Keep supporting these guys.
I know, it probably sounds counterintuitive. I know a lot of you are seriously pissed right now. I know many of you are simply done with this current iteration of Purdue football. There were some who were done with Danny Hope last year, there were some who said he deserved another chance but the leash was short; and then there was the camp that said he deserved more time, period. As of now, I think most of those who were on the fence are now in agreement that the direction is not showing positive signs -- to say the least.
I understand that many of you may want to express your displeasure by not showing up, not making the effort to get to games and so forth. And if that is how you wish to do it, I cannot stop you and, frankly, I don't have the right to try to.
That said, I want to implore you to reconsider.
Purdue does not have many advantages in the Big Ten. Home field is not all that intimidating, we don't "look the other way" on violations and getting prime talent to Purdue can be a challenge. To add a downright poor atmosphere will certainly not help things. The commit Purdue got after the MTSU game said it felt like a family atmosphere -- that's a good thing. And it's something we can all contribute to.
However, more important (to me, at least) is supporting the current players. You may not like the coaching staff, you may not agree with the athletic department's direction, BUT...these guys chose to come to Purdue, to wear the black and old gold (or, you know, all white) and to play in front of all of us. They are our guys. And they've been working towards this season for many months -- and in the case of the upperclassmen, many years.
They lift, they train, the practice in the spring, they practice in the Indiana August heat, they study film, they learn game plans, they try to follow game plans, they put forth effort.... and they go to school. And the seniors are now in danger of not going to a bowl game in their entire time at Purdue -- something else that hasn't happened to a class since the bad ole days of the early '90s. These guys work hard, whether the record winds up reflecting it or not. Abandoning them with ten games to go seems unreasonable to me. But again, that's just one fella's opinion.
If you want to go to Ross-Ade and boo the coaches or Morgan Burke, I say have at it. Those guys are paid (handsomely, in some cases) and are big boys and deserve to be held to a
I think we should all let them know we still support them.
21 comments:
I understand and agree that we should continue to support the players. By the same token, unless I sell everything I own and donate the proceeds to Purdue, Morgan Burke doesn't give a good goddamn what I think. I could call, or write, or send an email, but he won't care as long as ticket money is coming in. Not going to games is the only way I can express my displeasure in a way that Burke and co will care about.
Conversely, the delusional athletic department could just chalk the empty seats up to fan apathy and decide it can be fixed by a cool ad campaign.
Punishing yourself by actively stopping yourself from being a fan is not the answer....again, in my opinion. You're clearly entitled to do whatever you think is best and surely don't owe me an explanation.
I shudder to think about the ad campaign they'd come up with. However, I trust Burke would come to the appropriate conclusion. For all the complaining I do about him, he's not a stupid man.
I'm not sure this amounts to self-punishment. If I don't go to the game, I can still watch (or listen) to it while I also do other things on breaks. Plus, I don't have to sit my pasty ass outside for four hours. That's a very important consideration when you're a ginger.
I appreciate that we can respectfully disagree without having to call each other Nazis (which you totally are, J, don't deny it). I do wonder what your solution is for sending a firm message to Morgan Burke is.
P.S. I'm @FunnelFiasco. <3, Me
I am personally sick and tired of our fanbase and the constant negativity that has surrounded the program since before the season began. I feel that some really enjoy that their predictions are becoming true ("I told you so. Aren't I just a genius football mind compared to everyone else in the program".) Posting negative crap all over the internet and twitter where players constantly see it is very helpful!! It is beyond me why any player would want to commit to this football program with a fanbase like this. I think if all you have to contribute is negative, shut it in the public domain and air your complaints to those with a say. There are very winnable games left on the schedule, but if you just want to boo, point fingers, and bitch- shut the heck up, stay home, find a different hobby to occupy your Saturdays. I probably wouldn't be this upset if I didn't feel like everyone is secretly getting the outcome they were hoping for... just for the sake of being right!
Good post J Money. I strongly agree with this.
You know the b*tch of it all? Even with all the coaching blunders on Saturday, the team STILL could have won. I know, that's the way things go sometime, but, that's really got to sting this team.
Nice post and I completely agree. You have to feel bad for these players. You get the sense that like many of the fans, the players know that they have the talent to be a decent team, just not the coaching. I feel especially bad for players like Allen, Bolden, Shavers, Maci, Edison, etc. who have big play ability if only the play calling would get out of there way. With this gameday product, every aspect of the football program will continue to erode.
Losing to a non AQ school (not named Boise State) three years in a row should automatically warrant a coaching change. A Big Ten School should have more talent then a MAC or CUSA school. Assuming Purdue does, losing three years in a row falls squarely on the coaching staff. I can see losing to a Northern Illinois or a Rice once every 4 years, because teams have off days and rebuilding years. But this has become a trend. What's worse is that I am not convinced Purdue has more talent.
Unfortunately unless you have major dollars to influence a decision, the only way to protest is to not go to the games. And my fear is that Burke and Hope are ignorant enough to think that winning and game attendance are not correlated and going to the games will only confirm this irrational beleif.
@Boilergal
I don't think that fans are getting the outcome that the wished for but rather the season that they suspected. Yes, there are winnable games left on the schedule, however I don't know if you can get a much more winnable game than Rice. Unfortunately too many of our fans and donors have your outlook. I am tired of settling for less and you should be too. And I would be willing to bet that having one of the worst offenses and defenses in the country is doing more to keep recruits from signing than having fans demanding a better coaching staff.
Boilergal, you know what kind of fan I am. You know I bleed Black and Gold and I root for them even when they are bad. I helped carry the goalpost to the Wabash in 1996 when we beat Michigan 9-3 (we went 3-8 that year). But even I cannot sit back and watch this coaching staff make stupid decision after mind boggling decision. The decision to not kick the FG on 3rd down is completely unnacceptable. That is high school knowledge. There are only about 2 bad things that can happen kicking the field goal from the 14, either a bad snap or a blocked FG. Both can be done over if you kick it on 3rd. I have been driving the fire hope bandwagon before the season started. Am I happy my predictions are coming true, no. Am I surprised, no. Hope has to be fired, I hope before the seasons end.
I agree 100% with this post. I still have hope, I still like our team, I think we have some great kids on our team. I am flying up from South Florida just to attend the NOTRE DAME game. I really hope that Ross-Ade is packed for that night game. I hope the boys come out swinging, and I hope HOPE doesn't lose the game for us. That is going to be our signature win this year. We need it as fans, the players need it, and Coach HOPE might need it if he wants to coach against Minnesota.
I don't think there is a way to direct your support only to those you feel deserve it, regardless of what group that happens to be. There will always be a way for Burke or whoever to focus on just the part of your reaction they want to hear.
Unfortunately, there's also a trickle-down effect: just like every other I-A school, Purdue gets a substantial percentage of its revenue from football. In the 2009-10 school year, Purdue football generated $18.1 of the school's $61.5 million in total revenue, nearly one-third. (A bit over $29 million was "not allocated by gender/sport", which I assume is non-directed contributions to the athletic department.)
Anyway, what I mean is that withholding support for Burke and Hope affects other sports as well. On an individual basis, of course, it doesn't do that much, but it does add up. When Burke decides to give Hope the axe, whether it's this year, next year, or ten years down the road, his search will be partly constrained by the funds available to him. (There is always the possibility of saving up your ticket money and donating it to the athletic department as soon as Hope is let go ...)
I think it's good to support the team as best you can while also indicating a lack of confidence in the current coaching staff, if that's how you feel. (Not a lack of support, though: none of us really wants to see Purdue go 1-11 just so Hope has to be shown the door. Some of "them" might, but there are trolls like that everywhere.) Besides, if you don't go to the games, who's going to hold up signs for the BTN cameras?
"Hope Is Lost; Find Sumlin New."
Oh and J, the reason I believe Rice called a TO on the 3rd down is they thought any college coach with any football knowlede would kick it on that down and assuming it went in they would have some time left on the clock to try and score. Hell I bet they were just as stunned as I was when we lined up to run a play. Hope has to go.
I am not suggesting that this program is where it should be. I am not satisfied with losing seasons and competing to not be the bottom of the Big Ten. I do think that there is talent on the field and think that there seems to be decent talent coming in. Is the coaching what I think it should be- NO. Do I think Burke should be fired- YES, I have for years and the Painter situation should have been the final nail. Do I long for the days of Drew, and Kyle and the years in between- YES. But, the feeling I have gotten from most of what I have been reading since before the season began, is that many are waiting for another losing season this year so they can be proven right. I have also seen people suggesting that we should root for losses to get Hope out more quickly. What bothers me is what players see and read and just how negative a lot have been before the first kick of the season. How we have still brought in recruits is astounding to me? Being negative, negative, negative then after seeing that this season will probably play out as suspected, suggesting that you go out there and support the players... it seems too. little too late. Perhaps, we should have been behind the team all along. This season will be what this season will be. Voice your concerns to Burke, et al. Putting your negativity out in the social media, etc, where players have to respond "hang in there with us"... it's pathetic! These guys are at least showing that they are out there giving it. Maybe we should have from the beginning, too!
I'm not a Purdue alum, nor a Purdue fan, but I've been a college football fan for 35 years and I now live in Boiler Country. Here's some things I've noticed about the Boilermaker football program.
1) Boilergal is completely correct is her comment. It almost as if being a Boiler fan is to be a complete fatalist. Where I disagree with her is when she tells the "negative fans" to stay home. The negative fans are still invested; its the apathetic fan that kills you (look at Minnesota or Indiana football).
Actually, what the program needs to do is give those negative fans a reason to be positive. It doesn't necessarily have to be winning on the field that does that, but it does require the athletic department to show it has a commitment to winning. If Purdue's very own athletic department doesn't show a commitment, why should the fans?
2) If you stop supporting the players, you can forget about recruiting them. If you aren't going to cheat, and if you're not going to win, then you need to make the Ross-Ade experience kick ass in other ways. Make it something like the Wrigley Field of college football, a fun atmosphere regardless of whether the team sucks.
3) Forget this crap about "football helps the other sports." Nobody buys a ticket for a football game thinking about how they are helping women's golf or some other sport nobody cares about. Laying a guilt trip on me is not going to get me a buy a ticket; making the football experience worth the price of admission will. That's the ONLY thing that will.
4) Morgan Burke has to go. There will never be a quality program in West Lafayette as long as Burke is the AD. I can't be any more succinct than that.
5) Culture comes from the top. This is atrue story which happened earlier this year - I'm in the lobby of a Lafayette hotel when the shuttle bus fromthe Indy airport pulls up and off steps Coach Hope. There's nobody from Purdue there to pick him up; the head coach of a Big Ten team literally has to bum a ride from a complete stranger who happened in the lobby with me. When the dis-organization reached down to that level, it is time for a wholesale revamping of the athletic department.
There are a lot of good and valid points in all of these comments. The biggest point, in my opinion, was the comment about culture. I was a student at Purdue from 2003 - 2007, as well as a HUGE boiler fan growing up in central Indiana. The culture was amazing from 1999 - 2005. Maybe it was the fumble against Wisconsin, or the even more heartbreaking loss to Michigan the next week, but Purdue hasn't had the same aura. The College Gameday against Wisconsin was amazing, the whole day, the game, everything you could ask for in a game, besides a win..., what do we need to do as fans to make that a reality for every home game? What can alumni do to help? To me, the whole season rides on that ND game. It's at night, it is a huge rivalry for us, we have to sell out that game. We should all play along and wear the corresponding colors for our sections, and we should be louder than hell. We have to show support to the players. Who knows, through a little positivity at this team, and we all might be suprised with the outcome.
"There's nobody from Purdue there to pick him up; the head coach of a Big Ten team literally has to bum a ride from a complete stranger who happened in the lobby with me."
My guess is that Hope told his ride P.M. instead of A.M. In all seriousness, there should never be any question about supporting your team. Being a fair weather Purdue fan makes no sense whatsoever. Keep showing up for the Old Gold and Black and support the boys.
I never missed a game while at Purdue, live far away now but go to any game within 500 miles, never miss a football or basketball game on tv, pay a lot extra to get Big Ten network
That said this football coaching staff is pushing me over the edge because they embarrass the University and fans with their stupidity. I think they have great players, much better than their record but just not the guidance to succeed.
I started school at Purdue in '90. I supported the guys but not the coaches in the Akers and Colletto years. My bet is that older alums supported the guys but not the coaches in the Burtnett years as well. Purdue alums are good at doing this. All you need to do is encourage the guys by name at games, in cyberspace, on campus, and in person if you have the chance. They will understand. They are Purdue students after all!
I know. Back to back posts is a sign of a disorganized mind. But, I was looking at all the "Fire Danny Hope" facebook pages and thought there might be a better approach. So, for those so inclined, how about the "Kevin Sumlin to Purdue" page? Doesnt that kill two birds with one stone?
I think that's fair to say. I started in '85, so I just missed the Peach Bowl season (beating Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame) ... our expectations were never really met, and this was when Indiana was going to bowl games under Mallory.
This was also the time when George King had the bright idea to increase revenue by charging students half-price for tickets. (When I was a freshman, student tickets were free.) Given that a) we were students and b) the team's performance was not stellar, the idea went over as well as many of Burke's do now.
I would imagine that students now feel the same as we did: we didn't like what was going on, couldn't imagine why either Akers or Colletto were hired, and didn't know if anyone in the athletic department even cared how we felt.
Traveling down to West Lafayette is not cheap for me, so frankly, the number of times I will travel down to see the team is directly proportional to how good they are. I'll be there for the Notre Dame game, because I know that weekend will be a good time regardless of the steaming pile of crap on the field. But other than that, making the trip won't be worth my investment and I'll save it for basketball season. Although I'll probably watch us get creamed in Ann Arbor as well.
That said, when I'm there, I'll be cheering.
I've been in marketing for 35 years, and I think you need to boil it down to value. Does what Purdue put on the field have enough value that I will give up my time and money to attend?
Yes, there is a BIG emotional component to it, but when a team struggles consistently, year in and year out, Value enters into it.
Purdue is not a Michigan or Ohio State. So the thought of a stadium being filled during an off season, or during several off seasons, is unrealistic.
I remember when Purdue counted on wins against Iowa and Wisconsin to get to a 5-win season. Iowa and Wisconsin have consistently won now for long enough that the programs can weather an occasional down season. But there is enough consistency to carry over during rough patches.
Until four years ago I lived two hours from campus and bought season tickets. I attended multiple away games, and I attended the first six or seven bowl games. The last several years of the Tiller era, I stopped going every Saturday, because their predictably "Play Not To Lose" style made Saturdays unenjoyable. I decided there was no value in giving up an entire day, four hours of which was spent on the road, along with the expense of gas, food, tickets, etc.
Now I live 8 hours away. I have attended one game a year, but not only will I no longer attend any games, I will not watch them on television, because it is like being Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day. It's a bad dream - "When Will It All End?"
So I see no value in either watching or attending. I am a big Purdue fan. When I lived in Lafayette I had season tickets during the Agase, Young, Burtnett eras, so I've suffered thru good and bad.
But I simply cannot afford to give up time, energy, money, and emotion on a program that continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. It also doesn't help that Hope's Bunker attitude is wearing thin on me, and many fans.
Do I support the players? I die with them every Saturday. Kids like Maci and SHort who had a great day, and Bolden, who should have gotten TWICE the carries, deserve better. They're youngsters who only know one college head coach, and don't have enough maturity or perspective to know that their coach is in over his head.
So, as a fan, I'm in a tough spot. I want to see them win, but I cannot bear to watch them lose the same way week in and week out, then hear the same excuses from the coaching staff.
So I'll vote with my feet and my remote. And I will take NO joy in it.
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