If you’re like me, when someone asks you what your favorite season is, you say “football.” Nothing is more exciting than the start of another Beaver season.

But nothing is scarier either.

Pessimism has been passed down through generations of Beaver fans like a pocket watch or a casserole recipe. Grandparents who endured thirty years of losing seasons handed down their “we’ll never be good again” attitude to parents, who in turn handed down their “we’re good, but we can’t win the important games” mantra to a new generation who is still coming to grips with the “big boy pants” era.

So why do we as fans keep coming back? Why do we subject ourselves to the heartbreak of missed extra points at LSU, or Jeremiah Masoli picking up a 4th down with the Rose Bowl almost within reach, or head-scratching losses to Sacramento State and Eastern Washington?

Because Beaver football is the shrewdest drug dealer you’ll ever meet. Just when you think you’ve kicked the habit, Dennis Erickson shows up. One of Beaver football’s favorite hooks is to throw us a victory over USC. Can we interest you in a walk-on wide receiver that will go on to win the Biletnikoff Trophy or a 5'6" true freshman running back from Texas galloping helmetless through the USC defense on national television?  Go 3-9 one year? How about a 7-0 start the next year? It’s frustratingly awesome.

Being a Beaver fan means living with contradictions. Your team is okay for a good team, or good for an okay team. You tell everyone how much you love Corvallis’ small town, grass roots, family atmosphere while also cursing the fact that other schools have big city glitz and wealth to attract recruits. It means hoping for 10-2 while mentally preparing for 2-10.

This season (like most) I see much more reason for optimism than pessimism. All the QBs have multiple years of experience under the same head coach and offensive coordinator. Our wide receivers tried out schools like Florida State, Nebraska, Georgia, and Penn State before deciding OSU is the place to be. The offensive line is well regarded nationally. We’ve consistently developed NFL prospect running backs for 25 years and counting. Our tight end is on the Mackey Award watch list. People are raving about our defensive backs, the linebackers have always been good, the D-Line is getting better all the time, and this year the defense is being led by a coordinator who gives off the energy that he enters every room through a brick wall like the Kool-Aid Man.

Let’s freaking go, Beaver Nation. OH YEAH!