Sherman: Fan Apathy Bigger Threat Than Losing

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
Dare I say that apathy is creeping in at Nebraska? Apathy can damage a program quicker than any kind of losing streak.


My friend suffers from apathy. Continuing our Saturday night conversation, I told him that nothing cripples a program -- aside from apathy -- quite like firing a first-year coach.

“I consider it crippled now,” he wrote back.

Nowhere near bottoming out, I responded.

His answer: That could be their team slogan.

The truth hurts this season at Nebraska.
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nothing cripples a program -- aside from apathy -- quite like firing a first-year coach.

“I consider it crippled now,” he wrote back.
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Sadly, I think both those statements are true.

Let's just hope we can turn it around. This season is mostly in the toilet. A bowl game looks to be nearly impossible at this point. Nearly. But it sure would go a long ways to win two or three of these last four games.

 
I think fan apathy is sort of happening.

How many of you have plans for the game this weekend? How many of you are working on making plans for the game? How many of you are okay if you miss it or some of it for something else?

I texted 5 friends about doing something for the game Saturday. I have one response so far: "Hopefully not watching the Nebraska-Purdue game...that has to be the worst game this weekend"

 
I'm glad someone had the balls to write this article. But he's incorrect in one aspect: fan apathy has already set in. That's why it is so quiet during games. That's why Riley must win next year. If he loses 4 or 5 games, this program will be set back even further and fans will care even less. You will see more tickets opening for the visiting fans. The stadium won't be all red. The longer this goes on, the more irrelevant we become.

 
teachercd said:
I think fan apathy is sort of happening.

How many of you have plans for the game this weekend? How many of you are working on making plans for the game? How many of you are okay if you miss it or some of it for something else?

I texted 5 friends about doing something for the game Saturday. I have one response so far: "Hopefully not watching the Nebraska-Purdue game...that has to be the worst game this weekend"
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Sounds like you have friends that aren't real NU fans.

 
The fan base has been suffering from apathy for quite some time now. Ever since the last half of the season in 10', all we basically waited for was the implosion. We lost three of the last four in 10', three of the last five in 11', the last two in 12', two of the last four in 13', and three of the last four in 14'. We really were only treading water the last four years.

 
Yeah, the apathy is definitely setting in fast.

The guys sitting next to me at the game got up to leave with eight minutes to play. As they went past, one said "see you for the massacre in two weeks."

Another friend sitting in a different spot said the guy behind him said (right after the failed two point conversion) "It doesn't matter. They would have scored anyway." And considering NW got into field goal range while they were just trying to run out the clock, he was probably right.

That's a very small sample size but it's definitely out there.

 
The sad part was...for the first game of the year 10 of us went down to Lincoln to party for the game and it was a blast. O Street and the Rail Yard could not have been more packed.

Last weekend...not so much.

 
junior4949 said:
The fan base has been suffering from apathy for quite some time now. Ever since the last half of the season in 10', all we basically waited for was the implosion. We lost three of the last four in 10', three of the last five in 11', the last two in 12', two of the last four in 13', and three of the last four in 14'. We really were only treading water the last four years.
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...and we have cement shoes this season!

 
teachercd said:
The sad part was...for the first game of the year 10 of us went down to Lincoln to party for the game and it was a blast. O Street and the Rail Yard could not have been more packed.

Last weekend...not so much.
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11 a.m. starts are almost always tough.

 
commando said:
teachercd said:
The sad part was...for the first game of the year 10 of us went down to Lincoln to party for the game and it was a blast. O Street and the Rail Yard could not have been more packed.

Last weekend...not so much.
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11 a.m. starts are almost always tough.
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Earlystarts are always going to be a bit less excited for the fans but by game time and so on, it should be relatively strong. However, it is certainly to be expected that a team with a poor record and struggling against EVERY opponent is not going to rev up the crowd. Fans can only maintain so much enthusiasm when the team is messing around punting and so on. And, of course this year, as they have really flopped in the 4th quarters so regularly, giving up leads and losing in the last seconds, the games have been exciting but crowd noise, etc. is not seeming to help much as far as defensive stops goes. The offense has been exciting in the last series or two but seems to struggle in the middle half of the games playing flat and uninspired. These guys need to play for love of the game and because it is fun and they have the want to play and win. The motivation is really got to come from within. The coach can give them 'rah rah' speeches until the final snap but if the guys are already excited to be playing, then nothing is really going to matter.

 
Mavric said:
Yeah, the apathy is definitely setting in fast.

The guys sitting next to me at the game got up to leave with eight minutes to play. As they went past, one said "see you for the massacre in two weeks."

Another friend sitting in a different spot said the guy behind him said (right after the failed two point conversion) "It doesn't matter. They would have scored anyway." And considering NW got into field goal range while they were just trying to run out the clock, he was probably right.

That's a very small sample size but it's definitely out there.
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That basically sums up how I feel about this team. It's almost like seeing a movie multiple times. The first time you see it, you don't know what to expect and are surprised by the ending (BYU game). Now 8 games into the season, we know every line of the movie and know what the ending is going to be. We know Langsdorf is going to force Tommy to be Peyton Manning. We know the running game will struggle. We know we're going to make the quarterback look like a heisman candidate. We all know if our defense doesn't have a two possession lead at the end of the game they are going to blow the game.

Riley and his defenders on this board have said, "Well we're a play away from being undefeated". The thing is we shouldn't have to rely on the last play of the game to beat teams like Illinois and Northwestern. Heck, it took a last second sack to escape against Southern Miss with a win. This offense has as many rushing touchdowns as Purdue and UNLV, that's not winning football. This defense on average gives up a little over 12 points and 140 yards in just the 4th quarter.....that's not winning football.

 
84HuskerLaw said:
commando said:
teachercd said:
The sad part was...for the first game of the year 10 of us went down to Lincoln to party for the game and it was a blast. O Street and the Rail Yard could not have been more packed.

Last weekend...not so much.
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11 a.m. starts are almost always tough.
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Earlystarts are always going to be a bit less excited for the fans but by game time and so on, it should be relatively strong. However, it is certainly to be expected that a team with a poor record and struggling against EVERY opponent is not going to rev up the crowd. Fans can only maintain so much enthusiasm when the team is messing around punting and so on. And, of course this year, as they have really flopped in the 4th quarters so regularly, giving up leads and losing in the last seconds, the games have been exciting but crowd noise, etc. is not seeming to help much as far as defensive stops goes. The offense has been exciting in the last series or two but seems to struggle in the middle half of the games playing flat and uninspired. These guys need to play for love of the game and because it is fun and they have the want to play and win. The motivation is really got to come from within. The coach can give them 'rah rah' speeches until the final snap but if the guys are already excited to be playing, then nothing is really going to matter.
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Playing for "love of the game" is not the vibe one got from the program over the last five years or so. Those teams were motivated by their coach to spite their critics and doubters. Proper support and a positive coaching staff probably just confuses them.

 
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