The Angry Divide

[Steef]

Started with HDN.

Our fanbase learned how to be divided. You were either a 'hugger' or a 'darksider'. It's no longer important who was right or wrong, because the lesson learned was...we could argue and fuss with each other...AT each other...instead of discussing football.

You know, I used to really like college football. I mean...the actual play of the game. Now, I'm supposed to measure my pleasure EXCLUSIVELY by whether or not we win or lose.

By that criteria, only the fanbase of an undefeated team can find any joy. Ever.

So we've been divided by Nutt. And Mitch. And Teresa. And Gus. And Jeff. And Mike (it's not football...but we fussed) And Bobby. And Ryan. And Willy. And motorcyclegate. And Jeff again. And Gus again. And coaching searches in general. And JLS (never have understood blaming a figurehead for behaving like a figurehead, but that's just me). And Bret. And Jen. And (sigh) Gus....AGAIN.

And right now it's Ash.

There is a multi-page thread trashing a coach for leaving...and apparently we(someone) didn't like him anyway. So the folks who are glad he's gone...are trashing him for leaving.

Can't make this stuff up.

I used to really like college football.

I never got to wear the Colors. Did you? I'm a former UA student, but I didn't ever dress out in the uni's. So any opinion I voice about them NOW...I haven't really earned the right. We all...on any message board...just ASSUME the right. But unless you actually sweated and bled...and wore the Colors well...you're just a pundit. Like me. And what we choose to say, and how we choose to say it...tells the world who WE are. But not who the TEAM is.

You know what's significant about the LSU game this past year? Those kids...those MAGNIFICENT young men in Hog Colors....were STILL TRYING!!
After everything I just listed. After a spirit-crushing season and (probably) watching themselves get completely dissed on Hogville...THEY were TRYING to win!

We don't. Not so much. We don't have teamwork here. We just try to beat each other. In our never ending quest to 'be right'...or 'be right...ER' than the next guy, we are just sucking the joy out of being fans of football...and Hogs.

Our team is gonna keep trying to win, whether Hogvillains (sic) try or not. We're going to be BETTER in 2014 than we were in 2013. And we're gonna be DANGEROUS in 2015.

Bret might have made some faux pas in his first year, but he knows how to coach. He obviously knows how to recruit. He and the staff are getting athletes who will add to the strength of our team.

And he's building a football team the way it should be built.

By 2015, we're going to have to fabricate some crisis or another. Or that divide will just go poof. Maybe we can argue about there being nothing to argue about.

And some of us... are renewing our faith and joy in college football...win or lose...whether the rest of you want us to or not. Because Hogs will be on the field, playing their snouts off!

[PonderinHog]

I disagree,








respectfully.   

[Steef]

LOL

You're a goober. 

[ifghog]

Well I tend to agree with you...for the most part..I always do though...for the most part! LOL.

[Chief Mac]

This post needs to be stickied at the top.  Instant Hogville classic and very spot on.  Thanks for your input Steef

[PonderinHog]

This post needs to be stickied at the top.  Instant Hogville classic and very spot on.  Thanks for your input Steef

I disa...  oh, never mind. 





He's right - this time.

[Chief Mac]

I disa...  oh, never mind. 





He's right - this time.

sun shine's on a dog's butt sometimes   





jk steef

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

This is not unique to Hogville and/or Razorback fans.  Losing Just makes it more prevalent and winning limits it to just those on the extreme ends.

Every fan base b!tches about their coordinators to a degree especially after a loss or a losing season. 

Sky is blue, it's cold outside. I could write a multiparagraph thread about either of these as well.

[DukeOfPork]

It's true: being divided is in our DNA as Razorback fans.  We're whinier than the average fan base.  We have to complain incessantly and we sabotage our own Program in the process.

I feel that, given the circumstances, Bielema was probably the best choice of coaches who would actually come here.  I no longer agree that he is "definitely" going to turn this around, but he will be given 3 or 4 years at minimum and Jeff Long is firmly entrenched, so I do not understand scorched earth policy of anti-Bielema and anti-Jeff Long people on this board.

[ChicoHog]

Great post steef!

[grayhawg]

Good write up Steef, really good for an Arkansas Grad.




WPS 

[DukeOfPork]

This is not unique to Hogville and/or Razorback fans.  Losing Just makes it more prevalent and winning limits it to just those on the extreme ends.

Every fan base b!tches about their coordinators to a degree especially after a loss or a losing season. 

Sky is blue, it's cold outside. I could write a multiparagraph thread about either of these as well.

I completely agree, in general.  Before their breakout season this year, Mizzou fans were calling for the heads of their entire football staff a few months ago.

But the perpetual division between our fans is pretty unique.  We are far more polarized than almost any other fan base.  We label each other and divide into factions far more than any other group of fans.

[jkstock04]

So what is your overall point? That everyone should be happy and share your foresight?

Call me crazy but I'm not surprised there is some negativity in light of everything that has happened since the motorcycle wreck. Arguably the worst 2 year stretch in program history.

So you guarantee we will be better next year and "dangerous" in 2015? How can you guarantee that? You did not specify "guarantee" but that's how it read to me. Also about recruiting...how is it so that it's obvious he knows how to recruit? Cause from what I'm looking at, the recruiting looks similar to how we always recruit. Mostly 3 star recruits....with a handful of 4 star guys sprinkled in. Bottom of the pack in the SEC. 2015 is off to a great start but truthfully nobody knows for sure if that will stick and how that class finishes.

The bottom line is this, some people (like yourself) will be happy with the football program regardless what happens, win or lose...and you will have faith in great things to come regardless of the situation. And know what? There is NOTHING wrong with that in my opinion.

If you say we are going to win a national championship next year, that's ok...your opinion. But if you were to expect everyone else to go along with you and believe it as well...then that's where the problem is....and vice versa for folks who see things bleakly. Just because I don't share in your optimism doesn't mean I expect you to believe the same exact way I do.  If people would respect others opinions there would be much less conflict.

I stress the word "opinion" cause truly that's all we have on here. I do take issue with the know-it-alls who scream the loudest with God-like proclamations, cause 99% of the time they are wrong.

[Steef]

Good write up Steef, really good for an Arkansas Grad.




WPS

English lit. major. 

[Steef]

So what is your overall point? That everyone should be happy and share your foresight?

Call me crazy but I'm not surprised there is some negativity in light of everything that has happened since the motorcycle wreck. Arguably the worst 2 year stretch in program history.

So you guarantee we will be better next year and "dangerous" in 2015? How can you guarantee that? You did not specify "guarantee" but that's how it read to me. Also about recruiting...how is it so that it's obvious he knows how to recruit? Cause from what I'm looking at, the recruiting looks similar to how we always recruit. Mostly 3 star recruits....with a handful of 4 star guys sprinkled in. Bottom of the pack in the SEC. 2015 is off to a great start but truthfully nobody knows for sure if that will stick and how that class finishes.

The bottom line is this, some people (like yourself) will be happy with the football program regardless what happens, win or lose...and you will have faith in great things to come regardless of the situation. And know what? There is NOTHING wrong with that in my opinion.

If you say we are going to win a national championship next year, that's ok...your opinion. But if you were to expect everyone else to go along with you and believe it as well...then that's where the problem is....and vice versa for folks who see things bleakly. Just because I don't share in your optimism doesn't mean I expect you to believe the same exact way I do.  If people would respect others opinions there would be much less conflict.

I stress the word "opinion" cause truly that's all we have on here. I do take issue with the know-it-alls who scream the loudest with God-like proclamations, cause 99% of the time they are wrong.

Thank you for proving my point.

[Athog]

Every fan base has this issue. There is a minority who think it is cool to be negative especially hiding behind a computer screen. The key is to just ignore and move on. Constantly talking about it accomplishes nothing.

[Hawgon]

Good lord, just let it die.  It is the off season after a miserable year.  Some people aren't happy about it, others are.  That is where we stand.  Do we really need another "I'm a better fan than you because...." kind of thread?

[pigture perfect]

I agree with Steef. +1

As for other divided fan bases, not many as splintered as us, and some people are proud of that.

[hog.goblin]

If we all listened to more Sabbath this wouldn't happen.  It's the Bieber folks causing the trouble.

And I still hate Texas.

[jkstock04]

Thank you for proving my point.

What is your point? I'm honestly not sure. That everyone should be happy with things like you are, and have the same foresight you do...in better and "dangerous" things to come?

My overall point is this, I respect you believe those things. But just because you believe that, don't automatically expect everyone else to.

[ATLHog]

+1 steefhog & Athog, in complete agreement.

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

I agree with Steef. +1

As for other divided fan bases, not many as splintered as us, and some people are proud of that.

Not many as splintered as us?  Not many if any outside of Kentucky have had the 2 year on field suckfest we have had.  Go back to OM boards 3 years ago before Nutt was fired or A&M boards before they wised up and fired Sherman and at the same time were debating on whether to leave the B12.  It's all context and timing.

Winning solves/solved everything.  The biggest real unique issue that splintered Hog fans was the GSD, and now that it has been more or less settled the rest of it is same as every other losing program that gives a $hit about football.

[Steef]

Good lord, just let it die.  It is the off season after a miserable year.  Some people aren't happy about it, others are.  That is where we stand.  Do we really need another "I'm a better fan than you because...." kind of thread?

Never said I was better than anyone. I said WE as a fanbase are at each others' throats. Adversarial. Angry.

Like the thread title.

Why do we have to be angry all the time? Yes, there have been body blows to the program. But does that mean we have to deliver body blows to each other? Daily? In every thread?

Do you (generic 'you'...not you in particular)....ever type out something to someone who's pissed you off...and then thought, "No, I really don't want to say that?"

It is JUST football. If we lose a game, no one's going to execute anyone's family members.

We've just been angry so long, we don't even realize it any more. Again, I point to the Ash thread, where people who are mad at Ash for the job he did...are also mad at him for leaving. That makes no sense.

They're just mad for the sake of being mad. It's the new normal.

[Hoggish1]

We're going to be BETTER in 2014 than we were in 2013. And we're gonna be DANGEROUS in 2015.

Bret might have made some faux pas in his first year, but he knows how to coach. He obviously knows how to recruit. He and the staff are getting athletes who will add to the strength of our team.

And he's building a football team the way it should be built.

And some of us... are renewing our faith and joy in college football...

^ is what I believe!

[Hawgon]

Never said I was better than anyone. I said WE as a fanbase are at each others' throats. Adversarial. Angry.

Like the thread title.

Why do we have to be angry all the time? Yes, there have been body blows to the program. But does that mean we have to deliver body blows to each other? Daily? In every thread?

Do you (generic 'you'...not you in particular)....ever type out something to someone who's pissed you off...and then thought, "No, I really don't want to say that?"

It is JUST football. If we lose a game, no one's going to execute anyone's family members.

We've just been angry so long, we don't even realize it any more. Again, I point to the Ash thread, where people who are mad at Ash for the job he did...are also mad at him for leaving. That makes no sense.

They're just mad for the sake of being mad. It's the new normal.

First of all, they're not mad just for the sake of being mad.  They're mad because the football program just had the worst year in the entire one hundred plus year history of the program and they don't agree with the direction of the program.  You don't have to agree with their anger, but you can at least acknowledge their reasons.

So, once again in order to promote unity, you start a thread bringing up the differences and castigating those with whom you disagree? 

I see very few thread around here started by people who are mad anymore but I see plenty started by people who just can't stand it that maybe not everyone agrees that everything is hunky dory in Razorback Land right now.

[The NewEra]

I sometimes wish a tyrant with an itchy trigger (account delete) finger who didn't like people incessantly bashing his Hogs owned this site.

[Steef]

I sometimes wish a tyrant with an itchy trigger (account delete) finger who didn't like people incessantly bashing his Hogs owned this site.

(me too)


We're agreeing again, you know. Gonna have to cut that out.

[hogblitz]

Never said I was better than anyone. I said WE as a fanbase are at each others' throats. Adversarial. Angry.

Like the thread title.

Why do we have to be angry all the time? Yes, there have been body blows to the program. But does that mean we have to deliver body blows to each other? Daily? In every thread?

Do you (generic 'you'...not you in particular)....ever type out something to someone who's pissed you off...and then thought, "No, I really don't want to say that?"

It is JUST football. If we lose a game, no one's going to execute anyone's family members.

We've just been angry so long, we don't even realize it any more. Again, I point to the Ash thread, where people who are mad at Ash for the job he did...are also mad at him for leaving. That makes no sense.

They're just mad for the sake of being mad. It's the new normal.

This is the response of a casual fan(which is okay) but not hardcore fans.  Chris Ash did do a terrible job.  No question about that.  It is a fact.  As far as all the negativity, try winning.  That solves everything.  This is a message board about a major program and SEC team not a sermon at church.  A coach that gets paid millions TO WIN football games.  This is a business not charity.  Most have some sort of financial investment to the program even if it is just season tickets. People expect return on investment.  Getting back to double digit wins will end virtually all the negativity.  Quite frankly, until that happens people have every right to complain.

[The NewEra]

(me too)


We're agreeing again, you know. Gonna have to cut that out.

Just hang in there.  I keep looking for an opportunity to pounce on one of your posts! 

[DukeOfPork]

Not many as splintered as us?  Not many if any outside of Kentucky have had the 2 year on field suckfest we have had.  Go back to OM boards 3 years ago before Nutt was fired or A&M boards before they wised up and fired Sherman and at the same time were debating on whether to leave the B12.  It's all context and timing.

Winning solves/solved everything.  The biggest real unique issue that splintered Hog fans was the GSD, and now that it has been more or less settled the rest of it is same as every other losing program that gives a $hit about football.

This started long before the current two year suckfest.

The infighting has been going on throughout the entire Internet Age.  As soon as the Forest City Joes of this world obtained internet access, we started complaining and attacking each other. 

I don't agree with Steef's optimism; he is definitely blowing smoke up his own arse in predicting 2015 glory.  But I do agree with him that we are unnecessarily adversarial in general...and always have been.

Basically, we are a stupid and emotionally unstable fan base.

[The NewEra]

This is the response of a casual fan(which is okay) but not hardcore fans.  Chris Ash did do a terrible job.  No question about that.  It is a fact.  As far as all the negativity, try winning.  That solves everything.  This is a message board about a major program and SEC team not a sermon at church.  A coach that gets paid millions TO WIN football games.  This is a business not charity.  Most have some sort of financial investment to the program even if it is just season tickets. People expect return on investment.  Getting back to double digit wins will end virtually all the negativity.  Quite frankly, until that happens people have every right to complain.

I look forward to those double digit wins.  More so for the players, then the coaches and lastly us fans.  I'm convinced we are headed there, but like all investments, they don't show immediate returns, it's a matter of time.

When we do get there it will be fun to be on this board where 90% of the fans are energized again.  Those are fun times on this site!

[Hawgon]

Basically, we are a stupid and emotionally unstable fan base.

Every fan base is stupid and emotionally unstable.  Fan is short for fanatic after all.  We might seem a bit more neurotic than usual because we are a school/program which has been on the cusp of greatness many times, only to see events or lack of vision by several different administrations, drag us back into the mire.  Right now, it is very difficult to see how we are going to get out of this mess to be even mediocre in the next half decade or so.

[hogblitz]

This started long before the current two year suckfest.

The infighting has been going on throughout the entire Internet Age.  As soon as the Forest City Joes of this world obtained internet access, we started complaining and attacking each other. 

I don't agree with Steef's optimism; he is definitely blowing smoke up his own arse in predicting 2015 glory.  But I do agree with him that we are unnecessarily adversarial in general...and always have been.

Basically, we are a stupid and emotionally unstable fan base.

The thing is that people act like we are the only stupid unstable fan base.  There are many fan bases the same or worse.  Many of the ones that are the worst have the best teams year in and year out.  Look at Bama, they have attacks and shootings.

[Hawgon]

Let me know the next/first time a Razorback fan is shot by another fan for failing to show the proper amount of grief over a tough loss.

[DukeOfPork]

Getting back to double digit wins will end virtually all the negativity.  Quite frankly, until that happens people have every right to complain.

Even if BP was still here, we wouldn't have had double digit wins the last couple of years.

The idea of Arkansas lingering at the top of the SEC on a regular basis is a fantasy.  13 other schools are trying just as hard as we are and about nine of them have way more resources and way more access to recruits than we do.

You do the math.

[Steef]

The thing is that people act like we are the only stupid unstable fan base.  There are many fan bases the same or worse.  Many of the ones that are the worst have the best teams year in and year out.  Look at Bama, they have attacks and shootings.

Probably all true.

But this (Hogs) is the only one I care about.

[LZH]

So what is your overall point? That everyone should be happy and share your foresight?

Call me crazy but I'm not surprised there is some negativity in light of everything that has happened since the motorcycle wreck. Arguably the worst 2 year stretch in program history.

So you guarantee we will be better next year and "dangerous" in 2015? How can you guarantee that? You did not specify "guarantee" but that's how it read to me. Also about recruiting...how is it so that it's obvious he knows how to recruit? Cause from what I'm looking at, the recruiting looks similar to how we always recruit. Mostly 3 star recruits....with a handful of 4 star guys sprinkled in. Bottom of the pack in the SEC. 2015 is off to a great start but truthfully nobody knows for sure if that will stick and how that class finishes.

The bottom line is this, some people (like yourself) will be happy with the football program regardless what happens, win or lose...and you will have faith in great things to come regardless of the situation. And know what? There is NOTHING wrong with that in my opinion.

If you say we are going to win a national championship next year, that's ok...your opinion. But if you were to expect everyone else to go along with you and believe it as well...then that's where the problem is....and vice versa for folks who see things bleakly. Just because I don't share in your optimism doesn't mean I expect you to believe the same exact way I do.  If people would respect others opinions there would be much less conflict.

I stress the word "opinion" cause truly that's all we have on here. I do take issue with the know-it-alls who scream the loudest with God-like proclamations, cause 99% of the time they are wrong.

Here, here!  +1.

I'm not one for doom and gloom, but I'm sure not one for rose-colored bull****.  Whenever the day comes that BB leaves (for whatever reason), I guarantee that most of these same people will be spouting "he was overrated, good riddance, etc."  And his replacement could be the biggest knothead on two feet and they will run over each other to call the rest of us 'haters' simply because we aren't buying into that crap as we've seen it all before.  SSDD.

As to the OP, fwiw, I don't think Hog fans are much different that any other rabid fanbase.  We've always been divided to some extent, there just wasn't always the internet to allow folks to gravitate to one side or the other so easily.  I can remember that the focal point of b!tch!ing and complaining back in my younger years was JFB.  Half the state thought he should have hired so-and-so, or he hired the wrong guy because of his ego, or he meddles too much.

And I have to disagree that just because we never wore the uniform we don't have a right to voice our opinions, that we haven't earned it.  As fans/boosters, we absolutely have earned the right to speak out one way or the other.  If everyone was discouraged from calling a spade a spade (if that's how they feel), and only puff pieces in the sports section were acknowledged and fans who openly disagreed with the standard line coming from the BAC were ignored, then apathy would set in for alot of people and that's a program killer.  That's why programs like Arkansas State will never be much more than they are now.....because nobody really cares enough to speak out and demand better.

[EastexHawg]

You know, I used to really like college football. I mean...the actual play of the game. Now, I'm supposed to measure my pleasure EXCLUSIVELY by whether or not we win or lose.

By that criteria, only the fanbase of an undefeated team can find any joy. Ever.

As we progress up the football totem pole winning becomes more important.  Want to go see your grandkid play Pee Wee football?  Great.  At that level, winning isn't important.  Junior high?  Winning is more important, but by that age a lot of kids are still trying to decide if they even like athletics.  High school?  Ask any player, coach, or fan in Texas if winning is important in high school football.

By the time you get to college football, winning IS important.  Players are receiving free educations because they excel at blocking, tackling, catching, throwing, running...even kicking.  Students who aren't so physically adept are paying six figures, maybe taking out loans that will indebt them for many years, to receive the same schooling.

Coaches are being paid two, three, maybe five million dollars per year.  Who gets paid the most?  The coaches who win the most.

Fans receive pleas, exhortations...maybe even demands...to pay more and more for the right to sit in certain seats or park in certain lots.

If the object of all this is not to win, why do the athletic department and the Razorback Foundation need more and more money?  Is it expensive to lose?  Couldn't you do it just as easily with a coach making $1 million instead of $3 million?

I enjoy college football...if we win.  Losing provides no joy.  I've always felt the same way about everything I've done.  If I win, if I succeed...whether it's on the football field, on the golf course, at the weigh-in, or in the classroom...I'm happy.  If I get stomped by everyone else who is playing or competing, I'm not satisfied.  Not even a little bit.

I don't have to win every game.  I was very satisfied with the 2010 and 2011 teams.  They were winners.  Before that, I was proud of and satisfied with almost all the Hog football teams from the time I was old enough to pay attention in the mid to late 60s through the Hatfield years in the 80s.  I was fairly satisfied with Nutt's first year or two, at least until it became obvious he was a fake as a college football coach and would never elevate the program above mediocrity unless the next Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Bob Lilly, and Dick Butkus happened to be born in Arkansas.

I was ecstatic with Eddie Sutton's Razorbacks of the mid to late 70s.  I sat and listened to a fuzzy radio signal to hear the Triplets (I remember someone called them the Three Basketeers) beat SMU, Tech, Texas, and Houston.  Did they ever win the whole ball of wax?  No, but they won and won frequently.  They won enough to renovate Barnhill and eventually build Bud Walton.

Of course I was giddy when Nolan's Hogs won it all in '94 and got back to the final in '95.  Then he began to rest on his laurels, quit recruiting basketball players, and became more and more outspoken and defiant...and I thought it was time for him to go.

Do I expect and demand to win every game?  Of course not.  But...if we ain't winning, I ain't happy.  This isn't Little League or an Easter egg hunt for five year olds.  There are no participation ribbons, and if there were I wouldn't be interested in any team I follow getting one.  The object of the game is to win.  Any attempt to portray the goal as anything short of victory is little more than a rationalization and excuse for failure.

Just the way I see it...

[Hawgon]

Fans who are not neurotic enough to get angry when a program doesn't do well and detached enough to be happy no matter what, are not attached enough to give money and go to games.

[LZH]

I see very few thread around here started by people who are mad anymore but I see plenty started by people who just can't stand it that maybe not everyone agrees that everything is hunky dory in Razorback Land right now.

Sweet.

[Steef]

And I have to disagree that just because we never wore the uniform we don't have a right to voice our opinions, that we haven't earned it. 

Didn't say we didn't a RIGHT. In a free society, we have RIGHTS.

But we didn't earn them.

Which makes us pundits. Observers and kibitzers. Which is what I said.

A lot of us have opinions about military actions, too. But those who've served, have earned those opinions far more than the comfortable taxpayer on his couch.

The taxpayer should be mindful of the guys/gals who made the effort.

WE should be mindful of the young men who sweat and bleed for our Colors.

[DukeOfPork]

The thing is that people act like we are the only stupid unstable fan base.  There are many fan bases the same or worse.  Many of the ones that are the worst have the best teams year in and year out.  Look at Bama, they have attacks and shootings.

I agree, Bama fans are idiots...they just get to enjoy a lot more success.  But both Bama and Arkansas fans made Clay Travis' "Most Stupid Fan Bases" list, and honestly, we both belong on it.  We ARE more ridiculous than most fan bases.  It's just a fact.

[wupigsuey]

It kinda goes with something I hear recruits say from time to time. "Those fans are crazy" "Those fans sure are passionate". Sadly that's not always the good news.

[Steef]

Fans who are not neurotic enough to get angry when a program doesn't do well and detached enough to be happy no matter what, are not attached enough to give money and go to games.

Getting angry (with cause) is natural.

Staying angry constantly...is unhealthy.

[superior_wang]

I sometimes wish a tyrant with an itchy trigger (account delete) finger who didn't like people incessantly bashing his Hogs owned this site.

its kinda like being a parent.

two types of parents, both presumably love their kids(giving you Long supporters the benefit of a doubt). One side says "oh, little johnny would never get a speeding ticket , that just cant be"..they sweep it under the rug, pretend it never happened, and hope like hell it doesnt happen again . These are  the Long lovers...and then there's the "little johnny im curb stomping your ass and you will never drive again till you get a 4.0" type....the supposed Long bashers.

same goal, different methodology.

i believe in tough love. Hogs suck right now, and alot of the issue is pointing directly at the self-aggrandizing AD. tis a fact.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/self-aggrandizement

btw i included a link to the definition of self aggrandizement for your folks living around the river valley of Russellville and or  the slums of the Pine Bluff metro area's benefit. You are welcome.

[Hawgon]

Didn't say we didn't a RIGHT. In a free society, we have RIGHTS.

But we didn't earn them.

Which makes us pundits. Observers and kibitzers. Which is what I said.

A lot of us have opinions about military actions, too. But those who've served, have earned those opinions far more than the comfortable taxpayer on his couch.

The taxpayer should be mindful of the guys/gals who made the effort.

WE should be mindful of the young men who sweat and bleed for our Colors.

If someone asks me for my money and I give them some, then I have a right to opine as to the use of it.

The same can be said of the men and women in the military.  Whatever they are doing, right or wrong, they are doing in your name and before GOD, you will answer for it someday.  So yes, you have as much right as anyone to an opinion.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Every fan base is stupid and emotionally unstable.  Fan is short for fanatic after all.  We might seem a bit more neurotic than usual because we are a school/program which has been on the cusp of greatness many times, only to see events or lack of vision by several different administrations, drag us back into the mire.  Right now, it is very difficult to see how we are going to get out of this mess to be even mediocre in the next half decade or so.

Please expound on that prediction.  What is it that happened that makes you feel that we can't be any good for 5 years, and what exactly will make us good at any point following that?  Blind luck?  New staff?  New AD?  The next Cam Newton? 

Why gloom and doom for 5 years, but then things will turn around? 

[Hawgon]

Getting angry (with cause) is natural.

Staying angry constantly...is unhealthy.

Razorback football is so far down my list of concerns right now that I haven't posted on this forum in a month.  And frankly, I don't care one way or the other what happens next year.  It will not affect me one way or the other.  So, it cannot be said that I am angry.  However, threads like this serve no useful purpose but to bring the so-called divisions you claim to the abhor, to the fore.

[PonderinHog]

Basically, we are a stupid and emotionally unstable fan base.

So, you're saying there's a chance

WPS :razorback:

[Sir Oinksalot]

Great post Steef, a sort of "crying out" in the wilderness for fan unity or asking us to at least "try" and find points
of agreement and with not so much venom.......good point we should all keep in mind....

When I look at the landscape of Razorback football and it's history we had an extremely strong leader in Frankie B., he had the vision
and he could motivate his teams as well as charm the ears off a billy goat......but, as he got older and after going all national
with the tv commentator thing, he started to get a lil bit out of touch with coaches and trends etc.  before then he
knew what coach he wanted when the time came and had the ability to convince them to come here.

As he aged, this new committee thing came into being and favor and each factor had "their man" and they would all vote and
the coach with the most votes got the job......well, ok, but the other side never was happy and so the division in
Razorback Sports started there, with man overs and back room stuff like an old time political election....
the fans have simply picked-up on this, imo, in a 'Trickle down' scenario.........

these "election" committees have in part caused the split fan base by causing the process to become too political......