For both BB and FB

[SUGIANT]

these feels to me, as a partner, like an irretrievably broken relationship because the other partner (SU FB and BB and the AD office) is not going to change and is not willing to spend what it takes to make the changes.
Do I keep giving, hoping the light comes on, or do I walk away now, before I am pulled even further down the death spiral? My heart says stay. Some of my fondest memories are SU sports centered. However, my head says walk away because my partner has to want to change, and right now, it doesn’t, and it will continue to take me for granted and break my heart, over and over again, and blame me when I ask why.
I feel like the Georgetown game will be my last. Seems fitting.

Really? What

 

[Day2]

So what? Stop judging fandom. These are people who have supported the team for decades, traveled to see them, donated, etc. Whether you want to accept it or not it’s not just fair weather fans that have become disinterested.

Yes, they supported the team for decades. And not one losing season during that time. That’s precisely his point. If this winds up being a losing season and fans bail, that makes them fair weather.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Hang in there on both basketball and football. We will return to good times someday and it will be that much sweeter. This is a character builder.

 

[jncuse]

Good for you. I was an avid Expos fan also from day one. I probably live closer to Montreal than you and I would take in about 10 games a year. There was one Saturday night game at old Jarry Park (what a great place to watch a ball game) that had Tom Seaver of the Mets going against Steve Rogers. Les Expos won 2-1 I think, what a ball game. The beer always flowed freely at Jarry Park It broke my heart when the team got moved

You are a bit older and wiser than me Don.
I was still very young when they were at Jarry Park.
My memories for the Expos start around 1980.

I grew up very close to the border, so I went to a number of games (beat your 10 in some years).. especially when I was in High School which was about 75 minute drive to the Big Owe, and a few of us in my class would drive there in 1993 and 1994.

The team had to get moved. It hurt, but the franchise was in a position of no return. The only hope is that it one day comes back. I hung on right to the very end in 2004, but I can't question those who dropped out earlier. For some reason I stayed strong to the end, but not sure if I would do in other situations if it arose. Ownership was just brutal.

Comparing to Syracuse, if I created a meter of the current issues in Syracuse basketball 2021 vs the issues in Expos baseball in 1998, Syracuse would maybe be at 15% of the issues where Montreal was in 1998... and maybe 10% of the issues by 2004. It's a very different situation.

Also I hope your help health issues can stay under control / improve.

 

[Arangeman]

Yes, they supported the team for decades. And not one losing season during that time. That’s precisely his point. If this winds up being a losing season and fans bail, that makes them fair weather.

People are already bailing. It’s not about whether we are a game over .500 this year or not.

 

[OrangeDW]

If people are insulted then this place is softer than I thought.

The Buffalo Bills have great fans. Those fans showed up even when they were terrible for 20 years. They weren’t just frontrunners.

If you lose fans during tough times then theres not as many diehards as one might think. I am not talking to any specific person here. It’s just math.

Agreed. We haven’t played particularly good or exciting ball(by our standards) recently, but I can’t imagine not going to games when I can. Especially around here in the winter.

 

[Day2]

People are already bailing. It’s not about whether we are a game over .500 this year or not.

And why are they bailing? Because the program isn’t up to their standards. Fair weather.

 

[Arangeman]

And why are they bailing? Because the program isn’t up to their standards. Fair weather.

Meh. You aren’t worth engaging. Think what you want.

 

[BillSU]

these feels to me, as a partner, like an irretrievably broken relationship because the other partner (SU FB and BB and the AD office) is not going to change and is not willing to spend what it takes to make the changes.
Do I keep giving, hoping the light comes on, or do I walk away now, before I am pulled even further down the death spiral? My heart says stay. Some of my fondest memories are SU sports centered. However, my head says walk away because my partner has to want to change, and right now, it doesn’t, and it will continue to take me for granted and break my heart, over and over again, and blame me when I ask why.
I feel like the Georgetown game will be my last. Seems fitting.

For me this is old hat and goes around and around and around. “We’re terrible, fire Boeheim, fire whomever is the football coach. The program just isn’t there anymore."

Back in the late seventies a friend of mine and I used to pick up Jim at Bradley Airport in CT when the team flew in to play UConn. We’d immediately go to look at a recruit(s). If we met him at 3 P.M., we’d get done recruiting at 10:30 and then go find a diner or a restaurant in Hartford and talk about the evening. I never saw anyone so full of energy and love of basketball. 45 years later, the man’s a Hall of Fame coach along with all the other accolades he’s been given over the years and the record counting ALL the WINS 1083-409 W/L % .726, NCAA Bids 35, NIT’s 7, FF 5, Nat’l Ch 1, top 25 Finishes 28. Pretty damn good, IMO. The board has been like it is today UP and DOWN in all the years it’s been in existence. People have been spoiled and it shows. But through it all Jim, a friend of mine, has won more games in the entire country than any other coach except one.

You are watching history as it happens. Three Boeheims together on the same court. That will never happen again. But what a story. This team has not been together for any length of time except for Buddy and Joe. You have two transfers and the others. They haven’t played together all that much. Cole and Symir are just getting used to being on the team and used to each other and the way the team plays together. Sometimes you have to be just a little patient. Everyone here would be ecstatic if we were a FF team every year, in fact some expect it. Jim has had some great talent here over the years. As the years pass. Things change, other teams have grown to be destinations for the talent we compete for and if we don’t get all the talent like we used to have the board gets upset.

I can say in all the years I’ve watched this team there hasn’t been a shooter like Buddy from the three. Maybe Edwards will, in his last year, be a challenging center like Seikaly grew to be. Let them grow and get experience in big games against experienced programs. Auburn has Jabari Smith, a talent that will be there one year like Carmelo. He makes a difference for a team like Carmelo. You go with what you have. Dave Bing began it all - set SU on a national championship quest and we’ve been there ever since. I hope we get another Bing or Carmelo but they don’t come around very often. But, you never know who may show up and take the team on his back. In the meantime, you have to be satisfied with the gradual learning process this team will experience or not.

For me – I don’t like the white knuckle games anymore than you do. And I am yelling at the TV just like you. It ain’t easy. But I’ll never give up being an Orange fan no matter what.

 

[oTTo113445]

Basketball isn't football, they aren't the same players, or the same coach, or the same practice. Only thing they have in common is the same fans.

If 90% of our fanbase rooted for just basketball, and 10% only rooted for football, it doesn't mean football couldn't be better. I love JB, he has a mean streak towards winning.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I can certainly see calling out the comments of "I am going to quit following this program for good", because:
1) It is likely over-dramatic based on the current situaton, and
2) Its not likely going to be the case.

But raising the point that this program is causing some to lose some level of interest in things while still following the team (a limited degree of apathy per se) is a fair comment and I suspect is really happening. It's happened with me at times in the past 5 years.

I have been a fan for longer than dirt and this is the first season ever where I regularly do not bother to watch games to the end. After the first half I lose interest. For decade after decade I never doubted that the team could make a come-back. I have yet to see a come-back this season. I'll never not be a fan, but this is brutal. I still think they could turn it around but not sure if they will.

 

[bballbeadle]

People are jumping ship now????
At this rate what's the Orange record likely to be after the next 3 games?
The situation may be very ugly...the worst SU start in the Boeheim era.

I'll be there trying to watch every game.
The biggest change the season is that instead of yelling and cheering at my TV I find myself mostly sighing...with an occasional moan of disgust.

I believe that if I display a high level of energy in my recliner, the team will be able to to feel it through my TV set. I also believe I can affect free throws with mind power alone.

If I give up on the team, it just means I’m giving up on myself.

 

[CousCuse]

People around here need to get over the Colgate loss. It was a statistical anomaly. After SU went up 20-5 the odds were off the board that Colgate would come back to win. It happens and it is not an indictment of this team and not the end of the season. Just throw it out.

 

[TinyManInside]

I can't imagine a scenario where I would ever bail on SU basketball. Outside of the Toronto Blue Jays, SU is the earliest fandom that I have, I grew up in upstate NY, I started going to SU basketball games when Pearl was a SO, I ran orangenation.net for nearly a decade during which time I saw nearly every one of our recruits play in high school, I followed this team all around the country, and I got my doctorate degree from SU.

But... it gets harder and harder to be fully invested in the fate of this team when the collective talent level seems to decrease year over year. The product on the court bears minimal resemblance to the product that I feel in love with from 1980 to about 2015. I will still watch every single game and cheer for the Orange but I am realistic enough to be able to analyze the data and see the clear downward trend.

 

[Alsacs]

Part of this is entertainment. Actually all of this is entertainment, whether you went to the school or not.

Apathy happens / focus on other things and other sports happen. I don't think its fair to insult these people. The overdramatic fans who are threatening to quit full stop, maybe.

Personally I cheered for the Montreal Expos would make trips to see them right until the bitter end when pretty much the rest of the world had given up them. I did whatever was possible to catch them when they were on TV (Because they were not on TV every game). Would go to every game they played in Toronto.

It's hard to describe what ticks / doesn't tick with someone from a fandom perspective.

This shouldn’t have ever been worn.

 

[FloridaFan]

What is the reason to go around parading "die-hard" status or the lack there-of as a scarlet letter? ultimately the level of ones fandom doesnt give someone else the right to criticize them for wanting to see better play. I dont get the chance to go to many BB or FB games but when i do i always go. That doesnt give me the right to tell other fans that their grievances dont matter because they want to stop going to or watching games.

 

[cuseattle]

You can still yea fan and it attend the games.

I need a little help here.

 

[bevosu]

I need a little help here.

Google translate- You can still be a fan and not attend games.

 

[cuseattle]

Google translate- You can still be a fan and not attend games.

That's fantastic! First I ever heard of this, thanks.

 

[chugg21]

Both football & basketball games have always been written in ink on my schedule, definite appointment viewing. Over the last couple years that has moved down a notch or 2 to a normal priority. Don't know if that's just normal as I age into mid-30s or if I've now moved into "fair-weather fan" territory. I do know for certain that Cuse bball games were the only sporting events able to effect my mood based on the result and that stopped happening a few years ago too.

 

[Cusefan0307]

What is the reason to go around parading "die-hard" status or the lack there-of as a scarlet letter? ultimately the level of ones fandom doesnt give someone else the right to criticize them for wanting to see better play. I dont get the chance to go to many BB or FB games but when i do i always go. That doesnt give me the right to tell other fans that their grievances dont matter because they want to stop going to or watching games.

That isn’t what was said though. No fans were personally criticized. General statements about fans were made and people got offended because this place has become soft.

 

[Waltdods]

But... it gets harder and harder to be fully invested in the fate of this team when the collective talent level seems to decrease year over year. The product on the court bears minimal resemblance to the product that I feel in love with from 1980 to about 2015. I will still watch every single game and cheer for the Orange but I am realistic enough to be able to analyze the data and see the clear downward trend.

There have been some talent troughs before - ~97-02, 06-08. But I don't think any of them were comparable to what we're seeing here. Either '01-02 or '07-08 are probably the prior nadirs, but both those teams were more talented and there were major recruits in the pipeline. That '01-02 team would smoke this team. Nobody would ever defend anyone in a matchup between 07-08 and this year's squad, but at least you'd look at the Jonny Flynns etc. and see there was a plausible future.

That said, the program bounced back in a major way from both those prior troughs, and in both instances the bounceback seemed kind of miraculous. So,,, bright side?