GoCats105 wrote:

..I believe DFC and others said this exact same thing after the CMU loss and got absolutely killed for it. Why don't more people get that? I don't want Ohio to be compared to Ohio State by a long shot, but why can't Ohio be NIU or Boise State?

It's not about hoping Ohio will win, or rooting for them to win, or believing they can win. That's all good. What I think grates on me is the instant negativity once something bad happened. Should Ohio have beaten CMU? Probably. Does CMU deserve some credit for winning? Definitely. By the same token, should Marshall have beaten Ohio? Probably. Does Ohio deserve some credit for winning? Definitely. It's not all about Ohio. There are two teams on the field. Both want to win. Sometimes a result may not turn out the way you want because of bad things your team does. Other times it may be because of good things the other team does. Sometimes it is a little of both.

In the end, I always remind myself, it's college football, not the NFL. It's supposed to be fun. These are kids, not adults.They will make mistakes. They will also do good things. I'm for giving them credit when they do good things, and when bad things happen, like anyone else I'll be disappointed, but then I will move on. Just because they lost to CMU, why trash their performance against EMU or Miami? They won both of those by very wide margins. In both cases there were reasons why you would expect the foe to be playing one of their better games of the year (EMU=playing in honor of a deceased teammate, Miami=rivalry), but in both cases Ohio won by wide margins when it was all over.  Ohio didn't have enough "style points"? At Ohio State, they expect style points, but has Ohio come so far that we now criticize for style? Will their be an asterisk in the record book that says "Ohio played badly, and Ohio only won by 25+ because the other team really sucked"?

I'm a positive person by nature, and even when disappointed, I'm not not going to turn negative on the team. I know they are kids, and I know they work hard all year long, and I know they risk injury. Above all, I know that if they win, it's because of the things they did, not anything I did, and that it is their accomplishment, not mine. I don't personalize their results as my own, i root for them to win, and i support them whether they win or not. But, then, that's just me...

 

---

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus

hashtag please stop living in fantasy land

    






 

I believe what those who felt Pete/Monroe/I were way off base here were missing is that a win versus Miami was irrelevant when we had Buffalo and BUGS lined up as the defacto MAC East Championship in successive weeks, and both those teams looked WAY BETTER than we did leading up to last night.

Without question, OUr team was outmatched in every phase of the game last night, and I see no way we beat BUGS.  Not with another "effort" like last night.  And that goes for everyone in the program.

 

(Actually, I don't mean to single you out, Monroe, but I'll use you because you seem to be the most vocal).

I guess I don't understand your point... and I mean this honestly.

Do you want a gold star for pointing out that the team this year isn't as good as has been in the past?

Or, is it you'd like to convince me that this team isn't as good as it's been in the past?

Either way, fine.  You're right.

Okay, that's out of the way.

Now what?

Do we get new coaches ASAP?  Do we go out and get half-a-dozen big-time free agent signings?  Oh, I know!

Let's cut some players and "make a statement" that ownership isn't going to stand for mediocre!  This is a professionally run organization, and WE PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS AROUND HERE.

Oh, wait.

This isn't professional football.

There are no free agents to sign.

Cutting players serves absolutely no purpose, other than to perhaps free up a scholarship for next year.

I understand your disappointment, believe me, I really do.

But let's not forget the mission here; we play intercollegiate sports to help develop well-rounded men and women, who learn to push themselves, learn the value of teamwork, and become leaders in the community.  

It's great if along the way we can win some championships, and build some brand recognition with some TV viewers, but that's really not the goal.

I hope we never become "Football U.", where an athlete will be extended a scholarship, only to have it revoked when he "no longer contributes.", or when a 9 win season gets coaches fired.

I think that sends a horrible message, not only about your athletic department, but also the values and priorities of your university.

So, again, I ask you: what's the point of your post, or starting yet another thread saying how badly the Bobcat's played?

What do you hope to accomplish?


Peace,
-john



 

Injuries wouldn't seem to explain the new starters.  Are the new guys better?


Somewhere on this team...offense, defense..specials...there needs to be some game-changing work being done.

Between the lack of emotion, spark, play-making, play calling we are not inspiring.  Need spark.

 

I agree that we should have pounded CMU, but we didn't.

I also believe that the 'cats folded in Buffalo.  I don't know how it would have turned out, but if the phantom fumble turns into a score, all other things being equal, I think we take a 10-7 lead into the half.

Would that have changed anything? 

I think it puts an entirely different mindset into the coordinators for both teams; and I think that it would have finished out as a much closer game.

But, as I said, the 'cats appeared to fold. 

Frustration is a funny emotion; sometimes it manifests as rage, sometimes as pouting, sometimes as surrender.  In any case, I think *all* of us would have felt frustration in that game, with those circumstances. 

I know my sense of fair-play was violated, and I felt wronged, and I'm just watching it on television.

To someone directly involved in the outcome, it might have felt intentional and that there was nothing to be done about it.

In any case, whatever the reason, we lost, and likely lost our opportunity to play for a MAC championship.

But I'll say this: I think this team is among the best we've fielded. I'm too young to have seen the '68/'69 teams play and I've heard they were fabulous, so I'm willing to assume that this team isn't as good as those teams were.

I have no doubt in my mind though, that this team beats nearly all the teams since, perhaps with the exception of the 2011 team... and we have a LOT of the same players from that team on this team.

I loved watching Kalvin McRae, Austin Everson, Chad Brinker, Boo Jackson... the list goes on and on... I think every one of those teams loses to this team.

So, I guess this is a long winded way of saying I think that we have not plateaued. I think what you were noticing was the talent at each position was being upgraded, dramatically at times, and that the team was visibly better season to season.

We don't appear to be visibly better this season, but I think we are, largely because of DEPTH. Our current #2's would have started, and been stars, on earlier Bobcat teams.

I assure you that I will miss watching TT on Saturday afternoons, and I wish Beau could run up the gut for us for another five years... but that's not going to happen.

Is the play calling predictable? Seems so to me. However, I have no idea if it's the call or the execution.

I'm rambling now, so I'm going to stop typing.

I'm hoping for a warm weather bowl; I have vacation to burn, and need a reason to head south.

GO BOBCATS!

-john