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NEWS FLASH: Nothing posted on this site has the slightest influence on the Athletic Director, any of the coaches, or the president. If you have a spare million or two to donate to stadium upgrades, you might be listened to just a little, but you still wouldn't get a coach fired who the AD and prez thought was doing a good job.

Perhaps there are some that check in here, but they have far better things to do with their time, so I would hope not. I do think that the AD probably checks in here, and I know that others from the athletic department do. They are the ones that need to know what fan attitudes are, and here is where they would expect to find the most extreme perspectivs.

In a way it's a good thing that BA has become what it has become. In the 2005-2011 years there was a too-cozy relationship, where BA was always supportive of the players and the team, and it came to be viewed as a "safe" place. Parents posted here regularly, and players did occasionally, and BA built a closer relationship between the players and fans, boosting the morale of all. That model was doomed to implode at some point, and it abruptly ended in 2012 when the fans turned on the players after the Miami loss, sucking a lot of morale out, and exposing the risk. A too-cozy relationship with fans is dangerous because fans are fickle, and I'm not just talking Ohio, I'm talking everywhere.

It took a couple years, but BA has evolved since then. The parents and players no longer post, nor do members of the Athletic Department. It's not the same safe, cozy place anymore. Instead it's just like the fan board for any major school, where you find a mix of opinions, some supportive, some critical, some happy, and some unhappy. The players, if they do check in, read it differently than they would have in the past, and come here knowing what to expect.

I'm a big believer in free speech, and I would never tell someone they aren't entitled to their own opinions, not entitled to express them. I also think that now that BA has evolved, it does no real harm, so go for it.

I agree, and I think that's where we are, now. It just took us awhile to get there.

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Nobody is trying to get the coach fired, just voicing my concerns. I cited the Michigan case because someone said the fans opinion does not matter. I am against mediocrity, so are the coaches and players.

We all now know what is meant by the term "lunatic fringe".

The AD was forced to resign after he criticized the fans, whoa Nelly. What does that say? The Big House was selling out. Let's find another to discredit that feller, because fans don't matter. Who does the program market to and sell jerseys to? F the fans.

You've won.

I've read this through three times and I laugh harder each time. Well played!

I think we as amateurs can have really good insight into teams, just like I believe in the role of the critic when it comes to the arts and politics.

Flaws are easier to see out here. We don't as easily get caught up in the "Us against the world" mentality that trusts processes too long, belatedly.

Frank Solich not putting a bright enough marashino cherry on top of a 48-31 win in the final seconds is not one of those times.

Ahh... yes, the Good Will Hunting argument...

I nominate Monroe for official BobcatAttack Savant!

I understand the fight for credit, the politics that can come with that.

I'm more talking about a good working environment, a cooperative team effort.

'Political' type environment or not, my take is that most people at most businesses know who the good/contributing people are and who the laggard/coasters are.