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Post: #7 |
RE: Censorship and Fair Play

Ok, I'll take this one on. It probably won't make me any friends, but I'm in a rotten mood anyhow because of how things are going on the field, so what the hell. I'm not a mod, don't move or delete threads, and I'm glad I'm not burdened with the duty. I have no dog in that fight.

First off, who effing cares whether DuBose and Callaway have a similar appearance? That's BS right from the jump. You wanna compare them, you need to do better than that. They both look like football coaches, and they look like literally hundreds of other football coaches. This is news?

We all know how the Callaway hire went down went against the grain. We pretty much universally hated it. We bitched and raised hell. It's a dead issue at this point. He's our coach, and frankly I think the guy still has not had a chance to build to where he needs to be. In many ways I think he's doing the right things for our long term improvement. Yes, I'm sane, and yes, I actually wrote those words in the wake of the debacle at USM. I'm not saying everything's fine and nothing needs to be fixed, but the guy has got to be given an honest chance to build his team, with decent recruits and a full roster.

Rob, I know you're a big Blazer fan. I find it difficult to understand that such a high percentage of your posts are highly negative posts that pop up after losses. I don't know if that's just your mindset, or that you just don't have much to say till things turn bad or what. It's distressing, and it annoys the hell out of me. I suspect that it annoys other people as well.

I have to shine that same spotlight on MB. I like you, have enjoyed talking to you, and have a ton of respect for both your undoubted UAB fandom and your knowledge of the program and its history. Again, I find it distressing that you have virtually nothing positive to say on this board, regarding pretty much anything. Football, basketball, coaches, whatever, again it seems that probably 80% of what you post denigrates our coaches, players, and programs. The sniping is unceasing, and it has begun to seriously grate. I remember a time not so long ago when you'd zing the deserving, but you'd also display a sly sense of humor and stick pins into bags of hot air. What happened to that guy? I miss him, I don't see him post much any more, it's a far more bitter MB of late.

I tend to be optimistic, to be loyal to the program, perhaps to a fault. That said, I'm also critical, and I call things as I see them. If something/someone seems to be working, I'm happy to say so. If it's not, I gripe about it, point at what I think needs addressed, and make suggestions. Most likely no one who has the power to change things sees what I write or gives a damn, but I do it anyhow. I'm not a sunshine pumper, I think I'm fairly realistic most of the time. I might be wrong, but I attempt to post measured responses to the issue of the day.

This is an unpleasant time for UAB football fans. What's happening out there on the field just stinks, and we all know it. We all want change for the better. How we handle things is important though. I think that things are to the point where there is an honest chance that we will lose UAB football. I know there are some who would cheer the program's death and consider it progress. I damn well don't. Ripping at the guts of UAB's team and coaches is counterproductive, harmful.

You wanna criticize? Go for it. I think you're plenty smart enough to know when you're laying down honest criticism and when you're coming perilously close to character assassination. You guys are putting down posts that are pretty close to as negative and annoying as several folks who have earned bans recently. If I can make the observation that you're laying down posts that are in the same league with Macblaze's, and say it truthfully... well, I hope that stings and makes you think.

Criticism is fine. Being PO'd about how things are going is too. That said, I think that we could be far closer to another Black Friday than anyone cares to think about, and that we need to find a way to support the UAB athletic programs before they go down the crapper.

If we lose football, we lose our place in C-USA. It may not be the greatest conference in the world, but it's a damn sight better than where we're going to land if we lose our conference affiliation. If you think the Louisvilles and Kentuckys of the basketball world are going to keep scheduling us as we fall further down the food chain, well... I think you're terribly wrong. Not till we're patsys to pad the schedule anyhow. Gene Bartow's legacy at UAB deserves a far better fate than that.

I love UAB Athletics, and I'll be damned if I'll sit silently by watching it die. The football team deserves better, our fans and alumni do as well. We need to press for improvements. I have strong opinions that there need to be changes in the coaching staff.

I just don't think that knifing our own is in any way productive, particularly at a time when we desperately need to be pulling together.

That's nowhere close to "fair play".