“They’ll be lucky to beat Ohio.”

That is the comment I most often heard when talking about Iowa State football with Cyclone “fans” last week.

Most of these people claimed they were Cyclone football fans, but that comment had me asking myself, “What constitutes a fan?”

Now granted, the ISU football team is not going to win every single game this year, but as a Cyclone fan, shouldn’t I believe that they will?

Optimism should be in a fan’s vocabulary, but so should the word reality. So meeting somewhere in the middle of optimism and reality is what every fan should be striving for this season.

Let’s face it. The Big Eight is not a weenie conference when it comes to any sport, especially football. Head Football Coach Dan McCarney is not a magician. He cannot take a team that didn’t win a single game last season and make them undefeated this year.

As a fan I realize that. But I am also optimistic that the Cyclones will steadily improve throughout this season and cont-inue to improve every season after that.

As a true fan, I owe that to my team. I owe it to them to be with them through the Nebraska wins and the UNI losses — celebrating when we win and keeping the tears back when we lose.

So it bothered me when I was talking to a fellow Cyclone “fan” last week who said the team would be lucky to beat the only other winless team in college football last year.

This “fan” said I had to look at the reality of the situation. The football team is lacking at almost every position because of injuries, inexperience and just good, old-fashioned talent deficiency.

I told this fellow “fan” that he should be realistic, but not pessimistic.

If Cyclone quarterback Marv Seiler, who entered his last game as a Cyclone making his first start on Nov. 14, 1992 against seventh-rated Nebraska with only 31 yards rushing in his career, had listened to reality, he wouldn’t have rushed for 144 yards and led the Cyclones to a 19-10 victory.

So I decided to put my money where my mouth is. This “fan” didn’t think the ‘Clones would win a single game and I, in my true fan optimism, believe the team will win at least three games, if not more. I can already taste that winning beer.

Optimism can take a team a lot farther than a stadium full of pessimistic fans.

What football player would want to play in front of a bunch of fans that expect him to lose?

Turn that around and what football player wouldn’t want to play in front of a bunch of fans that expect him to win!

Maybe I’m just being too sentimental. I’m like a dog to a bone. Once I pick my team, I am a fan

for life. I am married to that team, for better for worse, through sickness and in health, ’til death do us part.

And after this football season, I’ll be one true fan sipping on my well- deserved beer thinking of the bowl games to come.

Jason Howland is a senior in journalism from Riceville. He is the sports editor of the Daily.