Someone Needs To Say It, So Sonja Does
By Sonja Sykes
One sure sign of summer these days is when the various message boards start taking to task Coach Steve Kragthorpe, Athletic Director Tom Jurich and the University of Louisville football program for shortcomings over the last two seasons.
Whiny Face
Unfortunately, on at least one local forum, the Kragthorpe haters and Jurich jabbers are given free rein. A disproportionate and largely redundant number of posters seem unable to recognize or have no regard of the effect of constant criticism on coaches, players or recruits … or the impact of unfettered negativism on the future of the program.
All this before any fireworks have been launched, or the “dog days” have arrived. And, from all indications, it’s only going to intensify. As if we can do anything about it.
In the words of Lily von Schtupp in Blazing Saddles: “I’m tired.” Tired of all this meaningless pro/anti Kragthorpe jabber.
Cry about it, shout about it, laugh about it or try and doubt it: Fans don’t have much say about who coaches the college kids down off Floyd Street. This isn’t American Idol or Dancing With The Stars. I’m tired of the pouting, cheap shots and rose-colored glasses. I’m tired of the insults that follow after the remarks are made.
What it is is college athletics. Sure, you can cancel your seats, boycott this or that or whine like a stuck pig in the barn gate door but you’re not going to change a thing. What you do accomplish is to make an impression on young athletes.
Tommy Fullback probably doesn’t care what Joe D in Somerset thinks about his potential coach. But if 50 Joe D’s are piling on, you can bet your last dollar that Tommy Fullback is forming an opinion. Shannon, over at Cardinal Dominance, points this out in his in-depth interview with future Card Mike Privott.
I’ve had players come up to me and shyly correct me on information. The kids know how to “Google” their name and their school. Think twice before you berate some young man or women (or coach) you’ve never met.
Love the players, love the game. Let’s act like we’ve been there before. The fuel and energy you use by fanning the Cardinal football flames only gives the neighbors to the east more to laugh, gloat and joke about. Whether the record is 8-4 or 4-8, give the players the admiration and respect they deserve. They made a choice and it was us.
About the Author: Sonja Sykes is an avid fan of University of Louisville athletics, especially the women's basketball team.
Sonja,
I’ll admit I am a Kragthorpe basher, and I will also admit that my frustrations need venting. This website and others is a way to vent, to deal with the pain in seeing the fastest up and coming program in the US, crash and burn in the short time of Krags tenure. But as a fan if I want Krags gone how do I accomplish that? Not attending games, check. No more atheletic funding, check. But what if that doesn’t work? I am being a realist in saying UofL will lose more games than it did last year, thus making it the third consecutive year Kragthorpe has increased losses as the head coach. He is making darn good money and criticism should be expected in that position.
You can call me a bad fan, fair weathered, or what ever. I have been to Memphis, Nashville, Jacksonville, and Miami to watch this team play football. I have endured disapointment, frustration, and what is most likely a 3 game losing streak to my hated rival. I will not stay silent with my opinion that Kragthorpe is the wrong guy for UofL and has been from the get go. Give me one good reason, other than the he needs more time cop out of why he deserves to keep his job. I have been waiting for that reason for over a year, still haven’t heard a good one. 2 dozen JuCo players later and this program is not moving in the right direction. If krag was really interested in what is best for this program he would quit acting so desperate and start actually building a program by bringing in four year players and red shirting as many freshman as possible. This isn’t what he has done, and UofL still isn’t wining football games. JuCo’s are non qualifiers out of highschool, how do you build a program the right way with a bunch of non quals? You don’t and you don’t get rid of a coach by staying silent, or supportive. You let the administration know you are not happy and this is unacceptable. I have writen Jurich emails, I have not renewed my season tix, i will go to the games, but for free or $5.00 to some guy outside the gates trying to unload an unpopular commodity.
Loser4life is about the biggest pathetic whiny jackass that claims to be a Louisville fan. He acts like it’s his God given right to win football games or have the coach fired. I hope Tom Jurich never gives in to idiots like him and hopefully they will take their self absorbed lunacy someplace else.
ULiar your the loser, follow blindly, keep spinning the truth. I have seen this once prominent football program become a laughing stock. Did you watch the Rutgers game last year? I’m the idiot who wants to see something more out of my alma mater. I hope Jurich does give into such an a fan like me because Kragthorpe will never, I repeat will never win enough games to go to a bowl at UofL. I’ll back that up with a wager, ULiar.
We hear your concerns cardfan4life. I think Sonja’s primary concern is that having voiced the complaints that everybody is well aware of and which have been acknowledged by the right people, at what point does the criticism begin to damage the long-term future of the program? Tom Jurich will do the right thing at the best time for the program, and he is the best person to decide what’s best for the long-term. I have no doubt about that.
Do you agree that krags doesn’t act like he is trying to build this program the right way by brining in all these JuCo’s, who won’t help in the long run? I have to give UK some credit, Rich Brooks stayed away from the JuCo’s sat as many freshman as possible and you can see the improvement in the program. Krags isn’t builing towards a future, he is just trying to patch leaks with JuCo’s in hopes of keeping his job.
Charlie,
I think you’re missing something. Football fans are going to be negative after the way that last season ended. Especially since last season followed such a disappointing season the year before. I think we can both agree that the recruiting and on-the field product is worthy of some negativity.
But now it’s june. Baseball sucks, it’s too early to talk B-ball, and there’s really no legitimate sports talk until the NFL starts up in August.
In the meantime, since we still care about football we’re going to talk football. And since we still care about louisville, we’re going to talk louisville football. And since an All-victor anderson conversation for the next 2-3 months would get kind of boring, inevitably, we’re going to talk about some other aspects of U of L football, and those are almost universally negative.
Unless you shut down the message boards, and cancel talk radio for the next 3 months, people are going to continue to say critical and negative things about Louisville football, because that’s essentially what the conversation is at this point. Instead of whining that people are being critical of the coach and pessimistic about the team’s prospects, why don’t you post some positive info about the team? If you can find some… somewhere…
Otherwise, the conversation about the fighting Victor Andersons will inevitably turn to how someone on the o-line might need to block and someone might need to prepare and come up with a game plan.
About the most positive thing right now is that we have 75 to 85 kids working their butts off during the summer months to get ready for next season. I’ve done my share of griping; now I’m ready to hope for the best as we prepare for a new season.
Spoken like a true politician.
You really know how to hurt a fellow fan.
If you’re done with your griping, fine. But unless we just drop U of L football from the list of viable U of L sports topics, next season and the prospect of another losing campaign are going to come up.
I’m done griping until they lose their first game, but we don’t have to worry about that for a couple of months.
I think the better question is: What does the whining about whining accomplish?
Honestly, what did people think this off-season was going to be like? The team ended on a 5 game losing streak and was pounded in the last 3 games. In the last game, the team looked like it quit after the 2nd or 3rd score of the 1st quarter and went on to get blown out by a ridiculous margin. On the field, the team has looked unprepared and unmotivated for 2 straight years. Poor-game planning, game-management, and inattention to detail has characterized Steve Kragthorpe’s time at Louisville. This guy has been an out-and-out failure in almost every aspect of his tenure. To quote Dan Hawkins “It’s Division One FOOTBALL!” Did people expect this fanbase to be enthusiastic about our prospects next year? Contrary to what our AD has said, this fanbase has a decent knowledge of football and knows exactly what kind of coach we have.
But as much as I’d like to, we can’t blame everything on the coach. Those players are wearing jerseys for the University of Louisville on their chests, not t-shirts with prancing Unicorns that say “We’re powered by Puppy Kisses!” Save that “We love every player that puts on a uniform and tries their hardest” crap for Mighty Mite football.
These are grown men getting a free education because they are supposed to produce on the field. If they can’t get over the fact that people are saying they aren’t producing on the field when they haven’t produced on the field for the past two years, then I think we need to have a serious look at our team. These guys get fawned over, treated like royalty and get served the finest trim on a silver platter, and we’re supposed to feel bad about criticizing them when they aren’t producing on the field?
When did our team get filled with over-sensitive teenaged girls? Are we going to start providing them with chocolate and free screenings of “Steel Magnolias” so that everyone can have a good cry before games? Sac up!
I’d love to hear a player just come out and say, “I’ve heard that our fans are kinda pissed, and don’t think we’re going to do well next season. And I don’t really blame them. We looked like crap the last 3 games and lost to syracuse and UK for the 2nd straight year. They should be pissed.”
I will follow a proven winner like Tom Jurich instead of some snivelling creepy internet loser. Your dumbass argument is that you go to road games? LMAO! What a moron.
No idiot I also go to home games, I am fan enough to travel, well at least i was. Have you followed the Cards out of State? Probably not, you are to busy talking smack on the internet right. Remember you called me out, started the argument on the internet and then called me a loser. I bet you are kragthorpes personal fluffer, does the truth mean you came out of the closet to express your man love for the Krag / Jurich regime? Seriously Bro, people make mistakes and I’ll know who you are when I see the game on tv and your wearing the I heart kragthorpe t-shirt. What a joke, its terrible wekass comments like yours that make this fan basae look bad.
no card fan it is “fans” like you who make the rest of us look like idiots and who potentially hurt the program you swear you love…. yes, last year was a disappointment… but how muchof the end of the season games can we blame on lack of numbers and injuries? face it, after we beat so fl everyone tought we were back at it… the the injuries started.. receiver first , then defensive backs until , how many did we even suit up for last 2 games?? not many… and yes I will say that getting juco’s is a temp fix.. but we need numbers now…. with jucos comng in maybe just maybe we can truly reshirt a few frosh who need it.. that will help in yrs to come… Do I fully believe that coach K is the man to do it?? I do not know.. but i do know that TJ thinks so and with that I will follow this team and its coaches until such time as TJ says enough….. and I mean follow by buying my season tockets and going to a couple of road games and cheering my ass of….. since you do not feel like this product is up to your standards., PLS STAY HOME………….
I’ve had the pleasure of attending Cardinal sporting events for well over a quarter of a century. During that time, I’ve seen some pretty incredible games and players and could fill up the rest of this reply with memories of the good and the bad I’ve been fortunate to witness here and on the road.
I’ve also had the honor of being a college athelete and experienced the utmost joy of winning and the severe disappointment of losing. I’ve heard cheers from the stands, and…unfortunately boos…both at home and on the road fields.
I was the first to admit whenI played badly and humbly took credit if I played well. At no time, though…did I ever blame a coach for my poor performance..or an athletic director for causing my team to lose.
I always appreciated the fact that people were interested enough to watch me and other college atheletes perform and get excited about me and my team’s performance. But, I also understood the reasons for booing and disappointment if we didn’t do so well. It hurt to hear the boos, and sometimes it made me want to do better, sometimes it just made me wonder why I was out there at all.
One thing criticism from the fanbase never did, though…when I played, was ever get a coach or athletic director fired…or make me feel that either should be.
If the product disappoints someone that much, then why do you go? If it’s all about the wins and losses and not the players out there who are trying…then excuse me if I think that’s a way too subjective view of college kids who, in 99% of the cases, won’t be doing that for a living after they graduate.
Naturally, I’d love to see all Cardinal teams win every time they step on the field, but you accept the losses when they come and move on to the next game.
One of my favorite lines came many years ago from a player who missed a crucial chance to score and help the team she was on win a game. She said:
“Twenty years from now, when I’m a doctor helping saving lives and people get well, I’d love for one of those fans who was harsh with their criticism of me tonight end up on my operating table or in the ER I’m working in. When they turn to me with pleading eyes, hoping for relief…wouldn’t it be ironic just tell then that I couldn’t do anything for them back then and just as soon not care to try today. And, maybe boo them a little bit. Of course, I wouldn’t…but could you imagine the look?
Payback’s a bitch.”
Rather than give you my opinion of Kragthorpe (which would take a week to type) I will give that of The Sporting News which today picked UofL as the 75th best team in the country.
“Two years ago, Kragthorpe inherited a team fresh off winning the Big East and Orange Bowl. And he’s promptly lost 13 of 24 games with it. This could be it for Kragthorpe if the Cardinals crumble AGAIN [my capitalization].”
Hardly a ringing endorsement for his work here is it? Let’s support the players and cheer loudly at the games. But until this coach shows me something positive my opinion of him will rank with that of Ron Cooper. No, actually below that because we have fallen from a greater height. Not one that any reasonable person would expect on anything close to an annual basis but one that should at least be a goal that is within dreaming distance. At this point a .500 record seems to be a lofty goal instead.
Everybody agrees with you cbcard and we don’t wear blinders, but the piling on is a little excessive. We all want U of L to do well, no matter who the coach may be.
Charlie, I don’t know who I want the coach to be but I certainly know whom I don’t what it to be.
There is a serious trend here and it is downward. Sure recruiting gurus make mistakes but Kragthorpe’s first class was ranked in the 40′s and 50′s. His second in the 60′s and his third in the 70′s. That’s a trend. Note the two high school commitments we got last week. For one player we outrecruited the mighty powers Akron and Central Michigan. For the other player we outrecruited “hearing from” UC and Ball State. We were his only offer! In fairness one or both could turn out to be good players but the odds aren’t stacked that way.
You can argue the chicken and the egg theory here. Could it be the recruiting is weak because of “piling on” by fans? Sure. But I have to think the recruiting is weak because of Kragthorpe and his ever changing staff. And that is why the “piling on.”
I started going to UofL games in the 50′s with my father and have gone to countless games since, both home and away. I am a UofL fan and will always be. I believe Tom Jurich to be one of, it not the best AD’s around. But no one is perfect and Kragthorpe is TJ’s achilles heel.
No whining about Kragthorpe here. I long ago came to an opinion about him and the University and stick by it. To whine about our demise over the last two years, the gaps in player personnel at certain positions and other off seaason woes could all vanish if he manages to turn it around. Jurich is giving him the chance to do so. Accept it, support it or just go away and come back when the team is better. Just realize it for what it is. The university isn’t cancelling football, folks, because a few of you are upset.
So rumblings from fans, low attendance, and loss of support don’t force an AD to make a head coaching change? Not sure about that.
I would also like to clarify that I am in my late 20′s, a UofL Grad, I grew up just outside the fair grounds, played pick up football with all the neighborhood kids and UofL quaterbacks Marty Lowe and can’t remember the other guys name were are all time QB’s on multiple occassions. I have not and never will boo, I will say that as an avid fan of UofL and college football I have not witnessed a quicker demise of a football program in the last 10 years.
I know dozens of hardcore fans, many of which whom are mid to late 20′s to 30′s. Not one of them thinks Kragthorpe can get it done. Not one out dozens of fans that I know are happy. I know multiple season ticket holders who have seen prices go up in the last few years and kept quite, but the product is now subpar, ok its down right bad. You let me know if you would continue to pump money into lets say your car insurance company if they stopped covering you 20% of the time? Exactly I am a fan, will still go to a majority of the home games, but I am not paying what turns out to be around $70.00 a game with season tickets, no sir not me, I’ll walk up to the stadium and purchase a ticket from joe shmoe for $5.00. I by 2-3 UofL t-shirts every year, donate $$$ as an alumn, but I am done giving money to this football program until things are fixed. The problem is and has been Kragthorpe, out of all the players and coaches that have come and gone in his tenure the only consistent thing is him and losses. This won’t change until the man is let go. Don’t feel bad for a guy doing a terrible job making a mill plus. If I don’t do my job well I would get fired and expect to, and I make a fraction of that. This is life, and the truth hurts some people, kragthorpe is not getting it done here, and thus should be shown the door after this season.
Thanks for your support through the years. You and all of the people who have been critical will more than likely get their wish. Meanwhile, pull for Louisville wins.
I will continue to root for UofL, just like I did last year, and the many years before. This is not an old, or young thing, I remember the lean times, the drubbing Tenn. put on us, or the FSU’s of the world beating UofL by 30+. But now its Rutgers who isn’t ranked beating us by 50+. I just can’t stay silent, I can’t sit back and watch what took so long to build, be destroyed by a coach speak, in over his head, over paid, nice guy. The same type of person who says I can’t say anything bad about the University is the same a-hole who says if I talk about this country being run poorly then it means I’m not patriotic. I am a fan (fanatic) and I tailgate and scream loudly, I stand up during games, I am the reason why kids get excited about football. Not some old foogey who sits the entire time, bitches about you standing up, and about parking spots because they don’t arrive until 10 minutes before the game.
What I am seeing here is the “younger” fans are the ones not willing to acknowledge that sometimes things go bad…for whatever reasons…. instant gratification is a trait that younger individuals seem to have that we that are a little more “experienced” I’ll say, have grown to understand isn’t available all the time…. we still like it just dont expect it all the time….
Hang in there and we will either see that TJ is correct or he will fix it…To dump your season tickets after merely 2 down yrs shows you havent been around very long…. hell, if I dumped mine after every 2 year down cycle I wouldn’t have had them for the 32 yrs I have or be in top 15 % in points…. patience and trust are keys to victory………..
If you think it is only the “younger fans” against Kragthorpe read my above comment to Charlie. I figure watching UofL football for over 50 years certainly leaves me out of any “younger” catagory. And to broaden my reply I am not aware of a single UofL fan and friend my age who supports Kragthorpe. Even with creeping senility we remember we are not impressed.
I am a UofL fan your age who supports Kragthorpe, cbcard.
I support him because he is, for now, the leader of the team.
If Tom Jurich decides to can him, I won’t complain, as I might if he had won more.
But for now he’s the guy.
If you must complain, I would recommend that you do so in private letters to the University administration and to prominent alumni who have TJ’s ear.
Bitching and moaning in public, however, probably is counterproductive. TJ won’t fire Kragthorpe because of it. And it almost certainly hurts recruiting.
I think Kragthorpe inherited a mess, and he and TJ are too honorable to go public with just how screwed up it was. They are trying to fix it, and more than one national reporter thinks he has cleaned up quite a mess. He may fail, but he deserves at least one more year, and we should support him with all we have until TJ gives the word that he’s making a change.
We need a united front here. Potential recruits and freshman players need to know they are not entering a bad situation.
I respectfully disagree. And I have privately voiced my concerns to the athletic department. I will continue to go to the games and cheer but my expectations get lower every year. And I think the hole we are digging is getting deeper. And several ex-players and one ex-staff member that I have talked to feel even more strongly than I.
I don’t care who the coach is, I’m going to pull for Louisville and not against the people in the current program. All this bullcrapping isn’t going to change a thing. The commmitments have been made and nothing is going to change until the end of the season. Cut the crap and get behind the program.
Stop freakin’ whining about fans “whining” about (better termed as criticizing) CSK. Eventually the “whining” will lead to CSK being ex-CSK. If the “whining” gets him out even one year earlier then that is one year sooner that we can try to get back on track. To make ridiculous statements like fan discontent does not influence decisions on coaching is absolutely ludicrous…just ask Auburn fans – their “whining” was led to Tubberville getting fired and he actually had a decent record.
Thanks for checking in…”Post Csk-Era” I hope that you’ll continue to support all UofL sports. Personally, I have to let you know that whatever Auburn fans do or don’t do make not a farthing of differnece to me, but thanks for sharing your insightful information on them.
Love the players, love the game.
I hope you feel better about bashing my post. Given Auburn’s history of trying to grab any coach for the football program (Petrino?) do you really think the fans led to Tuberville’s departure? I think that the Auburn fans out there, for the most part..have to wonder just how forthright their athletic administration really is…
The players all respected and wanted Ron English to be the head coach. Now Ron English is a respected coach, by many, who has proved his worth by copaching some of the best defenses in the country. I saw with my own eyes English and Kragthorpe get into it on more than one occassion. Why did English leave and go to a program that is considered a death trap? We know why, we know why the new coaches havn’t bothered buying a house, we know why Kragthorpe continues to go through coaches like musical chairs.
ULKNUD– sure glad you know all the facts.. wish I was n the know as well… because i would have figured English left to become a head coach for his first time… isnt that an advancement?? am sure he wouldnt have become a head coach if he and krags were buds…. would have stayed a coordinator the rest of his life…NOT!!!
as for auburn fans getting tubby fired, he was not fired, he resigned… that is the fact of the matter… sure, the administration wasnt thrilled with last season but neither was tubby… he just plain grew tired of wonderin g yr to yr what was coming next… AU athletics is run by a very few big $ boosters so for fans to even imagine that they have a say in anything is totally ridiculous at best… while UL program is not run by such a few boosters do we as bottom line fans think what we write here really has an effect on what happens?? Keep dreaming that……..
No smallredman here are the facts, Krapthorpe is supposed to be an offense coach correct? Last year UofL went scoreless in 20 out 48 possible quarters. In three games UofL couldn’t manage a single point in the 1st half. I know for a fact Petrino never went scorless for a half, and not scoring in a quarter he probably did that fewer then 10 times in his 4 years. Out of the 12 games last year, UofL only scored 1st 3 times! Your first two drives are usually your scripted and most effective, but not for Krapthorpe. In only 4 out of 12 games did UofL have more total yards than their opponent. In two seasons under Krapthorpe UofL has won a whopping 3 road games, while losing twice that at home. These are facts, nothing else, just facts, so lets here your rebuttal to actual facts on the scam artist who is CSK?
The “facts” i referred to were the why English left UL and what is going on with the other coaches… they wont buy a house here and the rest…. the revolving door on asst coaches has as much to do with other , and in their eys, better opportunities and advancement as it does with what is going on at UL.. English left to become a head coach and took a friend with him..that happens everywhere…. only asst I see who was “let go” by coach was Brohm and I am one that agreed with it… who was responsible for the “scoreless periods” last year?? Head coach or off coordinator?? blame goes to the top I realize but was it ALL him?? WE DO NOT KNOW AND NEVER WILL….we have no idea why coach kept the assts that he did at start…might have been his plan, might have been TJ’s urging, or might have been continuity.. well, it did not work and he has made the changes now that he probably should have made first year…. will they work out?? Hell, I have no idea BUT i am willing to give it a shot… My thoughts are simple… get behind the program and its coaches and players until such time as a change is made… I have NO say in the change so although I might bitch to my friends while having a drink I will not go even on a forum like this and bash anyone…. just my way of thnking …and you have yours….
Today’s The Sporting News has Louisiana Tech ranked two spots higher than UofL. I guess Terry Bradshaw must have a year of elibility left. Or perhaps Karl Malone will suit up at tight end.
Great post Sonja.
Give em’ hell girl!
These tools that are bashing the football program from Jurich on down to the players even, are driving me nuts.
I promise firsthand that we have lost SEVERAL recruits by them and their families reading CRYTV and other Pro-bashing sites.
Would you send your son here with all this going on?
We all know Krag has fallen short of our anticipated glory to put it mildly, but how many times do fans have to say it over, and over, and over, and over again.
People hate Krag. We got it already.
Just don’t try to piss on our campfire, and ruin our online experience with telling us 10,000,000 times how bad Krag is.
We heard you already.