Why Do College Fans Destroy Their Sports Programs (LSU and ULM Related)

This is a email I sent my local ESPN radio station today . That is ESPN 97.7. ULM is in reference to the University of Louisiana -Monroe.


I listened with interest to your show yesterday on the whole ULM Coach change controversy. Maybe I was hearing what I wanted to hear but I think more folks than usual were second guessing what many said they wanted. Maybe these folks finally decided to call in.

It would have been nice to hear their voices to compliment the "get rid of him crowd". Now it is sort of too late

I agree that a new Coach can be a shot in the arm for a program but what happens when the thrill "wears" off.

It seems to me that the problem is the fans not investing with their presence or their dollars in the program. Why do we have any indication that will change? I know ULM's coach was on the hot seat last year but I have a hard time not seeing this year a improvement for ULM. I say that as a Tech fan.

In fact when I look at the ULM/ULL total attendance numbers I wonder if the problem is fixable at all. Maybe just maybe it is a problem with the marketing of the Sunbelt Conference . Who knows. But I have little reason to believe that a new Coach will change things long term.

Then we come to LSU. Yes I know Les Miles has lost some love but the Arky game sort of shored him up.

Still one gets the indication that many fans believe that one must "lose" in order to win down the road. In this case we need to lose so to fire Miles and thus we can "win" again whatever that means.

I see this often in politics. We must lose (get rid of the impure , the bad, the heretics) in order to win big in the future. This never works in politics and RARELY works in football. What happens most of the time is just more losing until the idiots are ignored.

The only people that are happy are those that like the soap Opera of the Civil War within their own camp. All done under the guise of the Love of the program

I saw this on Tiger Droppings. The Inexplicable Les Miles . I have to agree with a large bit of that. The same people complaining about Les are the same ones that were DEMANDING that Les take the handcuffs off Crowton. Now Crowton is on the outs and these people have severe amnesia. FIRE CROWTON THEY SAY.

If the all Holy Fan base is to have a say in a much more knee jerk reaction emotional world that is fine. However what is the check on them? How do we call them out and hold them accountable for their missteps and in retrospect getting it wrong nine times out of ten.

We see this insanity in full display on the thread involving the recruiting violation.

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/messagetopic.asp?p=16636622

It is full of the usual folks with their "sources" that are of course wrong time after time again. Some of these folks with their "TAF" sources were the same ones that said Steve Spurrier was signed sealed and delivered during the whole Miles to Michigan days.

Something that of course was so patently false it was laughable. But there is a lot of glee(and have no doubts these people are the first to call talk radio) about how this might be the end of Les Miles. We must "lose" in order to win.

In way what is going on there is so so Baton Rouge. Supposed Inside Knowledge about the football program signals prestige and power in Baton Rouge and thus to pump up their egos this stuff happens like clockwork. It has little to do with "Love of the Program".

The fact that recruits are reading this rumor mill (please note the news reports are being ignored and some comment left on a ESPN site is now being taken as Gospel) and all this garbage by anonymous sources being told by people behind computer screens with Aliases is very bad.

This recruiting violation could be bad but LSU self reported and it appears that LSU caught it. Time will tell.

But the glee over the most imaginable nightmare of a worse case possibility is something else. Again we must kill something to make it better.

LSU fans have a horrific short term memory. What made Miles special in a way was that he was the first Coach that perhaps chose to stay at LSU than lets say to advance to something better. That is Michigan. We can debate if LSU or Michigan is better I suppose. But it sent a message that a Coach felt LSU was top drawer enough not to move. That was to say the least a first. That move in itself by Miles made a lasting contribution to LSU.

Fans in their passion for the program should be aware that other future coaches are watching.

I am all for Coaches for being called out. Sadly though how do you call out a segment of the fan base that is on message boards and on the radio.

My Two Cents

Signed
James H ( (Bayourant) of the ESPN 97.7 Board but Still has not won a damn thing)