CharlieFU and his State of the Season Address

[CharlieFU]

This team has maybe the best starting 5 I have seen at Furman in many many years. They are well coached. They are good. They ought to continue to get better over the next 6 weeks. They are certainly capable of winning the SoCon tourney and winning a game in the NCAA. If they end up in the NIT, they could make a run deep into that tournament.

I did not say we are perfect; we have our limitations. But we have what people have wanted--a team who can compete consistently at top level of SoCon. No, we have not been to NCAA in over 40 years, but for the last 6 seasons we have had the capability of doing so. I do not have purple colored glasses when it comes to this. Just what I see on the floor and in the program.

I am absolutely all for an active message board, with civil debate and discourse about Furman athletics. And I uphold anyone's right to state their opinion, including criticism in whatever area. BUT I abhor NEGATIVITY. And this board is drenched in it. Soaked. I have tried to avoid such but I am certain I have been guilty of it. I have been occasionally driven away by it, but always return.

I first put this in the VMI game thread, but then thought better of it and gave it a separate spot.

[apaladin]

Charlie, some good points but I have to disagree on a few things. Some times people pointing out how someone is playing, how the game is going how bad the refs are could just be a fact and some people might take that as being negative but I don’t and just consider part of the conversation. Agree about the starting five but we need all 5 to at least contribute every game. If a starter has a really bad game someone needs to take up the slack, like the ETSU game when Gurley went scoreless but Mounce and Bothwell were able to compensate. Against VMI Mounce had a bad game and we were not able to compensate enough. Every one of us on here want FU to win in the worst way and when things don’t go our way we tend to be upset, negative etc(Im one of the worst)which is really natural. We have become somewhat spoiled the last few years and what a change it has been. Its like a rich person wanting more, we want more now that we have had some success. Can’t blame anyone for that. Love you, mean it! Go ‘dins!!!

[Fork457]

Charlie, some good points but I have to disagree on a few things. Some times people pointing out how someone is playing, how the game is going how bad the refs are could just be a fact and some people might take that as being negative but I don’t and just consider part of the conversation. Agree about the starting five but we need all 5 to at least contribute every game. If a starter has a really bad game someone needs to take up the slack, like the ETSU game when Gurley went scoreless but Mounce and Bothwell were able to compensate. Against VMI Mounce had a bad game and we were not able to compensate enough. Every one of us on here want FU to win in the worst way and when things don’t go our way we tend to be upset, negative etc(Im one of the worst)which is really natural. We have become somewhat spoiled the last few years and what a change it has been. Its like a rich person wanting more, we want more now that we have had some success. Can’t blame anyone for that. Love you, mean it! Go ‘dins!!!

I don’t think anyone has a problem with criticizing our play/certain aspects of the game/the refs from time to time. I think his point if I am correct is the overall and general negativity. Honestly the way a lot of these threads look you would think this is a group of people who hate Furman and are hoping they lose and are looking for any possible thing they can criticize. I mentioned this in another thread but when we lose a close game people say we deserved to lose and when we win a close game people also say we also deserved to lose because there was one aspect of the game where we weren’t perfect. I mean good lord we’ve been in the top 10 in EFG% for almost the whole season and people find away to criticize our shooting because sometimes we don’t shoot the ball well. The VMI thread made me very angry because it frankly seemed like a thread full of haters. The snap hot takes after 1 loss like “we’re just not that good this year” and “we’re not gonna have any chance to win the tournament” “well be lucky to finish in the top four” are simply ridiculous and bring nothing but negative energy. Who knows maybe one of the players reads one of those threads and thinks they have no support because they dropped ONE conference game. I 100% agree I think our defense needs to improve by March. That doesn’t mean I’m going to bash our team to death when we have a bad defensive game because I believe in this program and coach Richey and if you’ve been watching the last four years you should too.

[Paul C]

I have, and will continue to, savor every moment of this current run.

As someone who started passionately following FU basketball in 1985 (Butch's first year) I've spent 30 years waiting for this, and the occasional hiccup isn't gonna discourage me....

[Affirm]

Some negativity from me has been as pushback against or reaction towards
... ... ... ... reading praises and excessive optimism when the competitive results and performances on the court or field (or in recruitment or attendance or atmosphere or scheduling or publicity/PR/public notice or facilities or staffing) may seemingly be mediocre and below,
... or reading comments saying essentially “don’t fret the potential is there and is going to be realized soon and continuously”
... or reading comments defining results and situations as greater than they are in comparison to competitors.
So, I will continue to work on having the attitude of “good enough” ... whether I see results and situations that may actually not be objectively good, ... or whether I see results that are (occasionally) good and even great.
It is hard to do, but I will say it: losing to VMI was good enough, go Furman; losing to the 2 “big” names this year (Cincinnati, Alabama) was good enough, go Furman.
Losing to Wofford is good enough any time, go Furman.
... It’s just athletics.
... No big deal.
... Good enough.
... Good enough is good enough and always will be.
... (And If EVERYONE would have this attitude, we could go ahead and move to Division 3, probably save a lot of money, and still provide athletic opportunities for students.)

[FurmAlum]

Well said Charlie, I agree.

I don't usually make overly negative comments but the other night I made one or two. My emotions got the best of me.

I played basketball in high school, and was not a star player, but I did play. I paid absolutely no attention to anything any of the fans said or did. The focus was always on the game and what the coach was telling us. In between games I also paid no attention to any criticism from anybody other than the coach.

I think that would be good advice to the current Furman players.

[Furmanoid]

I would certainly hope that the players are far more negative about losing to VMI than any of us were. I’m confident that they find the idea of losing to VMI repugnant. I don’t get how it is “negative” to think you should kill VMI, but “positive” to think giving them a good game is all you should expect. To me that is defeatism. That’s how you go 40 years without winning the weak ass SoCon tournament. I started following Furman basketball fervently on the radio in 1970. We can do better! Now is the time . No more losses. Go Paladins!

[Sad Din]

If passionate about something and not going as well as expected its natural to criticize. Otherwise we turn into "well it was a great effort", "poor so and so he just had a bad nite" "better luck next time"... Who wants that? Its not life and it aint real.

As long as its not personal or hurtful, criticism is part of life. How else you gonna get better? Just a humble opinion

[purplehorse]

Folks are wired differently and most are not going to change in a big way what they post. I would think most FU players pay very little attention to what is on here. The best model I have seen for keeping a positive attitude but yet stating reality about the game is CBR. The negativity on here pales compared to what I have seen related to politics, the media, and politicians over the last year. Folks tend to be way too sensitive and take themselves way too seriously. One man’s opinion.

This team can beat anybody on the rest of our schedule on a given night. Have a bad game and we can lose to anybody. With all the extra uncertainty this season I never expected us to go undefeated. We have not played our best basketball yet.

[CharlieFU]

Some good discussion here. I was reacting in part to the VMI game thread. I’m good with criticism. I think maybe I was seeing an overreaction to one game? I don’t know.

This message board is just like the real world. Some people are naturally more positive and some more negative. I guess I was trying for a better balance between the two.

[CharlieFU]

And if anyone thinks I don’t want and expect more, then I guess things get lost in translation. And nobody is more pissed when we lose a game like Alabama. It was a long ride home. It’s a lot easier to accept a loss when we play well than when we don’t play like I know we can.

Now look for Mr and Mrs CharlieFU, along with the Flags, on TV this afternoon!

[Fork457]

Some negativity from me has been as pushback against or reaction towards
... ... ... ... reading praises and excessive optimism when the competitive results and performances on the court or field (or in recruitment or attendance or atmosphere or scheduling or publicity/PR/public notice or facilities or staffing) may seemingly be mediocre and below,
... or reading comments saying essentially “don’t fret the potential is there and is going to be realized soon and continuously”
... or reading comments defining results and situations as greater than they are in comparison to competitors.
So, I will continue to work on having the attitude of “good enough” ... whether I see results and situations that may actually not be objectively good, ... or whether I see results that are (occasionally) good and even great.
It is hard to do, but I will say it: losing to VMI was good enough, go Furman; losing to the 2 “big” names this year (Cincinnati, Alabama) was good enough, go Furman.
Losing to Wofford is good enough any time, go Furman.
... It’s just athletics.
... No big deal.
... Good enough.
... Good enough is good enough and always will be.
... (And If EVERYONE would have this attitude, we could go ahead and move to Division 3, probably save a lot of money, and still provide athletic opportunities for students.)

Dude who ever said anything about “goor enough”. Saying that we shouldn’t give up on the season because we lost ONE conference game is not even close to accepting “good enough”. The point is that people aren’t fair with their criticisms on here. To be honest I think a lot of people on here have been following the program for so long they just expect bad things to happen and look for negative things to talk about. A lot of you are always going to look at the season In the most negative way you possibly can. I don’t remember who but I specifically remember after the Wofford Loss in the regular season people saying we’d be lucky to finish in the top four. Learn how to be critical but fair and objective. We probably weren’t going to run the table in the conference and if you’re being honest if we lost to a good team(Wofford, ETSU, UNCG) you would be saying “we can beat the bad teams but same old Furman losing when we play anyone good.” If you read this website and you’re being honest you know that’s 100% true. We have an incredible system/team/coach. Does that mean we always play well and win games we should? No. We need to guard the ball better/be active without fouling/be better on the boards/close games Better/shoot with better consistency/ establish our depth to get the results we all want. Does that sound like someone who’s okay with being good enough? I’m just so tired of the long repetitive tangents because we lose a conference game

[Sad Din]

yea, gotta keep in mind that most of the folks that post on fan forums are pretty ignorant (from a coaching sports point of view) and have nothing to lose speaking their minds or opinions. We sometimes think that the world is watching and that they actually pay attention to our posts. Actually nobody cares or pays attention except the few hundred folks if that , that read this stuff.

If you dont like what's being posted, no need to read.... its just sports dude... Patriot fans have won how may Superbowls? and when they lose a game they blast everything. Its just the way it is

With that said, as long as a post is not hurtful, personal, vindictive or generally out of bounds of anything any reasonable person should take, it should be good.

There are some folks you say "Good morning" to and if you didnt say it the way they wanted to take offense. You just dont know what is negative or not

But the bottom line is this.. its all for sports entertainment and frankly no one cares. If they do care, then they dont understand how meaningless most if this stuff is

My 2 cents...

[Davemeister]

My 2 cents . . .

Losing to Wofford sucks. Always has, always will. Let's don't do it anymore.

[CharlieFU]

I care.