In general, I agree.
But if you start breaking it down, it changes. For me anyway.
To you, what is a negavol and a pumper, and who belongs in each group? Is it cut and dry, in your opinion, that we all are one or the other? Which do you consider yourself?
You don't have to answer, just my 2 cents.
appreciate it, and they're good questions, honestly...i'll try to answer, at least from my perspective...
i think for the vast majority, the water is muddy. as usual, it's the fringe on both sides that generally gets the reaction.
i can be both, depending on the ridiculousness of the comment i'm responding to.
cause let's face it, neither side is all that adept to making rational thoughts covey on this board at times.
but for those fringe folks, they NEED the argument.
which is why, while i think thunders premise is kinda dumb, i do agree with it. i have no doubt that there would be some that would have complained about getting to the sugar bowl, only to have lost it, had it happened.
just as i know that no matter what happened, there would be those that would be primed and ready to say "see we got to the sugar bowl, greatness awaits".
and if we won it....the board might shut down.
it's been a long time since this fanbase has experienced REAL success, and i have no idea what would happen if we won a sugar bowl or conf title...or made the CFP.
i do think though, that most people, even some of the more critical ones like myself, Beecher, KB, Stj, Boro, etc....genuinely want Butch to succeed because that's in the best interest of the program.
now, do we think he will? no. we don't. doesn't mean though that we're not rooting for it to happen....regardless of who the coach is. mostly it's about accountability, good and bad. if he rights the ship, wins something of consequence, GREAT, he made the necessary decisions to get the program to that point. if he doesn't, and we see the 'same old same old', then yeah, it may be time to wash our hands of this experiment in favor of a new direction. either way, it's up to Butch Jones.
for the ultra positive, and this is where maybe the disconnect is with the length of time it's been since we've enjoyed any real success, the line of demarcation is what happened 2006-2012, and judging where we are today based on that level of performance and finding significant value in the progress that's been made, to the point that it can't help but be great.
and the ultra negative...just don't like Butch Jones, they have unrealistic perception of what the program is, and should/could be, and leave no room for the ACTUAL progress that's been made.
and as usual, the truth lies in the middle. he has been both good and bad. and thru 4 years, there's probably an allowance of that while building it back up. but from this point forward (which is all that matters btw), what happens is on him. and i'm cautiously optimistic about the overall future. i think the recruiting had real potential to nose dive this cycle due to all the negative recruiting that was going on, and it seems, for now anyways, they're overcoming that.
get some results on the field next season, and who knows. either way, i think barring a complete melt down, he's here in 2018, and we see, again just like 2016, if the proof is in the pudding or not...
nb4 tl/dr. have a great day.:thumbsup:
