Moving on and going in a different direction

Charlotte 49er Football šŸˆ
1

Well, it has been a while since Iā€™ve posted but I just want to get a few things off my chestā€¦

First off, Iā€™m disappointed in myself. I renewed my season tickets this year (because I moved back to Charlotte) after I said prior to the year that I wouldnā€™t renew. I was fed up with Lutz and fed up with the state of the program but I still did it anywayā€¦call it loyalty or whatever, but in retrospect, I wasted over $300. I have been a season ticket holder for 8 years now but no longer after this year.

In 1995 when we were the last team in CUSA and we didnā€™t have football, we missed our window of opportunity to build a football program. Now, we are in the pathetic A10 and we are getting our clocks cleaned on a regular basis in hoops. My question to all of you football supporters is simply, why? What good does it do now? We donā€™t have any conference options except for the Southern and that is a big step back from even the A10. Football will NOT help now, or in the future because it is too late. South Florida had the balls to build it and we did not. They are in the Big East, we are withering away.

But everyone is to blame here. The administration and athletic department have no clue, Lutz has no coaching ability, we canā€™t recruit any more, no one in their right mind would want to come here anyway, and most importantly, the games arenā€™t fun and a lot of loyal supporters (like myself) have had enough and refuse to waste time, money and energy on our sinking ship. I was as hardcore as anyone could be but letā€™s be honest here, the ā€œgloryā€ days of NCAA tourneys are a thing of the past. But what frustrates me is the lack of motivation to do anything about it.

I guess what Iā€™m saying is that Iā€™m sad. When I moved to Atlanta, I kept my season tickets, I was very vocal about our program and I was proud to be a Charlotte 49er. Now, because of our conference affiliation, Judy Rose, Bobby Lutz, and lack of vision in 1995, our athletic programs are simply in a state of decline and there is NO WAY OUT. Itā€™s over because of all of these factors and anyone who says anything to the contrary is simply comatose.

For the past several years, many of you have mocked my point of view and claimed I was crazy for anticipating our fall. I was critical of Lutz and others, but now the tone of this board is like mine has always been. I will always have the university in my heart, but now I must move on and go in a different direction because our athletics are dead. I simply cannot pour my heart into it any more when it is obvious that the powers that be have not done anything to correct the situation.

So, all of this being said, a part of my life is over and Iā€™m very sad about it. But like any other relationship, when itā€™s not working and youā€™ve done all you can, you have to move on.

2

I agree with you. However, there are many that are convinced weā€™re just a year away or two from being good. I wish I believe that or drank that kool aid that they do.

3

It has been worseā€¦

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Wissel]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Wissel[/URL]

4

[QUOTE=upstate49er;215485]It has been worseā€¦

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Wissel]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Wissel[/URL][/QUOTE]
I wrote that. :tongue:

5

I feel ya. Its tough being a fan these daysā€¦

But, I dont have any other direction to move. I got my BS and MS degree from here, its my only university, and I love it.

Yes, its sad whats becoming of it and Iā€™m not happy, but I wonā€™t pull away all support. I will say that its not that fun going to games anymore, and Iā€™m prob going to have to scale back on the # of tix I buy and the amount that I contribute to the 49er clubā€¦but I canā€™t abandon it yet.

6

i think next year I may just donate the 2 DVD set of Hal Wissells tips on shooting to the 49er Club.

okay this would be better:
[URL=http://www.hoopskills.com/defense.html]http://www.hoopskills.com/defense.html[/URL]

7

[QUOTE=ATL_Niner;215476]But everyone is to blame hereā€¦But what frustrates me is the lack of motivation to do anything about it.
[/QUOTE]

But the Stamats study will cure all evils. :rolleyes:

Also, donā€™t forget, our chancellor is all in favor of chapel hill putting a med school in our back yard. :rolleyes:

And why should we want to do anything about anything? After all, we are almost dead last in funding from the state. We should be happy with what they give us. :rolleyes:

And donā€™t forget. Our womenā€™s programs are quite good now and we all know how important that is. They get to hang their banners in Halton now. :rolleyes:

Ok, enough sarcasm from me. I promise, if you were that dedicated you will be back once things improve. Iā€™m speaking from experience.

8

[QUOTE=ATL_Niner;215476]Well, it has been a while since Iā€™ve posted but I just want to get a few things off my chestā€¦

First off, Iā€™m disappointed in myself. I renewed my season tickets this year (because I moved back to Charlotte) after I said prior to the year that I wouldnā€™t renew. I was fed up with Lutz and fed up with the state of the program but I still did it anywayā€¦call it loyalty or whatever, but in retrospect, I wasted over $300. I have been a season ticket holder for 8 years now but no longer after this year.

In 1995 when we were the last team in CUSA and we didnā€™t have football, we missed our window of opportunity to build a football program. Now, we are in the pathetic A10 and we are getting our clocks cleaned on a regular basis in hoops. My question to all of you football supporters is simply, why? What good does it do now? We donā€™t have any conference options except for the Southern and that is a big step back from even the A10. Football will NOT help now, or in the future because it is too late. South Florida had the balls to build it and we did not. They are in the Big East, we are withering away.

But everyone is to blame here. The administration and athletic department have no clue, Lutz has no coaching ability, we canā€™t recruit any more, no one in their right mind would want to come here anyway, and most importantly, the games arenā€™t fun and a lot of loyal supporters (like myself) have had enough and refuse to waste time, money and energy on our sinking ship. I was as hardcore as anyone could be but letā€™s be honest here, the ā€œgloryā€ days of NCAA tourneys are a thing of the past. But what frustrates me is the lack of motivation to do anything about it.

I guess what Iā€™m saying is that Iā€™m sad. When I moved to Atlanta, I kept my season tickets, I was very vocal about our program and I was proud to be a Charlotte 49er. Now, because of our conference affiliation, Judy Rose, Bobby Lutz, and lack of vision in 1995, our athletic programs are simply in a state of decline and there is NO WAY OUT. Itā€™s over because of all of these factors and anyone who says anything to the contrary is simply comatose.

For the past several years, many of you have mocked my point of view and claimed I was crazy for anticipating our fall. I was critical of Lutz and others, but now the tone of this board is like mine has always been. I will always have the university in my heart, but now I must move on and go in a different direction because our athletics are dead. I simply cannot pour my heart into it any more when it is obvious that the powers that be have not done anything to correct the situation.

So, all of this being said, a part of my life is over and Iā€™m very sad about it. But like any other relationship, when itā€™s not working and youā€™ve done all you can, you have to move on.[/QUOTE]

Football WILL help. Did we miss the boat before? Yes we didā€¦ is that the only boat? No way! There will be more conference realignments in the future and we need to be in the position to take advantage of that and that starts with having football. You have plenty of points, but I would caution too much of laying all this at Lutzā€™s feet. Keep in mind that he was has been on the coaching staff of some of the best teams we have ever had. The A10 has hurt his style of play no doubt. He does need to do better, but it is not all his fault. The move to the A10 is squarely the fault of the AD and as you pointed out after we backed into CUSA they did nothing to care for us when the next alignment happened. Woodward and Rose should be tarred and featheredā€¦ our current state is more their fault than anyone elseā€™s. I think most here would agree with that. You are certainly not the only one with those feelingsā€¦ they have been on this board since before this board existed.

9
Woodward and Rose should be tarred and feathered... our current state is more their fault than anyone else's. I think most here would agree with that.

There is ZERO accountability for their lack of actions. How anyone can take the drop we took in athletics and then look at our tv schedule, ticket sales, quallity of teams visiting halton, and the overall support for the program, versus what it was 2-3 years ago, OF OUR KEY SPORT, and not lose their job is beyond me.

10

[QUOTE=WBNiner;215490]Football WILL help. Did we miss the boat before? Yes we didā€¦ is that the only boat? No way! There will be more conference realignments in the future and we need to be in the position to take advantage of that and that starts with having football. [/QUOTE]

Agreedā€¦ and we need to get started on football ASAP or risk standing on the dock for a long time waiting for that next ship to come in.

11

[QUOTE=Over40NINER;215489]But the Stamats study will cure all evils. :rolleyes:

Also, donā€™t forget, our chancellor is all in favor of chapel hill putting a med school in our back yard. :rolleyes:

And why should we want to do anything about anything? After all, we are almost dead last in funding from the state. We should be happy with what they give us. :rolleyes:

And donā€™t forget. Our womenā€™s programs are quite good now and we all know how important that is. They get to hang their banners in Halton now. :rolleyes:

Ok, enough sarcasm from me. I promise, if you were that dedicated you will be back once things improve. Iā€™m speaking from experience.[/QUOTE]
Good stuff!

Also note: According to Dr. Phil, having the initials ā€œUNCā€ in front of our name adds value to our degrees. :lmao:

12

Man.am I tired of hearing of how joining the a-10 has hurt us,and our recruiting.First of all,weā€™ve only been in the a-10 less than 2 years.How many of the guys we have on scholarship now were even affected by the move? Zero! If we were head and shoulders above our leaguemates than I might give some credence to that theory,but,in fact,we are more of the laughingstock of the conference.How many of us,me included,were sure 2 years ago,that weā€™d dominate the ā€œcrappyā€ a-10? Now we have to pull out comeback home victories over freakin Lasalle to keep out of the cellar!IMHO,the ā€œrecruiting has sufferedā€ excuse has been propogated by Bobby and his apologists to deflect criticism of his terrible recruiting the last few years and his even worse coaching and failure to get close to the most out of his players.The only thin,unfortunately,thats gonna talk,is what always talksā€¦MONEYā€¦WHEN WE LOSE EVEN MORE$ WITH MORE EMPTY SEATS IN HALTON,EVENTUALLY BOBBY AND JUDY WILL GET SHITCANNED,IN WHICH ORDER I DONā€™T KNOW.Heā€™s a nice guy,I knowā€¦and iā€™m sure sheā€™s a nice ladyā€¦let them be nice somewhere else,all we have is basketball(apologies to ladies team) and I for one,donā€™t feel like waiting 3 more years to fix the problem.

13

I like how people try to tell us we werenā€™t here during the glory days so we canā€™t talk (I donā€™t see how that means weā€™re less of fansā€¦we never SAW the better days yet weā€™re still supporting the team)ā€¦

I also like how a couple of bad seasons and people start writing ā€œI canā€™t take it anymore, I give up.ā€

Thatā€™s just damn despicable. You sicken me.

14
I like how people try to tell us we weren't here during the glory days so we can't talk (I don't see how that means we're less of fans...we never SAW the better days yet we're still supporting the team)..

I also like how a couple of bad seasons and people start writing ā€œI canā€™t take it anymore, I give up.ā€

Thatā€™s just damn despicable. You sicken me.

I see you are in the class of 2009, so no you havent seen the glory days, neither have you seen a NCAA tourney team. I saw some good basetball my four years (minus one year) and guess how many tournament games we won? ZERO. A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while, but we havenā€™t even had dumb luck on our side.

I also see your signature has added womenā€™s basketball, I donā€™t remember that from before. Obviously to some degree you have moved on from the menā€™s team from this year too. You have to find solace in something good going on with our atheltics program. Nobody 3 years ago would have bragged about ā€œwell at least our womenā€™s program is doing goodā€ Nobody gives a shit about womens basketball.

15

[SIZE=2]The top things that have made me sick about this year.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1. Our lack of a post game[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]2. Our lack of the ability to hold on and win[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]3. The lack of student support[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]4. The fact that people are ā€œgiving upā€ on this program becasue they are ā€œsick of itā€[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]get over it. Like no oneā€™s ever had problems.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]football? who said we have to conference change. look at notre dame - football and basketball are not in the same conference. There would be no need for us to change conferences. Sure the a10 isnt exactly the greatest thing in the world - but I feel like if you look at CUSA now without UL and UC theres not much there anyway - so yeah, we dont have football, at least weā€™r in a conference with some schools people have actually HEARD OF at the NCAA (Xavier, st joes, GW, temple) They might not be great now - but for all we know that could be different next year, and so could we. So back your team through the hard times - no one ever said it would be easy.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]

16

[QUOTE=ninerID;215507]I see you are in the class of 2009, so no you havent seen the glory days, neither have you seen a NCAA tourney team. I saw some good basetball my four years (minus one year) and guess how many tournament games we won? ZERO. A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while, but we havenā€™t even had dumb luck on our side.

I also see your signature has added womenā€™s basketball, I donā€™t remember that from before. Obviously to some degree you have moved on from the menā€™s team from this year too. You have to find solace in something good going on with our atheltics program. Nobody 3 years ago would have bragged about ā€œwell at least our womenā€™s program is doing goodā€ Nobody gives a shit about womens basketball.[/QUOTE]

  1. I think I noticed the womenā€™s record in his signature a couple of weeks ago.
  2. Whatā€™s so bad about wanting the other athletic teams to do well?
17
1) I think I noticed the women's record in his signature a couple of weeks ago. 2) What's so bad about wanting the other athletic teams to do well?
1. Weeks ago? I'll give you that. December? No. 2. There is nothing wrong with it. But lets not pretend to be pissed about others "giving up" when we ourselves have looked for something to replace the feeling of success.
18

[QUOTE=ninerID;215517]2. There is nothing wrong with it. But lets not pretend to be pissed about others ā€œgiving upā€ when we ourselves have looked for something to replace the feeling of success.[/QUOTE]
I donā€™t think they necessarily have to go hand in hand. I was a big fan of both all through my time at Charlotte - when the menā€™s team was bad (2003) and when the menā€™s team was good (2005).

My dad graduated in '77. The team never lost a home game during his time in school. He went to Lexington to see them upend Michigan - I donā€™t think he missed many games at all. From the time my dad graduated until I enrolled in the fall of 2001, he still followed the team but didnā€™t make many games and actually reverted back to his childhood allegiance to Carolina (I remember going to a few games at the Coliseum and Cricket Arena during the Mullins years, including the NIT game in '89). The reasons for that are twofold: one, he moved to the mountains and he couldnā€™t keep up with the team very well in an internet-free world; two, Mike Pratt and Hal Wissel happened. He once said that one of the saddest things he ever saw was the scoreboard in the Asheville paper in 1984 when weā€™d lost to Eckerd College. The team went downhill, and everything went with it. The love affair the ci2ty developed with the team in '76 and '77, the momentum of having such an awesome season - all gone. And it took a long time to get it back.

Iā€™m starting to notice a lot of parallels between my dadā€™s situation and mine. The team was pretty good through my time in school (2001-05), and Iā€™ve heard some people say that the 2005 team was the best since '77. My senior year we sold out a bunch of games, the crowd was insane, we were rankedā€¦ Then I graduated, we switched into an inferior conference, the attendance plummeted, the team hasnā€™t been able to gain any traction. And suddenly, something has happened that I never though would: Iā€™ve begun to lose interest. Iā€™m still going to the games and cheering as hard as I can, but I donā€™t get upset by a loss (I laughed through the 2nd half yesterday) and missing a game doesnā€™t crush my mood anymore.

Am I going to start pulling for another school? Nah. But I want something back on the floor in Halton that I can truly pour my soul into again.

19

[QUOTE=zerogeneticsdc1;215514][SIZE=2]The top things that have made me sick about this year.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1. Our lack of a post game[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]2. Our lack of the ability to hold on and win[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]3. The lack of student support[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]4. The fact that people are ā€œgiving upā€ on this program becasue they are ā€œsick of itā€[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]get over it. Like no oneā€™s ever had problems.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2].[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

You are talking about this year while ā€œweā€ are talking about Lutzā€™s tenure. It is just losing. We supported the team when they were 14-16 (the year before Rodney). Our team sucks this year. So be it, thereā€™s always next year. Unfortunately that is also the problem, next year. Because our problems this year were are problems last yr, and the year before that, and so on. And they are going to be our problems next year and so on until we get another coach. Iā€™ve said it before, Lutz is like Pres Bush. They ā€œStay the courseā€. Good coaches and good presidents ( i did vote for him twice) adapt. These two dont. Those of us that have been here a little while, who donā€™t swap spit with Lutz, are tired of the excuses and unwillingness to change.

20

[QUOTE=lucky57;215497]Man.am I tired of hearing of how joining the a-10 has hurt us,and our recruiting.First of all,weā€™ve only been in the a-10 less than 2 years.How many of the guys we have on scholarship now were even affected by the move? Zero! If we were head and shoulders above our leaguemates than I might give some credence to that theory,but,in fact,we are more of the laughingstock of the conference.How many of us,me included,were sure 2 years ago,that weā€™d dominate the ā€œcrappyā€ a-10? Now we have to pull out comeback home victories over freakin Lasalle to keep out of the cellar!IMHO,the ā€œrecruiting has sufferedā€ excuse has been propogated by Bobby and his apologists to deflect criticism of his terrible recruiting the last few years and his even worse coaching and failure to get close to the most out of his players.The only thin,unfortunately,thats gonna talk,is what always talksā€¦MONEYā€¦WHEN WE LOSE EVEN MORE$ WITH MORE EMPTY SEATS IN HALTON,EVENTUALLY BOBBY AND JUDY WILL GET SHITCANNED,IN WHICH ORDER I DONā€™T KNOW.Heā€™s a nice guy,I knowā€¦and iā€™m sure sheā€™s a nice ladyā€¦let them be nice somewhere else,all we have is basketball(apologies to ladies team) and I for one,donā€™t feel like waiting 3 more years to fix the problem.[/QUOTE]

We may have only been in the A10 for 2 years but we knew way ahead of that that a change was coming. You donā€™t think that impacted recruiting? We all expected to continue to recruit well and to play well. When you look at where we were with our CUSA teams we should be dominating the A10.