CATS LAND COMMIT NO. 8

[epicbret]

Complaining about others calling you names on the internet

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h1GDSUYpdxRnn66a/ErE2TkUoO9/uTIDDp1Noa8rRK9LcfjLtpeoYddoa4OJLiJ2Riwd5XL+YzdrWf2KFDxLscartTedyuRiLJCRmhZIikp1hlB9dElYhoS66uX0Z8kxpYmusXaZSnq9C3Tl4l8OdbtzmN+ZP6mQljHRanJtPVuxXLIQAAAwAAAALGG3XmAEbdHXt1mB7fT2LQAc23btYv8waiDFbAA6pW6VKXOXafaKAFB6HQAAlOD2CAB1KyGvyy8jl4b/f9xQNdHJz9p1uLDln9LACxmZNHY6bLd4+QAU+R02eJ/ppi/wA9wAyQ6Zku3yK1H+fcAApJitjDnuAF1FErWHLAAQntZPStWKeI7fQAL6sd1jCbfcnobigWwy27U8+2h6mQAFkdKwAAMP/Z

 

[Turk]

For your penance say three Hail Fitzes and three Our Phillips.....

lol. Bingo! Now these guys are discounting 3 Big Ten Championships because we went winless one year under Barnett.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

lol. Bingo! Now these guys are discounting 3 Big Ten Championships because we went winless one year under Barnett.

Twice. Including one such season just three years removed from the Rose Bowl. How does that happen with such stellar recruiting?

Barnett was even recruiting on the basis of two straight top-flight bowl appearances and promises of improved facilities (Trienens). Yet still couldn’t sustain the success.

 

[Turk]

You’re pathetic. Too bad the mods don’t have the balls to take out the trash. Back to the Rock for me. Go Cats!

I don't think anyone is saying Fitz is in bogey territory but at this point I'm just disappointed it is at par. Do you disagree? You think it's in birdy or eagle territory where we can compete and win at least a division? You don't think Fitz needs improvement? I respect your perspective Coral because I know you know about this stuff. But for average fans like me, we are only at par. Maybe I expected more.

 

[DarthCat]

The facilities aren’t even 100% open yet. Why is this difficult to understand?

You asked me my point. I answered you.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

You asked me my point. I answered you.

And I keep telling you that your point is flawed.

The programs with whom you want us to suddenly compete for recruits already have giant, shiny football facilities. You really expect a kid to walk through the football palaces at Notre Dame, Ohio State, etc. and think to himself “yeah, this is all pretty sweet, but you should see the plans they have down at Northwestern. That’s going to be AWESOME in a couple years!” That’s not how it works.

 

[Deeringfish]

And I keep telling you that your point is flawed.

The programs with whom you want us to suddenly compete for recruits already have giant, shiny football facilities. You really expect a kid to walk through the football palaces at Notre Dame, Ohio State, etc. and think to himself “yeah, this is all pretty sweet, but you should see the plans they have down at Northwestern. That’s going to be AWESOME in a couple years!” That’s not how it works.

GCG2003, Not that you need defending but I just want to point out that you have been consistent about this opinion for at least a year and maybe two. Time will tell but attending a practice in the new facility should have a bigger impact than pictures. I would even say that it may take a year or so to best figure out how to showcase the facility to recruits. Are the team locker rooms even finished yet? Weight room? In some ways transitioning into the new facility may be a distraction this year. I would love it if this were a magic pill but real life still happens.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

GCG2003, Not that you need defending but I just want to point out that you have been consistent about this opinion for at least a year and maybe two. Time will tell but attending a practice in the new facility should have a bigger impact than pictures. I would even say that it may take a year or so to best figure out how to showcase the facility to recruits. Are the team locker rooms even finished yet? Weight room? In some ways transitioning into the new facility may be a distraction this year. I would love it if this were a magic pill but real life still happens.

No. The only part of the facility that is open is the indoor practice area. The weight room, offices, meeting rooms, training table, etc. won't be open until August. All of that is still happening over at the existing facilities at Trienens.

 

[Deeringfish]

No. The only part of the facility that is open is the indoor practice area. The weight room, offices, meeting rooms, training table, etc. won't be open until August. All of that is still happening over at the existing facilities at Trienens.

I worry about that a little bit. Competing at this level is so difficult. Transition and change can be a distraction.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I worry about that a little bit. Competing at this level is so difficult. Transition and change can be a distraction.

That's unfounded.

 

[GOUNUII]

Fitz has also never gone winless in the B1G. Which Saint Gary did. Twice.

Much of that on field decline was attributable to Gary’s 1995 class of recruits. Far and away the low point of NU football recruiting even as compared to the Dark Ages. He essentially whiffed on the entire class.

GOUNUII

 

[hdhntr1]

I worry about that a little bit. Competing at this level is so difficult. Transition and change can be a distraction.

Why would you worry now. Value that it might have had for this year is basically done other than the weight room and training table. And its real value for training etc is when classes are in session and you have practices. We are beyond the practices and only one more month of classes Since it will be open in Aug, we should be able to take full advantage for next season

 

[AtlantaCat]

Fitz has also never gone winless in the B1G. Which Saint Gary did. Twice.

Back to the "Saint Gary" crap? You have sunk to the level of the rest of this thread.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Back to the "Saint Gary" crap?

I feel a “Yes” response in the horizon.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I thought saints could only perform miracles after death. Was Barnett dead when he took us to the Rose Bowl? Maybe it was like Weekend at Bernies?

 

[IGNORE2]

You’re peeing on the wrong tree Bob. Coral has gold star status among the NU fans who know him and post here. And while you obviously take pleasure in your often prickly propagations, you are frequently as juvenile and gratuitous as the nit wits from ND that recently visited us.

GOUNUII

Perhaps. Everyone gets an opinion. Having met coral in person, mine is not so high of him. Gold star and all.

 

[phatcat]

By the way, Milford is the same school that produced former NU great Zach Strief.

Is Gil Thorp still the coach at Milford?

 

[DaCat]

Perhaps. Everyone gets an opinion. Having met coral in person, mine is not so high of him. Gold star and all.

Yeah but what does he think of you?

 

[Catreporter]

Much of that on field decline was attributable to Gary’s 1995 class of recruits. Far and away the low point of NU football recruiting even as compared to the Dark Ages. He essentially whiffed on the entire class.

GOUNUII

And I sincerely doubt that any of Gary's prior classes were top 25. Did get some top notch guys like Napoleon Harris after that but he whiffed big time on quarterbacks. Fortunately, Zak Kustok transferred in from Notre Dame (thanks in part to Barnett's earlier contact), but I think it's revisionist history to claim Gary was beating out the big boys for most of his recruits, especially leading up to the two championship seasons. The third "championship" deserves a big asterisk as far as I'm concerned. Blew a chance at the Rose Bowl with an embarrassing beatdown by a bad Iowa team and then there was the Alamo Bowl....

 

[hdhntr1]

Twice. Including one such season just three years removed from the Rose Bowl. How does that happen with such stellar recruiting?

Barnett was even recruiting on the basis of two straight top-flight bowl appearances and promises of improved facilities (Trienens). Yet still couldn’t sustain the success.

But they did not get to being upper classmen till after he left

 

[gocatsgo2003]

But they did not get to being upper classmen till after he left

But Saint Gary was such a super-recruiter, he shouldn't ever have had the letdown in the first place.

 

[hdhntr1]

And I sincerely doubt that any of Gary's prior classes were top 25. Did get some top notch guys like Napoleon Harris after that but he whiffed big time on quarterbacks. Fortunately, Zak Kustok transferred in from Notre Dame (thanks in part to Barnett's earlier contact), but I think it's revisionist history to claim Gary was beating out the big boys for most of his recruits, especially leading up to the two championship seasons. The third "championship" deserves a big asterisk as far as I'm concerned. Blew a chance at the Rose Bowl with an embarrassing beatdown by a bad Iowa team and then there was the Alamo Bowl....

Supposedly he got there after the RB. But by that time, the guys that got him to the two BT Championships were basically gone and it took time for the studs he recruited to develop. Plus a few transferred or did not come after he decided to go to Colorado

 

[hdhntr1]

But Saint Gary was such a super-recruiter, he shouldn't ever have had the letdown in the first place.

He was a very good recruiter. That doesn't mean there still aren't ups and downs or misses. Also didn't he lose his number one assistant who went to MD?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

He was a very good recruiter. That doesn't mean there still aren't ups and downs or misses. Also didn't he lose his number one assistant who went to MD?

Sounds like excuses.

MOAR!!!

 

[Deeringfish]

That's unfounded.

Yeah cause BB had such a good time playing and practicing in a transitional setting this year.

 

[hoosboot]

My point: A major impetus behind the building of the Ryan Fieldhouse was to improve recruiting by better competing against Top P5 schools to whom we typically lose the majority of our most coveted recruits.

“Historically”, we have succeeded largely by “doing more with less”, and finding most of our recruits among those who do not receive such offers from the “football factories” and for whom NU offers the best chance to play P5 football.

My expectation was with the imminent opening of this facility, which includes last years class IMO, we would see more head to head recruiting battles won against Stanford, Notre Dame, Michigan, the schools that represent the strongest combintion of athletics and academics.

When I see kids choosing NU who still are not highly recruited by these powers, I don’t see the change in our recruiting I expected to see, in terms of our W/L rate against the schools we are trying to beat on the field.

That’s it. Do I say the 2019 class is not the best recruiting class in NUs history? No. Do I say we made a mistake in any kid we have signed or have verbally committed at this point? No. Do I say that any of these kids are not going to be successful or lead us to BT Championships? No.

As the tag line about this facility was about putting us at or above the recruiting level of the majority of all P5 schools, as facilities were our one remaining recruiting weakness, I expected to see us beating more of these schools as these facilities have come closer to coming online.

That’s it. That’s all.

I love you, bro, but I think you're losing your mind on this stuff. Show your son a picture of Disney World and then take him to Six Flags - I bet I can predict which one he'll say nicer things about! :>)

Other programs we are competing against already have cool looking facilities that recruits can actually walk into. Our facility isn't even fully functional and the limited part that is open has been open for less than a week.

Ultimately, in your heart you know that you're off-base here because you find yourself agreeing with Turk. That should cause you to look deep into your soul, Darth.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Twice. Including one such season just three years removed from the Rose Bowl. How does that happen with such stellar recruiting?

Barnett was even recruiting on the basis of two straight top-flight bowl appearances and promises of improved facilities (Trienens). Yet still couldn’t sustain the success.

Once was prior to the Rose Bowl with Peay's recruits.

Once was the dip that you saw also in Alvarez's program at Wisconsin in between Rose Bowl campaigns, although ours was complicated by a 1993 class that was devastated by injury and disease well as the quitting of a QB whom Barnett failed to recruit after because he thought the kid was going to be a 4 year starter. His Rose bowl classes did not hit stride until 2000 when they became upperclassmen and, what do you know, won a B1G title.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Once was prior to the Rose Bowl with Peay's recruits.

Once was the dip that you saw also in Alvarez's program at Wisconsin in between Rose Bowl campaigns, although ours was complicated by a 1993 class that was devastated by injury and disease well as the quitting of a QB whom Barnett failed to recruit after because he thought the kid was going to be a 4 year starter. His Rose bowl classes did not hit stride until 2000 when they became upperclassmen and, what do you know, won a B1G title.

MOAR EXCUSEZ!!! MOAR!!!

Seriously though. Barnett deserves all the credit he gets for taking the team to the Rose and Citrus Bowls (bummer to run into two of college football’s all-time greats, though I still think we win the Rose Bowl if there were instant replay — IT WASN’T A FUMBLE!), but it’s disingenuous to completely absolve him of any blame for running the program right back into the ground in just three seasons.

 

[DarthCat]

I love you, bro, but I think you're losing your mind on this stuff. Show your son a picture of Disney World and then take him to Six Flags - I bet I can predict which one he'll say nicer things about! :>)

Other programs we are competing against already have cool looking facilities that recruits can actually walk into. Our facility isn't even fully functional and the limited part that is open has been open for less than a week.

Ultimately, in your heart you know that you're off-base here because you find yourself agreeing with Turk. That should cause you to look deep into your soul, Darth.

Hmmmmm. Maybe.

 

[DarthCat]

MOAR EXCUSEZ!!! MOAR!!!

Seriously though. Barnett deserves all the credit he gets for taking the team to the Rose and Citrus Bowls (bummer to run into two of college football’s all-time greats, though I still think we win the Rose Bowl if there were instant replay — IT WASN’T A FUMBLE!), but it’s disingenuous to completely absolve him of any blame for running the program right back into the ground in just three seasons.

Did he ‘run it into the ground’ or did he suffer from an expected downturn because of gaps in recruiting. The 1998 team was filled with players still recruited before the 1995 turnaround. A step back would be expected. And let’s not forget, 2000 was all Barnett’s recruits. He’s on record as saying even though the 1997 class was Top 15, it was the 1998 class they thought was their best ever. Those were the key players in 2000. And the 1999 class was filled with the John Navarre (Michigan’s starting QB for three years) and Chris Brown (took Colorado to the Big 12 Championship and almost MNC) in 2001. It’s pretty safe to think I believe that had Barnett stayed, he would have turned it back around after 1998.

Now all that said, I also believe he squandered everything he built, and the classes he still brought in were undermined by his wandering eye. Had the man the fortitude Fitz has shown, where his commitment to NU was never in question, it would have been really interesting where it would have gone.

 

[scru]

Guess what CSC, this is a FAN MESSAGE BOARD. Not the sycophantic ass kissing board so you can feel like these kids care what you think or your opinion at all. And the only disparagement going on here are other posters to me, yourself included. Or is calling someone a ‘fool’ escape your sense of irony, as you’re saying others are violating board rules and should be banned.

I did NOT disparage anyone at all, and went on to say multiple times for all ANY of us know, this kid will be an All Pro in three years. If you are unable to read and understand posts, and put forth a constructive argument, it is not I who doesn’t belong on a, again, A FAN MEASAGE BOARD.

I NEED AN ADULT!! I NEED AN ADULT!!

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Did he ‘run it into the ground’ or did he suffer from an expected downturn because of gaps in recruiting. The 1998 team was filled with players still recruited before the 1995 turnaround. A step back would be expected. And let’s not forget, 2000 was all Barnett’s recruits. He’s on record as saying even though the 1997 class was Top 15, it was the 1998 class they thought was their best ever. Those were the key players in 2000. And the 1999 class was filled with the John Navarre (Michigan’s starting QB for three years) and Chris Brown (took Colorado to the Big 12 Championship and almost MNC) in 2001. It’s pretty safe to think I believe that had Barnett stayed, he would have turned it back around after 1998.

Now all that said, I also believe he squandered everything he built, and the classes he still brought in were undermined by his wandering eye. Had the man the fortitude Fitz has shown, where his commitment to NU was never in question, it would have been really interesting where it would have gone.

Why should those gaps be “expected?”

 

[DarthCat]

Well, I’d say because when the kids who would be juniors and seniors in 1998 were first recruited, it was 1993 and 1994, right? There was no winning season, bowl trip or ANYTHING to offer. Yeah, he struck gold with the enough players to give us the 1995-1996 teams, but it’s reasonable to expect there wouldn’t be enough to carry on consistently, and a gap of sorts.

We went into 1998 with a redshirt freshman QB (who turned out to be pretty damn good in he Ivy League) and two redshirt freshman RBs in Marshall and Anderson. There wasn’t enough talent recruited in the ‘93-‘95 classes, with no bowl game or winning season to show these kids in even their parents’ lifetimes, not to mention facilities that were archaic and an administration who thought winning football games was the antethesis of the school’s academic mission, to sustain it, as the higher level recruits off the Rose Bowl and Citrus Bowl seasons grew up.

Considering the class he brought in after that 1997 season, the 1998 class, (which won the BT two years later), and the 1999 class he had verbally committed before leaving, Navarre, Brown, ‘Anderson’ (?) (the DL we lost to Stanford who roasted Barnett for lying to him), it was safe to say he was restocking NU very well up until he left.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Well, I’d say because when the kids who would be juniors and seniors in 1998 were first recruited, it was 1993 and 1994, right? There was no winning season, bowl trip or ANYTHING to offer. Yeah, he struck gold with the enough players to give us the 1995-1996 teams, but it’s reasonable to expect there wouldn’t be enough to carry on consistently, and a gap of sorts.

We went into 1998 with a redshirt freshman QB (who turned out to be pretty damn good in he Ivy League) and two redshirt freshman RBs in Marshall and Anderson. There wasn’t enough talent recruited in the ‘93-‘95 classes, with no bowl game or winning season to show these kids in even their parents’ lifetimes, not to mention facilities that were archaic and an administration who thought winning football games was the antethesis of the school’s academic mission, to sustain it, as the higher level recruits off the Rose Bowl and Citrus Bowl seasons grew up.

Considering the class he brought in after that 1997 season, the 1998 class, (which won the BT two years later), and the 1999 class he had verbally committed before leaving, Navarre, Brown, ‘Anderson’ (?) (the DL we lost to Stanford who roasted Barnett for lying to him), it was safe to say he was restocking NU very well up until he left.

But why wasn’t there enough talent in the 1993-1995 classes? They were recruited with essentially the same sales pitch as Barnett’s earlier classes.

 

[DarthCat]

But why wasn’t there enough talent in the 1993-1995 classes? They were recruited with essentially the same sales pitch as Barnett’s earlier classes.

What earlier classes? The ‘93 class was Barnett’s first full recruiting season. He was hired less than two months before signing day of the 1992 class.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

What earlier classes? The ‘93 class was Barnett’s first full recruiting season. He was hired less than two months before signing day of the 1992 class.

Poor phrasing, my fault.

My point is that it’s pretty hard to recruit for consistent championship contention without ever having a rough patch when you have a razor thin margin for error as is the case at NU, even when recruiting off NYD bowl games and top 15 finishes. Even Saint Gary (the bestest recruiter EVAR! according to some) couldn’t pull it off.

Almost like it might be silly to expect a half-finished facility to suddenly bump our recruiting amongst the elite programs in the country.

 

[DarthCat]

Your point wasn’t that it is hard to recruit for championship contention. What you said, and what I responded to, was you saying that the program was ‘run into the ground” (in 1998) and Barnett was largely to blame for that.

I agree in thinking it is hard to recruit at the championship levels for anybody. But Barnett did NOT run anything into the ground here, and to imply the 1998 season, when the team was already filled with the next group of players who’d win a BT title, that he’d brought in, is distorting things greatly I believe.

 

[lunker35]

Do you honestly believe a thread on a message board is of any value whatwsoever to these kids and their parents? A ‘Congratulatory Thread’. That’s a thing, huh? I seriously hope no kid or his parents is putting ANY value whatsoever in the opinions of anonymous message board posters. If they are, and their self esteem is affected in any way, they probably don’t belong in high profile endeavors like P5 college football.

More likely, this is about YOUR self esteem. The need to feel like your opinions and input matter at all to our players and their families.

Yes, it absolutely does. You’re coming off like a total ass and I’d bet the house that the kids friends and family are reading it. You’re exactly the problem that Fitz went off about.

 

[DarthCat]

Yes, it absolutely does. You’re coming off like a total ass and I’d bet the house that the kids friends and family are reading it. You’re exactly the problem that Fitz went off about.

Don’t recall mentions of fan message/opinion board comments. Do recall multiple statements about sell outs and attendance and the lack therof. Considering my 26 years of season tickets, attendance at almost every home game during that time as well as 2-3 road games per year, enough donations to the program that have earned me the illusive West lot pass so many on this board aren’t willing to part with $600 to get, I’m not gonna lose sleep thinking I’m ‘not a fan’ or ‘the problem’.

This is a place for discussions and sharing OPINIONS about NU football. That’s it. The good, bad and the ugly. About points on which most of us agree, and those that are unpopular. If players and parents have their feelings hurt by these conversations, if they don’t want to see their son’s performance or crededentials questioned, they don’t belong on a fan message board. Even if they don’t have their feelings hurt, they still don’t belong on a public forum if what they are seeking is the uninformed adulation of the program’s fans.

Those of you who want this to be some kind of tribute forum, where you can effuse your love without the fear of contrasting opinions, take it to the kids’ Twitter or Instagram pages. There any dissenting comments about a kid are inappropriate and truly don’t belong, as that is NOT a opinion discussion forum. This most definitely is.

 

[catfans5]

Yes, it absolutely does. You’re coming off like a total ass and I’d bet the house that the kids friends and family are reading it. You’re exactly the problem that Fitz went off about.

I am with Darth. I think you all should stoop this you are not a fan crap. I saw Fitz' rant. 12 years he has been here. Best finish is tied for 2nd in the weaker West Division in 2015 and 2017. Every time there is a major game, I recall Iowa and Michigan in 2015 (there are many others), the Cats get rolled. How about Illinois State, Western Michigan and Duke the last two years? These performances really play well to the casual fan who can fill the stadium, don't you think?.

Frankly, I do not think he is allowed in either the defensive or offensive coaches' meetings. He runs special teams and how has that been? I have taken tons of people to big games for the Cats to only spew on the field. He is the cause of the the lack of interest of the causal, non-NU, fan. This is who I bring to games.

Please tell me that he is a good game coach while explaining the end game strategy against a crappy Kentucky team. He is a great face of the program, but after 12 years, I think we have seen the best from him.

Further, the new facility is great, but go to some other schools and see their facilities.