These guys get it

[da skers]

These players seem to get it. Too bad many of us fans don't really understand. And the honest truth is we don't.

 

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/2013/juco-dt-commit-doubles-the-fun-for-huskers/article_8c43f104-2cd3-5835-8ef7-a30f20721416.html

[lo country]

Odd that the folks that know him, play for and will play for Bo thinks he is a good guy and the right man for the job. What do they know

[knapplc]

I think I speak for a lot of Husker fans when I say that we, the fans in the stands, would really like to know that Bo, the Bo these guys will run through legions of Satan's demons for. Maybe the perception would be different if he even remotely tried to embrace the fans like he embraces the kids.

 

We're a huge part of this equation. It's not just the players on the field and the coaches in their offices. "Us" includes the blokes in the bleachers. We are not "them," but many of us feel like Bo believes we are.

 

It's not that we can't understand. Bo won't let us understand him. He keeps us at arm's length.

 

It's a two-way street.

[Comish]

I think I speak for a lot of Husker fans when I say that we, the fans in the stands, would really like to know that Bo, the Bo these guys will run through legions of Satan's demons for. Maybe the perception would be different if he even remotely tried to embrace the fans like he embraces the kids.

 

We're a huge part of this equation. It's not just the players on the field and the coaches in their offices. "Us" includes the blokes in the bleachers. We are not "them," but many of us feel like Bo believes we are.

 

It's not that we can't understand. Bo won't let us understand him. He keeps us at arm's length.

 

It's a two-way street.

Well said......

[commando]

I think I speak for a lot of Husker fans when I say that we, the fans in the stands, would really like to know that Bo, the Bo these guys will run through legions of Satan's demons for. Maybe the perception would be different if he even remotely tried to embrace the fans like he embraces the kids.

 

We're a huge part of this equation. It's not just the players on the field and the coaches in their offices. "Us" includes the blokes in the bleachers. We are not "them," but many of us feel like Bo believes we are.

 

It's not that we can't understand. Bo won't let us understand him. He keeps us at arm's length.

 

It's a two-way street.

 

i swear that Bo would prefer that there are 0 fans in the stadium for home games. It also seems that many of the players feel the same. i wonder what would happen if they got their wish?

[Scratchtown]

I think I speak for a lot of Husker fans when I say that we, the fans in the stands, would really like to know that Bo, the Bo these guys will run through legions of Satan's demons for. Maybe the perception would be different if he even remotely tried to embrace the fans like he embraces the kids.

 

We're a huge part of this equation. It's not just the players on the field and the coaches in their offices. "Us" includes the blokes in the bleachers. We are not "them," but many of us feel like Bo believes we are.

 

It's not that we can't understand. Bo won't let us understand him. He keeps us at arm's length.

 

It's a two-way street.

 

While I think this is a great post and mostly agree. How can you expect a man to embrace fans that hate on him every week? I know I have had my share of overly critical moments.

[knapplc]

Several responses to that.

 

1) Bo cultivated this arm's-length posture toward the fans from the day he arrived here, before anyone "hated on him." This isn't new, and it isn't Bo reacting to the fans' behavior. This is a Bo personality trait.

 

2) Bo receives a lot of ridiculous, over-the-top criticism. But that molehill pales compared to the mountain of justifiable criticism he receives; supportable, rational, reasonable criticism of his teams and his coaching. If he's going to choose to focus on the unreasonable, that's on him. And it clearly seems like that's what he's doing. His apologies and rare, trite approbation of "the fans" seem disingenuous when factored in to the constant stream of dislike he puts out toward the fans in general.

 

3) The fastest way for Bo to stop fans "hating on him," and by that I presume you mean the irrational hate, is to field a team that plays fundamentally sound football, conduct press conferences that aren't openly antagonistic toward the press (even though a fair portion of the press are asshats and dump fuel on Bo's fire at every opportunity), frequently speak about the positives about coaching at Nebraska, and in general sell the fans on the fact that he wants to be here.

 

 

Bo's wounds are largely self-inflicted. Yes, he is the recipient of unreasonable criticism. But it's his job as a major-college D1A head coach to ignore that criticism and do his job. All too often it seems like that criticism is at the forefront of his attitude and behavior, and we can't have that.

[commando]

. How can you expect a man to embrace fans that hate on him every week? I know I have had my share of overly critical moments.

 

when Bo was first hired as coach he was an untouchable god here. how did he manage to turn that worship to this much angst in just 6 years? i think his Rage has fed the demons that him and kenny are battling now. hopefully he can manage to turn that around but it will be something that he has to work on, if he is willing to do so.

[Landlord]

While I think this is a great post and mostly agree. How can you expect a man to embrace fans that hate on him every week? I know I have had my share of overly critical moments.

 

 

Read knapp's response for sure, but then also just contrast Bo to other coaches. Tim Miles is the perfect example. He has not accomplished a single thing here yet and he has people groveling at his feet. Why? Because he is playing to all of our sentiments and opinions. He speaks highly of the fanbase every time he can, he goes out of his way to interact with us, speaks our praises frequently, is quick to explain that he needs our support, etc. It's positive and infectious and healthy and look at the hype and the excitement surrounding our basketball team, that, I will remind you, still hasn't accomplished jack.

 

Bo Pelini is absolutely nothing like that and like knapp alluded to, it's just frustrating, because nobody here thinks he is a demon. We just think it would be so simple for him to bridge this chasm.

[HuskerShark]

Not to mention, Tim Miles maintains those positive relations and few people acknowledge that he swears more than Bo does.

[Hannibal]

I think I speak for a lot of Husker fans when I say that we, the fans in the stands, would really like to know that Bo, the Bo these guys will run through legions of Satan's demons for. Maybe the perception would be different if he even remotely tried to embrace the fans like he embraces the kids.

 

We're a huge part of this equation. It's not just the players on the field and the coaches in their offices. "Us" includes the blokes in the bleachers. We are not "them," but many of us feel like Bo believes we are.

 

It's not that we can't understand. Bo won't let us understand him. He keeps us at arm's length.

 

It's a two-way street.

 

While I think this is a great post and mostly agree. How can you expect a man to embrace fans that hate on him every week? I know I have had my share of overly critical moments.

 

Bo has had a bad attitude toward fans (and especially local media) for years, and long before virtually anybody was calling for his head.

[TonyStalloni]

I don't think Bo ever relished the idea of living up to the pressure of the Devaney/Osborne (Bob and Tom) cloud. That is mountaintop status. Miles only has to get us to respectability and he will be adored. Miles definitely understands public relations and how to get the press and fan support. I wish Bo could take lessons from Tim.

[HuskerFowler]

I think most rational fans would agree with Clink. It's the few outspoken minority that Bo needs to realize aren't going away and he just needs to ignore. We could win the NC by 20 pts and there would still be the "ya but beck went away from the run" crowd or "Alabama played terrible, they didn't want to be there, they took us lightly" crowd. Most know what happened this season and can take it at face value.

 

The staff needs to move forward and figure out how to hold onto the football(maybe its actually the footballs) If they can figure that out and nothing else the entire off season, we will be two wins better easily. MSU is 10th ranked and it took everyone of the 5 turnovers to beat us. 4 turnovers and we win that game, even with our backup offense. This team is right there, so close to being scary good. We really have some talent on this team.

[HuskerShark]

I think most rational fans would agree with Clink. It's the few outspoken minority that Bo needs to realize aren't going away and he just needs to ignore. We could win the NC by 20 pts and there would still be the "ya but beck went away from the run" crowd or "Alabama played terrible, they didn't want to be there, they took us lightly" crowd. Most know what happened this season and can take it at face value.

 

The staff needs to move forward and figure out how to hold onto the football(maybe its actually the footballs) If they can figure that out and nothing else the entire off season, we will be two wins better easily. MSU is 10th ranked and it took everyone of the 5 turnovers to beat us. 4 turnovers and we win that game, even with our backup offense. This team is right there, so close to being scary good. We really have some talent on this team.

 

Completely agree with all of this. Especially the last paragraph.

[da skers]

I think I speak for a lot of Husker fans when I say that we, the fans in the stands, would really like to know that Bo, the Bo these guys will run through legions of Satan's demons for. Maybe the perception would be different if he even remotely tried to embrace the fans like he embraces the kids.

 

We're a huge part of this equation. It's not just the players on the field and the coaches in their offices. "Us" includes the blokes in the bleachers. We are not "them," but many of us feel like Bo believes we are.

 

It's not that we can't understand. Bo won't let us understand him. He keeps us at arm's length.

 

It's a two-way street.

I agree with you that I wish the relationship was better. It would also be nice if the fans actually tried to see for themselves. But every time he sits there and starts to do that people take shots at him. Look at his pressers (minus this post game) and you'll see a lot more of him if you want. Hell one week he sat there for darn near an hour being very open and honest. How else is he supposed to let us know him? Fans can't be in the meetings every day and around him. When he does reach out and say good things about the fans people from the message boards and the OWH say he's full of crap and just saying stuff like that to sway the public or save his job. Hell there was a good portion who still think the Jack TD was set up for a PR for Bo. He also does things not because its a good PR move. People don't know he made calls or stopped by to see a sick and dying fan nearly each week last year (it could have been 2 years at this point) because that was a pick me up for that guy. He called our QB recruit after he was forced to stop playing ball this year and honored the scholarship even if he never plays. He's continued to communicate nearly every week to talk about how its important to be a good teammate even when you're hurt and can't play, etc. Those type of things should tell most everything anyone should need to know about the guy. Plus his team, his player, etc all come out daily and profess how great he is. But apparently that's not good enough for the fans mostly because the Omaha media (all forms) say its not. I would wage a large sum that if the OWH covered him favorably not of the rough and gruff would really matter to most fans. I live in Central Nebraska and work a lot in the east end of Nebraska when I'm in the state. The coverage until recently was night and day difference. If you would watch NTV, Scottsbluff, NP etc it was pretty much pro Bo and the exact same presser would be covered in Omaha and it was cut to make him always look angry, pissed or standoffish. The reporters nearly to a T game critical coverage about what was wrong or what he needed to to.

 

Since its such a huge issue for you...how would you suggest he reach out more to the fans?