I suspect that you're not a Syracuse University alumnus. I suspect that most non-alum fans care 99.44% about what happens on between the lines.
Please don't talk down to me or anyone on this board just because you think you're the only Syracuse alum who cares about the school, the town, and our reputation and image. Everyone on this board, both readers and posters, pulls for the Orange and comprises Cuse Nation, so don't be condescending.
Nobody is talking down to you.
The comment in bold was from my previous post. It was in response to someone who openly advocated paying players to attend Syracuse University. It sounds like you don't share that sentiment. I'm glad to hear it.
The point that was being made is that those that look at Syracuse University sports as more than just entertainment would never advocate a blatant violation of the rules. All alums should fall in that category, as well as true friends of the University... such as yourself.
Here is what I've come to learn about college sports fans in general and Syracuse University sports fans in particular: there are those that look at collegiate sports in the same way as professional sports, and there are those that look at collegiate sports as part of the University.
Those in the former group are quick to make statement akin to "Player X sucks!" or "The coach sucks, fire his a$$ now!". From my observation, these people don't really care about the student athletes. They only care about wins and losses or how much they can make on a particular bet.
For those of us in the latter group, these comments are offensive. While "Player X" may be struggling, they are student athletes trying their best to represent the University. There are more civil ways to convey one's frustration with that player's performance on the field. There may well be off-the-field/court issues that are affecting his/her play. These are young people that can use our support and encouragement. Similarly, we like to think that the coaches that are hired to lead the teams actually care about the student athletes. While the teams may be struggling, we like to think that the coaches have the best interest of the student athletes and the University as a whole at heart and that their intentions are always well placed. Yes, sometimes things don't work out and coaching changes need to be made. At Syracuse, coaches should be given a fair chance to implement their ideas. This likely leads to coaches being retained a year or two to long. While that can be frustrating, I'll take that over having coaching changes made any time that something's not quite right.
I suspect that many in the former group may not be able to relate to the other group's viewpoints. They may consider members of the other groups to be wimps or to be soft... it is about winning, after all.
Do I wish that the "pro viewpoint" group was smaller and that some from that camp would make the transition to the "college viewpoint" camp? Of course. Do I wish that those with the "pro viewpoint" would go away? No, the game day experience needs as many Orange fans as possible. Does it get frustrating on SyracuseFan.com to see the "pro viewpoint" posters rattle their sabers and exercise their loud mouths at seemingly every opportunity? I'll leave that answer as an exercise for the reader.
