I HATE EXCITEMENT

[gofurman]

AS I have posted. Excitement sucks. Maybe more will join me now. Lol

Mihalic - TV announcer - said and I paraphrase . “isn’t this great? Furman had it in control and now Samford has it and Furman has to come back. What emotion. What swings ! Weird calls by refs !! We have had fumbles and INTs and big changes! Isn’t this great! “. No you dumb azz. I loved the boring dominant first quarter

Boring is wonderful. Excitement leads to losing. You have three or four exciting games (we had three in a row) and you are likely to lose one or two. Just law of averages.

If you have goals of winning a SoCon or playoffs you want to CRUSH people. And you certainly better crush easy teams. Be boring. We won at CSU but showed some weakness and too much excitement. . No big play ability. No RB / OL for 170 yards … Four turnovers ! Same things that hurt us v Samford


Be boring. Win big. Beat Citadel

[Bootie]

I agree it would be nice to win every game in a blowout... for a while. But after 2-3 seasons of wiping the floor with every opponent by 3-4 scores, wouldn't you find yourself wanting for a game that's more entertaining, giving you some heart-pumping excitement and suspense? I would. I guess it's connected to what you want to get out of the game.... if your only desire is a win, you'll be happy with nothing but blowouts, dominating everyone, a la NDSU, year after year. At some point, that would get old to me, like playing your kid in ping pong and destroying him every game haha.

I used to get so worked up about the end result of the game, but some years ago found myself taking a more casual approach, and I find I enjoy life more when my happiness doesn't rely on whether or not my preferred team wins or loses. I go into each game hoping to win while also knowing:
a) aside from any minuscule difference I can add to the game atmosphere, the end result of the game is completely out of my hands, and
b) my goal of watching a game is to be entertained and enjoy the rollercoaster of highs and lows that good competition naturally brings. I can enjoy that entertainment and go home fulfilled, regardless what's in the Win/Loss column.

[Victor Greene]

Amen, Bootie.

[AstroDin]

ditto Bootie!!! I refuse to let a loss ruin my evening, my night, my week. Life is too special.

All you have to do is listen to Clay's comments to know he hears and knows that some fans believe Furman should wipe the floor with its opponents - like the good ole days. Before the influx of start-up programs and transfers a-plenty. Heck, we basically played a team Saturday with a large line-up of FBS players.

[Furmanoid]

I agree it would be nice to win every game in a blowout... for a while. But after 2-3 seasons of wiping the floor with every opponent by 3-4 scores, wouldn't you find yourself wanting for a game that's more entertaining, giving you some heart-pumping excitement and suspense? I would. I guess it's connected to what you want to get out of the game.... if your only desire is a win, you'll be happy with nothing but blowouts, dominating everyone, a la NDSU, year after year. At some point, that would get old to me, like playing your kid in ping pong and destroying him every game haha.

I used to get so worked up about the end result of the game, but some years ago found myself taking a more casual approach, and I find I enjoy life more when my happiness doesn't rely on whether or not my preferred team wins or loses. I go into each game hoping to win while also knowing:
a) aside from any minuscule difference I can add to the game atmosphere, the end result of the game is completely out of my hands, and
b) my goal of watching a game is to be entertained and enjoy the rollercoaster of highs and lows that good competition naturally brings. I can enjoy that entertainment and go home fulfilled, regardless what's in the Win/Loss column.

Our HS team had a stretch where we were generally up 3-4 TD’s by halftime. It did get a little boring. Now we are 2-5 after some exciting losses. I gotta admit I liked the boring blowouts better.

The FU staff has not figured out how to climb to the top of the SoCon. I really hoped the OC change would help, and I still think it will, but it’s always something. I’m becoming resigned to the idea that we just ain’t gonna be all that great anymore and challenging for second is prolly gonna have to be the goal 9 years out of 10. Nobody has been able to figure out what the problem is, so nobody can fix it.

[AstroDin]

Furman has some program advantages and disadvantages.
Admissions will always be a barrier at Furman - but it's also a difference maker.

Advantages
The scholarship value is a win if a player values it.
This staff knows the type of player they need to recruit – for example, Bryce Stanfield.
Furman has broadened its recruiting footprint — for example, Texas.
Furman now has a graduate program — for example, Tyler Huff and Kyndel Dean.
The Furman program is relevant — just follow high schoolers' posts on Twitter.

Disavantages
The ability to completely rebuild a team in a year with mass transfers — for example, Samford, Western, and Chatty. In basketball, it's even more obvious — look at what Wofford has done.
Offers and Admissions — Furman has challenges that no other SoCon school faces.

Where we are
I believe we're right on the edge of being a top-level competitive SoCon team. I mean that we're in the top 3-4 every year. Realistically, challenging for the title every two years. That might not be good enough for some of you, but with the transfer rule and how most SoCon schools do it. Furman has to be strategic in building its team to compete against this.

[Furmanoid]

I’ve recently had to adopt a team I never liked, Notre Dame, which faces some of the same issues. They can’t admit dummies. They are always pretty good, sometimes really good, but they’ll never win another national championship (unless they go full bore NIL in which case they can buy as good a team as anybody). They would likely not win the ACC but every 10 years or so. They could never win the SEC. I went to my first game a couple of weeks back. They were 0-2 going in so I thought it might be a bummer. But no, everybody was fired up. Maybe the most fun I’ve had at a game.

So if you get your mind right, rooting for somebody to just be pretty good is OK. And nobody ever teases us (FU) when we lose because probably no more than 50K people know or care what happens on a SoCon football Saturday, and your odds of running into one are pretty slim. Hell, you can just tell your friends and neighbors we’re undefeated and clinched the championship, and they’ll probably just smile and high five you. Nobody cares. So no reason to get all bummed.

[apaladin]

I have to go with GF on this one. Loved the good ole days when I knew we would win. The only thing in question was by how much. It was a thing of beauty knowing the team would be ready to play, regardless of the oponent. There was still one or two games that were in doubt and those were really exciting, but for the most part it was how much will we win by. You knew you were going to see long runs, long pass plays exciting plays etc. Nowadays those type plays are non-exsistent. This year we have had ONE 20+ yard run by a running back: Roberto’s last second TD against ET. We have had ONE pass play of 30+ yds which was the scramble pass/run to Miller for a TD against CSU. We did have a couple of long pass plays in the NG game but they were on scrambles too. In the good ole days we had great downfield blocking which resulted in big plays. We had receivers that could get open. We had running backs that could break tackles and expode. All of that is non-existent today. The lack of big plays is why we struggle scoring points. It’s hard to drive the field to score and that is what we have to do every time if we score. I remember being mad because we only won by a couple of scores, lol. If we ever did lose it would take me all week to get over it. Now I am over it by supper time because I’m so used to it. The thing I miss most is how the teams of yesteryear showed up every week. There were no ups and downs. You got the same max effort every week. Not true nowadays. Does anyone believe we were ready to play at CSU? Yes give me the good ole days which are long gone and never coming back. Those were exciting times!

[gofurman]

Well it isn't like NDSU hasn't lost a few titles.

Astro and Bootie, I agree with ya'll - I shouldn't let it ruin my weekend - I ADMIT THAT. I just love our team so much it is hard not to. I am definitely too vested. lol at me

SO therein lies the difference. I would rather Not be excited vs Sammy and get excited as we hit the semifinals.. as opposed to now where ETSU, CSU and Sammy are exciting (read, you will lose one if you play so many that close). Furmanoid had a good take - he got tired of winning so easy but now that his HS team loses some he misses the ol' days where they always won. I wasn't pulling for us until 91 so I didn't get the 80s that some of you did

The question is do you want Conference intra-season excitiement yielding 7-4 (where we are now) ..or boring season (as in 80s) where the excitement came vs GSU in a title game (which were exciting). You ALWAYS have excitement - the question is do you want it now and maybe not make playoffs / or later where you are competing for titles. I prefer the latter.

one interesting point - I don't have many - is that ***I can ASSURE you the TEAM and COACHES (and isn't that who really counts ?) would want the excitment later. They want to play in playoffs and play for a title. SO shouldn't we defer to them and not want anything but boring beatdowns now? Granted, no matter what we want it doesn't change outcomes

[AstroDin]

Those of you not wanting exciting games need to listen to Coach Hendrix's opening comments on today's show.
Here ya go… start at the 2:05 mark. Also, listen at the 4:45 mark… about transfers, and I quote, "we don't live in the transfer world and rent a player for the fall."
https://fb.watch/fWSNIYlCW2/

[cavedweller2]

There is a whole generation of Clemson fans that dont know how to lose and have also become incorrigible winners.

[gofurman]

There is a whole generation of Clemson fans that dont know how to lose and have also become incorrigible winners.

I hear ya. And I agree there are annoying fans - Bama, Clemson, UGA what have you. There are annoying fans everywhere though.

But Its Not about fans. Its about what the Players (and coaches) want - I GUARANTEE the players would rather kill the other teams and have a chance at a national Title !!. The players come first. Not us.
I didn't see our players complaining after NGU 52-0

[gofurman]

Furman has some program advantages and disadvantages.
Admissions will always be a barrier at Furman - but it's also a difference maker.

Advantages
The scholarship value is a win if a player values it.
This staff knows the type of player they need to recruit – for example, Bryce Stanfield.
Furman has broadened its recruiting footprint — for example, Texas.
Furman now has a graduate program — for example, Tyler Huff and Kyndel Dean.
The Furman program is relevant — just follow high schoolers' posts on Twitter.

Disavantages
The ability to completely rebuild a team in a year with mass transfers — for example, Samford, Western, and Chatty. In basketball, it's even more obvious — look at what Wofford has done.
Offers and Admissions — Furman has challenges that no other SoCon school faces.

Where we are
I believe we're right on the edge of being a top-level competitive SoCon team. I mean that we're in the top 3-4 every year. Realistically, challenging for the title every two years. That might not be good enough for some of you, but with the transfer rule and how most SoCon schools do it. Furman has to be strategic in building its team to compete against this.

I think we have had a great discussion on this thread . Great stuff

One thing I love is the Grad Program. That's HUUUUUGE !

I do often hear about academics and realize this is our largest barrier ... People will often mention that and say "hey, academics help us sell our degree and school. True. But the restriction on players we can recruit is clearly a NET LOSS." Who sees Duke and Vandy winning national titles in FBS? NO ONE. Those academic schools generally rep the bottom of the ACC and the SEC.
It's Bama and Clemson and UGA where they can take anyone that win titles.

Academics is far more a barrier than a selling point. And that is unfortunate. Sure, A few families value it. But not enough to outweigh the number of kids a state school can go after vs how many we can pursue.

I want FU to win so bad that I kinda wish we would allow a few more (5? more) exceptions to play football - from all that I hear our academics have gotten' tougher several times since the 80s. Even in the 2000s they keep making it harder. I personally wish we had not done this so much or allowed a few more exceptions. I know some may disagree

[FurmanATT]

This has always been my view.
It's hard as hell for a school like Furman to compete physically, but when that barrier is surmounted, having intelligent players becomes an advantage. It's what I saw in the glory years.
The world is changing rapidly, and the transfer protocol has created a lot of pains adjusting to it. The option of transfers is hurting high school kids, who are becoming undervalued. Many of them go wherever someone, anyone offers them, and if they do well, they're not going to stay.
The best tool we have is the school. Athletes of who love the school will stay. Most of ours do. But it's a brave, new world. -- MD