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Why are we so divided?


tbone4jc

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This is a tweet from Peter Michael Green and , to me , it hits the nail on the head....

It seems the Auburn fan base is pretty divided these days. That’s really sad, because we all have something very great in common - Auburn. Just so there is no confusion, if we’re picking sides—and it looks like we are, I’m on the side of those who believe in Auburn, and love it.

There is a huge following in this forum that is hyper critical of every minor or major misstep the coach makes, I mean really expound to the point where it becomes obnoxious. It overtakes every topic on the football, recruiting and even the basketball forums. 

Believe it or not my expectations are 10 wins or bust every season and yes I do believe CGM should have us in a better position than we are now but I also realize that these are 18, 19, 20 and 21 year old kids who play their guts out for this man, believe in him regardless of his short comings and I would rather be represented by this coach and win SEC championship and  National Championships as he has and be proud of the way our program is run. 

I am not calling out names or pointing fingers. If it fits you than it is what it is. There are so many more people that live Auburn and support the coach that expect to be winning 10+ games every season but can go about without the distasteful remarks being made about OUR HEAD FOOTBALL COACH!

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Well, if we made 7 million a year, people might be critical of our performance also. I don't think any of us discount the blood, sweat, and tears the kids go out there and sacrifice for. But, the Coach seems to have not learned much of anything in his 7 years on the plains. Just like you expect 10 wins, so do a majority of us. And we aren't getting it. 

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I don’t really think this board represents a cross section of the Auburn fan base.  It’s more of a place for a small percentage to vent.  It trends toward “irrational exuberance” when things are going well and “run Gus off today” when it is not.  It is what it is and I really hope the coaches and players don’t follow it.  

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we aren't divided. all Auburn fans want Auburn to do well. 

if someone choose to take the stance "we are 2-0, can't be better then that" i can't really help them. i don't like negative things being said about Auburn or its teams, but not liking it doesn't make them not true.

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I dunno. Maybe things like starting a new thread to "not call out names or point fingers" does more to divide than unite? Just a thought.

One side criticizes the coach. The other side tells those fans how terrible they are and how much they don't love Auburn. You tell me who's doing the dividing. 

 

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I'd almost wager that 90%+ of the Auburn fans in the stands don't do message boards.

Message board posters are a different breed.

Yes, I know.......I'm one of you....we are not taken seriously outside of these little confines.

I truly do not take any of the things we all say on this forum as anything more than being like a group of friends (mostly friends) at a sports bar or tailgate etc, venting to each other.  None of the stuff (positive or negative) should be taken so seriously.  It's just our opinions regardless, as "facts" & statistics can always be manipulated to suit one's argument. 

I know there's an occassional parent on here, and perhaps a player or three might check it out due to curiosity but that would be ill-advised.  ...and that goes for ANY team and ANY message board.  If what us knuckleheads say on here actually affects any player then that's pretty sad.

We are not a majority.  We need to not take ourselves so seriously. 

Just my 2 rusty pennies...

War Eagle Y'all!

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7 minutes ago, weagl1 said:

I don’t really think this board represents a cross section of the Auburn fan base.  It trends toward “irrational exuberance”. 

This board is a million times better than others. The hate and name-calling spewed on Gus on a daily basis is downright unbelievable. 

 

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Gus is an employee of Auburn University, he is not Auburn University. If an employee is not doing his job he will be critiqued, but the only critique he is responsible for is from his boss’.

This is a football forum and fans get to criticize the coach if they feel he is not living up to his salary and putting a good product on the field.  The product is what every Auburn fan is proud of and will support to his/her dyeing day.  If the product is not good, there’s only one person held responsible and that’s the HC.

This is not a hard concept to understand.  I don’t know why so many people don’t understand it.  Gus has started his 7th year and we have not put a consistent product on the field.  He deserves all the criticism he gets until this changes.

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It's performance based division if there is such a thing. Everyone wants what they think is the best value for their dollar. Just because some are split on the "negative" side doesn't mean they don't believe in Auburn and love it. I assure you that my boss wants me to succeed but I don't think for one minute that if I only succeed two thirds of the time and look bad even at that, that he won't start doubting my overall ability. It goes with the territory. 

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Seriously, does anyone here really think that our silly arguments and statements are going to hurt a Football Player's self esteem? 

If so, you really need a reality check...

no9yBp.gifgiphy.gif

will-muschamp-pissed-off-gif.gif

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I don't care what Gus is getting paid...we're not paying him 7 figures b/c he's so awesome; we're paying him because that's what the market dictates.  I'd be more mad if AU Admin approached it like they're bargain shopping at the Dollar Tree.

And regarding the divided fanbase...Gus can fix that REAL quick by winning more games.

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4 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Gus is an employee of Auburn University, he is not Auburn University. If an employee is not doing his job he will be critiqued, but the only critique he is responsible for in from his boss’.

This is a football forum and fans get to criticize the coach if they feel he is not living up to his salary and putting a good product on the field.  The product is what every Auburn fan is proud of and will support to his/her dyeing day.  If the product is not good, there’s only one person held responsible and that’s the HC.

This is not a hard concept to understand.  I don’t know why so many people don’t understand it.  Gus has started his 7th year and we have not put a consistent product on the field.  He deserves all the criticism he gets until this changes.

I feel like some people take it personal,  as if it's an attack on the University. That's silly,  and as you said,  Gus is not Auburn. He is a coach getting paid to put a product on the field that everyone can enjoy. He is also directly responsible for the professional development of these kids. Something that many of us agree he is not living up to. I think most all of us agree that he is a good and morally sound guy, he is just in over his head in regards to the level of play, expectations and evolution that's needed to be consistently successful in this conference. 

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3 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Just because some are split on the "negative" side doesn't mean they don't believe in Auburn and love it.

^^^ This.

If I didn't believe in Auburn and love it, I wouldn't go back every year to do Bo Bikes Bama,  go back to Auburn during the season every year to visit the lifelong friends I made as a student at Auburn, take my son down to a game every year, have my degree proudly displayed on my office wall, or potentially have one or both of my kids attend Auburn.

(Sipping my coffee from my Auburn University mug right now) ;)

It's ok to be critical of the coaching staff when they aren't performing. Not so much to be critical of the players though. Occasionally we let our emotions get the best of us and engage in the latter, and that's not cool. 

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3 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

Seriously, does anyone here really think that our silly arguments and statements are going to hurt a Football Player's self esteem? 

If so, you really need a reality check...

no9yBp.gifgiphy.gif

will-muschamp-pissed-off-gif.gif

If anything,  and it were me, it would fire me up to prove the doubters wrong. But that's just me.🤷‍♂️

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17 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

One side criticizes the coach. The other side tells those fans how terrible they are and how much they don't love Auburn. You tell me who's doing the dividing. 

Not true.  In the other thread I just pointed out the opposite which I know you saw because you liked a comment responding to me.

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55 minutes ago, tbone4jc said:

It seems the Auburn fan base is pretty divided these days. That’s really sad, because we all have something very great in common - Auburn. Just so there is no confusion, if we’re picking sides—and it looks like we are, I’m on the side of those who believe in Auburn, and love it.

I know others have touched on it, but I just can't get over what a garbage quote this is. 

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27 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I dunno. Maybe things like starting a new thread to "not call out names or point fingers" does more to divide than unite? Just a thought.

One side criticizes the coach. The other side tells those fans how terrible they are and how much they don't love Auburn. You tell me who's doing the dividing. 

 

If you criticize  the coach then you obviously dont  love Auburn. Never mind the fact that your just wishing for something better for the Tigers .Nor should you be allowed to Express your feelings unless it supports sunshine.

if I had to guess those who show and Express their passionate feelings probably love Auburn just as much if not more than those who don't. 

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1 hour ago, tbone4jc said:

This is a tweet from Peter Michael Green and , to me , it hits the nail on the head....

It seems the Auburn fan base is pretty divided these days. That’s really sad, because we all have something very great in common - Auburn. Just so there is no confusion, if we’re picking sides—and it looks like we are, I’m on the side of those who believe in Auburn, and love it.

There is a huge following in this forum that is hyper critical of every minor or major misstep the coach makes, I mean really expound to the point where it becomes obnoxious. It overtakes every topic on the football, recruiting and even the basketball forums. 

Believe it or not my expectations are 10 wins or bust every season and yes I do believe CGM should have us in a better position than we are now but I also realize that these are 18, 19, 20 and 21 year old kids who play their guts out for this man, believe in him regardless of his short comings and I would rather be represented by this coach and win SEC championship and  National Championships as he has and be proud of the way our program is run. 

I am not calling out names or pointing fingers. If it fits you than it is what it is. There are so many more people that live Auburn and support the coach that expect to be winning 10+ games every season but can go about without the distasteful remarks being made about OUR HEAD FOOTBALL COACH!

The distasteful remarks are permitted, that’s why it goes on. Try making “distasteful remarks” about some of the “distasteful, moronic posters” on here, and you will get threatened to be banned.

Some of the “distasteful posters” do not like Gus for reasons that have nothing to do with football, so they are very distasteful about his coaching.

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49 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

If anything,  and it were me, it would fire me up to prove the doubters wrong. But that's just me.🤷‍♂️

May want to ask Antonio Brown.

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10 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

May want to ask Antonio Brown.

AB is playing for the defending super bowl champs with 10 million guaranteed this year . What’s your point?

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Things are never as bad or as good as the two sides would have you believe. Things get taken out of context all of the time and if not they are placed in a vacuum neither of which are actual reality.  Has this team performed well so far this season?  Yes and No...depending on your point of view.  Some will point to the record, others will point to the mistakes, but neither tell the whole story.  The successes and problems we have seen so far this year do exist and are real.  What isn't real is the context that these get thrown about in.  Below is a breakdown of some of the complaints and issues we have seen over the past few years with a blurb about why they might not actually be the same as years past.  Are these real issues that the team is having? Yes!  Are they happening because of the same reasons as past years?  Not necessarily!

I just want to point out that I appreciate arguments from both sides of the thoughts on Gus and the team.  I think many of these are valid and are true depending on the lens/point of view you are looking from.  With that said I just wanted to point out some the past deficiencies and even though we are not seeing the results we hope to see I have noticed some things going against those past tendencies.  This doesn't mean things will work out  and we win 10 games or that we lose every game against higher ranked teams, but I wanted to acknowledge and point out these changes.  Maybe by listing these out many people will see it is just not as black and white as what they believe.  I think we have the talent to be competitive but the team needs to a little more time to form that cohesion and to figure out what is going to be successful this year.  

We start the season off against a very good teams. 

Sometimes this works for us and sometimes against.  We had Clemson near the beginning of the schedule for a few years in a row and damn near beat them even with the mess that was put on the field by AU (3 QB rotation anyone?).  Clemson's slow start against us didn't seem to affect their season overall.  Then we beat Washington and Oregon these last couple of years and even though last year didn't go as well as we would have liked that doesn't mean this year will be the same.  The 2nd half of the Oregon game showed the potential on both sides of the ball against very good competition.  How do we replicate that for an entire game will be a key point for this season.

Gus running it up the middle ALL of the time?

Well in the past this was valid point and I agree that it is painful to watch when we do this but what I see that is different this year is that we are throwing it a lot more.  In fact, I think we might be throwing it too much.  It appears to be the inverse of the running too much issue.  It seems like Gus is trying to use the Pass to open up the running game instead of using the run to open the passing game.  This may very well be a product of the poor OL play but at least it is sign that we are trying something different.

Why don't we ever throw it in the middle, have shorter routes, or throw it on first down more?

Again this has been a problem in the past but I have noticed a slight up tick in those plays being called.  The issue with them now is that the intended targets drop the pass, QB under-throws/throws high, or the ball gets tipped at the line of scrimmage.  I believe we have thrown the ball quite a bit on first down with a lot of success, though.  I think if we could just get some positive runs after that initial pass play we could really get on pace and play well.

Offensive Line play is terrible

There is not much to say on this except that it is not as good as some people think nor as bad as others think.  I would like to see some back ups get some playing time if the starters are going to not play with an edge.  I'm sure the starters beat out the back ups based on experience and probably overall better consistency.  But I think it takes more than that to be successful on the OL.  We need guys who have an edge and get pissed off when they get beat.  I don't need the aww schucks golly gee I got beat attitude...that may be ok for a player here and there but not the entire OL. Honestly if they could just get some kind of push, not even a lot I think our running game will improve drastically.  We actually saw a bit of this when we used pulling guards to the outside and got some good runs.  It may be that we need to be a perimeter rushing team this year and not an up the middle one.  Give it a bit more time and I think we will see it start to open up, especially if the passing improves.

Lack of Running Back by committee

I think this is the case for 3 reasons.  Lack of Trust, OL play, and Injuries.  The lack of trust in some of the other RBs ball security makes sense, although with Whitlow fumbling 3 times I hope the competition opens back up.  We don't really know what happens at practice and maybe there is an issue with fumbling we are not privy to. Also an apparent injury limited JD William's use last week.  I hope Cadillac is able to get his preference of using a committee, but currently there hasn't been much opportunity with the way the OL has played.  Shivers can be dynamic but he needs to have at least a couple of yards to get going.  Can't blame him when he is getting hit immediately after getting the ball.  Maybe put him on the jet sweep sometimes instead of Stove?

Play calling

This seems to be an issue that everybody can agree on as being part of the problems we are seeing.  Sometimes I feel like Gus is purposely running plays (sometimes the same play) over and over because he thinks at some point it will work.  At other times I think he does it to set up a big play after lulling the defense.  Think of a boxer that constantly jabs over and over and then all of the sudden comes in with a hook.  Actually Gus may think both of these things at the same time. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with this approach I just think Gus needs to pick his spots better to use it.  Maybe get the chains moving using the 2 minute drill (pass or run, I don't care), and then try the explosive play.  Again this only works if the players execute meaning don't overthrow, don't drop the pass, get push at the LOS, and no penalties.  I think Gus does best when the offense can find a rhythm, but we haven't done so much this season so far due to player execution, play calling, and penalties.  I have noticed several people in attendance of the games mention that there are sometimes wide open guys that don't even get seen by the QB because they aren't the first read.  I think that will change the more comfortable Nix gets.  Right now I'm of the belief it is very vanilla in order to build chemistry with the WRs.  Bo has it with Hastings and Williams, but now we need to get Stove and Sal involved.  That TD pass in the Oregon game where Bo saw Stove uncovered I believe was 100% improvised and not the play called.  The more comfortable Bo gets the more I think he will see the field and find the open guy. We just need to Gus to remain loose and take what the defense gives us for the most part, then hit them over the top with an explosive play when they get comfortable.

Conclusion 

It seems to me that even though it appears we are struggling in some of the same areas as before, it is for different reasons than we have seen in the past.  I believe it all stems from the OL play which has to improve, no doubt about it.  I think that Gus is using the pass to open up the run which may or may not be the best approach for a TF QB but you don't know until you try.  He most likely was trying this due the play of the OL.  We may very well see him using the run to open the pass against Kent St, as per his usual pattern.  I'm not sure at what point this happens but Gus usually finds out what his bread and butter for the season is by the 4th game.  Unfortunately that game is usually LSU but is A&M this year and could very well be a loss.  I wish it could be sooner but that just appears to be the way things go based on the personnel being used. Nobody seems to separate or establish themselves until then (For example Cam Newton against Miss St and Nick against LSU in the 2nd half).

TL:DR

You can dislike the product on the field and still love Auburn! You can also Love Auburn and be optimistic that the season is not lost!  You can also believe that even though there are issues and growing pains that it can work out if some of the correctable issues get resolved!  The issues we are seeing today aren't necessarily because of the same old patterns we have seen in the past. Some are yes, but not all.  There is also some evidence to try different things to figure out what will work for this team for this season that goes against the tendencies of the past.

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11 minutes ago, DAG said:

AB is playing for the defending super bowl champs with 10 million guaranteed this year . What’s your point?

I'm curious to that as well.

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