I woke up this morning. The grass is still green, sky is still blue, and I still Bleed Purple

[CatManTrue]

This is a tough situation, but neither as sad nor bad as the Rashidi Wheeler tragedy. And it is not nearly as awful as the other B1G scandals (PSU, OSU, MSU…).

I still plan on being in Piscataway on September 3rd to cheer in whoever’s left on our team. I hope we find the right HC to help us navigate these waters.

The players need our support more than ever. There will still be a lot of kids on our team battling for our joy and entertainment.

Go Cats! This too shall pass.

 

[RhabdoWildcat]

I’m with you. True cat fans will stick with this team and players.

As big a void as Fitz has left, Northwestern and Northwestern football are bigger than him.

Go ‘Cats!

 

[Jonny2TheP]

I’m with you. True cat fans will stick with this team and players.

As big a void as Fitz has left, Northwestern and Northwestern football are bigger than him.

Go ‘Cats!

I think it’s a bit more complicated than that. If Fitz had been fired based on 4-20 over the last two years, you wouldn’t see anything near what you are seeing from the fan base. People would have strong opinions, but that’s different.

But I think the combination of what this scandal was, how people may feel about Fitz’s role in that (both sides of that argument), and how NU leadership has handled it make this way more complicated.

I personally have to think about my NU football fandom short and long term. Not saying I’m done, I just need to sit with it for awhile. As of now, I’m pretty turned off by every aspect of this. To the culture that allowed this stuff to happen the last 20-30 years, to Fitz allowing it to go on even if he didn’t know the extent of it, to how inept Gragg and Schill are. It’s all bad and makes me question how much time and money I should put towards supporting the program going forward. Everything is on the table for me. By the time we play Rutgers, I could be ready to support these players and program going forward in a “it’s a fresh start” sort of way, or I could not even watch it. Time will tell for me personally.

 

[SmellyCat]

I personally have to think about my NU football fandom short and long term. Not saying I’m done, I just need to sit with it for awhile. As of now, I’m pretty turned off by every aspect of this. To the culture that allowed this stuff to happen the last 20-30 years, to Fitz allowing it to go on even if he didn’t know the extent of it, to how inept Gragg and Schill are. It’s all bad and makes me question how much time and money I should put towards supporting the program going forward. Everything is on the table for me. By the time we play Rutgers, I could be ready to support these players and program going forward in a “it’s a fresh start” sort of way, or I could not even watch it. Time will tell for me personally.

I feel the same. I love NU football more than anything in the world besides my family, but my relationship with it right this minute is...complicated.

Several years ago, I gave up the NFL. Too tired of all the controversies and crap and off-field violence and everything else. I slowly have been coming back occasionally, but gone are the days of sitting in front of the TV all day Sunday and monitoring my fantasy football team. Part of the reason I could make that clean break is because of college football, especially NU, which I felt was very pure. Maybe I was naive and delusional. Obviously NCAA is a bit of a cesspool too, but I could resign myself with the fact that these are students, and that the student-athletes I rooted for in particular are all outstanding people. I still need to come to terms with how these outstanding people - who I still admire until/unless I hear specific names associated with specific actions - could do such awful things.

I want to support my alma mater and the students who have given their blood, sweat, and tears to this program, but I'm not there yet. I have a long way to go.

 

[zeek55]

All of you have fair takes on this. I just feel random feelings at random times.

I'll support the University always, but the current leadership (Schill/Gragg and their handling of this as well as the festering disaster in the baseball program) has been atrocious.

I'll come around eventually and support the players that wear the colors and represent the University and us, but this is just a very dark day.

That it comes after a 1-11 season and poor stretch 3 of the past 4 years makes it feel a lot worse, like we're at some sort of abyss and still have some darkness ahead.

In my mind, the one thing that needs to happen is the school and donors need to push through the stadium rebuild. That is the only thing that can bridge us past whatever this Dark Age ends up being in my mind.

If that ends up turned into a political football, the situation will sting a lot longer imo because that will still need to be done eventually. Just tear off the bandaid now and spend 2 years away from Evanston.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

This is a tough situation, but neither as sad nor bad as the Rashidi Wheeler tragedy. And it is not nearly as awful as the other B1G scandals (PSU, OSU, MSU…).

I still plan on being in Piscataway on September 3rd to cheer in whoever’s left on our team. I hope we find the right HC to help us navigate these waters.

The players need our support more than ever. There will still be a lot of kids on our team battling for our joy and entertainment.

Go Cats! This too shall pass.

Right with you, CMT! I still want to believe big time athletics can coexist at a top academic institution, and Northwestern can find a way. Go Cats!

 

[its_the_sauce]

Lot's of optimism for men's basketball, WLAX won NCAA title, field hockey lost in NCAA finals (after winning NCAA previous year), softball will likely make another run at WCWS after falling just short (this after winning both B10 regular season & tournament crowns).

Still a lot of good with NU sports.

 

[eastbaycat99]

I feel the same. I love NU football more than anything in the world besides my family, but my relationship with it right this minute is...complicated.

Several years ago, I gave up the NFL. Too tired of all the controversies and crap and off-field violence and everything else. I slowly have been coming back occasionally, but gone are the days of sitting in front of the TV all day Sunday and monitoring my fantasy football team. Part of the reason I could make that clean break is because of college football, especially NU, which I felt was very pure. Maybe I was naive and delusional. Obviously NCAA is a bit of a cesspool too, but I could resign myself with the fact that these are students, and that the student-athletes I rooted for in particular are all outstanding people. I still need to come to terms with how these outstanding people - who I still admire until/unless I hear specific names associated with specific actions - could do such awful things.

I want to support my alma mater and the students who have given their blood, sweat, and tears to this program, but I'm not there yet. I have a long way to go.

This is an outstanding post. I quit the NFL 40+ years ago (I was a Bears STH) when I realized I wouldn’t want my kids to get hooked on what appeared to me to be a cynically exploitative enterprise. I went all in on CFB since I honestly believed NU (and subsequently Cal, with which I became a part of the university community) would do it right. My era at NU was the Agase years, and the players I knew were a lot like me, but better athletes. Regardless of the degree of Fritz’s knowledge or complicity, the apparent existence of hazing in the program in this day and age is shocking. If NU could sponsor a team where the culture condones the behavior described, I may need to just give up football altogether.