Criticism and belittling are two entirely different things. These guys are in the public spotlight playing football. They open themselves up for criticism every time they put on that uniform. I'm sure they can handle it. They get it daily from coaches. I'm sure Josh Kristoff isn't losing sleep because some knucklehead on a message board thinks he did a poor job tackling on Saturday at CMU. I'll be there Saturday to cheer on Josh and the supporting the Bobcats as I do each and every game. But get off your high horse thinking you're a better fan than those that critique players.

I think the players/coaches/administration are probably fine with criticism...I mean, at least someone is paying attention! That's how I would feel.

With that in mind: it baffles me how Kristoff has managed to keep a starting position for 3 or so years. He must be a really nice guy.

Thanks for that link, Jerry.

+1 Jerry!!!!

"Real life" for most of us does not include serious injury, surgeries, rehab, 5 yrs of demands to become bigger, stronger and faster. I am retired Army. These men go at this like soldiers. Like soldiers they win some and lose some. The other side is giving all they have too. Sometimes you just have to give credit across the field. You want to disrespect a soldier you should do it to his/her face. Me, sitting at my computer, I have not earned the right to disrespect these men. You either. JMHO Now, at the next level, different ball game.

There is very little similarity between your example and what happens here. In the case of your students, if their performance wasn't adequate, they heard it from you. If they players aren't performing adequately, they hear it from their coach. So far, so good. If your students aren't performing adequately, do they walk into the coffee shop, and hear the people there discussing how badly they did on their last test? No. Do they get on the internet and find their performance in class being critiqued by people that that could not have passed the same test themselves? No. Their grades are considered private, and they aren't held up to public ridicule. The situations are entirely different.

Next let's look at the situation at hand. The argument in favor of public criticism is that they are public figures. The argument against it is that they are amateurs, not paid professionals. The "public figure" argument is usually used only for paid professionals, such as politicians, actors, pro athletes, etc. I personally tend to go with the approach that they are just amateurs, and not really public figures. They do get scholarships, but they also have to work hard, year round, and risk injury. In the end I can see why some take the "public figure" approach, but personally, I don't.

A second reason I won't publicly criticize players is simple manners. I don't think it's right to say something on here that I wouldn't be willing to say to the person in person, to his face. Again, there is room for disagreement. Some of you might say these things to players standing in front of them. I wouldn't, so I try not to say them on here.

In the end, I expect there will be differences of opinion on these points. Some people feel obviously feel that its appropriate to attack individual players, so they do, but i don't, so I won't, or at least, I try not to.

LC, you knocked that right out of the park!

I find this thread comical...given all the things even we morons see, I would be shocked if the coaching staff hasn't gotten on these guys during film sessions a lot more than any Bobcat Attacker has and probably with a lot less polite grammar!

I'm not much in favor of mentioning players names.

But let's have a little reality here. Players know that fans will cite the good and the bad of their performance. It's part of being a fan...and being a player.

And players know the modern media age atmosphere in which they compete. It ain't hardly like this is Ohio State massive inane fandom here; we're just a few people on this board.

I do agree that anonymity adds a shield quality that I don't favor.

I don't think it's in any way fair to characterize those who criticize as not true fans. What--only compliments allowed?!


As much as many can argue that things are fine here, a reasonable argument can be made that it ain't so good with our ball club. Just because you don't buy one side or the others viewpoint doesn't strike me as a good reason to question their loyalty or intentions.

Please re-write your post. I'm not being sarcastic. Some of it isn't clear.

I think that you miss the role of strategy and adjustments. On sportstalkradio on the way home, I heard Marcellus Williamson, former pro out of Colgate, state that Oregon's former D-coordinator (I think his name was Alioto?) was a nightmare to plan against because he brought so many blitzes and disguised them so well. He didn't stand pat.

I'm sorry. But there is about no imagination to our game-planning. If you've seen us for a game or two, then you've seen all that you need to prepare for.

In your post, you seem to cite orthodox strategy. The whole point is to be somewhat unorthodox in order to catch the oppo unaware.

We are very rarely going to be able to have the personnel to beat teams by execution alone. Can you take any lessons from the last 25 games?

I know that we'll just have to agree to disagree but I am amazed that anyone can watch our staid play and not think that part of the problem could be strategy/tactics/coaching.

I guess that you don't even think that there's a problem.

Change sides of the ball! Your entire post that I commented on was geared to the offense. I give you that rationale and the you switch to defense. And you cite talking heads from sports radio? Which can be like getting your nightly news from Prison Planent or the Alex Jones show. Coach Burrow and the boys have been beyond solid over the past 10 years.