Far be it from me to admonish my fellow Hornfans for acting absurdly or bitching too much. Nonetheless, perusing the boards, reading the notes to the editor, watching TV, listening to the radio, and discussing UT with people at the water cooler the past few days has really confused me. I mean, seriously, what is there, really, to be this violently upset about? Examining the issues, I don't see it.
We won 10 games for the 1st time in 6 or 7 years. We were in every game till the end. The team showed up to play every week. We beat the teams we should have beaten every week. We played without incidents off the field and without making a spectacle on it. People can argue the schedule was weak, but big ******* deal. We can only beat who we play.
We finished with the #1 defense in college football. They played well in every game and only look to get better next year.
We produced a 1st team All-American.
We produced several 1st round picks.
We saw two fish absolutely light things up when they were in the ball game. We redshirted 16 of the 19 or so scholarship players who signed. We redshirted an entire O-Line class. We redshirted an entire DB class.
We saw improvements in coaching at some frustrating positions. Nunez seems to be doing a better job. Davis, while sucking *** against OU, had us in position to win against CU and all of the other teams. I have a hard time bitching about Davis for the 2nd CU game. Brown showed up every week. He had the players emotionally prepared for every game and we all saw it on the field each week.
More importantly than anything else, we were sitting at the final table when the final deck of cards were dealt. We were in position for a bid to go play for it all (although UTenn may have passed us anyway) during the last week of the season. Yes, we lost the game that would have gotten us there, but we had a shot.
I'm of the opinion that this program is still going up, rather than planing out or heading down. I see no reason why we honestly may not be at the final table every year. If we're there, the cards are eventually going to fall our way. Isn't that what we asked for at the beginning of the year? To be at the final table? That was my position. Thus, I cannot truly ***** about what's been a pretty damned fun season. Does the loss really change how much fun the past 5-6 weeks have been? I don't think so. Should the loss affect our excitement in playing a solid UW team in a good bowl that will played on prime time? I don't think so.
We are victims of watching the bar being raised and still surpassing that bar with our expectations. Frankly, it's unhealthy. We should take some time out to examine what we've seen this year. We should take some time out to be happy about the program. This has been a fun trip and it's not over. We're very far from where we need to be, but we're getting closer. Bitching, booing, moaning, etc. None of that is helping a thing. Picking a QB and mercilessly flaying him is not doing anyone any good. We all watched the game. We all know he didn't meet his or our expectations. He's facing enough ******** from the media to last him a lifetime. Nailing him on the radio, the board, or the paper is not helping matters.
We should be looking forward to this next game, rather than behind at the last one. It's a big game. If we win, we shed a lot of monkeys on our collective back. Top 10 season, a bowl win (outside of Texas, even), a win over a good team, etc. There's plenty to look forward to and get excited about.
This board is not exactly a representation of the UT fanbase as a whole. More or less, we are the most rabid of the constituency. As a side effect, as a group, we're usually the most knowledgable on the workings of the program and so forth. I can obviously name some examples to the contrary, but you get the idea. It's not this board I'm nearly as annoyed with, although, it has been pretty annoying at times this week. I'm really worried about Joe UT Fan. He's fighting mad this week and can't really even think about why, other than "that damned Mack Brown and Chris Simms". I've run into a few of them. My question to them has been "Where did you honestly expect to be, going into the final week of the season?". The answer is usually "Getting a shot to play for it all.". Well, we got that. Didn't work out, but we got that. This team and staff hung their balls out there and they gave it a shot. I always have a hard time finding an argument when I rebut with that. It's hard to fault a team for giving it their all and coming up short. Even most of the idiots out there will agree with that. Now the media, that's an entirely different, and altogether more pliable, breed of cat. Win in SD and they'll more or less shut up.
Anyway, just some rambling thoughts for the board. Any points with or to the contrary of the statements above are appreciated.
Hook'em
We won 10 games for the 1st time in 6 or 7 years. We were in every game till the end. The team showed up to play every week. We beat the teams we should have beaten every week. We played without incidents off the field and without making a spectacle on it. People can argue the schedule was weak, but big ******* deal. We can only beat who we play.
We finished with the #1 defense in college football. They played well in every game and only look to get better next year.
We produced a 1st team All-American.
We produced several 1st round picks.
We saw two fish absolutely light things up when they were in the ball game. We redshirted 16 of the 19 or so scholarship players who signed. We redshirted an entire O-Line class. We redshirted an entire DB class.
We saw improvements in coaching at some frustrating positions. Nunez seems to be doing a better job. Davis, while sucking *** against OU, had us in position to win against CU and all of the other teams. I have a hard time bitching about Davis for the 2nd CU game. Brown showed up every week. He had the players emotionally prepared for every game and we all saw it on the field each week.
More importantly than anything else, we were sitting at the final table when the final deck of cards were dealt. We were in position for a bid to go play for it all (although UTenn may have passed us anyway) during the last week of the season. Yes, we lost the game that would have gotten us there, but we had a shot.
I'm of the opinion that this program is still going up, rather than planing out or heading down. I see no reason why we honestly may not be at the final table every year. If we're there, the cards are eventually going to fall our way. Isn't that what we asked for at the beginning of the year? To be at the final table? That was my position. Thus, I cannot truly ***** about what's been a pretty damned fun season. Does the loss really change how much fun the past 5-6 weeks have been? I don't think so. Should the loss affect our excitement in playing a solid UW team in a good bowl that will played on prime time? I don't think so.
We are victims of watching the bar being raised and still surpassing that bar with our expectations. Frankly, it's unhealthy. We should take some time out to examine what we've seen this year. We should take some time out to be happy about the program. This has been a fun trip and it's not over. We're very far from where we need to be, but we're getting closer. Bitching, booing, moaning, etc. None of that is helping a thing. Picking a QB and mercilessly flaying him is not doing anyone any good. We all watched the game. We all know he didn't meet his or our expectations. He's facing enough ******** from the media to last him a lifetime. Nailing him on the radio, the board, or the paper is not helping matters.
We should be looking forward to this next game, rather than behind at the last one. It's a big game. If we win, we shed a lot of monkeys on our collective back. Top 10 season, a bowl win (outside of Texas, even), a win over a good team, etc. There's plenty to look forward to and get excited about.
This board is not exactly a representation of the UT fanbase as a whole. More or less, we are the most rabid of the constituency. As a side effect, as a group, we're usually the most knowledgable on the workings of the program and so forth. I can obviously name some examples to the contrary, but you get the idea. It's not this board I'm nearly as annoyed with, although, it has been pretty annoying at times this week. I'm really worried about Joe UT Fan. He's fighting mad this week and can't really even think about why, other than "that damned Mack Brown and Chris Simms". I've run into a few of them. My question to them has been "Where did you honestly expect to be, going into the final week of the season?". The answer is usually "Getting a shot to play for it all.". Well, we got that. Didn't work out, but we got that. This team and staff hung their balls out there and they gave it a shot. I always have a hard time finding an argument when I rebut with that. It's hard to fault a team for giving it their all and coming up short. Even most of the idiots out there will agree with that. Now the media, that's an entirely different, and altogether more pliable, breed of cat. Win in SD and they'll more or less shut up.
Anyway, just some rambling thoughts for the board. Any points with or to the contrary of the statements above are appreciated.
Hook'em
