ND Fans - Our own biggest problem?

[Green Mountains]

So why would BK want to leave? Sometimes I think all we need to do is look in the mirror. Our passion, our expectations, and our desires sometimes bring us way over the top.

Here is an example from Cole Luke's treat - #cole luke on Notre Dame, "Great program. Great coach. Not sure if he is going to stay or not but I'm very excited to go down there." Two posters went on to highlight/ridicule that DOWN from Phoenix to South Bend isn't possible. I didn't look who posted or negative rep them. This is one merely example of hundreds.

Yes, it was in good fun. No, I'm not the political correctness police. But kids read this stuff. If ND football is different, why don't we hold ourselves to a high level as fans? Look at the Aaron Lynch stuff. Read the Tee Shepard thread. Damn, look at the AA thread or the current BK to Philly posts. Ditto every single prospect who has left use at the alter.

I'm not an ND alum, but I'm as die hard a fan as any alum. We are not smarter, wiser, more knowledgable than other fans. And our passion may actual make achieving our goals harder. When we cross the line from passionate to zealot. When we cross the line from knowledge to know it alls. When we criticize the tweets of others. If the goal is a better program with better recruits, why would we be criticizing the recruits?

I've only been a IE member for a few months, and post infrequently. But I read every thread every day and have for about three years. I love this place. But please, before you post about a kid, before you post about one of our coaches....just take a deep breath first. And think about, would I say this to them if I was talking to them? Don't we owe it to ourselves to follow Manti's lead and have faith in others?

 

[PraetorianND]

I'm sure it took a lot of courage to write this. Reps.

 

[Anchorman]

Great points and post.

 

[ClausentoTate]

People just love ND so much they don't understand why a kid or a coach would pass it up. We don't understand how we have the recruits we do and don't see the results on the field (before this year).

With Tee/Darby/Deontay, they left us at the altar (and Tee got in and didn't put in the work) and left us with holes at key positions. Lynch just created drama at every turn and a lot of posters here felt close to his Mom, who posted here and led us to believe that Lynch would stay. AA just decommitted out of the blue and apparently has been waiting for a chance for a long time. Why say you're "100%" committed or "all in" or "shutting it down" and then decommit soon after? It's the flip-flopping that kills us.

What's best for certain kids isn't always best for ND and sometimes kids don't do what's best for them -- it rubs a lot of fans the wrong way and honestly, it's our right to be offended.

I don't understand threats, twitter posts @ the kid or anything like that... but posting on this forum or retweeting things is entirely in the realm of what should be alright to do as a fan. AA just straight lied to coaches, our recruits, the fan base, and recruiting sites for weeks (apparently)... why can we as fans not say he is immature? He took no responsibility or initiative that we've heard about and misled a lot of people for a long time.

That's the difference between these guys and Gunner (they didn't come to ND). The hate is because we as fans take things personally. In my completely unbiased opinion, Gunner's a momma's boy who can't make a decision for himself. He's a great talent and I'm glad he came to ND. Justice Hayes is a diva that doesn't want to compete at a high level. He's also a great talent but I want ND to kill him when we make the trip to Ann Arbor next year. We're wishing the players well no matter where they end up, but we don't have to like them if they don't come to ND.

 

[NDhoosier]

Great post Green Mountains. People just keep looking for a negative in everything, I just wonder how much joy they actually get in cheering for ND.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Keep in mind an internet board meltdown such as Lynch's was probably 100 or so of the self-selected most passionate fans in the country posting anonymously online. Kelly's overall experience isn't going to face that level of fanaticism.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Solid post, I agree wholeheartedly. I think part of the problem is the lack of accountability on the internet.

We also have to account for the fact that we haven't seen this program thrive in so long. It's tough for people to "act like they've been there before" when before was 25 years ago ha.

 

[rikkitikki08]

I would say sometimes we are our own biggest problem. I agree to that point but something about ND just makes people love them and i am one of those people. I cant explain it but i love everything about that university

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I agree with the spirit and message of your post whole-heartedly, but I wanted to highlight one thing in particular:

I'm not an ND alum, but I'm as die hard a fan as any alum. We are not smarter, wiser, more knowledgable than other fans. And our passion may actual make achieving our goals harder. When we cross the line from passionate to zealot. When we cross the line from knowledge to know it alls. When we criticize the tweets of others. If the goal is a better program with better recruits, why would we be criticizing the recruits?

ND fans aren't really different from any other fan base. By the same token, our ability to impact the program is no greater than any other fan base. I've seen a lot of posts (mainly on Twitter) complaining about how our overly-critical and entitled fan base deserves to have Kelly leave, as if we drove him away. That's bullsh!t.

But getting back on point, don't Tweet recruits and be careful what you post in a recruit's profile. They do read this stuff, and anything negative almost always does more harm than good.

 

[chicago51]

I agree with the spirit and message of your post whole-heartedly, but I wanted to highlight one thing in particular:



ND fans aren't really different from any other fan base. By the same token, our ability to impact the program is no greater than any other fan base. I've seen a lot of posts (mainly on Twitter) complaining about how our overly-critical and entitled fan base deserves to have Kelly leave, as if we drove him away. That's bullsh!t.

But getting back on point, don't Tweet recruits and be careful what you post in a recruit's profile. They do read this stuff, and anything negative almost always does more harm than good.

I agree. Coaches are a different animal anyway especially the great ones. Most coaches biggest critic is themselves. Coaches have an expectation of themselves to win and could care less about what the fans think.

 

[wakeuptheechoes]

I have no clue what so ever as to how many fans of the Irish there are in the world. Millions I suppose. These days you have many people that are just rude, many people that are snobs, and many people that are stupid and idiotic. As much as we hate it, is only reasonable to accept that some of the people in those 3 categories are also some of our fan base. These are typically the type of people that feel they must be heard by everyone. Every team has them.
While I believe that everyone has a right to speak and a right to their opinion, it takes wisdom and intellect to know when is the proper time to share them, regrettably what some people do not share is the attributes needed to determine what is the appropriate time what is not.

 

[DCirishfan]

So why would BK want to leave? Sometimes I think all we need to do is look in the mirror. Our passion, our expectations, and our desires sometimes bring us way over the top.

Here is an example from Cole Luke's treat - #cole luke on Notre Dame, "Great program. Great coach. Not sure if he is going to stay or not but I'm very excited to go down there." Two posters went on to highlight/ridicule that DOWN from Phoenix to South Bend isn't possible. I didn't look who posted or negative rep them. This is one merely example of hundreds.

Yes, it was in good fun. No, I'm not the political correctness police. But kids read this stuff. If ND football is different, why don't we hold ourselves to a high level as fans? Look at the Aaron Lynch stuff. Read the Tee Shepard thread. Damn, look at the AA thread or the current BK to Philly posts. Ditto every single prospect who has left use at the alter.

I'm not an ND alum, but I'm as die hard a fan as any alum. We are not smarter, wiser, more knowledgable than other fans. And our passion may actual make achieving our goals harder. When we cross the line from passionate to zealot. When we cross the line from knowledge to know it alls. When we criticize the tweets of others. If the goal is a better program with better recruits, why would we be criticizing the recruits?

I've only been a IE member for a few months, and post infrequently. But I read every thread every day and have for about three years. I love this place. But please, before you post about a kid, before you post about one of our coaches....just take a deep breath first. And think about, would I say this to them if I was talking to them? Don't we owe it to ourselves to follow Manti's lead and have faith in others?

If you are referring to BK getting reemed in the BCS game and turning around and getting ready to bolt to the NFL I think we are well within our rights to get as mad as possible. Period.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

We outnumbered Bama fans 2.5-1 in the stadium Monday night, and cheered till the bitter end.

What a great problem to have as a player and coach.........

We need to stop living this myopic personal fable where we are the only supportive, but also critical fanbase, and the pressures associated with coaching another blue blood program pale in comparison to the ones ND coaches face.


Harvey Updyke and the New Orleans Teabagger called, they want this thread moved elsewhere.....

*I'm not questioning your post OP, it is good, just pointing out my .02

 

[dad4aa]

So why would BK want to leave? Sometimes I think all we need to do is look in the mirror. Our passion, our expectations, and our desires sometimes bring us way over the top.

Here is an example from Cole Luke's treat - #cole luke on Notre Dame, "Great program. Great coach. Not sure if he is going to stay or not but I'm very excited to go down there." Two posters went on to highlight/ridicule that DOWN from Phoenix to South Bend isn't possible. I didn't look who posted or negative rep them. This is one merely example of hundreds.

Yes, it was in good fun. No, I'm not the political correctness police. But kids read this stuff. If ND football is different, why don't we hold ourselves to a high level as fans? Look at the Aaron Lynch stuff. Read the Tee Shepard thread. Damn, look at the AA thread or the current BK to Philly posts. Ditto every single prospect who has left use at the alter.

I'm not an ND alum, but I'm as die hard a fan as any alum. We are not smarter, wiser, more knowledgable than other fans. And our passion may actual make achieving our goals harder. When we cross the line from passionate to zealot. When we cross the line from knowledge to know it alls. When we criticize the tweets of others. If the goal is a better program with better recruits, why would we be criticizing the recruits?

I've only been a IE member for a few months, and post infrequently. But I read every thread every day and have for about three years. I love this place. But please, before you post about a kid, before you post about one of our coaches....just take a deep breath first. And think about, would I say this to them if I was talking to them? Don't we owe it to ourselves to follow Manti's lead and have faith in others?

I agree with all of this post but this. I have no problem with kids flip flopping, they are kids and we should lay off, even with what AA did. I have no problem with assistant coaches interviewing for head coaching jobs because most coaches want to be a head coach. I have a problem with the Notre Dame job being used as a stepping stone. There are a handful of college head coaching positions that should be considered the final stop and Notre Dame is one of those. If that is not your desire than do not take the position. I can't remember the last time we had a coach WANT to leave Notre Dame for "something better"...and I can almost guarantee it wasn't after just three years.