Every week I post a link to the blog on Twitter and on the main board. Last week I mentioned in the thread on the board that I was trying to focus on positives. In response to that statement, Elginherd said that "[s]ometimes the truth IS negative; sometimes the truth is positive...just call 'em as you see 'em. I (we) might disagree, but you have a way of showing things in a light that I (probably us) have not considered. In any case, I am entertained...sometimes the truth isn't positive, and it was OK to write about that too." Elginherd's comment was a friendly challenge for me. As I discuss in No. 7, there is a reason that I have been trying to be positive. As many of you know, I like talking about and rethinking my position on issues. Elginherd really got me thinking whether being overly positive was appropriate for my ultimate goal, which is to support the Herd and not just the football team. During the drive back to INDY on Sunday, it occurred to me that one way to force myself not to spin the gameday in an overly positive manner would be to pick 10 of my tweets from gameday and address those. I typically type those in the heat of the moment without applying any filters (well not many). So here are the Ten Things I think I Know after UNCC (the Twitter Edition):
1. " Heading out to check out @biggreenarms and @HerdFansINFO set up:" the day wasn't totally destroyed by someone named Doc. Actually Doc the cocker spaniel woke me up at 6am, which inspired me to stop off at Tudor's on my way up to check out Big City and Big Green Arms pre-tailgating activities. It is one thing to hear that the guys are up there 12 hours before the game cooking, it is another thing to see it. It is not like they are just using a grill. This particular gameday they were only using the smaller smoker, but that is an impressive beast in its own right. After watching the guys cook up their breakfast on the propane grill, I wish that I wouldn't have gone to Tudor's. I left the guys with full intentions on returning to test their brisket and lollipop chicken, but my day got away from me. I did stop by Krogers long enough to tweet "My type of Grocery Store" after putting in some pretty cool Herd stuff for my new Herd Cave. I also picked up a 30 pack of beer for my buddies, and headed back to my parents house for a well deserved nap. When I got there I felt really lame loading up a cooler after watching how much hard work goes into the Herdfan's tailgate. 2. "When @HerdFB wins today...it is 100% because I wore the shirt:" while I was getting dressed for the game, I tweeted this about wearing my "Lucky Shirt." I felt really confident going into the Joan wearing my shirt, it didn't work out so well, as the picture of it in the collage shows. That being said, I didn't take W0lf up on his suggestion that I burn it. Fire and football games sounds too much like Eerdiot talk to me. I think it is pretty telling that I said "when @HerdFB wins today..." It really didn't occur to me that the Herd could lose. Looking at the schedule going forward, it isn't really occurring to me that they can win. Now that I've typed it, I hope I get proven wrong again. 3. "@pizzamancini phoned in the drawing too...Anyone coming? Bueller...Bueller...Bueller?:" one of the highlights of my trips to Huntington last year was checking out the awesome chalk drawings at Mancini's. When I went in there on Saturday to meet my buddy Danny, I was surprised that they didn't draw the opponent. The tweet was after we had lunch at Fat Patty's and got to chose our table...ON GAMEDAY!!! When was the last time, you didn't have to wait for a table at Fat Patty's. After lunch we walked through the empty West Lot to my buddy Debby's tailgate spot. While I enjoyed Vince's joke that "oh crap...he found us," I was a little troubled that there were so few people in the lot to enjoy it. The day got better when MarshallFanatic joined us, but it was still a weird day. Until we entered the Joan, I saw more UNCC fans in Mancini's and Fat Patty's than I did Herd fans. I get that people don't like to watch losing, but it still seams weird to me that people who own tickets don't show up. Especially those who paid for spots in the West Lot. To be honest, I care more about the drawing at Mancini than I do about who shows up in the West Lot. In the spirit of No. 6, "Tony needs to get that fixed!!!" But then again, he knows I will be there on gameday no matter what. 4. "Glad we don't know how to go under center:" I'm not sure the particular play that I tweeted this one, but there were multiple short yardage plays that I wish Legg was back coaching the offensive line, and someone else was calling the plays. Surely Chase ran plays under center in HS. I'm pretty sure he can do it now. But then again, I keep thinking it makes no sense to keep deferring. I'm sure running short yardage plays out of the shotgun is successful...for some other team. 5. "Thank you @Legg62 may we have another:" when you are watching something that deserves sarcasm, why not paraphrase Animal House? I am pretty sure this was after one of his really tricky first down play calls. I would tell you guys what that is, but you would be shocked!!! (It's Wednesday, maybe I should drop some of the sarcasm...or...) 6. "This is worse than Snyder...:" I was referring to the attendance, but I think it fair to say that it could applied across the board. 7. "When things are thin...we get Frickin Squatters....so why do we pay Big Green for these seats?:" I'm going to tackle a couple of my issues in this item. First I need to publicly eat some crow that was pointed out to me when I was playing golf with IM4HERD. IM4DHERD pointed out that when the points system was announced there wasn't a bigger complainer than me on the board, but I sure did an about face when I got my seats. On this point, I am totally guilty. When the program was announced, we were sitting pretty high in the chairbacks, where we would get squatters coming in each week. The best part about moving down to our new seats was that everyone around us is there every week. My tweet about "Frickin Squatters" was when two Herdfans who are there every week didn't return after half time. The two people that came in later asked whether "anyone was sitting there." Sorry, but that really irritates me. The part about this particular tweet that bothers me is the criticism of the Big Green. As I see this particular football season going down the commode, I have concerns that people are going to not be as engaged with the Big Green as they would if we were winning on the field. Maybe I drank too much Kelly Green Koolaid, but I really do believe that every donor counts. I really do believe that Hamrick has a plan that is working. Anyway, I hope that everyone who wants a baseball stadium doesn't let this mess on the field change their giving to the Big Green. The Big Green is much more than just the football program. It is also the players, and all the other sports. 8. "Isn't punting on 4th a form of resigning against UNCC?:" At that particular moment I was thinking that UNCC was playing chess, while Doc was playing checkers. I also tweeted that "@DOCMUFB Just quit on us." 9. "@Keion_davis is a good kid:" the guy behind me and I yelled in jest "keep your hat on" as he was on the sideline after his TD. He looked up at us and smiled and put his helmet back on. The crowd in my section was pretty loud about their displeasure with Doc and Legg. There are also some people that have been yelling inappropriately (IMO) of certain players for the last few games. As I noted in a previous blog, I was pretty proud of myself for acting like a middle schooler. Unlike prior games, I didn't even boo the refs when we got hosed on the incomplete pass call. I also didn't yell at Doc out of frustration. That being said, I just wish one of the team leaders acted like a middle schooler, and kept his mouth shut. Leaders don't yell at fans. Leaders block out the noise and lead their teams through adversity. But then again, maybe the real leader was jumping up and down with a towel like a kid on Saturday. Maybe both of the potential leaders are really just kids trying to grow up in a very public environment. Maybe one thinks he has already grown up. Maybe more of us need to take into account that they are just kids. I'm trying. 10. "Told Dad @DOCMUFB was playing for tie... #cupcakes:" Let's tackle the hashtag first. Yep, it looks like I don't buy the three 10 win seasons as being in the same class as Bobby's wins. I'm glad that we won with the schedules that we had, but I am more excited about actually playing some quality opponents this year and in upcoming years. If Doc can get ten wins with the upcoming schedules, then he may end up being in the same class as Bobby. If he doesn't, he still had three years of ten wins. Now onto the part about Doc playing for a tie. Whether he wins or not, NO ONE will ever say that Doc understood the game like Bobby did. When we punted in the fourth quarter I had a string of tweets related to us punting for a net of 30 yards, and playing for the tie. Maybe the shower of yellow flags had more to do with the loss, but at the time it seemed that Doc was playing for the tie. After the game, I had a guy on Twitter take issue with my tweet and by pointing out that we threw the ball twice on the final series. While I may have been wrong at the time, in the end Doc did go for the tie. After getting into it briefly with the fellow Twit, I tweeted "Going offline...sorry if I annoyed anyone." I always hope that I don't annoy anyone...even with raw blogs. GO HERD!!! |
Archives
September 2020
Author:Thundering in MD Categories |