The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(01-24-2023 10:57 AM)bftb Wrote:  I do have one suggestion, and I am sure some of you guys will disagree, but I will say it anyway.

Complain about coaches and athletic directors and the team as a whole, but I do believe taking personal shots at college kids is too far. I know they are getting scholarships, and now NIL money, and all that--and they are not above criticism for their play, but the levels of vitriol aimed at 18-22 year-olds is ridiculous. I'm glad I never had to face that as a player way back in the day.

It surely is a frustrating time to be a UAB fan--again--and we are all disappointed. But I sure wish some of y'all would get some perspective, and keep those comments to yourself.

I agree. I don’t believe anyone would want their child criticized in that manner.

(01-24-2023 10:57 AM)bftb Wrote:  I do have one suggestion, and I am sure some of you guys will disagree, but I will say it anyway.

Complain about coaches and athletic directors and the team as a whole, but I do believe taking personal shots at college kids is too far. I know they are getting scholarships, and now NIL money, and all that--and they are not above criticism for their play, but the levels of vitriol aimed at 18-22 year-olds is ridiculous. I'm glad I never had to face that as a player way back in the day.

It surely is a frustrating time to be a UAB fan--again--and we are all disappointed. But I sure wish some of y'all would get some perspective, and keep those comments to yourself.

Agreed.

There is a fine line between criticizing athletic performance (that was not a smart pass) and personal criticism (X is an idiot!) so I hope we can all respect that difference.

Didn't realize D1 sports were a kumbaya summer camp singalong.

No one is talking about them on a personal level, which is out of line. We are criticizing their on the court play, which is normal for a freaking internet message board.

The team has been a failure so far, and the attitudes of a few of the players have compounded what is already a bad season. Nothing that's been said is out of line IMO. If I had kids playing a D1 sport, I would damn sure be off of social media and message boards that had anything to do with their team.

They're 18-22(+), it's not like they're 5 years old. Some of ya'll never act like you were never disciplined or given a stern talking to if your grades weren't up to par, you got in trouble at school, or you did something stupid at work in that age range. Funny thing is the only one who is probably 18 or 19 on the roster is one of the players who has been the MOST mature, even keeled, and given the most consistent effort.

This is a high stakes game. The team had a ton of very justified expectations. They've fallen flat on their faces. This isn't a bad, talentless team that is trying their butts off, and still coming up short. This is a team with tons of talent and experience, who are shooting themselves in the foot and giving inconsistent effort. Frankly, some of them act like buttholes on the court.

Some people choose to look the other way, while some people choose to criticize their play on the court and talk about the team with other fans on a freaking internet message board. Neither path is out of line. No one has said anything about them personally.

(01-24-2023 03:06 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  Didn't realize D1 sports were a kumbaya summer camp singalong.

No one is talking about them on a personal level, which is out of line. We are criticizing their on the court play, which is normal for a freaking internet message board.

The team has been a failure so far, and the attitudes of a few of the players have compounded what is already a bad season. Nothing that's been said is out of line IMO. If I had kids playing a D1 sport, I would damn sure be off of social media and message boards that had anything to do with their team.

They're 18-22(+), it's not like they're 5 years old. Some of ya'll never act like you were never disciplined or given a stern talking to if your grades weren't up to par, you got in trouble at school, or you did something stupid at work in that age range. Funny thing is the only one who is probably 18 or 19 on the roster is one of the players who has been the MOST mature, even keeled, and given the most consistent effort.

This is a high stakes game. The team had a ton of very justified expectations. They've fallen flat on their faces. This isn't a bad, talentless team that is trying their butts off, and still coming up short. This is a team with tons of talent and experience, who are shooting themselves in the foot and giving inconsistent effort. Frankly, some of them act like buttholes on the court.

Some people choose to look the other way, while some people choose to criticize their play on the court and talk about the team with other fans on a freaking internet message board. Neither path is out of line. No one has said anything about them personally.

And some people want to hit the panic button immediately and it is beyond the half empty/half full perspective. It is a complete we are terrible and may never win again perspective. Oh you can include a smothering of Monday morning quarterbacking that is so repetitive of the previous game, week, season, career. I agree that we shouldn’t bash the student athletes if that is what we are saying.

I hit the panic button after getting thrashed by a barely mediocre Toledo team, and with this team that was the right thing to do. We've only gotten worse. This team was flashing red flags from game one when we let a player from bama state drop a 30 burger on us, let them score nearly 80 points on us, and Eric Gaines got freaking ejected.

I never said we may never win again. You are projecting things that I don't say. I am saying that this team has imploded, not met expectations, is a disaster currently, and a lot of the players make basic, rudimentary stakes over and over, while also being buttholes on the court.

It's not monday morning quarterbacking to point out the same mistakes that are made so many times, over and over, since game one of the season. If you think I am Monday morning quarterbacking by calling out some of the coaching issues, then sure whatever - I think that AK has lost control of this team, didn't build a well-rounded roster (we haven't had a real point guard or good, consistent shooters outside of Jelly since he's been here), plays favorites, lets the same mistakes happen every game like Ground Hog Day, doesn't seem to hold his players accountable, and has seemed to forget to coach defense. He's still a good coach in my eyes, but this has not been his best work by far. Last year's team had a lot of the same issues, but had more leadership and character, and we were able to coalesce to have a good run at the end of the year.

I would happily have a glass half full perspective if this team gave me any reason to do so. I don't like being so negative, but what is there to be positive about right now? Yay the team lost to another mediocre CUSA team! Yay the team has a losing record in CUSA! Yay Eric Gaines jumped into the air again for the 13th time this game without any idea what to do with the basketball! Yay Buffen just got another tech or 3 fouls in 2 minutes! Yay this was supposed to be one of the best basketball teams in UAB history and we suck, woo hoo!

A lot of people on here have a problem calling a spade a spade. You can't handle negativity towards UAB in any shape or form, even when it is completely appropriate and accurate.

10 technical fouls this season (which actually seems low), with several weeks remaining, is telling of the type of person wearing the jersey. It's one thing to criticize a player personally for making a bad pass, turnovers, or even regular fouls. But, the consistency in the technicals, mouthing off, and terrible attitudes invites personal comments about the player himself. I drop a good amount of $$ to support and watch the program, and have for now almost 3 decades. This is by far the worst TEAM I've seen on the floor, and definitely one that I'm not proud to support. But... I'll be there Thursday night, cheering anyway. [/align]

(01-24-2023 10:57 AM)bftb Wrote:  I do have one suggestion, and I am sure some of you guys will disagree, but I will say it anyway.

Complain about coaches and athletic directors and the team as a whole, but I do believe taking personal shots at college kids is too far. I know they are getting scholarships, and now NIL money, and all that--and they are not above criticism for their play, but the levels of vitriol aimed at 18-22 year-olds is ridiculous. I'm glad I never had to face that as a player way back in the day.

It surely is a frustrating time to be a UAB fan--again--and we are all disappointed. But I sure wish some of y'all would get some perspective, and keep those comments to yourself.

I agree with you...to an extent. The fact is we're in a different world than we were ten years ago. Players want to be treated like employees, treated like professionals, paid as such- this type of criticism comes with that territory. When college athletes were purely (at least on paper) amateur, I'd agree with you 100%. If Player X wants to reap the benefits of a Tiktok or YouTube clip of him throwing down a dunk ending up on ESPN and getting 7,000,000 views, then he's going to have to learn to deal with fans on a message board complaining about his game, attitude, or anything else. Can't have it both ways.

Criticism of the team’s play is fine. I just encourage everyone to try not to sound toxic AF. It’s not too much to ask.

Some of this might be applicable.

https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/...5645585408