Reasons for Negativity

[Uconn10922]

Just curious here. With all the negativity that comes out after each loss (remember there has only been 5), it got me wondering why so much venom is spewed when the program, by all accounts, is on an upward trajectory. Personally I think it’s a combination of COVID fatigue, a reflection of society in general and some hurt feelings of some who didn’t like how the Ollie situation was handled. I mean I get criticism of some coaching techniques or rotations but to be labeling coaches and players so harshly seems like there is more behind it.

Maybe it’s generational or just New England skepticism but what is it? It seems like some are crossing the line between being passionate fans and embittered fans even though their team has been ranked thru out that year and looks like a lock for the tournament. It seems like the unified husky mania fan base has been replaced by a divided and “I told you so” group. The scary thing is, if this keeps up where does it end…

 

[Waquoit]

I think it's self-loathing.

 

[mrl2016]

Whatever it is, it’s entirely nonsensical

 

[Connecticut13]

Just curious here. With all the negativity that comes out after each loss (remember there has only been 5), it got me wondering why so much venom is spewed when the program, by all accounts, is on an upward trajectory. Personally I think it’s a combination of COVID fatigue, a reflection of society in general and some hurt feelings of some who didn’t like how the Ollie situation was handled. I mean I get criticism of some coaching techniques or rotations but to be labeling coaches and players so harshly seems like there is more behind it.

Maybe it’s generational or just New England skepticism but what is it? It seems like some are crossing the line between being passionate fans and embittered fans even though their team has been ranked thru out that year and looks like a lock for the tournament. It seems like the unified husky mania fan base has been replaced by a divided and “I told you so” group. The scary thing is, if this keeps up where does it end…

It's a fair point. I wouldn't attribute it to COVID-fatigue. I'm been negative after losses for as long as I can remember - so I'm confident that it's unrelated to COVID. I think it's New England skepticism, combined with being a fanbase that grew to expect success during the Calhoun-era.

With that being said, there's another contingent on this Board that believes it's blasphemy to question decisions made by our Coach. I think our Coach is deserving of some criticsm for recent performances. Is the sky falling? Absolutely not. And the program is in a much better place than it had been. But that doesn't mean that everything is wonderful -- there are significant things that need to be fixed.

 

[Huskybass]

Great program fell in a huge hole and is digging out rather well. Lots of varied takes on how well and/or quickly the rebuild has gone. Largely successful season so far, but several wasted opportunities in the 5 losses. Hurley seems like a great program coach, but he has had limited NCAA tourney success with only 2 wins total in a decade as Head Coach. Can he lead a team on a deep tourney run?

I agree that it's odd how divided our fanbase can get. In theory, we are all rooting for the kids and staff to enjoy success, but sometimes it doesn't seem that way. I really like this group of kids as a whole. I'm grateful that we are relevant again and that recruiting has been excellent. Guys like CF Jr., Karaban, Clingan and Castle will upgrade the overall talent level.

I would put myself in the cautiously optimistic camp. To me, that's a fair take.

 

[borninansonia]

Humans are angry. They know that they badly messed up the world. Deep down, below the conscious level of most humans, they fear that that humans are going the way of Neandertals.

 

[Kitaman]

Quite simply, its the Boneyard, no explanation other than 'its what we do'.

Just saying its historically been our MOO.

The fun part is coming here and seeing all the 180 degree shifts, after we win.

 

[BGesus4]

I’ll tell you why it is. It’s because if Diggins and Springs were starting, we’d probably have zero losses.

 

[Ts5034]

I think it has to do with the fact this fanbase is starving for success, and the desire to get back to being a Final Four contender again as quickly as possible. In the past, especially on the football side, It seemed like every loss and every game was treated as a refefendum on our conference affiliation where the more games we won would amount to an eventual invite to a better conference. Now that our conference situation has improved, I think the fans are just desperate for sucess and are sick of losing.

 

[Umami Zen]

Complex question-No simple answer. Fair to say we are all fans .. IMO-However-The way we display our opinions is based on our personal experience/orientation. Athlete brain vs non-athlete brain-- Ex-Coach vs no coaching experience. Optimist vs pessimist. Sense of humor vs no sense of humor. Analytical vs Big Picture. Fair weather fan vs All- in fan.. Never left CT vs Been Around.. Keyboard Tough vs Common Sense, etc.

Mix it up all together on a message board ..The gumbo soup you get is the Yard!

Lets take care of business and shock Nova

 

[AntG168]

I think it has to do with the fact this fanbase is starving for success, and the desire to get back to being a Final Four contender again as quickly as possible. In the past, especially on the football side, It seemed like every loss and every game was treated as a refefendum on our conference affiliation where the more games we won would amount to an eventual invite to a better conference. Now that our conference situation has improved, I think the fans are just desperate for sucess and are sick of losing.

But we aren’t losing. Do we want an undefeated season? Or and 09 season to ge satisfied? It’s mental.

 

[husky429]

Every fanbase is like this after bad losses.

There's a lot of people that only show up after losses to complain. The regulars on here are generally taking a more nuanced approach.

People saying it's not Hurley's fault at all are wrong. People saying Hurley is totally to blame are wrong. The reality is he does a lot well as a coach, but his flaws are particularly noticeable at times.

Everyone who spews vitriol at the players is wrong. The can rot in a dank jail cell as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Kenny11]

If you are on the Boneyard, you are more than a casual fan. You are passionate and sometimes venting on the BY is entertaining. I don’t mind some of the overreaction. But the frustration is also justified. We lose games we should win. We regularly score around 20 points in a 20 minute half when our team is loaded with 4 star recruits and 5th year seniors with a lot of experience. The team panics in close games down the stretch and that panic seems to come from the top. But yes, the program still is on an upward trajectory despite all that.

 

[campcalhoun2009]

I’ll take a stab at it…..

While everyone agrees the program is moving in the right direction and things are overwhelmingly better than they were several years ago, that sentiment of just saying “hey it’s fine we’re losing remember 2016” is getting old.

1. I think the way last season ended with the collapse against Creighton and the embarrassment vs Maryland really left a sour note on what was otherwise a successful year.

2. After a season like that you expect growth and progress and while the surface record are good, we really only have 2 good wins. 1 was in November and one was over a month ago to a team without their 2nd best player. The reality is we have been feasting on Butler, G’town, and DePaul for 2 months. We needed OT to beat St. John’s.

3. All the losses are following a similar pattern that has not improved. Come out completely flat and dig into a huge whole. Stage a comeback with great defense. Freeze and choke on late game offensive execution and lose. If the losses all looked different I think it would be fair to say “off night” or whatever, but there is a pattern.

4. This Creighton game was your first real test in a while without an excuse of Covid or injuries and they failed. Creighton is not good. Seton Hall is not good and we’ve now got Ls to both.

5. We are staring in the face of the true test of what this team really is and this result turns that from an exciting proposition to something that’s really more questionable.

I think the idea that people can’t be critical of a sub par result given all these factors without being viewed as some traitor or ingrate is ridiculous. Expectations are high BECAUSE of the progress we have made. I don’t have questions about the future of the program or the general upward trajectory. But it’s fair to criticize in season issues.

 

[8893]

One word: Selvie.

 

[imno1]

Just curious here. With all the negativity that comes out after each loss (remember there has only been 5), it got me wondering why so much venom is spewed when the program, by all accounts, is on an upward trajectory. Personally I think it’s a combination of COVID fatigue, a reflection of society in general and some hurt feelings of some who didn’t like how the Ollie situation was handled. I mean I get criticism of some coaching techniques or rotations but to be labeling coaches and players so harshly seems like there is more behind it.

Maybe it’s generational or just New England skepticism but what is it? It seems like some are crossing the line between being passionate fans and embittered fans even though their team has been ranked thru out that year and looks like a lock for the tournament. It seems like the unified husky mania fan base has been replaced by a divided and “I told you so” group. The scary thing is, if this keeps up where does it end…

It isn’t only after losses. Many complain we weren’t perfect during our wins. I’m old enough to remember the last few years of our previous coaches tenure. Extremely happy Hurley is our coach

 

[polycom]

People are negative because a team like ours is inconsistent. If we were consistent and had a bad game here or there that would be difficult but even in some of our wins we are just inconsistent.

 

[August_West]

One word: Selvie.

Taliek

 

[August_West]

Taliek

Rickety Moore

 

[boog204]

It's always been like that here... I think part of it is when we lose, 99% time we feel as though we should not have lost. Thinking back, there's only been a handful of times where I thought we played our game and were beat. Most of the time it's human error and we're all amazing coaches and players and know we would/could have done better. Regardless, it's obnoxious but expected. The same person saying RJ sucks and shouldn't be the point guard will be praising him next game. People forget about the days of Rickety Moore, Bazz being the "worst PG in UConn history," and Sticks "not being a BE caliber athlete."

 

[boog204]

Rickety Moore

Beat me to this by about 4 seconds... I feel robbed.

 

[8893]

Beat me to this by about 4 seconds... I feel robbed.

Like Trajan Langdon?

 

[August_West]

It's always been like that here... I think part of it is when we lose, 99% time we feel as though we should not have lost. Thinking back, there's only been a handful of times where I thought we played our game and were beat. Most of the time it's human error and we're all amazing coaches and players and know we would/could have done better. Regardless, it's obnoxious but expected. The same person saying RJ sucks and shouldn't be the point guard will be praising him next game. People forget about the days of Rickety Moore, Bazz being the "worst PG in UConn history," and Sticks "not being a BE caliber athlete."

This is especially true this year. @BigErnMcCracken made a comment a week or so ago saying we've lost 4 games but no team looked like a team that was better than us.


I agree with that, which increases my frustration. We are undefeated this year except for the fact we beat ourselves 5 times now.

 

[F101Voodoo]

I being a UConn fan since I was in high school have seen the change in fans for both of the two prime sports teams ( mens) over time. I think that it is due to a combination of reasons. Society in general has grown nasty and the internet provides a sense of a false safety and privacy shield for those who are not brave enough to say nasty crap in person spew venom as you said. Others are so nasty that they spew venom in sports, government, education, medicine, relationships. In some cases the venom is in the form of road rage, or 5.56 or 9mm “words” shot a fellow students. Those “fans” who lash out at the coaches or teams with venom seem to think that their acts of buying tickets or just being “fans” entitles” them to say and or act out in any outrageous way. There seems to be an element or should I say an ilk that of “people” who think that they are somehow entitled to act like reptiles in all aspects of society. We all have the right to be fans of a team and critique it’s playing. Yet not the right to go berserk if our team or favorite candidate does not win or get a job. Accept the nature of competition, sometimes you win sometimes you lose. When to lose determine why and make corrections. Real adults know and accept and do that, children do not.

 

[Rico444]

I think it has to do with the fact this fanbase is starving for success, and the desire to get back to being a Final Four contender again as quickly as possible. In the past, especially on the football side, It seemed like every loss and every game was treated as a refefendum on our conference affiliation where the more games we won would amount to an eventual invite to a better conference. Now that our conference situation has improved, I think the fans are just desperate for sucess and are sick of losing.

I would add that the fanbase has anxiety about whether or not we will ever get back to that level at all -- Jim Calhouns don't exactly grow on trees, and the odds we're as big a winner as we were under him are probably not that great. Each loss forces us to ponder our program's mortality. Sounds dramatic, I know, but I believe it's the main reason why these losses are so painful to so many of us.