[GoZips]

For the past few months (since the end of basketball season) I just do not feel a connection with the
university sports programs. A lot of grumbling, player defections and dismissals, poor coaching
decisions, etc. etc.

Football: The university tried the infamous "let's see what this under qualified man can do" only to
be sadly disappointed. So, what do they do? Let's try this mistake again. Its not fair to dismiss
Ron Ianello without giving him an opportunity. Really? Ianello is likely to fail. He has already
created turmoil in his program and he has not even coached a single game. Just an overall bad
feeling about the state of affairs with in the football program.

Soccer: While pleased with last year's performance; how can you not be; there is something just
not right. Player defections with excuses. The university dragging its foot; so to speak; over
upgrading the facilities which the program earned. Feeling of tension is what I get.

Basketball: What idiot tosses out a slimy rumor of a major player defection in the midst of turmoil
within the men's basketball program? Darn good thing I'm not a moderator. Or, bingo ... banned.
That was the worst "joke" ever on this board. Coach has his hands full righting a badly tilted ship.
It is not often that a team produces a 24-11 season and leaves its fans with a sour taste.

Athletic Director: No leadership. No vision. No plan. Hire your cronies. Grade "F". blah

[Dave in Green]

Football: UA does not have the money or clout to get a proven winning D1 coach. Everyone else is a gamble. I think UA made an intelligent gamble, and got about as good a potential coach as UA is going to get. He may fail. But when I looked into Ianello's background, I liked what I saw. Even if he fails, I don't see it as a bad gamble.

Soccer: UA was ranked #1 in the country and came as close to the national championship as you can get without actually winning it. UA has the best college soccer coach in the country, one that every other school would love to have, and many tried to get. Everyone was afraid that after last season's showing he was gone. He stayed. He didn't leave. The best soccer coach is back at UA with another great recruiting class. If you dug deep enough to find negatives in that scenario, you've dug clean through China and out to the edges of the known universe.

Basketball: KD's biggest critics didn't like the way he put his teams together. He blew up what he was doing and made more changes for next season than he's ever made before. Circumstances may have played a role in some of this. But he made some really intelligent gambles with players like he hasn't had before. As with Ianello, the gambles may fail. But writing off the kind of gamble that many were asking for begs the question: Exactly what does it take to satisfy the naysayers before a single game has been played? As for the false rumor, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. All basketball fans on ZN.O were put on notice not to take a certain poster seriously, and are now personally responsible for their own reactions to future comments. We don't need no steenkin' moderator intervention on that unless we also want someone to change our diapers.

Athletic Director: Personally, I have no problem with anyone hiring their cronies as long as their cronies prove to be winners. We can guess all we want about what might happen. But winners aren't determined until the games are played and the final scores are up. Since I'm not smart enough to predict the future, I'm waiting to see how things play out before I formulate an opinion on this one.

[ksu sucks]

unless we also want someone to change our diapers.

Sounds like a novel idea. I think a few ZNO posters are years overdue for a dipey changing.