Truly not sure whether some of you guys are really fans or not.
As I said before, truly can't grasp it.
Well first off, I don’t know you and honestly I don’t give one sweet $hi+ whether you think I’m really a “fan” or not.
Now that that is out of the way, I’ll tell you what I truly can’t grasp. I can’t grasp how what you describe as “real fans” can accept mediocrity and accept that Marshall has hit it’s ceiling. To me that is sad and I’m “truly not sure whether some of you guys are really fans or not”.
Since you bring my fandom into question, allow me to escort you through a little Big Ol’ Hillbilly Marshall history. The ol’ hillbilly grew up south of Charleston and graduated from a high school that sent the majority of its alumni to Morgantown to further their education. Back around 92 or 93 after the ol’ hillbilly had attended many WVU games and had been watching them almost religiously throughout his few short years on earth, he started following this team in green from WV that he saw playing in I-AA playoff games and championships on ESPN. He liked what he saw in this team. They played with a swagger and had an upside that he never noticed from the wvu side. They were a team on the way up while the team I had followed my whole life just seemed to be standing still. They had coaches with fire, a new stadium, a running back named Chris Parker that I loved to watch play, etc. I didn’t see any of this upside from ol’ Nehlen and his mountaineers. My allegiance began to shift.
Now it wasn’t sunshine and roses once the hillbilly quit standing around at school talking about the mountaineers with his buddies. He would throw a little Herd into the convo and they would laugh and make fun. I didn’t care. I was following something fresh, new, and exciting. They were just following same old, same old. In 1997, my freshman year of college, I watched the wvu Marshall game with this same group of buddies and they acted like such a$$es that day, that I never hung with that crew again. I hated wvu fans and that team from that point on. My allegiance had totally shifted.
I continued following the Herd, and as the years passed, the excitement continued. Conference championships, Heisman candidates, playing the big boys toe to toe, coaches with “anybody, anytime” mentality, players with swagger, newer, bigger and better conference, etc. Then around 2004 it all changed. A wrong hire was made. A man was in way over his head. We all know about those years. He was fired in 09 on my birthday. A “national search” was supposedly conducted to hire the athletic director’s buddy from 20 minutes down the road.
I’ll admit, it was exciting the first couple of years watching all of those highly regarded players turn down the big boys and sign letters of intent to play for Marshall. It was cool to see. We were playing in a decent conference and had a coach signing #1 recruiting classes in said conference. The future was bright, at first. Around year 2, the #1 classes weren’t meaning squat when we were winning no more games than the previous coach won with presumably inferior talent. Everyone said year four. They were right.
Year four rolled in and we rolled right through the schedule until the end. Had we turned the corner? WAs Marshall returning to glory? Nope. By year four, the decent programs from the conference had left us behind to play alongside of teams that were in year 2 of having football programs,teams from the sunbelt (only conference worse than the MAC), and teams moving up from I-AA. Year 4 consisted of those teams and a couple of bottom of the barrel MAC opponents. Not one team worth a $hi+ the whole season and he still managed to get out coached and not finish undefeated. Five years to the day after the previous coach got fired on my birthday, this coach got out coached for the umpteenth time on my birthday and blew a top 25 ranking and perfect season. That season he won the only championship in his 8 year tenure. Every year he gets out coached and loses games in the worst conference in the game. He not only gets beaten, he gets blown out. By the likes of Akron... AT HOME! Even Snyder didn’t get beat up at home, especially by loser programs, like this guy does. It’s embarrassing.
The excitement is gone. The new and on the rise is gone. The swagger gone. The anytime, anywhere attitude is gone. And in turn, you look around the stadium and you notice that the fan base is gone and the donors are gone. So I guess if wanting more and expecting greatness from something that I’m passionate about makes me not a “real” fan in your eyes, then I reckon the ol’ hillbilly must not be a “real” fan.
Home
Help
Members
View the memberlist
Search For Members
Login
Register