Patience - It's not a virtue for nothing

The American Revolution was fought from 1775 till 1781 (approximately 6 years).

America declared independence on July 4, 1776.  In 1777, the founding fathers' decided that the country would run best using the Articles of Confederation.  That experiment lasted until 1789 (approximately 12 years). 

In 1812 those pesky Brits were back, and after 3 years they went back over the pond in 1815.

Fast forward to today, and it seems we've lost all patience.  Can you imagine America fighting the same enemy on and off for 40 years?  We want our news now, we want our sports scores now, and if we wait longer than 90 seconds for our food at McDonald's we start to get impatient.

So what does my rambling mean?

The American Revolution was fought from 1775 till 1781 (approximately 6 years).

America declared independence on July 4, 1776.  In 1777, the founding fathers' decided that the country would run best using the Articles of Confederation.  That experiment lasted until 1789 (approximately 12 years). 

In 1812 those pesky Brits were back, and after 3 years they went back over the pond in 1815.

Fast forward to today, and it seems we've lost all patience.  Can you imagine America fighting the same enemy on and off for 40 years?  We want our news now, we want our sports scores now, and if we wait longer than 90 seconds for our food at McDonald's we start to get impatient.

So what does my rambling mean?

The Jaguar Nation is a young one.  It's been spoiled by so much success early on.  Yeah, there are a lot of reasons why the average fan won't buy tickets: it's too hot; NFL tickets, even Jaguar tickets, are expensive; the Jaguars don't put up 40 points a game (ie it's boring to them); they haven't won a Super Bowl; they play in a division that's not exciting (by that I mean there's not 20+ years of history between the teams)...

The excuses can go all day and all night, but think of it this way, in my opinion.

The United States shocked the world by toppling Britain, and enjoyed great early success. However, it became abundantly clear the Articles of Confederation were not working (Shack Harris, big name free agents, poor drafting, no true leadership...)  12 years later the constitution is written and 12 of the 13 colonies/states ratify it (13 years if you count the slackers from Rhode Island).  Through that time America enjoyed a lot of highs and lows, but our forefathers hung in there.

The Jaguars have been in the league for 15 years.  They had some success early on, had some set backs, but they are still alive.  This year The Emperor and Jack have clearly defined the Jaguars constitution; a commitment to good scouting, player development, personal fortitude, and work ethic.  The team will not gamble in free agency, and are committed to the future, not right now.  I think that's a great start to the new Era of Jaguars' football.

Today loyalty is hard to come by.  I live in West Texas, and this is Dallas Cowboy Country.  However, starting about 5 years ago New England Patriot jersey's start popping up every where.  I finally stopped a guy one day and asked him, "Hey, why the Patriots and not the Cowboys or Texans?"  The guy looked at me and mumbled "I love the Patriots.  They won those Super Bowls, man.  They're great."  I asked him when he started thinking that way, and he told me "2004".  Bandwagon fans, gotta love them.  After further questioning the guy could name one player, Tom Brady.  Will MJD turn into our Tom Brady?  Only time will tell.

Right now the Jags need as many butts in the seats as they can get, but in the long term I want more BigCatCountry fans in the seats than 'hey, why don't we trade for <insert big name, overpaid wide receiver here>."  Our boy Wayne Weaver seems committed to the future of Jacksonville, and I hope that soon the excuses will start to fade.  I hope that the casual fans educate themselves and invest themselves in this team.  And I think it will happen.  All it takes is some time.