World-Herald editorial

[deedsker]

Sometimes I think we are more loyal to the sellout streak than the actual program.

^^^^this

[Ulty]

If you want a great example of fair weather fans, you have to look no further than Oklahoma. When OU was down in the mid-90's, you couldn't find a person to admit they were OU fans and you couldn't give away OU memorabilia. But as soon as they started winning again, holy sh#t, they're all of a sudden "life long fans" who support the team thru thick and thin.

 

Yeah, but they went five straight years without a winning season, 4 straight without a bowl, and Blake's years were more miserable than anything Callahan produced at Nebraska. Can we honestly say that if NU strung together multiple years of the same putrid magnitude that our fans would act any differently? We saw a taste of that ugliness during the Callahan years, but thankfully it didn't last long enough to send us completely over the edge.

 

I think our "greatest fans" moniker is well-deserved, but more of a product of being able to witness consisten winning football for consecutive decades and being able to handle that winning (and the occasional loss) with class and dignity. That consistency is the difference between NU and schools like K-State and Mizzou who have a couple successful seasons here and there and act like complete douchebags, because they don't know how to handle success. NU does. So does Oklahoma.We aren't used to handling failure, and it's hard to do so with dignity. If we had losing seasons year after year, the stadium would eventually stop filling up, most fans wouldn't be so eager to applaud for the opponents, and you wouldn't see nearly as much red about town.

[Mavric]

I don't think I am because the fans kept coming back too. They showed up that week after getting embarrassed at Wisconsin, they showed up every week during the Callahan era. I don't think leaving a game early or booing is being a fair-weather fan. They still spent their money to be there. I guess it all depends on what you consider a fair weather fan. The problem now is that the fanbase is divided. It will be real hard to mend it with Pelini here, even though I am against firing him at this point.

Read St. Paul Husker's post.

 

How does booing fit your definition of a fair-weather fan?

[STL Husker]

I don't think I am because the fans kept coming back too. They showed up that week after getting embarrassed at Wisconsin, they showed up every week during the Callahan era. I don't think leaving a game early or booing is being a fair-weather fan. They still spent their money to be there. I guess it all depends on what you consider a fair weather fan. The problem now is that the fanbase is divided. It will be real hard to mend it with Pelini here, even though I am against firing him at this point.

Read St. Paul Husker's post.

 

How does booing fit your definition of a fair-weather fan?

 

I do think there is something to his quote. People were booing because they cared. They were upset with the performance or coaching and they felt a need to vocalize it. Do you cheer for Taylor when he throws a bad interception? How about when Abdullah fumbled against UCLA? How is booing much different than sitting there silently? A fair weather fan, to me, is someone who is only a fan when things are going good, and they jump off the bandwagon when we start losing. I don't think anyone stopped caring, they just didn't support the effort on the field. It's no different than when Pelini gets in a players face.

[Landlord]

When our team was bad, I mean when it was really bad, Memorial Stadium was half empty before halftime.

 

 

 

Don't know that anything else needs to be said.

[Warrior]

So he gets mad because the best fans in the world left on their own team. A team he puts his heart and soul into. Working with young men who's parents trusted him to work with and stand up for their young men. He gets mad and goes off saying stuff he probably didn't mean along with stuff I'm sure he did mean and people are upset. You remember the when people were pissed about the Zombie we had on the sideline named Callahan. He who is without this sin cast the first stone. Was it wise NO!! Was it warrented Somewhat they walked out on their team!! That in itself is fairweathered!!

[Mavric]

How is booing much different than sitting there silently?

Really!??!? I don't think there is any farther this conversation can go with logic like that.

 

A fair weather fan, to me, is someone who is only a fan when things are going good, and they jump off the bandwagon when we start losing. I don't think anyone stopped caring, they just didn't support the effort on the field. It's no different than when Pelini gets in a players face.

Not quit forever. But if they left, they obviously didn't care any more that night.

[STL Husker]

When our team was bad, I mean when it was really bad, Memorial Stadium was half empty before halftime.

 

 

 

Don't know that anything else needs to be said.

 

For the record, I don't boo and I have never left a game early, but would it have made a difference in those years if the fans stayed the whole game? You leave when the game is over, and many times the game was over at half time. But no matter what happened the game before, we still filled the stadium the next game and cheered the players as they came out fo the tunnel and the place stayed loud until it didn't make a difference.

[JTrain]

Here's what I don't get... almost every time the players get asked about the crowd during the Bo era, they act like they don't pay attention to it. They say they block it out. They say the defense would prefer the crowd not make so much noise... it makes the communication pre-snap harder. They say they don't care about what the crowd wants or expects.

 

But when a very small percentage of the crowd boos and leaves early in one game, Bo and all the players are furious. Even Rex said he was "ticked".

 

How frustrating... 99% of the fans are great 99% of the time, and the coaches and players simply block them out. But one incident in five years that involved maybe 2-3% of the fans in the stadium, and it's infuriating.

[STL Husker]

How is booing much different than sitting there silently?

Really!??!? I don't think there is any farther this conversation can go with logic like that.

 

A fair weather fan, to me, is someone who is only a fan when things are going good, and they jump off the bandwagon when we start losing. I don't think anyone stopped caring, they just didn't support the effort on the field. It's no different than when Pelini gets in a players face.

Not quit forever. But if they left, they obviously didn't care any more that night.

 

I still don't think it was a lack of caring. I can't speak for anyone else, but I can relate this to games like the Big Ten Championship game. I quit watching that game because I hated seeing my team look so pathetic. It doesn't mean that I quit caring.

[Landlord]

Here's what I don't get... almost every time the players get asked about the crowd during the Bo era, they act like they don't pay attention to it. They say they block it out. They say the defense would prefer the crowd not make so much noise... it makes the communication pre-snap harder. They say they don't care about what the crowd wants or expects.

 

But when a very small percentage of the crowd boos and leaves early in one game, Bo and all the players are furious. Even Rex said he was "ticked".

 

How frustrating... 99% of the fans are great 99% of the time, and the coaches and players simply block them out. But one incident in five years that involved maybe 2-3% of the fans in the stadium, and it's infuriating.

.

 

 

Care to provide references for your claims? I remember, vaguely, one player saying something one time about how it was hard getting defensive calls, which is far from saying 'I wish they wouldn't make any noise'. I don't recall the other statements or player opinions that you're claiming.

[Mavric]

Here's what I don't get... almost every time the players get asked about the crowd during the Bo era, they act like they don't pay attention to it. They say they block it out. They say the defense would prefer the crowd not make so much noise... it makes the communication pre-snap harder. They say they don't care about what the crowd wants or expects.

 

But when a very small percentage of the crowd boos and leaves early in one game, Bo and all the players are furious. Even Rex said he was "ticked".

 

How frustrating... 99% of the fans are great 99% of the time, and the coaches and players simply block them out. But one incident in five years that involved maybe 2-3% of the fans in the stadium, and it's infuriating.

Saying it doesn't bother them and not bothering them are two very different things.

 

And it was not a small percentage booing that night.

[JTrain]

I don't have time to dig right now, Landlord. Hopefully you know I wouldn't just make it up out of thin air.

[STL Husker]

Here's what I don't get... almost every time the players get asked about the crowd during the Bo era, they act like they don't pay attention to it. They say they block it out. They say the defense would prefer the crowd not make so much noise... it makes the communication pre-snap harder. They say they don't care about what the crowd wants or expects.

 

But when a very small percentage of the crowd boos and leaves early in one game, Bo and all the players are furious. Even Rex said he was "ticked".

 

How frustrating... 99% of the fans are great 99% of the time, and the coaches and players simply block them out. But one incident in five years that involved maybe 2-3% of the fans in the stadium, and it's infuriating.

Saying it doesn't bother them and not bothering them are two very different things.

 

And it was not a small percentage booing that night.

 

 

Why is it ok for Bo to scream directly into a kids face, but not ok for fans to boo? It's the same message.

[Landlord]

I don't have time to dig right now, Landlord. Hopefully you know I wouldn't just make it up out of thin air.

 

 

I don't think you're fabricating anything, but I think it's easy and natural for us to hear, read or see isolated events/statements and pull them out of context to mean something not quite the same.

 

On one hand, yeah, I think the players try to block it out, and I think they should. The fans go through dramatic emotional swings at the tip of a hat, and the players can't afford to ride the same highs and lows.

 

On the other hand, every week they come out of the tunnel and Kenny, Ameer and others go straight for that southeast section pointing, raising their hands and acknowledging their support. Defensive players still motion for people to get loud, and didn't Bo do the same thing last week (was at the game, but heard they showed it on the broadcast).