you'll find any number of entries relating to battered women, crime victims and other survivors of abuse.
None of the links, however, lead to UCLA fan message board - it seems suffering through season after season of poorly coached football has yet to make it into the literature.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Great stuff
Hey in the world of Bruin football, it is all about young, upcoming, "learning on the job" head coach, who just needs to go back to the drawing board and learn from his mistakes and try install a strong, "clean" program winning (drum roll) 8 games in a hall mark season. 9/10 win seasons are for thug programs like OU and USC (never mind Cal and Michigan ... their top-25 academic rankings are just a fluke, they don't have academic programs as rigorous as UCLA's!). Uhh hum ...read them awkwardly quote Dorrell, his staff, and his minions, trying to speak the same old language of Bruin football - "hey, we are doing things the right way."
Surf the Bruin message boards, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what the hell is going in the world of a football program, which has the tradition of winning Rose Bowls, big bowl games, producing boat load of NFL talents, and owning the cross town rival for 8 straight years. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, "What is wrong with Bruin football?" Why can a football program in the same town win two national championships in a row, while the other with access to same recruiting base cannot beat a team from Fresno or Wyoming?
The answer is quite simple. We are getting beaten because our program is getting abused by bunch of old bureaucratic cronies in Morgan and Murphy Halls ("M&M") and a gaggle of their minions who are perfectly happy with Bruin football toiling in the depth of mediocrity as long as they keep their precious little jobs in the $40 million empire of the cherished athletic program of our alma mater or maintain that much desired "access".
These so-called Bruin fans are abusing the tradition of Bruin football, and in the process of doing so they are abusing Bruin fans - that's us.
We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of mediocrity, and we need to start calling out the dark and cynical side of M & M for what they are: abusive.
As victims we can't stop asking ourselves what we are doing wrong?
We are not being unreasonable. We are not being unreasonable when we expect a 7/8 win season in a year with a junior QB, a stable of talented receivers, and running backs, defensive backs, and linebackers, and one of the weakest schedules in recent Bruin football history.
We can't seem to grasp that they will keep low-balling us and keep making endless excuses year after year, as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating as a Bruin football fan? Lavin and his minions did this for seven straight years, and we cannot just let us go through dark nightmare all over again.
Listen to Karl Dorrell and his minions say that the actions of bad apples left over from Toledo's programs (just bunch of top notch recruiting classes) excused the debacles like Fresno State and Wyoming. Listen, as he refuses to take responsibility, or express regret, or even once, admit a mistake. Watch him come out like a mummy in press conferences and pretty much imply that he will only work with those players who agree with him as he keeps working on that much ballyhooed underbelly (Toby, JR & Kris were the underbellies in Lav's programs). See him surround himself with only those who pledge oaths of allegiance. Hear his fans tell us that if we will only believe in his philosophy (whatever the *&^% that is), all will go well for Bruin football (hey ... how many of you critics have ever coached a game?!!!)).
And watch the journalists in MSM (and anyone with a pass to those boring weekly press conferences) walk on eggshells, try to please the individuals from athletic department, distance themselves from a band of Bruin fans who can actually see through the charades of Dorrell being shoved down their throats (as they did with Lavin's critics).
And, watch fans (with a pulse) keep squirming on the boards. Watch them descend into a world of crazy-making, where logic does not work and the other side tells them they are nuts when they rely on facts. A world where, worst of all, they begin to believe they are crazy.
How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple.
First, if you are a Bruin football fan, then you need to admit you are the victim. Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable. Next, you must promise to work on coming together as a Bruin football fan who wants to live in a sports world of reality. You don't do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the spin, figuring its over faster and hurts less if you don't resist and fight back..
Instead, you walk away from those blindo losers and organize and fight back to take back your program. You find other folks like yourself, thousands of them, who are hurting, and giving up season tickets to Bruin football. You tell them what you've learned, and that you aren't going to take it anymore. You stand tall, with Bruins alums, students, season ticket holders, fans at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser of Bruin football and you tell them to go to hell.
We have a mandate to live in a Bruin Nation based on reality. The reality based beliefs and expectation of Bruin excellence we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are meeting, on the net, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are working on breaking free. We got a taste of this during the reign of the last basketball coach in Westwood, and now it looks like our job is not done.
There is nothing wrong with you long suffering Bruin football fans. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You are part of ONE BRUIN NATION. You must change only one thing: STOP ACCEPTING THE BULLSHIT SPIN coming from the halls and cronies of M & M. Don't let that spin dictate the terms or frame the debate. We absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, disorganized, crazy, naive, irrelevant, trollish, and cranky. We have the mandate of reason and statistics and numbers, and the legacy of a special football tradition.
by Nestor on Oct 23, 2006 10:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Excellent Pieces!!!
by tommybruin on Oct 23, 2006 11:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Great post
I find it pretty amazing there are people on message boards still defending Karl Dorrell.
the defeatist attitude among some of this so called UCLA fans is worse than the loser mentality of this staff going for "moral victories."
Thanks again for this post.
by bluestreet on Oct 23, 2006 11:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Love the comparison
by Tydides on Oct 23, 2006 12:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Nicely done
I mused about something like this, though in a far less developed and intelligent way, in a post some time ago relating to what I called the Donahue Syndrome.
Obviously, I couldn't get past posting a photo of Patty Hearst with a gun, and was obviously unable to match your thoughtful analysis.
Again, nice job.
by Menelaus on Oct 23, 2006 12:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Still steamed...
... I couldn't believe that after the game how many Bruin faithful (and as a NYC resident, it was nice to see so many of my fellow Bruin fans in one spot) with the "happy to be here" mentality. I felt like I had been punched in the gut, and everyone I talked to (and I talked to more than a few) talked about how it was a "great game", "we're a young team". Sure, some were shocked, but I was the only one complaining about KD, and the Bruin fans acted as if I accused him of a crime.
I've had a couple of days to stew on this, and while I'm glad I got to go to South Bend, watching our coaches play not to lose, whether it's Svoboda or KD, just annoys me.
Frankly, I'm not that mad at DeWayne Walker. He out schemed the "Robot Genius" Charlie Weis, and should have never had to worry about putting the D out there one more time.
It's not that we lost, it's how we lost. I wouldn't complain if we didn't get that first down because we missed a completion downfield or were short, but that was just BS.
I'm still steaming.
by uclaike on Oct 23, 2006 2:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Wow...
GO BRUINS
by crazybunz on Oct 23, 2006 8:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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