Winning & The New USF Fanbase

[ProfessaBull]

To The True, Diehard Fans of USF, Not The Bandwagon, Negative, & Fairweather,

        I submit to you a problem that has been creeping up over the past few years, one which has me seriously wondering what it now means to be a Bulls fan. When I started at USF in 2001, I went to sporting events all the time, greeted by mostly empty student sections, except the few hearty diehards who came to really support their school. Bulls fans were a small network of individuals, many of whom knew each other well, but ALL of whom had the good of the university at heart. We didn't come to watch wins. We didn't come to watch fanfare. We came to bleed green and gold no matter how the teams on the field fared. We cared about our university, our passion, and not about the fact that we weren't "big time." We were happy to have gone whether we won or lost, and we cheered just as loud either way.

        Over the past few years, that's changed. I can't say that I'm happy about it. We started to criticize players on the field. We started to criticize coaching decisions for seasons. I remember the first time I ever heard a significant number of USF fans boo a player - Pat Julmiste. Fine, he wasn't the most talented guy, but he was our guy, and he was a leader, and you have no business booing an amateur athlete giving his all to our school. Later, people turned on Grothe when he did something wrong. Clamoring for BJ Daniels before the kid got on campus. Forget the fact that Grothe is the only reason we had a winning football team, especially his freshman year. Rumblings of calling for Leavitt's head began even before the season we were ranked #2. Boosters started to try to exert their will more than ever. Personal insults about student athletes.

       Now, you've got a coach who was the most loyal head football coach you'll find anywhere in the nation, perhaps outside of Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, and they only because they've had more time to prove it. Leavitt wouldn't have pulled a Spurrier and left to try something different. His passion is true, his devotion is real, and his story is better than any other team out there. With Leavitt, we had stability, passion, personality, history, loyalty, and on top of that we won a lot. We had a self-made millionaire. We had a guy who wasn't about money, he wasn't about bending to the wind, and his comments about other schools and coaches were always respectful. We had a guy who represented what I always thought the university stood for. The only major criticism I had of him was the team's academic record, that was the one thing I thought could be better brought in line with what the university stood for. But no matter what players came and went, we had a face to the program and a story that went with it.

       It's so easy to sit there and yell for a coach's head when everything else is good. All was hunky dory before Leavitt got fired, except the W-L record. That's what's changed. People used to banter about how we could get better, but none of this outpouring of negativity, name calling, insult slinging, personal attacking, booster threatening, ********. Now we've got a ton of "fans" who routinely criticize everything about the program, the coach, the staff, the university, the players. Their expectations are inflated, and their priorities have shifted from passion and bleeding green and gold to the W-L record. Now we'll get a coach in here, and he might improve our W-L record, but he's never going to have the passion, the loyalty, the spirit, nor will he have been our legacy founder. There's a very real chance we're going to lose much more than a few games a season with a new coach, and continuity is just the start of it. We're going to lose sight of why we're all supposedly here.

       Winning isn't everything folks, just like money isn't everything. I have several friends who have all the money they could ever want, but routinely express that they are desperately lonely. Money doesn't equal love, and winning doesn't equal passion. All the fans who just want to see W's, I question whether they would have been joining us in the stands 10 years ago. I question their priorities, their spirit, and their loyalty. They sling their negativity everywhere they think lack perfection, and in the process, do little to show that they really care about the university for reasons other than winning football programs. The network of diehards is still there, but its becoming tainted with the kind of people that give a bad name to lots of other school fanbases out there. I know - I've been a student at the University of Miami for 4 years. We're gonna turn into them if we don't watch out.

        I'm not sure that's the kind of fan base I want to be a part of. And I see ours moving that way, if it's not there already. This message board has become loaded with that fairweather spirit, and I, for one, am rapidly tiring of it. Many of the diehards have already retired from commenting on here because of it, and The Reaper is just the most recent. The Reaper is one of the most diehard USF fans out there, and he got fed up with this mess we still call a "fan" board. You don't have to support Jim Leavitt to be a diehard USF fan. This isn't about him, it's about the types of comments people make about the man who is ultimately the reason most of you are here. It's about the things written, whether you support him or not. It's about priorities. It's about passion for USF. I've got it, many of us have it, but a lot of us are tearing others down for having it.

        It's about time the negative, bandwagon, and fairweather GET OFF OUR BOARD. And preferably, OUT OF OUR FANBASE. That is all. Thank you.

       

         In Bull Pride,

                               - FazaUSF

Now you know how I felt when you all showed up in 2001

[deters-]

5-9 in the big east in the past 2 years. 2-9 if you exclude wins over louisville and syracuse.

3 midseason slumps in a row.

i dont care how much you love your team as a coach... thats not where I want my football team. love the team as a fan or member of the community.

exactly he can't coach and should have been shown the door for his performance. This event just happened to come along and speed up his demise. I have been very critical of him for over 2 years and I'm glad he is gone. 

[LoneBull]

**** fazausf, you really flushed em out

[Mission9]

**** fazausf, you really flushed em out

:flush

[Danm1983]

all i know, is that there's a difference between being critical, and being a fuckface **** about it. many of you are probably really cool, but are being the latter.

reading certain posts, sometimes i feel like we just fired head coach vick hitler, with how uberly pleased some of these 'fans' are.

[ProfessaBull]

all i know, is that there's a difference between being critical, and being a fuckface **** about it. many of you are probably really cool, but are being the latter.

reading certain posts, sometimes i feel like we just fired head coach vick hitler, with how uberly pleased some of these 'fans' are.

I think those that have been involved from very early on are going to be a little numb right now.

For me it will be weird to not see Leavitt come Bull rushing out of the tunnel. I also won't be able to see him flashing the Go Bulls as the as the motorcade comes driving up to the away game stadiums. Things are going to feel different for some time...

Newer fans aren't going to have that emotional connection and probably will see things a little more realistic than those of us that are still in love with our ex-girlfriend

[nickd25]

Brandon amazing post man and Hall of Fame Worthy.

Nicely done, nicely done my man!

[Triple B]

all i know, is that there's a difference between being critical, and being a fuckface **** about it. many of you are probably really cool, but are being the latter.

reading certain posts, sometimes i feel like we just fired head coach vick hitler, with how uberly pleased some of these 'fans' are.

Perfect job of translating Faza's great post to one they can better understand ....

[namuh-bull]

I have noticed that in the last week there are a bunch of very confrontational and critical posters on the board with very few posts.  I don't know if they are long term posters who have a new account that they use to vent, or what, but it seems pretty strange to be so opinionated and new at the same time.

Go Bulls!

[Triple B]

I have noticed that in the last week there are a bunch of very confrontational and critical posters on the board with very few posts.  I don't know if they are long term posters who have a new account that they use to vent, or what, but it seems pretty strange to be so opinionated and new at the same time.

Go Bulls!

Brad's done a good job of marketing the site .... maybe too good of a job.