Fan Negativity! Why are Husker basketball fans better than football?

[PimpMario]

Is it basketball season yet?  I will admit that one of the reasons I haven't been posting a lot on HHC is because I have been too busy fighting about Husker football.  I am what some might call a sunshine pumper in football.  Which is funny because in basketball I think I usually have some of the lowest expectations/predictions compared to the rest of the board.

 

Anyway, after having been a part of this board for years and lurking even longer, it dawned on me the other day how much more positive Husker basketball fans are.  

 

So my discussion topic is Why do you think Husker basketball fans are so much more positive than Husker football fans?

 

It might be because there are no fair weather fans of Nebrasketball...

 

I still remember my thread asking if you guys were a little bit annoyed that we would have to deal with so many fair weather fans when we have been here forever and gone through the heartache.  Some expressed annoyance about potential parking and traffic problems but there was also some genuine sentiment that there would be some frustration with the new fans now that we are on the upswing.

 

I can't wait until basketball seasons starts because then I will have something more positive to dwell on rather than how our football fans are a bunch of entitled crybabies who throw temper tantrums when things don't go their way.

[MandRHusker]

Because the optimists were the only MBB fans left. There are quite a few new fans now but wait until things turn grim and watch them howl lol

[Norm Peterson]

I don't know that we are more positive as a fanbase, but the tone of our board might be more positive because the Rivals football board is dominated by people who seem to think it's their mission to make sure that no one feels good about our football program.  Sucks the life right out of you.  I have found I can enjoy being a fan of the football team a lot more easily and comfortably by not participating in that board anymore.  So, we lose at Minnesota.  I can be frustrated and disappointed.  I can even foster doubts about the head coach.  But I don't deal with the blow by blow of which coach took the summer off and didn't do any recruiting and how the one coach is screwing some other guy's wife and how that all means that everything is going to hell within north stadium, etc.

 

Now, the basketball board, on the other hand, is -- I wouldn't say "dominated" -- occupied by more level-headed folks and the people who seem to post the most over here (me, CWG certainly, 49r) are all pretty happy people who don't complain a lot.  We look for positive things to share because it makes it easier to be fans.  It makes it easier to endure a history of disappointment that we've all shared when we look for the silver lining and the hint of potential good news rather than focus obsessively on how much the coach yells at the refs or whether some insider reports that our star player is unhappy with his shoe size/locker location/choice of entrees at the training table/etc. and is thinking of transferring.

 

Spare me the negative sh!t.  We've dealt with it enough just to follow the program.  Don't need more of it from an anonymous insider on a message board.  Maybe that's why we're happier over here.  Fewer people claim inside news, which is almost always bad news.  That's the way I'd prefer it, frankly.

[PimpMario]

Norm, what you say makes a lot of sense.  I go the the HM message board and I want to be done with it.  Is there a more level headed message board somewhere for football?

[Norm Peterson]

Speaking of insiders, remember when (can't recall the poster's name) came on here and claimed that he was good friends of Coach Miles' sister and knew all kinds of inside stuff but then would get bent out of shape when people didn't kiss his ring?

 

That's the kind of insider we just don't need around here.  Hopefully he found the football board.

[PimpMario]

Speaking of insiders, remember when (can't recall the poster's name) came on here and claimed that he was good friends of Coach Miles' sister and knew all kinds of inside stuff but then would get bent out of shape when people didn't kiss his ring?

 

That's the kind of insider we just don't need around here.  Hopefully he found the football board.

 

I do.  He was very surprised when he couldn't get a rise out of us.  

 

One thing I like about Miles so far is he seems pretty transparent and open.  Heck, if we want to know something we could just start tweeting him and I am sure we could get him to comment on anything.

[FredsSlacks]

I think basketball fans are more positive because Miles is a positive coach.

 

Pelini isn't the most likeable person and has cursed out the entire NU football fanbase.

[Silverbacked1]

Too many games.

You can almost be 500 in your league and still get to the big dance and then you never know what could happen. Look at FGC.

[4huskers]

Norm, I used to be level headed but then I got a haircut.

[MichHusker]

Once a team starts having success, and is known for success, everyone assumes that the team will always be good and be competing for championships. When a team is not as good, the expectations are low so even if that team lets say wins half of their games, everyone sees it as "success" and "progress." Nebraska football was known as a perennial powerhouse, and because of that, expectations have been set so high. Not quite the same with Nebrasketball. Living in Detroit, the same thing happened with the Tigers. 10 years ago, people would be exstatic with a .500 record. Now, if they don't win the world series they want to fire their manager. People get spoiled with success

[Cookie Belcher]

Lower expectations. Kentucky basketball fans are more rabid than their football fans.

And I would likely be classified by you as a "hater" or whatever you would label me in football. I'm more positive about the basketball program because I believe we have a coach in place who can get it done. I think Tim Miles is the right guy and he has shown me all sorts of signs pointing towards that. I don't think that is the case in our football program and haven't for a little while.

I don't consider myself an optimist or pessimist in either sport, I simply feel what I truly believe is the case about each program.

[REDZONEDAN]

 

So my discussion topic is Why do you think Husker basketball fans are so much more positive than Husker football fans?

 

Miles vs. Pelini.....Miles appears to know how to both build and run a program.  Miles is the full package, including knowing how to sell the program (which I think is very important being at Nebraska), and knowing how to handle the media.  I can't say those same things about Pelini after his 6 years at Nebraska.

[49r]

Norm, what you say makes a lot of sense.  I go the the HM message board and I want to be done with it.  Is there a more level headed message board somewhere for football?

 

I found HuskerBoard a while back, and it's way better (IMO) than Huskers (Max OR Pedia) for football talk.

 

NOTHING is better than here, however, for hoops talk.

[jdostal]

This will sort of address the OP's question, but ultimately both sports have the same fans, but it's easier or more exciting to be a nebrasketball fan because of expectations.  We allow ourselves moral victories in basketball sometimes, which would never fly in football.

 

I say we have the same fans because whenever the basketball team starts trailing, the fans get taken out of the game way too quickly.  I know this is tangential, but we tend to expect our teams to pick us up rather than the other way around.  The Iowa basketball game last year and the OSU football game a couple years ago come to mind.  Volleyball fans are possibly an exception to this rule because they always seem to be making their presence felt, but maybe that's just because they rarely lose at home.  

[hhcmatt]

The subject line of this topic is overly dramatic.

[navyhusker]

The sunshine pumper football fans are the ones that stick around for basketball.  I understand criticism of programs, but constant negativity has driven me away from the rivals site.  Hard to be a fan and read some of the worthless nonsense that is posted on there.  This board, although I haven't been on for long, is a breathe of fresh air.  Can't wait for the opener!  

[NUdiehard]

Constant negativity brings everyone down.  But, high expectations keep a program up.  That is a dual edge sword that every coach, athlectic department and fanbase must balance. 

 

You do not notice Nebraska basketball fans being negative because there are so many fewer Nebraska basketball fans in general.  99 out of 100 people in this state could care less if the NU basketball team stinks or not.  And guess what, the team has been terrible for years.  If Nebraskans (in general) ever reach the general level of apathy for football that they have about Nebraska basketball, the NU football team will forever remained mired in mediocrity, you can bank on it.

 

Someone above mentioned Kentucky basketball.  This is a good illustration.  The Kentucky basketball fans are rabid about their program and its success.  When Billy G was there and not having IMMEDIATE success, they ran him out of town on a rail.  And guess what, they now have John Calipari and the most talented recruits (and often team) in the country year are year.  The fan base demanded it, and the administration had no option but to make it happen.  I don't suppose those fans are considered "negative" now, but they sure were "negative" when Billy G was failing to get enough wins. 

 

If Bo P were winning conference or national championships by now (his 6th year), you would not be noticing so much "negativity".  Obviously.

 

Its funny, because many (including many on this board) called some of us (me included) as being way too negative about the baketball program under Doc Sadler.  I feel like some of us just called it like we saw it.  I tried not to make it personal, but I did not feel Doc could or would ever lead us to wins in the NCAA tourney and I made that clear.  This annoyed a lot of people. I guess I was a bad fan in their view.  But now we have Tim Miles and everyone seems to be happy again and most feel like he is the right coach for us.  Interesting how that works.

 

One last thing.  This comparison really isn't fair.  Miles is only in his 2nd year.  He is still in his honeymoon stage.  Nobody expects immediate results from him after inheriting the mess Doc left.  But if this team is still finishing 10th-12th (or 12th-14th as it may be) in 6 years, rest assured, of what few basktball fans are left, many will be negative, and the AD will fire him, and so the cycle will continue.  It simply is the nature of the beast.

[Handy Johnson]

I could write a dissertation on this, but here's the Cliff's notes version. The Hoops squad regardless of talent or record can beat ANYONE, we've all seen it happen. The Football team, historically, when playing it's equal or better, loses.

[Norm Peterson]

OK, so the answer is multi-factorial:

 

1.  It probably has something to do with the coach for each program.

2.  I'm guessing there's an element to how the last coach was replaced, and the one before that, which might have caused a rift in one fanbase and not the other.

3.  Lack of self-professed insiders (and I really do believe this makes a difference.)

4.  Better moderation by the guys who do the moderating.

5.  Lack of a bat-sh!t crazy DB poster with an anger-management problem.

6.  How close each respective coach is to meeting expectations relative to how long each has been here.

 

That about cover it?

 

By the way, it does get kinda bad over here when we head toward "coaching change" time.  So, maybe there's an element of the stability of the current coaching regime.  Whereas Miles has plenty of leash and lots of time left on the expectations clock, Pelini's grace period has ended and the natives on the football side are starting to get restless.  But even this place at its worst is never as bad as that place over there.

[colhusker]

Expectations at least at this point are so different for the two programs.  We've been to the top in football, we were the top dog there.  Basketball, well, we've tasted a wee bit of success but have been, lets face it, marginal for a while now.  Easier to be positive and upbeat when things only can get better.

[throwback]

NU basketball is more positive because we weed out all the bitter people who wear red in the fall and blue in the winter. 

[Norm Peterson]

NU basketball is more positive because we weed out all the bitter people who wear red in the fall and blue in the winter. 

I wish we still had the emote that rolls on the floor laughing. 

[twinswingohuskers]

I have to agree with you on the rivals site.  My subscription just ran out and I didn't renew.  I think that the mods are a problem there along with some of the posters.   Even though this site is much better, it did get a little contentious over whether Doc should go or stay.

[ballgame]

Expectations at least at this point are so different for the two programs.  

 

Well, at least they used to be.  I think hoops first fans have a more realistic view while the football only fans are living in the past.

[cipsucks]

I think basketball fans are more positive because Miles is a positive coach.

 

Pelini isn't the most likeable person and has cursed out the entire NU football fanbase.

This forum, and Husker basketball fans in general, were positive long before Tim Miles was head coach.

 

I think the answer is pretty simple.  We're just happy drunks here.