Parents of players...

[Eagles20]

Its not your son.

Yea I'm aware. I also don't bash student athletes on this board. If others want to which I havnt really seen that much, can't control others opinions. I have been a big supporter of Cooney who seems to get criticized more than any other.

 

[SUintheVille]

All you need to do is ask yourself: would you talk like that to anyone in person? I doubt it. So it's the internet. Doesn't mean you need to be a tough guy behind a firewall. Treat people with respect. It's not me talking down, preaching, an order what have you. It's just civil and not being a douche. Sorry, but I know a lot of good posters that feel similarly lately. Bobby never posted anything but value here. I would like to keep it that way, have no problem with parents who post and are never out of line. Maybe it's the out of line people who need to rethink themselves.

Well said Tee!

 

[SUintheVille]

It's a simple leadership principle. Don't attack or criticize the person, take on the exhibited behavior and how to improve it as needed. We all screw up. Society is way too quick to criticize personally, and internet MBs are notorious for it. I don't want this MB to ever go away. It's a fun place to come to share things with fellow Cuse fans, and of course there are widely varying opinions at times. Good job mods in addressing the negative behaviors demonstrated at times during adversity.

 

[NineOneSeven]

This all stems from the simple fact that humans by nature are inherently evil

 

[rrlbees]

Well this is sad. I have certainly voiced my displeasure with certain players (BJ is not one of them ironically), but at the end of the day its just a game. DO i go crazy when Trevor is 1-10 yet logs 40 minutes? Yep. DO i also cheer as loud as anyone when he makes a shot? Yes. As for BJ, i hope his dad isnt soured forever. i think he still has something to give our program. He probably should have redshirted, but he still has size and athleticism that you cant teach.

It would be sad too if Cooney's parents read the board and saw the, he's useless and garbage posts.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I try to call it like I see it, and be on the board to point out both the positive and the negative, but I do think there is a population of posters that only post when we lose, or only post negative things about said players. These posters are usually nowhere to be found if we are playing well, but at the first drop of adversity they trounce and like to say our players or the team stinks. I mentioned this last week in another thread and was told I made the post to get "the moderators to like me".

For example last year many posters were missing when we won 25 in a row, they were missing when Trevor Cooney was ripping the nets, and they were missing when we won big games against teams like Duke, Nova, and UNC.

Then suddenly said player isn't playing as good as he was, or the team isn't and said poster comes out of hibernation and says Trevor Cooney "sucks", Jim Boeheim can't coach, and the team is going to the NIT.

Now when said poster does this and you call them out on it they get defensive, and it's difficult to call them "trolls" if they have been on the board since 2011 or have 10,000 posts. My question is for said posters like this, is why the heck do you root for Syracuse if you only comment on the negative aspects of the program.

Now theres good posters that analyze both the positive and the negative. Theres posters that analyze just the positive, but we have far too many "fans" who only post when the team loses or doesn't play to their liking.

 

[81South]

First post here...felt compelled to share on this topic.

I think those of us who have children can relate very well to how BJ's father is feeling. He loves his son dearly, knows how hard he is working on and off the court and doesn't want to see him get criticized. ...its just REALLY hard to take as a parent when you know your child is busting his butt to be his best.

It's true that Syracuse is a big time college basketball program and players are going to get criticized by a percentage of the fan base when things are going badly. However, I often find a majority of the criticism related to our players on this forum as unfair.

We certainly have been very spoiled as a fanbase over the years so seeing the team struggle is hard. We just need to trust that the coaches and the players are doing everything they can to improve. Personally I am just taking incredible enjoyment in watching Rak play the way he is...the growth he has shown over 3 years as a player has been good but this senior year has been GREAT so far...I am just so happy for him. I am also taking great pleasure in Chris M's game...he has exceeded my expectations for a freshman and I just want to enjoy every game this season as we likely won't have him after this year.

 

[swish7]

This is an example of why it is a big deal. This is a verbatim ad hominem response to BJOB (which was deleted -- and it was not the only response to him that was deleted):

"Oh great spawn of Polly and Anna, I have been viewing posts on variations of this forum since at least 1997. What you've witnessed today is nothing.

"To be your clear, your worldview of fandom is just that, your own. So, take your 'so called' and 'fair weather' qualifiers, and warnings of pending contradictions and desire to bark when your personal worldviews are not parroted by complete strangers on the internet, and find some My Little Pony forum to post 'em on.

"Surprise! It's the internet. Here you will find billions of people whose opinions and coping mechanisms differ from yours."

So, my post offended him? I can see why it would. For the record, I had no idea this person was a player's parent. I do not pay any attention to that stuff. I don't really know how I would know that. If I had known he was a player-parent, I would have posted a similar sentiment, but in a less snarky fashion. That said, I felt my level of snarkiness did not exceed his ('so called fans' etc).

This is unfortunate. There are few paths we could take:

1. Treat everyone the same. Put your big boy pants on when you come here. Ban people for being egregiously disagreeable
2. Treat player's parents in some special way. To do that, they would need to be flagged as such (caution, handle with care)
3. Ban people like me
4. Discourage player parent posting. I know 'Bees has done this in the past.

The issue is this. I dislike posts which call out the whole board for not being positive enough, or not posting a certain way. I find it offensive to be told to post a certain way, with insinuations that I am not a fan, etc. They are 'disagreeable' to me, assuming my opinion matters. My response has always been to make a post like the one above.

Now, I am being called out as the one whom drove this person away. Irony is, I came to the thread very late. I am unsure if I had even posted in the 12+ hours leading up to it. And I certainly haven't said anything about BJ specifically in a long while. Whatever caused him to make that post in the first place was not me. I was responding to the call for more PollyAnna-ism, which has been a frequently-recurring sore point during my 16+ years here. And again, I had no idea whom he is, and I'm not sure I need to know that.

I've tried very hard to be kinder and gentler. I failed. I jumped into a conversation I had no business jumping into all b/c of the call for pollyannism, the 'so-called-fan' comment, and the '2-years' qualifier, and I dredged up my old snarkiness.

Epic fail all around.

I've always felt these OPs which bemoan the state of the board, but are not referring to anything specific should be deleted.

 

[CU44SE]

The bottom line, this is a Syracusefan board, not a specific player board. We want the players to do well in that means the team is doing well. Its been a tough season so far and fans will react in that way. We are not going to pump up players when they are not performing up to our expectations. I will not go out of my way to contact a player on social networks or in person and tell them how bad they are playing, that is pointless, classless, and frankly i just don't understand what joy any individual would get out of that. But unfortunately with increased use of social networks, some individuals feel the need to do this. These players are obviously trying their best, they are not intentionally playing poorly. But that doesn't mean their isn't a place for us to vent about their play, a place for us fans to voice our displeasure with a specific player among fellow fans. That place happens to be this board, SYRACUSEFAN.com, a place were fellow SYRACUSE FANS come together because of our love for the university and our love of sports. In the end, we all want the same thing, syracuse success. Personally, this is where I come to vent and celebrate with fellow fans and talk syracuse sports. I can't do this in Buffalo because their is not fellow syracuse fans around me and my roommates are not Syracuse fans. So I come here to talk about the team I love and watch every game. In my opinion, this is a place parents and players should avoid once they start playing here because of this fact.

I don't mean this disrespectfully, but OBJ came onto this board when his son was being recruited and was widely loved because there was a lot to like about his sons potential and he showed a lot of promise. But with that love, also comes high expectations. And when those expectations are unfulfilled, people become restless. You can't always expect to be loved, your playing for one of the top teams in the country. This also occurs everywhere in the country, it is not confined to syracuse itself. You can't expect the love fest to continue when the team is losing and players are playing poorly. We don't root for one player more then the other, we root for the team as a whole.

 

[Hoov50]

It always seems that many posters on this site have a "whipping boy" no matter what happens in games whether it's a win or a loss they can't wait to critique a particular player. Personally, I do recognize that players have ups and downs, I have always felt it is pointless, and downright foolish, to blame a loss on a single player. No matter the situation a single player does not win or lose a game for a team. Why anyone would be blaming BJ Johnson for our season is beyond me. He is a developing, both physically and in regards to his game, player who played very few (if any) meaningful minutes last year. There are a lot of things that need to improve with this team, if we want to avoid 07-08 results. If you are posting to attack a player, you had darn well better be attacking a bunch of the players and coaches, because basketball is a TEAM sport.

As for CTO's original question, I don't think we need to tell parents not to frequent the board, but I have gone through situations like this as a coach, when anonymous people bashed decisions I made (or didn't make) based on half or less than half of the information. Coming from a coaching family I knew enough not to look on those message boards, but the information always seemed to find its way back to me anyway. From my experiences I can tell you with 100% certainty that I would not frequent any message board with anonymous posters if my offspring were a Division I student-athlete. When it comes to emails and message board postings people suddenly get internet courage, much like beer muscles, and type many things they would never have the guts to say to a person's face.

 

[Brooky03]

I wonder if any former or current players post here. You'd have to imagine at least one has stumbled across the board.

 

[orange79]

I wonder if any former or current players post here. You'd have to imagine at least one has stumbled across the board.

No idea about hoops, but there are several on the FB board.

 

[SU2NASA]

Not completely. This is a private board. People aren't allowed to express how they feel about a player if they are going to use words such as garbage, sucks, blows, should transfer, etc. Those types of posts are not tolerated.

But can I still say that Air Bud is better than Cooney?

 

[Czar]

But can I still say that Air Bud is better than Cooney?

Air Bud can't take it to the hole. I prefer Cooney.

 

[cto]

So, my post offended him? I can see why it would. For the record, I had no idea this person was a player's parent. I do not pay any attention to that stuff. I don't really know how I would know that. If I had known he was a player-parent, I would have posted a similar sentiment, but in a less snarky fashion. That said, I felt my level of snarkiness did not exceed his ('so called fans' etc).

This is unfortunate. There are few paths we could take:

1. Treat everyone the same. Put your big boy pants on when you come here. Ban people for being egregiously disagreeable
2. Treat player's parents in some special way. To do that, they would need to be flagged as such (caution, handle with care)
3. Ban people like me
4. Discourage player parent posting. I know 'Bees has done this in the past.

The issue is this. I dislike posts which call out the whole board for not being positive enough, or not posting a certain way. I find it offensive to be told to post a certain way, with insinuations that I am not a fan, etc. They are 'disagreeable' to me, assuming my opinion matters. My response has always been to make a post like the one above.

Now, I am being called out as the one whom drove this person away. Irony is, I came to the thread very late. I am unsure if I had even posted in the 12+ hours leading up to it. And I certainly haven't said anything about BJ specifically in a long while. Whatever caused him to make that post in the first place was not me. I was responding to the call for more PollyAnna-ism, which has been a frequently-recurring sore point during my 16+ years here. And again, I had no idea whom he is, and I'm not sure I need to know that.

I've tried very hard to be kinder and gentler. I failed. I jumped into a conversation I had no business jumping into all b/c of the call for pollyannism, the 'so-called-fan' comment, and the '2-years' qualifier, and I dredged up my old snarkiness.

Epic fail all around.

I've always felt these OPs which bemoan the state of the board, but are not referring to anything specific should be deleted.

You "called out" yourself, Swish. No one else mentioned your name... and the post in question was deleted before anyone saw it. If you want to link yourself to it, fine, but keep in mind that you're the one who "called out" yourself.

I have just two further comments:

1) OGBJ has been identifying himself here for two years in more than 800 posts...and people respond to him as BJ's father. They also ask about him when he is not posting here. For anyone who reads the board with any regularity, it is no secret as to who he is.

2) Even if you did not know who he was, your post came close to having enough "snarkiness" (your word) to qualify as an attack on another poster. "Take your thoughts to a My Little Pony forum"... is hardly civil discourse.

 

[SU2NASA]

Air Bud can't take it to the hole. I prefer Cooney.

Come on, look at the 1:00 mark. He finishes at the basket better than most of our team.

 

[swish7]

You "called out" yourself, Swish. No one else mentioned your name... and the post in question was deleted before anyone saw it. If you want to link yourself to it, fine, but keep in mind that you're the one who "called out" yourself.

1) OGBJ has been identifying himself here for two years in more than 800 posts...and people respond to him as BJ's father. They also ask about him when he is not posting here. For anyone who reads the board with any regularity, it is no secret as to who he is.

2) Even if you did not know who he was, your post came close to having enough "snarkiness" (your word) to qualify as an attack on another poster. "Take your thoughts to a My Little Pony forum"... is hardly civil discourse.

Sure, I did it to myself. I am the guy behind the guy. I am the guy who said nothing about BJ, but said something inflammatory to a poster whom turned out to be somebody special. I'm not here to hide. Last comment on this. IMO referring to the board as being inclusive of 'so called fans' and 'fairweather', these are not civil comments. It happens all too often when people want to comment on how negative the board is. I've been here 16 years, and devoted more of my time here, and watching SU games, than I care to share. I've sat through numerous blowout losses until the very end. I'm not a big donor, I'm not as big a fan as the average person here, but I'm not a fair weather fan.

Again, epic fail all around.

I had no idea who he is, and I don't think I need to.

 

[two3zone]

Was a lurker for awhile before coming on board. Listen, this board can be great and has been and will continue too. That being said. This board is negative. With more and more doom n gloom and knee jerk reaction posters. I also think some have forgotten what being a fan is. "If you are a fan of the team then you should ride with them WIN or lose".

Who do you think you are? Why do you think you're any better than anybody else on here whether they criticize a team that's struggling or cheering a team that's doing well. You think you can call 90% board out every single time you make a post and question everybody's fan hood and that makes you what? It makes you no better than calling out the people that are calling out the players.

Even the regular diehard cheerleaders on the board have doubts this year, and yet here you are still trashing anybody that doesn't think they're going undefeated the rest of the year, just stop, you're not any more of a fan than anybody else here and judging by your posts that aren't waving pom poms you know very little about basketball.


Get off the horse.

 

[Jamesvillecuse]

I have never responded to a player's parent on these boards I personally don't think it is a good idea for them to post here because of how some people can act and say anything. I also don't like the he is an 18 to 22 year old kid argument because when I was that age I was serving my country and suffered injuries that still affect me to this day. Point is I was a man when I joined the service I was not a kid and don't think that player should be treated like he is a kid when 18 to 20 year old MEN die for our country everyday. I am sorry that a player's parent is offended by certain posts but this is a fan forum and people get over emotional so I say post if they want but realize that not everything is going to be a lovefest.

 

[llandz]

Now I almost get the football coach's comments about ISIS. Cause I can almost say seriously? This is the first year like this since my freshman year in 1972. Am I spoiled? Yes. Is my world going to end because we are finally starting a season a little off? No. If we have one bad season the world will not end. We have an incredible recruiting class coming in. And we do not even know where this season is going yet. So we are having a rough start., and this was somewhat expected. We all did not like when sports reporters said we were not going to be good this year. They did not get that from a magic 8 ball. And speaking of a magic 8 ball, JB has worked magic on teams like this before. So let's wait and see how it plays out. Most schools would dream to be in our position where we go to an NIT less than a handful of times over a 40 year span and the NCAAs the rest.

 

[310Pigpen]

OGBJ is still my best friend, I love hearing his inside look at things. I like seeing how involved he is with his son. Kind of reminds me of Scoops father

 

[Crusty]

When you step into the spotlight you must reasonably expect to get praise when you are good and criticism when you are bad. However, there are limits. Being a fan generally means you support the program and the people in it. That means players, coaches and admins.

Crossing the line to me is when a supposed fan boos their own team or a someone on it. Watch our guys and gals when someone screws up badly - they pat him on the helmet or whatever and try to lift him or her up. That is what teammates and fans are supposed to do. More of us should take a clue from them. The same goes for posting. There are a number of coaches and really knowledgeable fans that post complaints and criticism without resorting to vulgarity, name calling, ad homiem attacks or stream of consciousness rants. Take a clue from them.

I don't know for sure but most of the people that post obnoxious threads probably never played a down or quarter or round or match in organized scholastic competition. They post what they post because they don't know enough to post anything that contributes to a discussion. A few I suppose are just ignorant or so inarticulate that they can't express themselves.

Lastly, coaches and admins are adults, get paid handsomely and know full well that for which they signed up. Players are just kids playing a game and should be treated with much more restraint. Same goes for parents.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[CuseHulk]

Who do you think you are? Why do you think you're any better than anybody else on here whether they criticize a team that's struggling or cheering a team that's doing well. You think you can call 90% board out every single time you make a post and question everybody's fan hood and that makes you what? It makes you no better than calling out the people that are calling out the players.

Even the regular diehard cheerleaders on the board have doubts this year, and yet here you are still trashing anybody that doesn't think they're going undefeated the rest of the year, just stop, you're not any more of a fan than anybody else here and judging by your posts that aren't waving pom poms you know very little about basketball.


Get off the horse.



View attachment 31330

Yes, I will always wave the POM Poms because like cheerleaders, that's what's being a fan is about.

 

[tep624]

Being a SU football fan first, I think the basketball side is getting a taste of how difficult and trying it can be when things don't go your way. Things haven't been going our way for a very long time, lol. A little glint here under Marrone, but this season was pretty painful all the way around.

That being said, it never ceases to amaze me how many people there are in our fanbase that act like 12 year old girls throwing a hissy fit when things don't go their way. This isn't life or death - and if you take this stuff that seriously then you really need to get a gf, a wife, a family, a hobby, a job, or something to balance out your life a little better. If you're getting to the point where you are personally insulting players or players' family members, and you don't realize that's a problem, then you probably shouldn't be part of the fanbase to begin with. Believe me, we'd all (and by all I mean everyone associated with Syracuse) be better off without you.

 

[SUOrangeSU]

I think we all need to hit the brakes a little bit and take a chill pill. This is just a forum of syracuse fans...never mind, carry on LOL