WHY ALL THE HATE FILLED NAME CALLING, THEY ARE KIDS !

[UConniki]

Its embarassing ! They're kids. They have feelings, they read the boneyard, I bet their parents read it too ! I wouldnt want to read some of the things posted here about my kids ! These are the same kids that brought us a NC just 1 year ago. And now they're bums. And being subjected to insults and ridicule. Why ? Cause they didnt meet our expectations. Have any of you ever failed to meet expectations or not succeeded at something ? Obviously not. Or alot of posters wouldnt be posting some of the hurtful things I've read on this forum, ( calling Ad A BUM, A BUST, USELESS, just an example, pretty much every kid on UCONN has had to deal with the name calling). AD came in over hyped and didnt live up to the hype, same with DD, that doesnt mean they didnt try or care,as some here have stated. Nor does it mean they should be belittled. They're kids, with feelings, who I'd guess are more disappointed with the way the season went than we are !
There is a big difference between constructive criticism and insults ( u suck, versus u could do better ).
From a lifelong UCONN fan(48yrs and counting), while I'll always be a proud husky fan(we have a UCONN room in our house , and we go to any UCONN games played in the south), I no longer live in CT. and am proud to say I live in Florida.

 

[UCDaveD]

They're adults.

 

[ASweet3781]

They're adults.

So are Calhoun, Blaney, Ollie, and Miller. They were the coaches of this team. Pretty cowardly that some of you go after Oriakhi, Lamb, and Drummond in the most personal of ways and give a pass to those that were in charge of this team.

 

[UConniki]

The average age of this team is about 19yrs. AO is the only one 21.

 

[UCDaveD]

So are Calhoun, Blaney, Ollie, and Miller. They were the coaches of this team. Pretty cowardly that some of you go after Oriakhi, Lamb, and Drummond in the most personal of ways and give a pass to those that were in charge of this team.

I went after Blaney plenty when threads were made about him, but I don't see how that's relevant. Are you trying to tell me that it's the coaching staffs fault that AO misses bunnies and had stone hands?

And when have I went after any of them "in the most personal of ways"? Everything I've said has been related to their play on the court. In fact I think I actually complimented AO in another thread calling him a smart guy and applauding his 3.6 gpa.

 

[ASweet3781]

Well you have been respectful, but others have said some pretty rotten things about the kid, telling him to transfer and all.

Oriakhi looked like a pretty good player last year even with bad hands. What happened?

 

[UCDaveD]

The average age of this team is about 19yrs. AO is the only one 21.

I made this same post in another thread, but I'll just paste it here since it's relevant again.

The 19-20 year old players line is getting really tired.

Can I not criticize Kyrie Irving or Bismack Biyombo? They're both 19. Is it different because they're in the League? If so, why? They're still 19 regardless. This isn't t-ball. Not everyone gets a trophy and told that they did a great job.

Can someone let me know at what age criticism is allowed? It obviously doesn't coincide with the age at which you can be drafted, so is it the legal drinking age? At 21 are you mature enough accept criticism from an online message board? Or maybe we should hold off until they're around 25. Wouldn't want to damage those fragile psyches. And what if you're around the same age as the "kids" that you're posting about. Does that change anything? I guess by some people's logic, a poster calling out another poster, who happens to be college aged, would make them just as guilty.

 

[jleves]

Are you sure you're on the right forum?

 

[UCDaveD]

Well you have been respectful, but others have said some pretty rotten things about the kid, telling him to transfer and all.

Oriakhi looked like a pretty good player last year even with bad hands. What happened?

Let's not wax poetic. He looked like a good player in stretches last year. Those stretches thankfully came at great times. He had the same problems last year, but apparently hasn't done much to fix them. I really can't imagine that the coaching staff has completely neglected to work on his problem areas with him. And even so, the coaches aren't with him 24/7, he needs to be responsible for putting in the work to improve when nobody is standing over his shoulder supervising him. I don't know whether or not he's done that, but judging solely based on what I see on the court, it appears to me like he hasn't

 

[UCHuskies08]

Maybe, just maybe, people around here could maintain some level of decorum regardless of the results on the court.

Clearly that isn't what happens. To me, the players on the team should be considered like family, part of the Husky family, where we all have their backs. Reading this forum, though, 95% of people are ready to turn on them the second they don't live up to their "expectations." It's even more sad when you then think about the fact that most of the people posting these messages are all adults, who, you'd think, would have a little more perspective on life than just calling Oriakhi "soft" and saying Lamb "doesn't care," and whatever assorted insults have been hurled at all the members of the team.

I realize this will never change, I realize every fanbase does it. Doesn't mean it isn't stupid.

 

[patrick]

Well you have been respectful, but others have said some pretty rotten things about the kid, telling him to transfer and all.

Oriakhi looked like a pretty good player last year even with bad hands. What happened?

I like Alex a lot, but if he doesn't want to stick around then he should transfer and like uchuskie08 said they are family but family doesn't leave when times get hard.

That being said AO WILL ALWAYS BE A HUSKY in my mind.

 

[tzznandrew]

I like Alex a lot, but if he doesn't want to stick around then he should transfer and like uchuskie08 said they are family but family doesn't leave when times get hard.

That being said AO WILL ALWAYS BE A HUSKY in my mind.

See, I more or less agree here. If AO doesn't want to be here, that's sad, but that's life. Go have a good life, we'll remember the title he helped bring.

I don't know what the kid is going through, but if he really, ultimately wants to leave, and it's due to playing time or whatnot, then I think that reflects poorly on him this late.

That said, I think a lot of problems we see with AO have to due with these guys growing up in the Facebook/Twitter generation, where they just don't seem to really understand how public everything is--and even if they have a little clue, they don't realize the import of what they are saying. A kid like Tony Robertson was killed enough without Twitter...I can't imagine what would have happened if it was around.

 

[UConniki]

I am as big a DUKE HATTER as there is . I just went on their Scout forum ( couldnt log on, not registered ), There is not one sarcastic or angry title. NO name calling, nothing. And they just lost to fr***ng Lehigh. Can u only imagine this forum if UCONN had a better season, was a #2 seed , and lost to Lehigh. UCONN just won a title, Duke did not. And there is all this hate towards our team, not theirs. They have been incredibly disappointing by their standards, we have been to 2 FF won a NC in3 years. Its not like we as much to complain about. Yea , and they are kids.

 

[tzznandrew]

I can't find any over there, but I know they were locking every thread that seemed the least problematic. It was absurd.

That said, cooler heads somewhat prevails and the bulk of their fans probably find it more readable.

 

[Gurleyman]

Are you a big Stetson Hatter too?

(sorry, sorry, couldn't resist a playful joke - it was just a funny typo. Your post is a good one, so keep posting!).

 

[Henry]

I could understand people being upset if we were criticizing high school players but these are young men and this is a sport where their actions on and off the court will be scrutinized. We live in a world where some young people never face criticism because we don't want to make them feel bad. Most of us who have been criticzed at work or home know that it hurts. However, in most cases we learn from it and benefit fron the soul searching it provides. If they don't want to read bad things about themselves they shouldn't read the board. We love the kids who play for UConn but are not always happy with them. Just like with our own kids at times.

 

[Elitehuskies]

Maybe the way our fanbase reacts to our players and losses is equivalent to how they treat their own family members. For some, when their nephew losses the soccer game by 1 point, he's told, "you got no f*ing heart!" Or maybe when their own son or daughter don't win a game, they're told, "Go live with Uncle Vinny! You are transferring * out of here!" Heaven forbid they lose...ever!​

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Let's do some quick math...these kids get the equivalent of probably ~$40k a year (costs of tuition, room & board, maybe some per diem and travel covered). This is just a guess, but it is probably a bit more, so don't get your panties in a bunch. Now, consider in your workplace an equivalent employee making the same. What kind of work do these people do? I'm willing to bet most of you make way more than this. For those that are bashing the players from a higher pay base, do you treat your fellow employees or coworkers the same way? You got no f*ing heart, you're fired! Instead of criticizing college players like an imbecile, go change your life, go take a look at yourself. Maybe you should consider "transferring" yourself to another fanbase since you didn't cheer enough for them to win.​

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I can only imagine what the fans of the bottom D1 teams say...​

 

[FfldCntyFan]

UConniki,

This is one of my biggest gripes. We have a ton of people crying about how we need to be viewed as a blue-blood but are not yet we don't have the fan base of the schools we are claiming to be in the same league in (we don't even have the fan base that Indiana & Louisville, two schools who likely also belong in this conversation yet are always left out when a boneyarder claims that we are among the blue-bloods).

We are far too insecure about what a handful of journalists (and a lot of fans of other northeast schools) say about our success and our post JC future. We are too quick to hit the panic button when we have a less than desirable season and our attendance starts to wane at any excuse.

If we want to become a true blue-blood program we need to act like one. Our fan base needs to be more committed and more consistent. We need to draw more fans, better fans. Do you believe that after a five year run similar to what we've just completed (which included three seasons that fell short of expectations) Louisville or Indiana (or the four stated blue-bloods, UNC, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky) would have any concerns selling tickets for the upcoming season? Do you believe any of them would worry that if their current coach moved on (retirement is not too far in the future for K, Roy and Rick while the NBA rumors for Squid will never cease) they would think there was little chance that they could find a competent replacement? Do you believe that any of those schools would care if fans of a lesser school from a reasonable geographic proximity started proclaiming that their success was about to end? We need to grow as a fan base and more importantly, we need to grow up as a fan base.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I could understand people being upset if we were criticizing high school players but these are young men and this is a sport where their actions on and off the court will be scrutinized. We live in a world where some young people never face criticism because we don't want to make them feel bad. Most of us who have been criticzed at work or home know that it hurts. However, in most cases we learn from it and benefit fron the soul searching it provides. If they don't want to read bad things about themselves they shouldn't read the board. We love the kids who play for UConn but are not always happy with them. Just like with our own kids at times.

To me the point isn't that they should not be criticized. The point for me is the calling them names and urging them to transfer-- that is different than pointing out problems in their play. Have you ever been called "garbage" in a performance review at work? Would that make you reflect on your weaknesses to work to improve? You know, we rely on Jim Calhoun to give the players feedback, but a fan message board can be a pretty fun place to talk about the team or it can become a cesspool of nastiness when so-called fans don't get the national championship fix that they feel so entitled to.

Here's the difference I'm getting at: I think that Andre may have benefited from getting more of the typical JC treatment early in the year rather than the kid glove treatment that he appeared to get. I think that he was not nearly aggressive enough when it came to rebounding. However, I am not going to call him nasty names like a 12 year old middle school kid because I was disappointed he did not play the way I had hoped he would this year.

Now, you might point out that I just called the name calling posters here "nasty 12 year olds" and you'd be pretty much right. Of course, they are the ones who take offense to being called names for calling names, but don't see why it is a problem.

 

[swami7774]

Its embarassing ! They're kids. They have feelings, they read the boneyard, I bet their parents read it too ! I wouldnt want to read some of the things posted here about my kids ! These are the same kids that brought us a NC just 1 year ago. And now they're bums. And being subjected to insults and ridicule. Why ? Cause they didnt meet our expectations. Have any of you ever failed to meet expectations or not succeeded at something ? Obviously not. Or alot of posters wouldnt be posting some of the hurtful things I've read on this forum, ( calling Ad A BUM, A BUST, USELESS, just an example, pretty much every kid on UCONN has had to deal with the name calling). AD came in over hyped and didnt live up to the hype, same with DD, that doesnt mean they didnt try or care,as some here have stated. Nor does it mean they should be belittled. They're kids, with feelings, who I'd guess are more disappointed with the way the season went than we are !
There is a big difference between constructive criticism and insults ( u suck, versus u could do better ).
From a lifelong UCONN fan(48yrs and counting), while I'll always be a proud husky fan(we have a UCONN room in our house , and we go to any UCONN games played in the south), I no longer live in CT. and am proud to say I live in Florida.

Why all the capital letters?

 

[UCHuskies08]

This fanbase tends to act like a tortured fanbase.......... only they've won 3 NCs in the past 13 years.

 

[patrick]

It was floods, it was locust!

 

[dsturdy5]

To me the point isn't that they should not be criticized. The point for me is the calling them names and urging them to transfer-- that is different than pointing out problems in their play. Have you ever been called "garbage" in a performance review at work? Would that make you reflect on your weaknesses to work to improve? You know, we rely on Jim Calhoun to give the players feedback, but a fan message board can be a pretty fun place to talk about the team or it can become a cesspool of nastiness when so-called fans don't get the national championship fix that they feel so entitled to.

Here's the difference I'm getting at: I think that Andre may have benefited from getting more of the typical JC treatment early in the year rather than the kid glove treatment that he appeared to get. I think that he was not nearly aggressive enough when it came to rebounding. However, I am not going to call him nasty names like a 12 year old middle school kid because I was disappointed he did not play the way I had hoped he would this year.

Now, you might point out that I just called the name calling posters here "nasty 12 year olds" and you'd be pretty much right. Of course, they are the ones who take offense to being called names for calling names, but don't see why it is a problem.

The bolded point, I completely agree with. Name calling and attacking are far different from criticizing.

However, I disagree with the performance evaluation piece of it. Playing on this team is part of their education. What would people have said about you (not YOU DB2U, just the population here in general) if your educational performance were criticized in the manner some on here have criticized the players performance? Would their reactions to a C+ paper have been a fair reflection of you?

I guess I've softened on this after in my last year at UConn someone showed up with a sign to the student section which said "Caron + Early Exit = NBDL" and I saw his face when he saw such a sign from his fellow students. It clearly hurt him. Of course he was drafted in the lottery that same summer.

 

[UConniki]

Apparently there are alot of people who dont understand the difference between constructive critisism and name calling. You could have played a lot better, you really need to work on your game, or you suck , your garbage , your a bust and while I'm at it I cant wait till you leave for the NBA.

 

[champs99and04]

I am as big a DUKE HATTER as there is . I just went on their Scout forum ( couldnt log on, not registered ), There is not one sarcastic or angry title. NO name calling, nothing. And they just lost to fr***ng Lehigh. Can u only imagine this forum if UCONN had a better season, was a #2 seed , and lost to Lehigh. UCONN just won a title, Duke did not. And there is all this hate towards our team, not theirs. They have been incredibly disappointing by their standards, we have been to 2 FF won a NC in3 years. Its not like we as much to complain about. Yea , and they are kids.

Are you serious? They're KILLING the team over there. If you want a better idea of how much they hate their team, read through the last twenty or so pages of the game thread. Even in the first half they were absolutely ripping their team to shreds. Our fans are saints by comparison.