WoolyBully

No, not the front page of the TBT. But we are on the front page, below the fold, of the Sports Extra section...just below the article on Detroit over Lightning.

So, if we take a retrospective, going back around four years or so, would be viewed as a "glorified community college"? There are times, and I suppose it comes from having green-n-gold eyewear epoxied to your nose, that we overinflate our position in the grand scheme of things. FAU is not that far removed from U of SF when it comes to football. I think that experience in coaching really does matter, hence the difference between a coach with prior head-coach experience and a coach with prior ASSISTANT head-coach experience. The title may not convey the level of difficulty and experience needed to succeed, but it's starting to look like there might be a pattern. We are 4-4 with Western Kentucky. We are 1-2 against UAB, and winless in two games against Alabama. BUT we are one game up (3-2) against the "glorified community college of Boca Raton". So, I think we might just be right where we are expected to be (objectively speaking). A loss? Not surprising or shocking. Margin of loss? Extremely surprising and shocking.

One minute you pine for more coverage. The next you hope to be buried and ignored, like it never happened. You people are impossible to please.

You know that Doctor Pepper commercial; the one about how the season is lost, burn the gear, the team is cursed. Then Boz points out that it was the first play of the game. That's actually a mini documentary about The Bulls Pen board. We're tired of losing (refer to USF basketball) and there's no reason to calm down. The question is, why get so amped up to begin with? But, to consider that question is to run contrary to being a fan to begin with.

I started watching college football in the way back when and was really excited when U of SF finally started playing. For the next nineteen years I was all over it...season tickets, tailgating, away games, etc. However, I didn't drop following other teams just because USF now had a team. Think of it as a case of 'first among equals' sort of thinking. But once I dropped season tickets, and USF was an option, I can say that there are times, more often as of late, that I'm watching another game and checking in on U of SF. To me, college football is entertainment. It's how I spend my Saturday in the fall. U of SF can - or cannot - be part of that equation. Last Saturday, I flipped to another game in the third quarter to watch Tennessee and A&M. Why not stick around and maybe U of SF can turn this around? No. The Bulls have shown time and again that they cannot overcome early game setbacks. Just not in the current DNA. Maybe one day. But I'll check in later to see if that's changed. I'm not sitting here watching and waiting for the switch to flip. I reckon my emotional investment is not the same in '23 as it was in '97. I don't get overly amped up nor spiral into depression when it comes to both U of SF basketball and football. Mainly, because there are other college sports entertainment options available, and I've been following U of SF too long to snap at the bait. There are still three winnable games on the schedule. Winning those games puts U of SF eligible for a bowl game (which has now become the lowest the bar has been set). But, we are an impatient bunch and rebuilding is not something we are used to. We're looking for that one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in year one. On the plus side, we have won one-more-game this season compared to the last guy's best year. So, there's that.

Recruits. That's something that never occurred to me: not just how these losses look to us - but how they look to recruits. I never gave that much thought to the impact it would have on trying to get talent to show up. I think, going forward, the portal is how we would get impact players who, being kids, think that playing back home outweighs playing in The Bigs. I would imagine that if I were a kid in high school, and USF wants me to play here...I may be exercising my other options. Saturday was not a good advertisement for the program in any way whatsoever. Lost to Bama by 14 points, Lost to UAB by: 21 points Lost to Florida Atlantic (where USF was favored to win) by 35 points. In the event USF does not go to a bowl game this season, and we're hanging onto a five-win season as a point of pride, I would imagine the die-hards will embrace the level of progress compared to the previous three years. However, anything under five wins* makes selling season tickets just that much harder for next year. * REMINDER: pre-season O/U was 4.5.

Well, with five games left, the Magic Eight Ball, shows USF favored to win in three of them (Uconn, Temple & Charlotte), which should not be difficult games. Bear in mind that same Eight Ball had USF at a 56% chance of beating FAU. A loss to FAU would not have been unexpected, but certainly not a blowout of week-one-cupcake-opponent proportions. So, is it possible to go to a bowl game? Sure. It's possible, but a lot depends on how USF rebounds from this loss (by EVEN MORE POINTS than losses to each team from Alabama...or we could say by the combined total of both 'Bama & UAB! But we won't...). Anyway, it's still possible, but there is no cushion in the event of an upset. Can't recover from that.

Both of which can be accomplished easily clicking your heels together, three times, and saying "...

Oh, so that's how it is, huh? When we're beating lesser opponents, teams which we believe should be unceremoniously ejected from the conference for not doing the heavy lifting, we can wallow in the victory and break our arms patting ourselves on the back. But when we've been trounced by OUR BIG IN-STATE RIVAL, at homecoming (the week we schedule a guaranteed win), we are nowhere to be found. I, for one, am shocked and appalled by this sort of behavior, and will not darken this site with my presence until this is rectified!! Nah. I'll be back later tonight. I would imagine the conversation would be less than fun. See y'all later.

I wonder what it's like to have "well respected friends"? I s'pose, if I ever had any, I might value their knowledge. But, until then I'll just rely on my disreputable, criminal adjacent cohorts for conference realignment dope.

Congratulations on making this a 3,500 page topic. Thanks to everyone who participated in quantity - no bonus points for quality, or subtraction of points for the exact polar opposite of "quality", however.

I'm in.

So, what if we do something like this at halftime. Make it some sort of contest to participate, and then, at halftime, the show is all yours. Gotta make our live mascot stand out... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xu2VtBM3cGI?feature=share

Six games left and three wins needed: UCONN, CHARLOTTE & TEMPLE would satisfy the minimum requirement. So, I'd shift from possible to probable at this point. A win over our big in-state rival, FAU , would advance the cause before having to wait until the last game of the season to dot the i's and cross the t's.

The O/U was 4.5. And thanks to the smart boys at William Hill and their software update my $100 on the under was thwarted. The ESPN Magic Eight Ball Prognosticator had USF at 47.5% (under 50%) chance of winning against UAB. According to that same bit of soothsaying technology, USF is above 50% against four more opponents this season.

Indeed he is. He is not from the mold where normal coaches are formed. I think this is more of a hobby for him - altough he does want to win, not like he doesn't give a crap one way or the other. That being said, our good friends at UNCC are going to have to make some choices along the way if the experiment doesn't pan out. But, until such time, he is entertaining.

Indeed. We - WE - will control the narrative and can manipulate it with complete abandon. Who controls the media, controls the mind. And once the stadium is in place, that control rests squarely in U of SF's hands.

I'd say that's a fair assessment. It's the dinero that makes the machine operate, a nice wide shot on the tee-vee is just a bonus. It's nice to be able to market the game-day experience when you're trying to sell tickets, however. In an ideal world, you'd sell out every seat in the venue - and have a waiting list - with a packed stadium to show off to the visiting dignitaries. So until that day, we will adhere to the previously agreed upon ticket metric for external consumption.

For this afternoon's performance, the part of USF will be played by "Harley" from Five J's Cattle, and the part of UAB will be played by Duane, part-time rodeo clown, full time Blazer. Tickets available at the box office.

I thought we agreed to this some time back, didn't we? Remember, we had that meeting where we all agreed to use some measure of 'tickets distributed' rather than turnstile flips? I'm pretty sure we covered this. Now, if one were resident in...oh, let's say, Neyland Stadium, Michigan Stadium or Bryant-Denny, nitpicking over distribution versus butt cheeks on bleachers is irrelevant. Remember kids, there's a difference between "the truth" and "full disclosure".

Came straight from cutting the grass and cleaning the gutters to coach this game. That's dedication. Or shtick.

I think that's pretty much what it would take to be in a position where coaches stick around for a while; U of SF being less of a way station and more of a destination.

Poking about on the ESPN soothsayer board, USF has a less than 50% chance of winning at UAB, Memphis & UAB. So, in games with FAU, UCON, TEMPLE & CHARLOTTE, U of SF has a greater percentage probability of winning. Four more wins - at worst - would total to seven and make the bulls bowl eligible. Interestingly, the odds in favor of USF winning are all increasing, even if under 50% I'd be surprised if the wheels fell off and the losses mounted going forward. Momentum and all that good stuff.

I think there are folks who don't quite think that through. Although football provides three hours - minimum - of entertainment, there's the business side of that enterprise as well. Part of that selling is the story that captivates, eyes on the page, traffic etc. I like it when people take pride in saying they don't read the paper (what's a paper? yuk, yuk, yuk) and then complain about the lack of coverage (though that knowledge was obtained second hand). Like the joke about two older ladies leaving the restaurant; one complains "the food was just awful" and the other opines "and such small portions, too".

From today's Tampa Bay Times: I think that's good. 'Cause a lot of really good humor is based in truth. I'll swing by post-game.