Gentlemen:

Thank you for your collective efforts in giving this City a glimpse into what having a competitive D1 football program looks and feels like. It has been glorious seeing your improvement and watching many of our fair-weather fans come out. It has also been a lot of fun.

Now the air is rife with talk of your coach leaving you for supposed greener pastures and I know this must hurt with 1 regular season game and a bowl appearance still in front of you. I am an old man and permit me, if you would, to offer this up as you complete this fine campaign.

DO NOT play for your coaches. They are men who will promise you anything and leave you at the drop of a hat - it's what they do. They take care of themselves and you need to learn to do that very soon as this is much the way the real world works.

DO NOT play for this school - it is, after all simply about money to them.

DO NOT play for this city or these fans as it is readily apparent how quickly they will desert you and your cause - you are nothing to all but about 20,000 of us, but entertainment. They believe that for the price of a ticket they have the right to ridicule and deride you mercilessly while they themselves never took a snap in anger.

In the last two games DO PLAY for yourselves and each other. The guy to your left and right - the guy in front or behind you. They're the ones who've sweated, worked, fought and bled with you ... And you will maintain a bond with many of your teammates that will last a lifetime. And THAT matters.

Now - go beat the hell out of SMU - for each other!

Go Tigers!!!

Bit over stated...but...yes...team needs to rally.

(11-25-2015 11:22 AM)Mimi Wrote:  Bit over stated...but...yes...team needs to rally.

Nothing wrong with that, just a great Tiger fan expressing himself.

He's correct and I liked it...especially this part.

"In the last two games DO PLAY for yourselves and each other. The guy to your left and right - the guy in front or behind you. They're the ones who've sweated, worked, fought and bled with you ... And you will maintain a bond with many of your teammates that will last a lifetime. And THAT matters.

Now - go beat the hell out of SMU - for each other!"

Win for the Seniors, for yourselves and start a new winning streak.

And do it by a huge margin.

I think he is being a bit harsh about somethings. Coaches changes jobs all the time in every level of every game. How does that mean they don't care for and love the kids they coach ? I agree that the players are now and forever part of a family of Tigers. They should carry each other through good and bad and pick each other up when they stumble . This is the true greatness of a football team. The football team is not just about 20,000 it's about Memphis. One city . One team. One goal. That is the ambition we strive for . I will be the first to admit I get pi$$ed off at low attendance but these players have built something special that everyone wanted to be a part of. I will be there on the 28th to show how proud I am rain or shine. What these players did was something you only get a few times in life. They were the first , they did what everyone told them they could not. I see enough of the sh!tty side of life every day. On six saturdays in the fall all I see is good. So get your sorry a$$es to the bowl ,get your M's up ,and scream your head off.

An open letter to the fans: show the F up for these kids on Saturday and show the country that tiger football's recent success can be continued.

Narrowly focused letter and thank goodness it is only coming from a miss guided bitter fan evidently.

Most of the DO NOT's are some of the reasons these young men put on the Blue and Gray and chose to come play at Memphis.

Certainly they should play for each other, but it is THEIR school too and will be for the rest of their lives. Moreover, there is a core group of fans who are very loyal and care deeply about our players. I'll be there (as always) Saturday and at the bowl game along with thousands of other loyal Tiger fans cheering for the team and our school no matter who the coach is or anything else. FIGHT LIKE TIGERS - BEAT SMU !

The original post is dead on! It's always about the man next to you.

A bit under-stated, but extremely well done!

MEM-X,

Your post is right on the money.

I can appreciate the whole Rah Rah Go Team mentality of the Old Timers on our message board. I wish their stance was the case but it's not

In Todays game the $$$$ has jaded the entire D1 college sports environment. Even women's sports.

Coaches don't give a rip about the kids when it comes to $$$$$. Coaches say the right things at the right times to appear committed.

They only care for them in the moment

If JF cared about the kids then he would stay. Assuming Memphis paid him somewhere in the ballpark which VaTech can pay. Everything I've heard is that our money guys have backed up the cash truck. He's being offered as much to stay here as to go to VT

But to JFs defense whose to say that we revert back to being underachievers if he stays. Losing Lynch would really show whether JF was a truly solid coach. But why would he take the chance next season when he can get into the big leagues this year.

It's all a bunch of garbage

Every day I seem to care less and less about D1 sports.

D3 is so much more pure as intended for student athletes.

Today Student Athlete is almost a laughable term.

(11-26-2015 08:18 PM)Pastner4Prez Wrote:  Every day I seem to care less and less about D1 sports.

You're getting my hopes up.

To some here I am "bitter." To others I am an "excellent" fan. To some the post is "overstated" and others say it's "understated." Obviously I am a hell of a writer! Bottom line is that I played - never a scholarship offer but am the father of a scholarship student-athlete and I stand behind every word in the post. I also get the opportunity to hang with a bunch of former Tiger players and their conversation is never about the coaches, the fans, the school or anything other than memories based on the intimate bond between themselves.

I wouldn't be that sensitive.

My point was you were right...but...

Not right about the idea of playing for the city. Thought it was a bit much to pump them to only play for themselves, when what has always made Memphis special, is the toughness and the city itself.


That was all...your inner sentiments about them playing for themselves and essentially not allowing the potential coaching change or the incredibly bitter and negative fanbase that we do indeed have...just look at basketball...is a good one.

I'll be there in the rain - hope to see more than 4,099 other Tiger fans like it was for another rainy game .