Thank God for Sooner Basketball

[twobits]

I don't understand the psychology of venting on a message board or constantly berating the head coach in a public forum.

What is hoped to be accomplished ?

Do they not like Bob Stoops and want to convince other fans to not like him also?

Do they think they are impacting public opinion of Bob Stoops or Kevin Wilson or whoever ?

Or is strictly an ego trip, they believe they know better ( in spite of not having enough data or experience to make those determinations ) and think they can impact Stoops and staff decisions ?

I think some actually see themselves as the anti-yes man, they think they are serving the program by dragging the coaches through the mud or pointing out that Coach Johnny Joe at the other State U is such a better coach.

Or maybe they are running on just raw emotion, pure unabashed anger for a loss?

I see posters on the Owen Field board who only show up after a loss. I wonder if they are really OU fans or are posers, i.e. fans of other schools who wish to make things worse among the OU fans.

Or maybe they are just miserable people who are not happy unless everyone is miserable with them . I understand commiseration, looking for fans to share their hurt, but why does that progress to bashing of coaches and players ? If they feel badly about their head coach, why does it seem to be so important to make everyone else feel bad about their head coach ?

I think there's an immaturity to some of them, they don't understand nor realize the emotional state they are in during or after a game. Maybe there's a lack of interpersonal awareness.

Or simply inebriated and not responsible for their behaviour ?

And finally, this would all be much clearer to me if for the last few seasons Stoops had struggled for a winning record and/or just to make any bowl appearance, period.

Then all the angst and anger would be perfectly understandable. I've seen those days.

 

[MsProudSooner]

I don't understand the psychology of venting on a message board or constantly berating the head coach in a public forum.

What is hoped to be accomplished ?

Do they not like Bob Stoops and want to convince other fans to not like him also?

Do they think they are impacting public opinion of Bob Stoops or Kevin Wilson or whoever ?

Or is strictly an ego trip, they believe they know better ( in spite of not having enough data or experience to make those determinations ) and think they can impact Stoops and staff decisions ?

I think some actually see themselves as the anti-yes man, they think they are serving the program by dragging the coaches through the mud or pointing out that Coach Johnny Joe at the other State U is such a better coach.

Or maybe they are running on just raw emotion, pure unabashed anger for a loss?

I see posters on the Owen Field board who only show up after a loss. I wonder if they are really OU fans or are posers, i.e. fans of other schools who wish to make things worse among the OU fans.

Or maybe they are just miserable people who are not happy unless everyone is miserable with them . I understand commiseration, looking for fans to share their hurt, but why does that progress to bashing of coaches and players ? If they feel badly about their head coach, why does it seem to be so important to make everyone else feel bad about their head coach ?

I think there's an immaturity to some of them, they don't understand nor realize the emotional state they are in during or after a game. Maybe there's a lack of interpersonal awareness.

Or simply inebriated and not responsible for their behaviour ?

And finally, this would all be much clearer to me if for the last few seasons Stoops had struggled for a winning record and/or just to make any bowl appearance, period.

Then all the angst and anger would be perfectly understandable. I've seen those days.

I've had this conversation with myself a million times. I finally decided that it's a little bit of everything you mentioned.

It would be interesting to know the exact age of some of the people who are most obnoxious.

Those of us who posted on OUI's men's bb board for several years noticed those who never posted except after a loss. Since the bb board wasn't as busy as the football board, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

In many ways, they are to be pitied. But that doesn't stop me from disagreeing with the ones who are most outrageous. I think I got one of them banned on Saturday night. :woot

I've never understood the 'I HAVE A RIGHT TO VENT!' point of view. After the BYU game, no one could have been madder at the OLine than me. I was completely outraged that a group whose primary responsibility was to keep Sam safe allowed him to be injured. I was so mad that you would have thought I was Sam's Mom! I didn't sleep worth a darn all night long, but I didn't dare post anything about it until a couple of days later because I didn't want to post something I would regret. Some people just don't listen to that little voice inside their head that is telling them to wait until they cool down to post.

 

[sybarite]

Some thread for a basketball board. It is simply a matter of expectations. If you are happy with getting in the top five or ten, you love what we have. If you expect more, you probably are on a bit of an edge. This is almost a reverse phenomenon in some ways. Usually, dissent comes from the young. I wonder if the higher expectations don't arise with those who remember Bud and Barry's teams instead of Blake's and Snellenberger's?

 

[coolm]

I dont get the whole "expectation" thing.

You can't "expect" to be a top team every year. You just can't. There are too many factors involved....with the stagnation from success alone being a major one.

If your team is consistently in the top-10 or so I think that's about the best anyone could ever hope for and some setbacks should just be considered par for the course.

 

[twobits]

Some thread for a basketball board. It is simply a matter of expectations. If you are happy with getting in the top five or ten, you love what we have. If you expect more, you probably are on a bit of an edge. This is almost a reverse phenomenon in some ways. Usually, dissent comes from the young. I wonder if the higher expectations don't arise with those who remember Bud and Barry's teams instead of Blake's and Snellenberger's?

And how are you going to get more than top 5 or 10 ?

Its just dreaming to expect more than that. Merv Johnson said this the other day on the pre-game show, he said he's been involved with football as a player and coach all of his life and in that time, he's been a part of two undefeated seasons.

Expecting more than top 10 pretty much means undefeated or bust and that is completely unrealistic.

I was listening to a national sports talk show the other day and this topic was being discussed. They said its common in the highly successful programs, both football and basketball, for a segment of the fan base to begin picking at the head coach. They pick at every little flaw they can find and in some cases , have been successful in tearing down that coach and his staff. They were speaking in generic terms and did not define the term " successful " , but I have no doubt they were right on in their assessment.

Its a quirk of human nature.

And no, I think its mostly coming from the young. I also would like to know the age of posters. I wish there was some way to make it mandatory along with a user name. Course that's impossible without requiring birth certificates upon registration .

But if you analyse it, the 18 to 30 demographic really does not know anything but Stoops and winning. John Blake was 11 years ago. A 29 yr old today, was only 18 during Blake's last season, 14 during Howard's year. Not really old enough to understand all the dynamics of what was occurring in the 90's.

I also don't think there's many in my peer group that are even bothering with internet message boards, much less posting their displeasure. I'm an oddity of my age group. The internet is mostly the domain of the young.

 

[luckyc1423]

And how are you going to get more than top 5 or 10 ?

Its just dreaming to expect more than that. Merv Johnson said this the other day on the pre-game show, he said he's been involved with football as a player and coach all of his life and in that time, he's been a part of two undefeated seasons.

Expecting more than top 10 pretty much means undefeated or bust and that is completely unrealistic.

I was listening to a national sports talk show the other day and this topic was being discussed. They said its common in the highly successful programs, both football and basketball, for a segment of the fan base to begin picking at the head coach. They pick at every little flaw they can find and in some cases , have been successful in tearing down that coach and his staff. They were speaking in generic terms and did not define the term " successful " , but I have no doubt they were right on in their assessment.

Its a quirk of human nature.

And no, I think its mostly coming from the young. I also would like to know the age of posters. I wish there was some way to make it mandatory along with a user name. Course that's impossible without requiring birth certificates upon registration .

But if you analyse it, the 18 to 30 demographic really does not know anything but Stoops and winning. John Blake was 11 years ago. A 29 yr old today, was only 18 during Blake's last season, 14 during Howard's year. Not really old enough to understand all the dynamics of what was occurring in the 90's.

I also don't think there's many in my peer group that are even bothering with internet message boards, much less posting their displeasure. I'm an oddity of my age group. The internet is mostly the domain of the young.[/QUOTE]

I am assuming your peer group means older demographic...I am 26 and I can easily remember the days in the 90's...I can remember when there was a time I went to football games with my paps and being able to sit pretty much wherever you wanted to, or being able to get into halftime for free....So I am not sure your analogy works...
And the way I see it is message boards (forums) are just peoples opinions, some in the know and some not....The same goes to any television...ESPN is just an opinion of commentators....so you are telling me the older democraphic doesnt watch ESPN??
When you develop a program to what the football program has elevated to there are some expectations...and when those expectations are not met people get upset...I dont think Most OU fans "expect" to be in the National Championship every year, I think we "hope" to have a chance at that, and when we dont we get upset and can only hope for the best....

The same goes with what Capel is producing on the basketball court...If we went this year without getting Cam and not signing any other top 50-60 athlete that would seem like a let down...Even though we may have gotten 4 top 150 guys we still want atleast one top recruit....Its an expectations thing and you can only give thanks to capel and stoops for making those expectations

 

[twobits]

But if you analyse it, the 18 to 30 demographic really does not know anything but Stoops and winning. John Blake was 11 years ago. A 29 yr old today, was only 18 during Blake's last season, 14 during Howard's year. Not really old enough to understand all the dynamics of what was occurring in the 90's.

I also don't think there's many in my peer group that are even bothering with internet message boards, much less posting their displeasure. I'm an oddity of my age group. The internet is mostly the domain of the young.[/QUOTE]

I am assuming your peer group means older demographic...I am 26 and I can easily remember the days in the 90's...I can remember when there was a time I went to football games with my paps and being able to sit pretty much wherever you wanted to, or being able to get into halftime for free....So I am not sure your analogy works...
And the way I see it is message boards (forums) are just peoples opinions, some in the know and some not....The same goes to any television...ESPN is just an opinion of commentators....so you are telling me the older democraphic doesnt watch ESPN??
When you develop a program to what the football program has elevated to there are some expectations...and when those expectations are not met people get upset...I dont think Most OU fans "expect" to be in the National Championship every year, I think we "hope" to have a chance at that, and when we dont we get upset and can only hope for the best....

The same goes with what Capel is producing on the basketball court...If we went this year without getting Cam and not signing any other top 50-60 athlete that would seem like a let down...Even though we may have gotten 4 top 150 guys we still want atleast one top recruit....Its an expectations thing and you can only give thanks to capel and stoops for making those expectations

Hah !! And so that's all there was to the 90's huh ??? You could get in free at halftime ............. that fits perfectly with the memories a 14 yr old kid would have with the 90's.

When I was 12 yrs old, my Dad and I went to see Gomer Jones teams play. My Dad was given tickets to a couple games by one of his clients. I had no clue then, but when I got older, I realized why my Dad was given tickets.

What this has to do with expecting undefeated seasons and NC's every year and why I should be angry when it does not happen, is beyond me. I guess I need a 26 yr old to explain that to me.

 

[luckyc1423]

I was simply stating the fact that age does not mean the younger group does not know about the rough times OU faced in the 90's.....I am not following you....But I guess my lack of age leaves me without knowledge.....

 

[twobits]

I was simply stating the fact that age does not mean the younger group does not know about the rough times OU faced in the 90's.....I am not following you....But I guess my lack of age leaves me without knowledge.....

Uhhh , yeah that's sort've the gist of it.

Your memories of that time are very simple. My memories are of all the off the field battles over firing and hiring coaches. Of tuning into talk radio and hearing it bantered around and being told OU would never be a top 10 program again. Of players walking out of practice under Gibbs. It goes on and on, it was not pretty. There was a lot of despair that something I'd loved was lost , maybe forever.

There's no way a 10 to 15 year old kid is going to fully appreciate that.

I'm not trying to put you down because of your age, I'm just telling you that you don't know what you don't know about that time. As I said above, the 18 to 30 demographic can't fully appreciate the " dynamics " of that era.

 

[Tony]

I'm not trying to put you down because of your age...

And yet you managed to do it, without even trying! Skillz!

 

[twobits]

And yet you managed to do it, without even trying! Skillz!

How else do I explain that ?

I'm sorry, some guy who was 12 years old in 1995, getting in free with his " paps " ...........compared to me buying season tickets all during that era and agonizing over every developmen, and he's tellin me how he knows about the 90's

I guess you can't see how I found that insulting ?

 

[luckyc1423]

I am not sure how you manage to get insulted by a poster on a message board....But if I did do this I am sorry and I will be more cautious next time about your feelings. My apologizes

 

[Tony]

I'm sorry, some guy who was 12 years old in 1995, getting in free with his " paps " ...........compared to me buying season tickets all during that era and agonizing over every developmen, and he's tellin me how he knows about the 90's

I'm in the demographic you said cannot fully appreciate the 90's, and I do think that I appreciate it. In fact, I think younger people in general probably agonized over every development much more than the typical adult. I know I certainly did more than my father, who was a season ticket holder for years and years. I listened to the same sports radio programs you did, I remember the moving vans being parked in front of Gary Gibbs' house, and mostly I remember living and dying with every game. A loss crushed me and consumed my life until the next Saturday.

But eventually I developed other interests and realized that having my happiness tied to the success or failure of a college athletics team was a lousy way to go through life. I do see middle school and high school kids today that have more invested in Oklahoma athletics than I do, and that's ok. I certainly don't think my experience as an OU fan in 2009 is any more valid than their experience as an OU fan in 2009.

 

[thebigabd]

I'm in the demographic you said cannot fully appreciate the 90's, and I do think that I appreciate it. In fact, I think younger people in general probably agonized over every development much more than the typical adult. I know I certainly did more than my father, who was a season ticket holder for years and years. I listened to the same sports radio programs you did, I remember the moving vans being parked in front of Gary Gibbs' house, and mostly I remember living and dying with every game. A loss crushed me and consumed my life until the next Saturday.

But eventually I developed other interests and realized that having my happiness tied to the success or failure of a college athletics team was a lousy way to go through life. I do see middle school and high school kids today that have more invested in Oklahoma athletics than I do, and that's ok. I certainly don't think my experience as an OU fan in 2009 is any more valid than their experience as an OU fan in 2009.

OU losing used to ruin my day as well... but after I got out of high school I stopped caring so much. A few years after that (now) I dont care hardly at all. I care more about discovering the milk went bad than I do OU losing these days. I still love OU athletics and obviously follow very closely, I just dont get upset when OU loses.

Golf and my wife are the only two things that can ruin my day now.

 

[twobits]

I stand with what I say,

But if you analyse it, the 18 to 30 demographic really does not know anything but Stoops and winning. John Blake was 11 years ago. A 29 yr old today, was only 18 during Blake's last season, 14 during Howard's year. Not really old enough to understand all the dynamics of what was occurring in the 90's.