One of the hardest parts of this season

[Eric15]

To each their own but I actually don't think this board has been that bad at all given how much we suck.

The day when this board starts looking like Great Northern Mall — that’s when we should be worried.

 

[realorange]

I’m sure it’s been worse.

No, Ragman is right. I've been on the board in its many iterations and as long as Ragman. It has never been as bad as this year.
I used to be one of the posters that was always on this board, good days and bad. But those days were rational. Once someone made a point they didn't become like a repeating recording saying the same thing over and over.
I've said many times that it's not what you say but how you say it. Criticize all you want, but don't attack.

We used to make fun of the Syracuse.com board. The way this board is today is not far from what that dumpster fire was.

 

[rhcuse]

we still have the pee troughs and glory holes - all hope is not lost.

One of those I have never used.

Not saying which.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I got to where you are about two years ago. I rarely take more than a cursory look at the board for 24 hours after any game (win or loss). I look for the posters I like and respect and always try to read SWC and Tomcat's reports.

With that said, I've actually kind of turned that feeling on its head lately. I'm always upset when SU loses, and when I'm really upset I'll come to the board to see how bats**t insane some other people are. For some reason it always makes me feel better to know I'm A) not alone in my craziness about SU and B) not nearly as angry or miserable as a great number of people on the board. For whatever reason, that actually helps!

Tap into you baser instincts. You’ll be all the better for it, I guarantee.

 

[goofnoff]

No, Ragman is right. I've been on the board in its many iterations and as long as Ragman. It has never been as bad as this year.
I used to be one of the posters that was always on this board, good days and bad. But those days were rational. Once someone made a point they didn't become like a repeating recording saying the same thing over and over.
I've said many times that it's not what you say but how you say it. Criticize all you want, but don't attack.

We used to make fun of the Syracuse.com board. The way this board is today is not far from what that dumpster fire was.

Are we talking about just basketball or football, too? I really got tired of the trashing of Coach P so I just left. In the 17 seasons since P left we're 78-118 with 4 bowl games. Two, if like me, you don't count the Pinstripe Bowl as a bowl game.

JB has always been trashed win or lose, I'm sure good old Igor would insist we should have beat Kansas by 40, However, I can't defend everything JB has done. I think he's handled a lot of players atrociously. I think JB has consistently done a terrible PR job with the press which effects recruiting. I think his insistence of never playing anything but the 2-3 has hurt us in games where the other team is athletically inferior even as we've won some against athletically superior teams.

 

[NKR1978]

I've gotten to the point where I had to unfollow a bunch of SU/Syracuse personalities because I don't want my twitter to be filled with updates. I'll check the score and when I'm bored I'll check the board. But it's sad and I really just want a little excitement to bring me back in.

This season is what I expected after last spring's exodus. I bought into the hope/hype but this was not a good roster.

 

[NineOneSeven]

IMHO... Saddest part of this season for me is being on pace for the first losing season in 45+ years. But some of these words on the internet are definitely up there too.

 

[Sherman20]

JB has always relied on great athletes and iso ball. He still wants to play that way but he doesn’t have players capable of doing it. That’s what’s frustrating. He’s not taking advantage of this years abilities. Give this team to Virginia Tech’s coach and see what happens. I’m not saying he’s a better coach, but his offensive philosophy would thrive with this team..

Not all that impressed with Mike Young. He’s fine but nothing special. For my money, Matt Painter from Purdue is one of the best offensive minds in the game. He could improve our offense. But I don’t know who could help the defense, which is the real problem with this year’s team. If JB can’t figure it out, I don’t think anyone else could.

 

[Browerfor3]

I am both a "Cuse and Cowboys fan. Hard times but I'll get through it.

As I am. Fan of Cowboys since junior high and Cuse a couple years later after first Carrier Dome experience.

Two different yet similar cycles of pain. 1970's era Dallas rich with talent wins Super Bowls, always competitive and a program to be admired. Repeats in 1990's then lack of talent and questionable actions resolved by housecleaning and rebuilding. Last five or so years improves talent through better drafting and player development but cannot get to championship level due to mistakes, coaching and lack of discipline.
Dallas has history of Super Bowl wins but has forgotten how to execute at that caliber with high level talent.

SU of the 80's through mid 90's was talented, innovative and must watch basketball but could not take home NCAA championship in two attempts but very competitive. Well regarded program with solid level of talent then reached pinnacle in 03 with exceptional skill, high level coaching and team development. Since then, sporadic talent with frequent recruiting misses and less than expected player development.
Syracuse BB also has a championship legacy but trends further down each season with substandard recruiting, outdated coaching and non existing game adjustments due to skill level.

Painful yet similar situations leading to another dissapointing winter.

 

[Sherman20]

Great post.

I think the thing you said that resonates the most is the fear of slipping into irrelevance. Our football team was "in the conversation", in the rankings, and talked about on TV every weekend - for about 15 years when I was a young adult, and a similar period when I was a kid, which were my father and grandfather's teams. We always made the highlights. People were always aware of the line on our game. We were in all the parlay sheets.

Football had a great chance following the recent 10 win season with TV-Ready Tommy, and a hot charismatic coach in Dino.

Once more, we feel hope in football. We went from 1 win to 5. We might have made a bowl with some depth, some better decision making from the coaches, and a few more playmakers at key positions.

You have to be honest. All the moves so far create optimism on the gridiron.

We cannot allow ourselves to go into the hole of irrelevance, or "Bottom 10" lists for hoops. We have literally been there for football, and it is a long way back from that for any program.

Yea, I grew up in Syracuse when the basketball and football teams were both nationally relevant. That 1985-2001 stretch for football was great. The basketball team was on another level of success and consistency, of course, but the football team could contend for Big East titles and top 25 finishes. I don’t think it’ll ever get as bad for basketball as it’s gotten for football, simply because we have great basketball resources, incredible tradition and fan base, and are in a key recruiting territory, the Northeast corridor from Boston to the DMV. There are only a a handful of programs (UConn, Nova and Maryland) in the same Northeast to mid-Atlantic corridor that can compete on our level in terms of financial resources, conference affiliation, prestige and historical success. Now we’ve just got to find the right successor to carry on JB’s winning legacy.

 

[Orangello]

Speaking of Boeheim critics, whatever happened to the guy who always claimed he knew everything about basketball, and particularly SU basketball. I think he coined the 2-3 zone as the 'tavern league defense." He also insisted JB would never win an NC.

He is our current President. We know peeps around here.