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Some coaches actually read the boards.

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I was in a coach's office in 2001 and we talked about the rise of the internet and how it may affect game plans,recruits etc….He actually read the boards. The main thing which irked him was the injury reports which wasn't made public. So some do peek in once in awhile.


I pulled this from the SunBelt Board.

Article..Read on:

McCollum: Anonymous criticism is slap in face

Commentary by DAVID CLIMER
Senior Writer


After three straight losing seasons and a 0-3 start this year at Middle Tennessee State, Andy McCollum needs all the friends he can get.

He may have lost a few this week.




Then again, with friends like these, who needs enemies?

In a Thursday morning radio interview on 104.5-FM, McCollum responded to a question by referring to those who send anonymous e-mail to him and post disparaging remarks on Internet message boards as "slappies."

Certainly, the word "slappy" is subject to interpretation. Merriam-Webster takes a flier on it. But in its customary usage these days, let's just say it is a less than complimentary term.

McCollum is standing his ground, unapologetic about calling out those who have targeted him from behind a shroud of anonymity.

"With people on the Internet and talk radio shows taking shots at you, all those slappies that don't have the courage to sign a name or say who they are, I can't control that," he said. "I don't have any use for them.

"I understand that it's part of the profession but it's a sick part of the profession."

On the one hand, I appreciate McCollum's candor. Most coaches these days are spin doctors with whistles. They wouldn't give you an honest opinion if you held a contract extension to their heads.

On the other hand, responses like McCollum's usually are an indication that the pressure is starting to get to you. The hotter the seat, the thinner the skin.

And it's no secret that McCollum is feeling the heat. Chris Massaro, MTSU's first-year athletics director, is keeping score. And it certainly doesn't help when the Blue Raiders lost to Sun Belt rival North Texas in front of 20,806 at Floyd Stadium and follow that up with a home loss to Akron with only 12,411 in attendance.

Too, when you consider his overall record at MTSU (30-41), his record this season and the ugly residue left by a 17-7 loss to Akron last weekend, this is no time for McCollum to be alienating any fans, especially those who care enough about the program to debate his team's merit and his coaching performance on the Internet.

"We've got great fans. I understand it's just a handful of them that are behind all this," McCollum said.

"But there are some things you shouldn't have to deal with ? personal attacks, attacks on your way of life, stuff that affects your family, things like that."

Even so, it's never a good sign when a coach starts acknowledging that fans are getting to him. Back when sports talk radio began to sink into the Southern football culture in the late '80s, then-Tennessee Coach John Majors labeled those who participated as "the legion of the miserable."

It's funny how what goes around comes around.

Now, any talk show host who is looking for somebody to take a shot at the current goings-on in Knoxville need look no further than Majors' cell phone number. He is more than willing to fire away.

But at least he doesn't do it under an assumed name.

And that's what irks McCollum. He says he can handle the criticism. Just tell him where it's coming from.

"My door's wide open. Anybody is more than welcome to come in and talk," he said. "Just introduce yourself, come on in and tell me what you think. But don't hide behind a computer and write something and think you're helping us accomplish anything in this program."

It is, he says, a slap in the face.



David Climer is a senior writer and columnist for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-8020.


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Some coaches actually read the boards.

Check out the thread on the Middle Tennessee board about it their even designing t-shirts with his comments on it-LOL http://middletennessee.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2117&tid=58653153&sid=&style=2
Seriously though-he blew it with his comments-admitting that criticism from internet mesage boards effects him-ouch! Not a smart thing to admit to. More than a few coaches read mesage boards but usually do so for a laugh-when the time comes that criticism is bothering him-its time to turn the computer off at MTSU. He thinks its bad now what till he loses to what could very well be an 0-6 FAU team for the third year in a row -then have him check the MTSU mesage boards-it'll get REAL UGLY then!
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Some coaches actually read the boards.

The Troy fans are a bit less hard on their coach, who slapped at them in a Montgomery Advertiser article this week:

ERROR: A link was posted here (url) but it appears to be a broken link.

http://www.gotroytrojans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2895


Here's a thread in which Larry Blakeney (generally a Troy icon) blasts a fan and the fans rip back:

ERROR: A link was posted here (url) but it appears to be a broken link.

http://www.gotroytrojans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2887

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Some coaches actually read the boards.

Some coaches actually read the boards.

Funny stuff. Coaches should never get to the point where they let posters on a message board get under their skins. Like he said, anybody can sit comfortably behind a keyboard and criticize.

But….what they should pay attention to is the fact that there are some who cares about the team. These same people are sitting in the stands on Saturdays.
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Some coaches actually read the boards.

There are many who care about their teams on these boards. I don't think many of the coaches know enough about computers to realize what a valuable rescource the boards are (or can be).

The posters invest lots of time posting mostly caring comments on these boards. They (and silent lurkers) are among the most knowledgeable fans. They know the stats, the players' names, the strategies. They attend fan events and buy tickets. They listen online, suffer through almost impossible static duirng night games listening to a Palm Beach County AM station, and travel to away games.

Many of us are professionals and some of us use our real names (which should be required).
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Some coaches actually read the boards.

I like your post BMarkey. Very valid points.
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