Making me feel old. Shirley Manson is now a corporate boogeyman in the Sarah Conor Chronicles. I prefer to think of her from this period with Garbage.
I reference this classic from the 90s because of questions this.
Q: Paul, I am amazed with what I read in your Q & A discussions. I mean, there is the constant criticisms of Billy Stull, the offense, the receivers, the coaches, the secondary etc. — so much that I have to remind myself that this team is 9-3, is back in a bowl game, has NFL talent at multiple positions and generally looks like a program on the verge of again being a top ten team with top flight national talent. You would think the questions were coming from Ohio State fans used to 11-1 or 12-0 seasons and not Pitt fans accustomed to another year of maybe we can get 6 wins. These folks need a serious dose of Division I football reality. What are your thoughts?
ZEISE: I agree there appears to be a jaded group his is not happy with success — but that group won’t be happy even if Pitt was 12-0 and in the BCS national title game — so I wouldn’t worry too much about them. The Panthers made a nice stride forward this year now they just need to keep building on it each year and eventually, the hope is that if you knock on the door with 8-4, 9-3, 10-2, type of seasons long enough, you’ll break through and have that big year everyone so desires.
See if you haven’t been following the Q&A, the questions have continued about Bill Stull’s lack of arm strength. The complaints about Matt Cavanaugh as OC. Is Shady really coming back? Then there are the counter points from those wondering why the fans aren’t savoring this.
Couple this with really pertinent questions like where the weak spots on the team are and how/if recruiting is addressing the issues. Or an evaluation of the O-line’s performance.
And you could say that Pitt fans or a sizable contingent of the fanbase are naturally negative. And this is where I will part company. I think that in an interactive format that invites questions, you are going to get a larger percentage of questions that doubt or have concerns about the faults on the team. They may not always be expressed in the most diplomatic — well, they can be downright hostile towards the players or coaches — but they are asking the questions that still nag at them and others.
It’s harder to ask questions that are positive that are the least bit interesting or not complete softballs. And exactly what is the appeal to asking questions that are essentially, “this team rocks, right?”
It’s one thing to be asking the questions and even being a bit negative at times locally. I’m guessing most are defending and even willing to promote Pitt on a more national level.
Is it because we sucked in the 90s?
I came to the same conclusion as you concerning the logic. Then, I remembered that Shirley Manson appeared prominently in my high school fantasies, so I stopped caring about how great the parallel is.
Though maybe for the purposes of the Pittblather, Butch Vig produced a ton of great albums in the 90’s while bolstering the music of Garbage, so maybe he’s like Chancellor Nordenberg enhancing the reputation of the University while helping to upgrade the athletics programs and facilities.
Whatever. Shirley Manson.
Now I get it. I assumed that you linked to “Special” which was probably Garbage’s most popular single. I didn’t realize that the song you linked to is “I’m Only Happy When it Rains” until I reread the title of the post and watched the video.
Solid reference, Sir.
Personally I believe the fans who have the best grasp of perspective when it comes to following the PITT football program are the most positive, or at least, the most level in their approach to PITT.
Also, you are entirely correct in your last statement – I read all the time messages from posters who have nothing but criticism for DW, Cav, Stull, PITT football as a whole, etc and are essentially demanding a win every week – and then
they turn on any opposing team’s fans that just happen to post a simple question on the message board. It’s strange.
I’m a pretty positive guy – hell, I even enjoyed last year’s 5-7 season for the close games and the twist & turns the team took. However, I’m pretty quick to point out things I think need improvement. My criticism of Baldwin’s play (constructive criticism I believe) resulted in major backlash from other fans – who got increasingly silent as the season wore on.
Still, It all depends on how much emotional energy a fan is willing to expend on what is essentially a hobby. A loss doesn’t make me want to jump off a bridge or fire a head coach because I understand that we are dealing with – let’s face it – only sports.
I’ll say this much though, the Q&A and chat transcripts can be entertaining. But all in all, I don’t think Zeise is any good. I mean a person asked him in Q&A about McCoy leaving recently and his answer was “Absolutely I think there is a chance he’ll come back. I think there is also a chance he’ll leave”
Way to go out on a limb….especially from the same guy that said Mike Vick would have been better off had he raped a women than been involved in dogfighting.
Why couldn’t this guy been offered a buyout from the PG?!? I guess he’s not old enough!
The point I am trying to make is that if you are so obsessed with your favorite team that you think they shouldn’t be beaten (i.e., many Steeler fans), then you will become negative and cynical when they lose (or even win ugly.) Pitt continues to make strides but those who think that they are a legit BCS team are badly disillusioned.
I believe this was the last time I was ahead of the curve in matters of pop culture.
What any of this has to do with Pitt athletics, I don’t know. I’m just pining for my lost youth here. Damn, you Chas!
PITT most certainly is a ‘legit’ BCS team. Any team that wins 8 games against BCS opponents is.
I wonder if you didn’t mean ‘a legit BCS championship contending team’ which would make some sense, and I’d have to agree with you there.
The point I was trying to make is that I believe many fans were disilluioned into thinking that this year’s team was better than it really was, thus becoming cynical when it didn’t reach their expectation
I do think there are few perennial “BCS Bowl” quality teams in the nation – perhaps 5-10 which is a small percentage of 119 Div-1A teams. Personally I don’t think PITT will ever reach that plateau, and that doesn’t bother me one bit.
As to our neighbors to the East, I ask other fans this question all the time; “Would you accept the trade off that PSU has obviously made in the lessening of standards of their football program, and the lack of attention to the other ‘big’ sport of basketball, to achieve what they have in football (which all in all is very good)?
When I hear them answer back “Yes” I’m pretty confident that that fan is not a real supporter of the University and all that PITT represents. PITT stands on its own two feet and shines in many areas – sports, and football in particular, is just one piece of the puzzle. I wouldn’t want PITT to achieve lofty heights in football if it meant bending or breaking rules, or accepting less than desirable kids solely for the purpose of playing football.
The bottom line with some fans is that the grass is always greener somewhere else, whether it be in football administration, coaching, results, recruiting or individual players. Of course talking and debating what could have been, or should have been, is part of the fun of sports. But the fans who constantly feel we underachieve no matter what level of success we reach are always going to be miserable no matter how well we do, short of a MNC. Too bad for them really.
Are you suggesting that State Clown College’s volleyball championships don’t count towards the lofty heights of athletic excellence that they espouse? In all seriousness, though, very nice post on your part.
You sometimes appear to hang out with that always negative group.
