I'm probably particularly sensitized to this issue because I spent my first couple years in North Carolina hearing NC State fans gripe that Herb Sendek sucked and they needed to get a new coach. When you complain about a coach like Sendek, who had one losing season in 10 years and taken the school to five consecutive NCAA tournaments, you're essentially demanding someone who is going to put together a consistent championship contender - a Williams, Pitino,
Krzyzewski, Calipari, Izzo, etc. There are not many of those guys, and it is insane to jettison a consistent top-25 coach because, as Maryland fans know, sometimes coaches make that jump from Sweet 16 to Final Four.Fortunately, NCSU fans got what they wanted and, largely because of the incessant criticism, Sendek skipped town in 2006 for Arizona State. Now he's taken that once-moribound program to an NCAA berth. Meanwhile, his successor, Sidney Lowe was the talk of the town after getting State to the ACC Tournament championship in his first year, is facing being run out of town after this, his third year. Does anyone think they'll have better luck finding a good coach this time around, given their treatment of their last two coaches? Good luck with that.
A couple other examples:
- Terrelle Pryor. This kid, 6'6" and fast, was the top overall recruit in the country two years ago, compared at times to Vince Young and LeBron James. And Ohio State fans are talking about benching him halfway through his sophomore year. With virtually no one on the depth chart behind him. Yes, he was relatively effective last year as a true freshman, and has regressed somewhat this year. But he's also still a true sophomore, and the running game around him this year has not been at all productive. When you have a talent like this, you keep running him out there and build for next year and the year after. You do not complain if an athletic quarterback is ineffective passing in his second year (Vince Young's TD/Int ratio was 18:18 after his sophomore season). Grow up, fuckers - I know a lot of other teams in the country that would like to have him (though I'm pretty happy with my QB right now).
- A-Rod. This is the king of them all. No matter how obnoxious (or not) he might be off the field, he's one of the top 5 players in the game, and Yankees fans, based on a handful of at-bats, have been cursing him for years. The frustrating thing about this one is that now those same losers are cheering him like crazy as he leads his team to the World Series. And if he goes 2-12 and the Yankees lose, they'll all be cursing him again. I hate those fuckers. (David Wright is a similar situation.)
To summarize: Sports fans need to appreciate what they have when they've got something good. If you're a Redskins or Terps football or Orioles fan (more circa 2005 than now), complain away - you have every right. But if you're sick of being good but not great, think of these suffering Jackals and keep your frustrations to yourself.
Are you sure this post shouldn't carry the tag of Jackal to Jackal call out? McRib is a Gilbert Arenas hater (25 points, 9 assists, big shots down the stretch tonight as the Wizards beat down the Mavs in Dallas). Babyface and McRib have been known to hate General Vasquez in the past. Clearly Ball Deep has issues with his hometown heroes...
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the post should, but your comment certainly could. In their defense, neither Vazquez nor Arenas is the caliber player of ARod or the talent of Pryor (relative to college, at least). Nor is evaluating the value of a shoot-first point guard as easy as that of a college coach. So it's not clear to me that this is the same situation.
ReplyDeleteIt's fans hating on the best player on their team. Not appreciating what they have. Hating on the straw that stirs the drink. And both Vasquez and Arenas are considered "shoot first point guards" but also are top ten in their respective leagues in assists so they aren't really "shoot first" as much as "pass just as much as anyone else who runs the point but can also score just as much as anyone who plays the two".
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to look it up, but I'm guessing both of those guys lead their team in shots. That, to me, would make both of them shoot-first point guards. In Vazquez's case in particular, though, he didn't really have many capable scoring threats around him, so the offense basically had to be "Greivis, find your shot" at times.
ReplyDeleteBut fair enough: Fans usually shouldn't be picking on the best player on their team - it's usually not the best player's fault if they're not winning. (Some exceptions for selfish stars apply, but in that case they're probably not the "best" player.)