Monday, Sept. 8—Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014: I ponder what I did to please the football gods, as everything was going splendidly

What a misleadingly euphoric start to the week: USC football was finally back in the national top 10, thanks to an improbable road victory in which the Trojans displayed grit and resilience despite not playing great football for most the game. In fact, USC was bailed out multiple times by horrendously ill-timed penalties on Stanford, and seemed to have some luck on their side. 

Couple the huge victory over Stanford with the fact that the NFL kicked off the new season, and there was plenty of reason for excitement. My Minnesota Vikings turned in a dominating performance en route to a 34-6 victory over the St. Louis Rams. I even killed it in fantasy football, giving me an early advantage in the annual football season ritual of trash talking.

It seemed as though the pieces might fall into place this season. And then...

Wednesday, Sept. 10—Friday, Sept. 12, 2014: During which Adrian Peterson, an athletic hero and role model of mine, breaks my heart

Growing up in Minnesota and loving sports hasn’t been easy. The only times the city has been graced with a championship of any kind during my time on earth have been in 2011 and 2013, both thanks to our WNBA team, the Minnesota Lynx. Don’t get me wrong, Maya Moore is definitely “bae,” but in terms of major sports, there is still a lot left to be desired.

The Timberwolves haven’t made the playoffs since I was in the 3rd grade; the Twins made the playoffs six times since 2000 but only advanced out of the first round once, and in the last three series they were swept each time; and the Wild have never made the Stanley Cup despite Minnesota being known as “the state of hockey.

The Vikings have probably been the most promising team the state has to offer, but besides making it to and losing the NFC Championship game in 2009, they haven’t done anything of note.

You can see, hence, why I am so emotionally invested in sports. The bar has been set so low that anything—and I mean anything—positive on the sports front has the ability to genuinely excite me.

Instead of winning championships, I lust simply for postseason births and winning regular season records. Instead of “big threes,” I fervently yearn for just one superstar player to grace the presence of our state. And even in the rare circumstance in which this happens, it is usually short-lived (see: Love, Kevin; Garnett, Kevin).

So, when the news came out this week that beloved Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, someone who had served as an icon to millions, was indicted on suspicion of child abuse, I was taken aback. I refused to believe that AP, or “All-Day,” was capable of doing something anything criminal, let alone physically abusing his child.

Minutes seemed like days as I waited for more information to come out. Finally, it did, and it broke my heart: Peterson admitted to “whooping” his four-year child with a switch (a tree branch or stick designed to inflict pain when striking someone) to the point in which the child’s doctor felt the need to report the injuries to the authorities. Pictures were released, as were copies of the text messages he sent to the child’s mother following the incident. The child’s legs had cuts and scratches, and his scrotum was accidently hit as well.

In an attempt to explain his actions, Peterson stated: “I have to live with the fact that when I disciplined my son the way I was disciplined as a child, I caused an injury that I never intended or thought would happen. I know that many people disagree with the way I disciplined my child.” You can read his entire statement here.

It’s always sad when you have a “things will never be the same” moment. In this case, a man that millions of people looked up to has fallen from his pedestal, now swimming in a pool of scorn and criticism. However, I do not look upon Peterson as a monster like many now do. I think that, taken at face value, the fact that he believes in disciplining his children and teaching them right from wrong is something to be noted. After all, with his wealth and status, it would be easy to spoil his children and let them run wild.

However, even with AP’s explanation, his actions cannot be dismissed. The fact remains that he crossed the line. As a father, and a man, he needs help, whether that be time in jail to consider his actions or time on probation away from the NFL, complete with some parenting lessons. Once he does his time, Adrian Peterson will deserve a second chance.

The Adrian Peterson I once knew—the hero, the role model—is forever gone, and that makes me incredibly sad. 

Saturday, Sept. 13th, 2014: The USC football team takes an emotional sledgehammer and smashes the remnants of my broken heart into oblivion 

The situation with Peterson at least gave me the idea that things couldn’t get any worse football-wise. Unfortunately, this was a complete misconception, as our very own Trojan football team was about to make matters far worse.

I had been exchanging text messages with a couple friends about the Boston College matchup. Each of us exchanged some playfully competitive jabs at one another, standard procedure for games in which USC plays against schools in which friends attend. Even though we both expressed confidence in our own teams, the possibility of any outcome besides USC throttling the Eagles never crossed my mind.

After the first quarter, USC led 10-0. While it wasn’t the flashiest start, the bottom line was that we were on pace to pitch a 40-0 shutout. Little did anyone foresee that USC would go on to lose the game and give up an unfathomable 452 rushing yards. At the end of the game, the BC fans rushed the field—not unlike how us Trojan fans did after beating Stanford last season—as USC’s players quickly left the field, no doubt as dazed and confused as those of us watching from home.

Just like that, in the course of one game, many of the “truths” we convinced ourselves over the first few weeks of the season were thrown out the window:

The stout defense: Honestly, there were plenty of warning signs the week before against Stanford; USC was just too narrow-sighted to identify them, or didn’t realize the fact that if Stanford hadn’t shot itself in the foot with so many key penalties, the Trojans could have given up 30+ points. While against BC, it didn’t help that Hayes Pullard was serving a suspension for the first half of the game, the team played tired, and looked like a fish out of water when it came to defending the read-option.

New head coach Steve Sarkisian will change the culture and ways of this program: Since 2006, a ranked USC team has lost 13 times to an unranked opponent. That’s over a season’s worth of games in less than 10 years. Sarkisian was supposed to buck this trend, but clearly, as the performance on Saturday indicated, the Trojan trend of overlooking “lesser” opponents is still alive and well.

The new coaching staff will do wonders for the offensive playcalling: This truly seemed to be the case following the game against Fresno State during which USC ran a school-record 105 plays, picking up 37 first downs and racking up 701 yards of offense. However, the impressive opening-week display was a stark contrast to the inconsistent offense that the team would display at Stanford, followed by the horrendously orchestrated effort at Boston College.

After mixing in runs and passes beautifully in the Fresno State game, coach Sarkisian and Co. suddenly seemed to decide that the way to win is to try and run the ball no matter what the cost. Save for a 50-yard scamper by Buck Allen, the team rushed 36 times for just 106 yards against Stanford. Against Boston College, the team rushed 29 times for 20 yards. You read that correctly. Meanwhile, Cody Kessler was carving up the Boston College defense, throwing four touchdown passes while hitting nearly 76% of his passes (31/41) for 317 yards.

Instead of reading the signs, Sark and Co. insisted on a continued effort at running the ball against a BC team that was completely prepared for the classic USC “Shotgun-formation hand-off” tomfoolery that doesn’t fool anyone who has access to previous game footage. All game long, the failed attempts to run left USC with 3rd and long situations. As a result, the team only converted five of their 16 third down opportunities, resulting in an embarrassing 10 punts from Kris Albarado. It is no wonder the defense gave up so many points; they rarely had any extended periods of rest!

Finally, this is the year that USC Football will rise from the ashes and reestablish themselves at the top of the country: Of all the false truths Trojan fans convinced themselves of, this is by far the most emotionally devastating one. The truth is, there is little-to-no chance of USC making it to the NCAA championship following the BC gaffe. The Trojans would have to run the table, with blowouts in almost every game. I just don’t see it happening. No team is always perfect, but a championship-caliber team finds a way to win games in which they do not play well.

At USC, the expectation is to win championships, and until the Trojans compete for one once again, fans will not be able to say that the team is truly back. While there is still a slim chance of this team bouncing back so mightily that we compete for a postseason spot, it does not look good. The Trojan family will hold onto every ounce of hope that it can, because the truth is, there is only so much more disappointment and underachieving that this fan base, myself included, can take.

Believe it or not, my football woes continued on into Sunday, as my fantasy football teams performed horribly, and my Vikings, led by former Trojan Matt Cassel, got absolutely shelled at home against the Patriots. Don’t worry though: I will not dive into this further demise of my sports-related emotional state of mind. This article has been long enough, and I have explained thoroughly how the events of this week all converged together to deliver a real gut-punch to my love for the game of football. I even contemplated filing for a divorce, sighting “irreconcilable differences.”

However, as the bigger man in the relationship, I am going to stick it out. I will continue to watch and support my teams, but not without having been reminded of the important fact that football is not bigger than life. Even though I am still a “diehard fan,” it is going to take a while for the game to build up enough trust with me to where I will once again be willing to place my emotional health on the line each weekend. It is going to take a few weeks and a string of victories for me to return to my previous levels of emotional investment. At least, that is what I think should be the case.

In reality though, the minute USC steps back onto the Coliseum field in two weeks, I will likely be as emotionally charged as ever. Nothing would provide more therapy than seeing the complete destruction of Oregon State. However, I will say that, learning my lesson from this week, I will set the expectation bar extremely low, so I cannot possibly be disappointed.

Follow Staff Reporter Ben Albert on Twitter here.