bball fans, how do you do it?

[USFMikeB]

I for one would like to see more people speaking out and upset with the state of USF Basketball.

I would bet if you listen to any sports radio show in Durham half the air time is dedicated to how poorly Duke Basketball is playing.  When FSU's football team played so terrible this year, boosters publicly criticized the team and coaching staff.  Boosters worked to have coaches replaced during the season.

First of all, this is USF, this isn't FSU or Duke where bball has a history of success.  Additionally, as mentioned, the AD has a public policy of reviewing coach performance in the offseason.  Second, people ******** on message boards aren't the type of boosters that have pull to make things change.  People that have that kind of pull exercise it with the AD through letters, phone calls, and in person.  Finally, where have you been?  The attacks have been going on incessantly since last season.  Before the schedule was even released, there were so-called fans on here crying about how USF would go winless and calling for Mac's head.  We don't need more ********...

[usfgrad84]

Supporting the team and the players is one thing, but one could argue that to not speak up about the death spiral we seem to be mired in is worse because it is a sign of apathy toward the school, the program and the players.

This is one of the fallacies that I have seen repeatedly on this board.  Reality is that the AD has publicly stated that he has a policy of not reviewing coach performance until a season is over, therefore the incessant crying that has been going on has no propative value for a decision that isn't occurring yet.  Additionally, speaking up on a message board isn't the appropriate manner to provide input.  The AD isn't going to make a decision based on anonymous posts on a message board.  If you feel compelled to speak up about the program in a manner that you wish to be both heard and respected by the AD, then send him a letter that expresses dissatisfaction in a cordial, professional, and respectful manner.  ******** on this message board isn't doing anything but spreading negativity, it has no other value whatsoever.

I would say that the board certainly allows fans of a program to air their sentiment about the team publicly.  I would have to imagine that no AD that is professional about his job (and I think that Woolard is a very good AD and a very professional one at that) would pay little or no attention to posts on a message board when it comes to making the decision on the direction of a program and the fate of an individual's career.

A message board like this is basically a chance for fans  that are scattered around the country to give their own opinion about a team and talk sports about their team.  We are all fans of the USF Bulls.  We can't all get together in a bar and debate this stuff over a couple of beers.  Plain and simple this is the function a message board serves.  Unfortunately with the state of the BB team, there is really nothing else to talk about right now.  Until things get better or changed one way or another the tone of the debate is not going to change.  Just the nature of any puiblic forum whether it's a radio talk show or a message board.

[Held_AccountaBull]

Supporting the team and the players is one thing, but one could argue that to not speak up about the death spiral we seem to be mired in is worse because it is a sign of apathy toward the school, the program and the players.

This is one of the fallacies that I have seen repeatedly on this board.  Reality is that the AD has publicly stated that he has a policy of not reviewing coach performance until a season is over, therefore the incessant crying that has been going on has no propative value for a decision that isn't occurring yet.  Additionally, speaking up on a message board isn't the appropriate manner to provide input.  The AD isn't going to make a decision based on anonymous posts on a message board.  If you feel compelled to speak up about the program in a manner that you wish to be both heard and respected by the AD, then send him a letter that expresses dissatisfaction in a cordial, professional, and respectful manner.  ******** on this message board isn't doing anything but spreading negativity, it has no other value whatsoever.

if you don't like it then don't read the message board, not everyone is going to agree with everything you believe, that is the point of a message board

[windbane]

USFMikeB is a terrible fan that calls for people to kill themselves because they disagree with him.

[windbane]

Oh, how people do it is because the basketball team sucks and there needs to be some changes.

[USFMikeB]

Supporting the team and the players is one thing, but one could argue that to not speak up about the death spiral we seem to be mired in is worse because it is a sign of apathy toward the school, the program and the players.

This is one of the fallacies that I have seen repeatedly on this board.  Reality is that the AD has publicly stated that he has a policy of not reviewing coach performance until a season is over, therefore the incessant crying that has been going on has no propative value for a decision that isn't occurring yet.  Additionally, speaking up on a message board isn't the appropriate manner to provide input.  The AD isn't going to make a decision based on anonymous posts on a message board.  If you feel compelled to speak up about the program in a manner that you wish to be both heard and respected by the AD, then send him a letter that expresses dissatisfaction in a cordial, professional, and respectful manner.  ******** on this message board isn't doing anything but spreading negativity, it has no other value whatsoever.

I would say that the board certainly allows fans of a program to air their sentiment about the team publicly.  I would have to imagine that no AD that is professional about his job (and I think that Woolard is a very good AD and a very professional one at that) would pay little or no attention to posts on a message board when it comes to making the decision on the direction of a program and the fate of an individual's career.

A message board like this is basically a chance for fans  that are scattered around the country to give their own opinion about a team and talk sports about their team.  We are all fans of the USF Bulls.  We can't all get together in a bar and debate this stuff over a couple of beers.  Plain and simple this is the function a message board serves.  Unfortunately with the state of the BB team, there is really nothing else to talk about right now.  Until things get better or changed one way or another the tone of the debate is not going to change.  Just the nature of any puiblic forum whether it's a radio talk show or a message board.

I would agree with everything you posted if it weren't for the fact that the worst offenders on this board claim that they are only calling out Mac in order to get the AD's attention and drive change.  Their standard retort for anyone who actually has the gall to support our bball team is that they are only serving to continue the problems of the team.

[smazza]

We don't have too many REAL fans.  Instead the program is stuck with a bunch of so-called fans that choose to belittle the players, coaches, administration whether we win or lose.  I feel sorry for our student athletes...

fake fans?

plastic fans?

[smazza]

the AD that fails to heed the wishes of  the fans may be a former AD sooner than he would like

[Joe]

We don't have too many REAL fans.  Instead the program is stuck with a bunch of so-called fans that choose to belittle the players, coaches, administration whether we win or lose.  I feel sorry for our student athletes...

Come on, I'll agree that the darksiders are pests when it comes to this, but to say people aren't real fans because they don't like the current state of the basketball program isn't fair.

The program as a whole is terrible. I'm allowed to say that, and it sure as heck doesn't make a FAKE fan...

[usfgrad84]

the AD that fails to heed the wishes of  the fans may be a former AD sooner than he would like

Quite a bit of truth to this in the whole scheme of things.  

One thing people have to remember is that when we accepted entrance into the Big East, we accepted entrance into a big time sports league.  We didn't do it for the fun ogf it.  Big East sports means that sports for USF is now a big time business.  Translated into meaning that we can't continue to have attendance at about 35% of capacity and declining.  We can't continue to not be on national TV.  We can't continue to not make post season appearances.  This is how we make money.  If we were not ready to accept these responsibilities for all sports then we shouldn't have accepted entrance into this big time league.

As someone said in another post, we aren't a FSU or Duke.  But we should raise our expectations to where theirs are.  Why settle for mediocrity?  Why accept mediocrity?