(12-07-2013 11:16 AM)bcunn3128 Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 09:29 AM)letsgoblue Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 06:43 AM)eastisbest Wrote:  When I find myself getting po'ed about a college game and college kids (or any non-pro) I usually figure I've over invested my own ego. I might get po'ed thinking the kids playing deserve better play calling, preparation, fans or rationalize it someway onto those getting paid but I doubt in UT's case it is due to lack of effort by the coaches.

College sports is a pretty grueling practice schedule. Now a days that they actually have to go to class and get grades, these are potentially some of a universities' best representatives in the work place and best alums.

I'm anything but a Pollyanna and hope my post doesn't ruin a good rant-fest.

east: Thanks for putting things in perspective for us. It really is just a game. And the schedules the coaches and players live by during the season is something you and I aren't interested in keeping: Lifting at 6:00 am, class until 2 pm, practice until 5:30, eat and then "study table" for many until 8ish, and then do this all over again the next day.

We need to keep this in mind as we watch these kids play a game they love to play.

With coaching, understand, this is a 7 day a week job, 10 to 12 hours a day, and they are trying to raise a family. We also need to remember that we have all the answers AFTER the play or AFTER the game. We don't have the pressure to decide what play to call or what player should get the ball 40 sec. before the ball needs to be snapped.

Go Rockets

Ok. But--isn't that the same situation at BG, Northern and Ball State? So how do they accomplish "all of the above"? I grant you that it is tough, but better teams are doing it, aren't they?

I can say another team has a better coach, better coaching, better play calling, better talent or whatever and support that statement without being derogatory to my own team or without withdrawing support from my own team and without being disparaging and calling them "not tough" or quitters or whatever.

I DO get po'ed at times and THINK those things but hopefully come down to Earth.

I think that's why some of us cannot understand why others wouldn't support and root for the team if they get offered and accept a Bowl game. Some have said they wouldn't even watch! They lost. It happens. Maybe they got "out-coached," it happens.

To my knowledge no one connected with UT athletics has done anything I'd be ashamed of and in fact they seemed to have conducted themselves above and beyond. What's not to support?

(12-07-2013 09:52 AM)joeo58 Wrote:  All i know is BG has a qb and knows how to play defense. the future does not look bright for UT, BUT MAYBE CLAWSON WILL MOVE ON

Clawson(1-4) vs UT

2009 BG 38 UT 24
2010 @UT 33 BG 14
2011 UT 28 BG 21
2012 @UT 27 BG 15
2013 UT 28 BG 25

And you want Claws to move on -why?

(12-07-2013 11:58 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 09:52 AM)joeo58 Wrote:  All i know is BG has a qb and knows how to play defense. the future does not look bright for UT, BUT MAYBE CLAWSON WILL MOVE ON

Clawson(1-4) vs UT

2009 BG 38 UT 24
2010 @UT 33 BG 14
2011 UT 28 BG 21
2012 @UT 27 BG 15
2013 UT 28 BG 25

And you want Claws to move on -why?

so that beating him next time will mean beating a team from an AQ conf.

(12-07-2013 06:43 AM)eastisbest Wrote:  When I find myself getting po'ed about a college game and college kids (or any non-pro) I usually figure I've over invested my own ego. I might get po'ed thinking the kids playing deserve better play calling, preparation, fans or rationalize it someway onto those getting paid but I doubt in UT's case it is due to lack of effort by the coaches.

I'm anything but a Pollyanna and hope my post doesn't ruin a good rant-fest.

I have always been an all out, pedal-to-the-metal, in-for-a-dime, in-for-a-dollar sort of person regardless of the endeavor but sometimes I kind of envy "casual" fans such as yourself who can take a loss just as well as a win or can simply watch and enjoy a game between two teams that you don't normally follow without beginning to favor one team over the other.

However, I agree that you make a valid point about getting too personally caught up in the fray. From the time I was 7 or 8 I was an avid major league baseball fan and remained one up until the time of the 1994 strike----but those greedy bastards on both sides so totally infuriated me by cancelling the World Series that year that I too went on strike but unlike the players association and the owners, my motivation was not pure greed so unlike them I never felt the financial pressure to finally resolve the strike. To this day I have not watched so much as a single inning of MLB since that time and I can not even tell you who won the World Series last year...and I feel much better for having made that decision.

I agree with what a few people said here. For the most part, the fans that take the time to research everything going on with the team and posting on here are the real diehard fans. If we didn't get upset with mediocrity, then that would be something to worry about. For the first time since Beckman's first year, I feel like the program is regressing again. That really worries me as a fan and I fear for what next year is going to look like. But at the same time, as soon as I start to feel this way, I just remind myself that it is just entertainment and I crack a joke about it, laugh and enjoy life otherwise. No sense in getting stressed over something you have no control over.

(12-07-2013 03:10 PM)Campbell4President Wrote:  I agree with what a few people said here. For the most part, the fans that take the time to research everything going on with the team and posting on here are the real diehard fans. If we didn't get upset with mediocrity, then that would be something to worry about. For the first time since Beckman's first year, I feel like the program is regressing again. That really worries me as a fan and I fear for what next year is going to look like. But at the same time, as soon as I start to feel this way, I just remind myself that it is just entertainment and I crack a joke about it, laugh and enjoy life otherwise. No sense in getting stressed over something you have no control over.

Who knows?
Not sure we regressed as much as didn't have the best offensive players.
Owens at QB was not deserving of All-MAC and Reedy was not the lockdown possession receiver he was billed as and did not make a significant difference on special teams which was his forte. Also drops and penalties were a concern for Reedy.
Those guys were UT's "poster boys". Billed as the show stoppers. But as far as being among the MAC's very best they were average.
Fluellen on the other hand proved his elite talent but also reaffirmed his tendency for injury.

(12-07-2013 03:30 PM)owen Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 03:10 PM)Campbell4President Wrote:  I agree with what a few people said here. For the most part, the fans that take the time to research everything going on with the team and posting on here are the real diehard fans. If we didn't get upset with mediocrity, then that would be something to worry about. For the first time since Beckman's first year, I feel like the program is regressing again. That really worries me as a fan and I fear for what next year is going to look like. But at the same time, as soon as I start to feel this way, I just remind myself that it is just entertainment and I crack a joke about it, laugh and enjoy life otherwise. No sense in getting stressed over something you have no control over.

Everything you say is absolutely correct.
Who knows?
Not sure we regressed as much as didn't have the best offensive players.
Owens at QB was not deserving of All-MAC and Reedy was not the lockdown possession receiver he was billed as and did not make a significant difference on special teams which was his forte. Also drops and penalties were a concern for Reedy.
Those guys were UT's "poster boys". Billed as the show stoppers. But as far as being among the MAC's very best they were average.
Fluellen on the other hand proved his elite talent but also reaffirmed his tendency for injury.

This is a sports message board. These are created to talk sports with others who have interests in the same things. I like that, that's why I post. Obviously I'm not going to kill myself or someone over sports. But as an avid sports fan and diehard Rocket fan, it's good for the soul to rant and rage. By me complaining over sports, it's all in good fun and for good conversation. I feel as if some of you guys are taking it way too personal. It's just good ole' conversation.

There's not a better feeling in the world when your favorite team is one of the best. I have gotten to experience this firsthand following my high school football team over the past few years and it's so much fun. I just want to experience this as a Rocket fan and I really think we have the tools to do just that!!!

(12-07-2013 12:55 PM)T-Town Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 06:43 AM)eastisbest Wrote:  When I find myself getting po'ed about a college game and college kids (or any non-pro) I usually figure I've over invested my own ego. I might get po'ed thinking the kids playing deserve better play calling, preparation, fans or rationalize it someway onto those getting paid but I doubt in UT's case it is due to lack of effort by the coaches.

I'm anything but a Pollyanna and hope my post doesn't ruin a good rant-fest.

I have always been an all out, pedal-to-the-metal, in-for-a-dime, in-for-a-dollar sort of person regardless of the endeavor but sometimes I kind of envy "casual" fans such as yourself who can take a loss just as well as a win or can simply watch and enjoy a game between two teams that you don't normally follow without beginning to favor one team over the other.

You seemed to have read a lot into me based upon my post.

I don't know that I am any less a passionate fan of UT than you but then, I don't know how you define that. I simply wouldn't expect a passionate fan of a college to turn against them over a football game. Just the opposite really.

This is a message board, not a "fan board," so I would expect the usual: analysis, trolls.... I just did not expect the ones that identify themselves as "fans" to be insulting, taking what appear to me as cheap shots, turning a motto against student-athletes that represent the "fans" ...

If I were a player, I don't think I would be motivated to represent them.

(12-07-2013 07:59 PM)inductchuck16 Wrote:  This is a sports message board. These are created to talk sports with others who have interests in the same things. I like that, that's why I post. Obviously I'm not going to kill myself or someone over sports. But as an avid sports fan and diehard Rocket fan, it's good for the soul to rant and rage. By me complaining over sports, it's all in good fun and for good conversation. I feel as if some of you guys are taking it way too personal. It's just good ole' conversation.

There's not a better feeling in the world when your favorite team is one of the best. I have gotten to experience this firsthand following my high school football team over the past few years and it's so much fun. I just want to experience this as a Rocket fan and I really think we have the tools to do just that!!!

For some it may well be personal. There are many more reading than posting. Ranting and raging can take many forms. I really wonder the need of some to make theirs so public, particularly when it's directed at kids? Objective analysis and constructive opinions can be difficult enough to digest in any setting but several of the comments seem clearly designed to hurt. I really do not think any player is responsible for the motto drummed up by a sports marketing department, let alone deserves to have it used against them.

(12-07-2013 12:24 AM)T-Town Wrote:  

(12-06-2013 11:56 PM)Rocket Man Wrote:  One positive about the loss to Akron. We should have coach back next year

Sounds like a "good news/bad news" scenario:

The good news is the Akron loss guarantee's our coaching staff will be back next year. This bad news is next year we will have a coaching staff that could not defeat a 4-7 Akron team with a possible bowl invitation on the line.

I don't blame the coaches on this one, you may not like the answer but while if was an embarrassing loss the players especially the Seniors had not put the Northern game behind them. BGSUCKS will not beat us next year with whomever their new coach is Northern will not beat us next year with whomever their new coach is. Ball State will not beat us whomever their new coach is. However that does not mean someone else will not if we don't get good quarterback play and good defensive play

(12-07-2013 09:52 AM)joeo58 Wrote:  All i know is BG has a qb and knows how to play defense. the future does not look bright for UT, BUT MAYBE CLAWSON WILL MOVE ON

This is a stupid comment I was not impressed with BGSUCKS QB I was much more impressed with Kareem Hunt and Damien Jones Moore and Alonzo Russell than anyone on that plays for BGSUCKS and how do you know whomever will be at QB for the rockets won't be better than him?

(12-08-2013 12:19 AM)rocketpaul Wrote:  

(12-07-2013 12:24 AM)T-Town Wrote:  

(12-06-2013 11:56 PM)Rocket Man Wrote:  One positive about the loss to Akron. We should have coach back next year

Sounds like a "good news/bad news" scenario:

The good news is the Akron loss guarantee's our coaching staff will be back next year. This bad news is next year we will have a coaching staff that could not defeat a 4-7 Akron team with a possible bowl invitation on the line.

I don't blame the coaches on this one, you may not like the answer but while if was an embarrassing loss the players especially the Seniors had not put the Northern game behind them. BGSUCKS will not beat us next year with whomever their new coach is Northern will not beat us next year with whomever their new coach is. Ball State will not beat us whomever their new coach is. However that does not mean someone else will not if we don't get good quarterback play and good defensive play

I think our main difference is that I put a great deal more responsibility than you do on highly paid coaches and a lot less responsibility on the student athletics. I suspect that you are exactly right about the players not being over the NIU game in their loss to Akron, but unlike you I believe that is totally on the coaches and not the players. I believe part of the responsibility of the coaching staff is to have the team fully prepared to play a full 60 minutes of football to the best of their abilities every game ---and that includes being physically, emotionally and mentally prepared. Any failure for them to do so is IMHO a failure on the part of the coaching staff to sufficiently prepare and motivate the team. It is part of what the coaches are talking about when they say "putting players in a position to be successful".

Providing players with the opportunity to be successful should also mean that the play calling and game planning takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of the available players. If you watched the Akron game on ESPN3, sometime late in the game one announcer made the point that TO was much more accurate on deep patterns that went down the center of the field than on down-field sideline patterns. I do not claim to know the x's and o's that well myself, but assuming this announcer was right I do have to wonder how he (who probably knew essentially nothing about the Rockets prior to his pre-game briefing) could figure this out after watching only 3 quarters of football, whereas the UT staff apparently still did not have it figured out after 3 years. Likewise, when the UT defense holds Buffalo to 0 points in the first half but gives up 41 points in the second half, I put that gross inconsistency in the level of play squarely on the coaching staff, and not the players (particularly when 2nd half collapses also characterized the BG and NIU games as well).

Don't get me wrong because I still think that Matt Campbell was the right hire when Beckman left but I do think that to become a great head coach down the road he needs to re-evaluate his processes for selection and utilization of his coaching staff.

I don't necessarily think the program is regressing. I think we are still in the process of ascending from the deep slump it had descended into.

If you recall, Tim Beckman announced his intent to recruit quality players of good character and he made a great start of it. However, to some degree he had to live with some players he inherited. MC has had to do the same thing. We are now starting fresh at QB. You would think with 3 years at the collegiate level behind him, Ely should be able to take the controls and get the Rockets flying high. But, if the competition yields somebody else, that's fine, but there will probably be some ups and downs with a freshman.

We need to keep recruiting players of good character with a passion to win. Check your personal agenda at the door or take it with you down the street.

I think MC should evaluate his staff with a Toledo Tough mindset. I can see where you don't want your program to look like a revolving door for assistants. But, the dilemma with hiring or promoting with the promise of a long term job is that as soon as the team wins the MACC some of your assistants are going to bolt for more money or a step up the career ladder anyway. They always do. OTOH, if an assistant isn't getting it done you're not going to win a championship and you're stuck with him because you promised him a long term job. If you want a championship team, change will be inevitable. So, why not assemble the pieces that can win a championship?