yawn

[Matt]

it all comes down to accountability.  yea they are "kids"  but part of the college experience is going from a boy to a man.  there is A LOT of money and time invested into the program and the players represent the program.

sometimes the bashing goes too far but thats life.  you have to have thick skin.  as long as its not an outright personal attack on a player i think its fine. 

you can be upset with a kid's performance on a particular day and have the right to talk about it.  just like when a kid players his butt off and we post about how he is the next coming of bo jackson.  it works both ways.

alvarado had few bad games last year.  but he also did some great things.  but as we all know...you can hear 10 good things and 1 bad thing but that 1 bad thing will carry a lot more weight than the 10 good.  its just human nature.

the players are in the real world, not some bubble utopia.

[USF Bulls Football]

First of all SBIEN, dont say people like me, that BS. I personally support Delbert, as I have stated dozens of times, he is one heck of a punter. I also understand that he can kick the crap out of the ball. With that said, espectially from short distance, he isnt very accurate. One problem is that I feel like sometimes on third down, we must run the ball up the gut to ensure that the field goal is lined up. I dont mean to rag on Delbert, but I am also not going to congragulate him. Playing sports doesnt having anything to do with it either. I played baseball, basketball, and football, and I understand what its like to screw up. There are coaches who have never played a down of football at an elite level and have become very good coaches. People shouldnt get ripped for expressing their opinion on this board. If we were all good enough to be coaches, we would be on the field. I agree that you shouldnt pick one player and rip him all year, thats bush league stuff. Call players A mistakes the same way you would call player B. Ok, deep breath.    There are not to many on this board who I believe go out and personally make a vendetta against a player, but we should also be able to say what we think.

The Amarri example is weak at best. I dont care if your 10 and peewee or 22 in college, you dont forget how to catch a ball. Amarri Jackson had some Michael Clayton hands, and I have no problem saying that.

[E.T.]

Not accurate ?

Don't you BULLieve in "What have you done for me lately" ?

Delbert finished the season 10 for 11.

Wht the negative thoughts that he will not have a great year ?

Go BULLS !!!

[Held_AccountaBull]

so if we are like 3-4, delbert is like 3-14 on field goals, and grothe has thrown like 3 td's and 10 interceptions, we should all act like everything is happy go lucky? give me a break. welcome to real college football. this isnt conference usa anymore

[USF_Grouper]

so if we are like 3-4, delbert is like 3-14 on field goals, and grothe has thrown like 3 td's and 10 interceptions, we should all act like everything is happy go lucky? give me a break. welcome to real college football. this isnt conference usa anymore

In my opinion it would be fine to criticize Delbert or Matt at that time.  A lot of people criticized Delbert after the AU game - and no doubt it would have been more vocal had we lost.  However, at some point you have to let it go.  Specifically in Delbert's case he had a good end of the season and this is a new year - why are people still jumping on him?  Trust that the coaches will put the best players out there.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

so if we are like 3-4, delbert is like 3-14 on field goals, and grothe has thrown like 3 td's and 10 interceptions, we should all act like everything is happy go lucky? give me a break. welcome to real college football. this isnt conference usa anymore

In my opinion it would be fine to criticize Delbert or Matt at that time.  A lot of people criticized Delbert after the AU game - and no doubt it would have been more vocal had we lost.  However, at some point you have to let it go.  Specifically in Delbert's case he had a good end of the season and this is a new year - why are people still jumping on him?  Trust that the coaches will put the best players out there.

people jump on Delbert, Matt, coach Gregory, coach Leavitt, etc. because we want our team to get better and don't want to see the same mistakes repeated.

yes, Delbert finished the year on a high note... but our last 3 games were against Cuse, Louisville and Pitt--- the three worst teams in the conference last year, and the outcomes of those games did not hinge on Delbert's leg.

the same goes for Matt... he has been brilliant at times, and at others his mistakes [iNT's, fumbles, failure to get rid of the ball rather than take a sack] have cost us games.  no, it's not all his fault--- playcalling, a banged up OLine and stone-handed receivers who run bad routes played a part--- but unless he can improve his TD/INT ratio it doesn't matter how exciting his game is, we are not going to compete for a BE title or BCS bowl.

and the coaching staff has made mistakes of their own.  the naked bootleg on the goaline called by Gregory was an egregoious error.  his reliance on a very limited playbook made us predictable.  Leavitt's inexperience made him ill-equipped to prepare the team for our sudden success last year. it came on so suddenly, that even Leavitt-- the leader-- didn't know how to handle it.  the fact that Leavitt and the coaching staff as a whole were too lax on the guys in El Paso directly contributed to the severe beatdown we experienced.

i don't think scrutinizing the team, its players or coaches, is a bad thing for sports fans to do.  and if certain mistakes continue to recur, i don't see anything wrong with continuing to point them out.  that isn't making anyone a "whipping boy," it is simply objective OBSERVATION from honest sports fans, who seem to be a minority on this forum amongst the kool-aid kegstand chugging and green and gold goggle wearing crowd who think getting personally offended by criticisms of players or coaches is the mark of a "true fan."

some of us don't think that way, and making emotional, whiney threads about those of us [yes, i proudly include myself in that category] who are vocal critics of the team when we perceive that mistakes are being made repeatedly isn't going to change anybody's minds.

[mikebeau]

people jump on Delbert, Matt, coach Gregory, coach Leavitt, etc. because we want our team to get better and don't want to see the same mistakes repeated.

yes, Delbert finished the year on a high note... but our last 3 games were against Cuse, Louisville and Pitt--- the three worst teams in the conference last year, and the outcomes of those games did not hinge on Delbert's leg.

the same goes for Matt... he has been brilliant at times, and at others his mistakes [iNT's, fumbles, failure to get rid of the ball rather than take a sack] have cost us games.  no, it's not all his fault--- playcalling, a banged up OLine and stone-handed receivers who run bad routes played a part--- but unless he can improve his TD/INT ratio it doesn't matter how exciting his game is, we are not going to compete for a BE title or BCS bowl.

and the coaching staff has made mistakes of their own.  the naked bootleg on the goaline called by Gregory was an egregoious error.  his reliance on a very limited playbook made us predictable.  Leavitt's inexperience made him ill-equipped to prepare the team for our sudden success last year. it came on so suddenly, that even Leavitt-- the leader-- didn't know how to handle it.  the fact that Leavitt and the coaching staff as a whole were too lax on the guys in El Paso directly contributed to the severe beatdown we experienced.

i don't think scrutinizing the team, its players or coaches, is a bad thing for sports fans to do.  and if certain mistakes continue to recur, i don't see anything wrong with continuing to point them out.  that isn't making anyone a "whipping boy," it is simply objective OBSERVATION from honest sports fans, who seem to be a minority on this forum amongst the kool-aid kegstand chugging and green and gold goggle wearing crowd who think getting personally offended by criticisms of players or coaches is the mark of a "true fan."

some of us don't think that way, and making emotional, whiney threads about those of us [yes, i proudly include myself in that category] who are vocal critics of the team when we perceive that mistakes are being made repeatedly isn't going to change anybody's minds.

I can't believe this whiny titty baby thread.  The line of thinking MikeG has laid out is the problem with society.  Besides not criticizing players, lets also not keep score, sing kumbaya and hold hands.

Most likely, the 'whipping boys' will be those who do not perform.  Lack of performance results in a lower level of play = losses.   

The thing that amazes me is that I suspect most of the people on this board never played football.  Many of you may have never played a team sport at any time.  Not that I am an expert, but at least I played soccer and football (club/high school) so realize that these are kids and trying their best.  It is impossible not to make mental mistakes.  It is also imposible to be 100% on in every play, during every situation, and every environment.

My take is this, people should be more encouraging of USF players.  And if you didn't play, stick to criticizing whatever it was you did.  If you were a tuba player in the band, feel free to point out if a HOT member misses a note.  Or if you were in art, and you notice some issues with our logo, feel free to point it out.  If your sole experience with football is EA 2007 Madden Football, then only criticise the gamers...  You get the picture...

If you've played sports you would be just as hard on yourself for mistakes as most people are on this board.  We all root for the team and cheer them on and support them, but to do it blindly is ridiculous.

[smazza]

and I am sick of it.

Never fails--- every single season going back many years, we have had one or two players that people seem to pile on every chance they get. For some posters, the whipping is Leavitt or some other coach like Rod Smith.

Last year it was Amarri and Delbert. The year before Amarri and PJ. The year before that Ronnie Banks and PJ. One way or another-- somebody is getting a bad rap on this site by certain posters who make it their goal in life to talk crap about SOMEONE and inject that negative crapola wherever they can.

It's so disgusting to see this pattern continue. I get the impression that some of the more caustic individuals on this board find absolute joy in this practice.

And I already know who is slated for this season-- Delbert and Ben Williams. What in the world did Ben Williams do you ask? Why he has the nerve to start or play ahead of Mike Ford. Never mind the fact that he started out as a walk on, worked himself up to getting a chance to play, filled in a role as we had various issues with players like Ponton and PLancher, and even snagged a MVP trophy from a bowl people act like it was embarrassing to have to play in.

All he ever did for this school was bust his ass.

And for it, does this senior get a modicum of respect? No-- he gets people talking about how tall he is or that he can't run as well as player B-C-D-E-etc. God forbid he does something wrong this season-- like dropping a pass or missing a key block-- these posters are chopping at the bit to jump on him.

Same goes for Alvarado-- he is not allowed to ever miss a kick, and must kick while all these wonderful people make snide remarks about how he will miss this kick.

I tell you what-- these type of people make me ill. The constant griping over losses or bad plays, rarely ever stopping to talk about the GOOD that was done. In retrospect, I don't know whether to blame the media for this going on or perhaps finally understand why they write such negative slanted stories so often-- it feeds public demand to talk about what is wrong with this world instead of any part of it that is truly right.

boo hoo

people can criticize  and there is nothing wrong with it

you cant because you have a vested interest

[smazza]

only the leavitt and usf bulls syncophants  would be against criticism

mikeg's whinning is pathetic.he is so terrified he might not be allowed to take pictures  he kisses their a$$

alvarado,his kciking and our special teams were an embarassment last year

i cant imagine going thru life being such a kiss a##

[smazza]

There are different type of fans ... I am the type that feels part of the "family" ... critizism is fine, but "bashing" and finding a "whipping boy" to me is wrong.

It's the fan I am. I LOVE these boys !

And those making the STUPID comments about not treating these players like pee-wee, etc. - They obviously NEVER attended a USF practice. USF puts the best men on the field to WIN !

Go BULLS !!!

leavitt plays favorites and doesnt and hasnt put his best players on the field