Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="billsin01, post: 2170124, member: 837"] I bolded the two sections above b/c to me these are the biggest issues with the paranoia -- in a nutshell, 1) is it really justified and 2) Even if it is, what does it cost you? So a guy like Richt is going to watch every spring game. But every spring game is intentionally bland. And every spring game at every school since the dawn of time has had a history of being unreliable even in terms of basic scouting. I remember covering the Maryland spring football game three years in a row and all three years the MVP was won by a guy who was either a walkon (Andrew Smith the LB 2x and a DL by the name of Patterson who rarely played and I think quit after his r-soph. year). So what, realistically, does Richt get out of all that effort and all that data? To me, you need to get players and develop them. You need to run an offense and a defense that bring out the best attributes of these players. And, at the end of the day, you'd obviously rather the other team not know what's coming, but more importantly you also need to do what you do well. So all of that brings me to my point -- I'm Ok with the fact that these teams and coaches are going to try and run relatively bland sets and try not to give too much away. But the idea that a football team ends it's season in November (if it doesn't make a bowl) and then essentially tells it's fans 'Leave us alone, we're working' for 8 months, is ludicrous (at least in the case of a school like Syracuse that needs every possible fan it can get). Think about it for a minute -- the program that more than any other program (perhaps outside of a massive research school) generates the most revenue (not just TV money but general exposure and name recognition that all schools crave) for the school, is the one program that outside of a day in February for signing day tries it's best to hide from the public eye. Makes no sense to me. I'd rather Syracuse try to work with the city or whomever to get some sort of spring festival going and tie the game into that festival ... or something like that. Want to protect QBs? Fine. Want to strictly limit the playbook? Fine. But allow reporters to actually see some of practice to see which players are standing out. Allow the fans to get engaged. Try to draw a solid crowd to the game and just generally try to create a welcome atmosphere. Drives me crazy that we don't do this. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?