Are the fans always wrong? | Syracusefan.com

Are the fans always wrong?

SWC75

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In 1986, at the beginning of the football season, our starting tailback was Harold Gayden. The coaching staff raved about him. But what the fans saw was a player who had great moves but started making them before he hit the hole, with the hole often closing before he got there. He also had a tendency to fumble and we lost some games because of it. The guy behind Gayden was Robert Drummond, a local kid who had gone to Jamesville-DeWitt. that made him popular with the local fans and Gayden's problems made him even more popular. Radio call-in shows and letters to the editor, (the social media of the time) called for Gayden to be benched in favor of Drummond. The more people demanded it, the more Coach Mac and his staff seemed determined to shove Gayden out there to prove they were right. Finally, he'd fumbled one too many times and they sent Drummond in. I recall he fumbled, too, shortly afterwards. But they left him in and he proved to be a more reliable back, hitting the hole quickly, initiating contact and falling forward when tackled. And that first fumble wasn't repeated. Gayden had averaged 3.3 yards per carry, Drummond 4.5 the next year Drummond was paired with Michael Owens and they both averaged better than 6 yards a carry while rushing for a combined 1,370 yards as the team went 11-0. It seemed that in this instance, the fans were right.

Yes, the coaches have more knowledge of the game. Yes, they see things the fans don't. Yes, the fans aren't at practice or in the weight, locker or meeting rooms. But they do see the finished product and the make judgements based on what they see, just as they would watching a movie, a play, an opera, a concert, a ballet etc. And if what they see doesn't seem good enough or something else they see seems better, they are going to say so. Must they attend the rehearsals of the play or the singing lessons or be on the movie set to make a judgment about what they saw?

Rather than arguing about individual players, please address this central issue? Do the fans have a right to their opinion?
 
I think this is a fair question, as stated.

Of course everyone has a right to hiser own opinion. The only problem is, when you express your opinion in an open forum, you can expect to hear from those who have an opposed opinion.

Now you may not believe you should hear any criticism of your criticisms of The Coach, but that doesn't mean that they're saying you don't have a right to your opinion. Go ahead and express it...and then be prepared to defend it.

To suggest that criticism of your criticism is equivalent to saying you shouldn't have a right to express it is really a Straw Man Argument, is it not?

I'm a Big Time Boeheim defender who believes his record over the past 6 yrs entitles him to be granted the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his rotation decisions, use of the zone, etc. Making 3 of the last 5 Sweet Sixteens while relying on Second Tier Talent is an amazing accomplishment.

In spite of that fact, I nevertheless question some of his decisions, but I do so with a ready acknowledgement that I don't know all the facts. So I will "raise questions" about a certain coaching decision in order to discuss the possible reasons why he decided in a way I don't understand. What kind of variables was he looking at that I didn't notice?

But when facing such uncertainty, I will always defer to his decisions under the assumption that he sees all that I don't see & that he has a rationale for his decisions that seeks to develop his team. I just want to understand it.

Anyone who wants an example of how to discuss basketball coaching without their narcissism getting in the way should try to follow General20's approach and tone. Sound advice...
 
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The fans are certainly capable of being wrong, at least this one was. My feelings about losing Kadary Richardson remind me a lot of my feelings at the football team losing Jordan Fredericks.

Jordan's freshman year was similar to and maybe slightly better than Sean Tucker's:



When I read about Dino babes and the exciting offense he was bringing, I thought "Dino's going to love having a great young talent Fredericks in the backfield." He didn't. I was shocked to see Dontae Strickland as #1 on the depth chart after the spring:


I asked Babers about this when he started doing his radio shows and he said that Frederick's stats had "mostly been put up late in games after they were already decided" and otherwise downplayed Frederick's achievements and abilities.
How Jordan Fredericks became SU's starting running back as a true freshman

I didn't understand what was going on and was appalled when Fredericks transferred to Massachusetts, where I assumed he would become a big star while we were stuck with Strickland. I'm still waiting.

I can find nothing on the internet about him at all after that 2018 season with UMASS.
 
Btw in the meantime I've been trying to see if there have been any exhibitions/scrimmages played by our portal losses. So far not finding anything yet with games in general coming up here in early November. Seems we are starting maybe as early as anyone outside a few secret scrimmages the end of last week.
 
I listened to the presser….Jim said the decisions Dino made, that fans were critical of, were absolutely the right decisions. Really? So what makes him such an expert on football?

Of course fans have a right to voice their thoughts. We buy the tickets and fill the seats. With no demand for the product there are no multi million dollar coaching contracts. I would happily be paid millions and listen to people complain about decisions I made. Just hit the ignore button Jim and stop worrying about what fans are saying this and that. Dino is rich from coaching football and he is a big boy….he doesn’t need the basketball coach sticking up for him.
 
I listened to the presser….Jim said the decisions Dino made, that fans were critical of, were absolutely the right decisions. Really? So what makes him such an expert on football?

Of course fans have a right to voice their thoughts. We buy the tickets and fill the seats. With no demand for the product there are no multi million dollar coaching contracts. I would happily be paid millions and listen to people complain about decisions I made. Just hit the ignore button Jim and stop worrying about what fans are saying this and that. Dino is rich from coaching football and he is a big boy….he doesn’t need the basketball coach sticking up for him.

i think the context wasn’t that he was saying the decision was right based on his knowledge of the game or being at practices, etc. But rather it was the right decision because it’s the one Dino made and he’s a knowledgeable coach with experience and who sees these players everyday. Basically he was saying whatever decision Dino makes us the right one at the time.
 
i think the context wasn’t that he was saying the decision was right based on his knowledge of the game or being at practices, etc. But rather it was the right decision because it’s the one Dino made and he’s a knowledgeable coach with experience and who sees these players everyday. Basically he was saying whatever decision Dino makes us the right one at the time.

I think he was saying the decision was right because it worked - and Dino's critics had doubted him.
 
But the basketball coach is no more than just a fan of the football team. He is entitled to his opinion just like everyone who posts here is entitled to their opinion. It does not mean he is right, but he might be; it does not mean people who post here are right, but they might be.
 
i think the context wasn’t that he was saying the decision was right based on his knowledge of the game or being at practices, etc. But rather it was the right decision because it’s the one Dino made and he’s a knowledgeable coach with experience and who sees these players everyday. Basically he was saying whatever decision Dino makes us the right one at the time.
Gotchya…..that makes complete sense!
 
i remember watching the spring lacrosse/football game in 1995 and the coaches still didn't know til week one who the starting QB would be. his name was McNabb.
 
I think, so long as you do your own research, you can be an expert in any field.
 

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