Been away a while

Honestly, I just couldn't write about this team as much as I was earlier in the season. It is too depressing. What can I say about them? They come out in and play better against Georgia. In typical Croom fashion they don't show up at all the next week against Kentucky. Croom will never be successful as a collegiate head coach. He doesn't do a single thing well - team preparation, gameplanning, motivation, game management, clock management, in-game adjustments, timeouts, none of that.

We still hear the same excuses. The program was in bad shape. No argument here, but 3 years is plenty of time to get a team together that can beat Kentucky and Tulane at home. Croom is learning. I'll say, according to the results, Croom hasn't learned a thing since he took over. He is building with character. We just had yet another player get arrested (the 10th I believe) and Croom kicked him off. We play in a tough conference. We lost to Tulane and Kentucky - next. Bottom line - there is no excuse for this. This is the worst football program ever. The crowd at the Kentucky game was the worst I have seen, even surpassing the lower crowds in 2003. The fans are tired of it. They are tired of losing. They are tired of Croom blowing winnable games. They are tired of excuses and bullcrap.

Someone has to step up and call Croom to the mat here. Someone has to tell Croom to get it done or get out. Some changes need to be made because ticket sales are going to drop significantly next year. Count me in the group that will not renew my tickets nor give to the BC with Croom and Templeton still firmly in place. I cannot justify giving so much money to them while trying to buy a house and get settled in my life to drive to Starkville and watch that crap. Put something on the field I can believe in and I will attend. As soon as MState gets serious about winning I will gladly give them my money. Until then I support only one coach - Rick Stansbury. He is the only one on campus that is doing his job and that is truly committed 100% to winning no matter what.

MState 35 - JSU 3

Congrats Sly Croom, you won't have to resign Monday morning. Congrats Dawgs, I'm glad you won the game because that is probably the last one you will win this season. 0 offensive points in the first half. Less than 100 yards in the first half. Henig was 6-15 passing. Jacksonville State is a Division 1-AA team! What the crap Croom? What gives? This is a freaking Division 1-AA team for goodness sake!

Thankfully for the Dawgs Derek Pegues was on the roster. On the first play from scrimmage JSU's runt quarterback threw a gift-wrapped pick-6 to Pegues. In the second quarter Pegues shredded JSU's pitiful punt coverage unit to give State a 14-3 lead. At the half that was the score, 14-3. Let me write that again, 14-3. State's offense did nothing, nothing. We followed Croom's instructions and held, and held, and held some more. Croom was on the sidelines shaking his head after a touchdown got called back because of holding. Guess what wearer of a crooked hat, you told them in the paper that it was ok to hold. I hope you are happy.

JSU's coach may be dumber than ours. He actually thought they could run right at MState. You idiot, that is the strength of our defense. We have no secondary, if you want to be successful throw on us. Croom, you better hope you play against teams with similar idiocy in the head coaching slot. Thank you Deljuan for working hard to come back from your injury and anchor a solid effort up front. As for the aforementioned pitiful secondary, ya'll suck. You almost gave up a long pass play to JSU. You gave up a lot of yards to them through the air. I hope ya'll are ready for the stretch run because teams like Kentucky are going to air it out on ya'll all day long.

We scored 21 in the second half offensively. Better, but still unsatisfactory. With the way JSU played it should have been 35-0 at the half at least, and MState should have been sending in the reserves quite early. The offensive performance was pitiful, no progress made at all. Henig, you suck buddy. Croom, if you think Henig is a good quarterback you, sir, are the blind one. Georgia, kiss your offensive problems goodbye. Just simply run a receiver deep, throw it to him, and watch an easy touchdown. It's going to be an ugly day for the good ole MState offense in Athens. The next week Kentucky gets to have fun with our secondary. The week after we play a Bama team in Bryant Denny that will also expose our secondary. Arkansas has owned us. Ole Miss looks better than they have in a long while. 2-10 here we come.

LSU 48 - MState 17

Holy crap, what can I say about this game. I knew LSU was going to kick our butts in major fashion, but once again this team continues to undercut my already low expectations. 35 first half points. Thirty friggin five. The only time we stopped LSU's offense was on a late second quarter interception, which we did nothing with. Meanwhile State mustered 3 first half points, and that after Croom decided to kick a freaking field goal down 35. Had I been near the man I would have strangled him.

This was aking to Oregon 2003. We came out completely unprepared and lacking motivation again. This sucks, this sucks bad. I'm tired of this crap Croom, get it together and try to coach. These players and fans deserve better. Les Miles pulled his familiar foot off the gas procudure in the second half. First he puts in Alley Broussard on the first drive and proceeds to run up the gut. Then he puts in backup quarterback Flynn, who promptly threw an interception returned for a touchdown. Thanks Miles, we couldn't have done it without you. Then we finally, again, let Conner be himself late in the game and scored on a long pass to Burks on LSU's waterboy. Once again, thanks Miles.

Now the sheep are talking about our team not quitting and scoring points and how we made progress. What game were they watching? We could not, I repeat could not stop LSU until they took their foot off the gas. Even then we gave up 2 touchdowns. This is sad, really sad. We were not even light scrimmage for the Tigahs. I don't expect to beat them, but for goodness sake make them try hard to beat us. Jamarcus Russell looked all world out there, Jamarcus freaking Russell! This wasn't Brady Quinn. This wasn't Danny Wuerrfell. This wasn't even Rohan Davey, this was freaking Jamarcus Russell. Our secondary is crap, crap I tell ya.

The coaching of this team continues to amaze me. Croom said the only way to beat LSU is to come out and go head to head. What planet are you from Croom? You cannot go head to head with a team vastly more talented than you. Next up is a butt whooping from West Virginia. Pay attention Croom, you will see real coaching on saturday.

MState 16 - UAB 10

Well, MState will not go 0-12 and it is highly unlikely we will go 1-11 either. This was the worst we have played in a victory since the Troy State game in 2002 probably. Neither team really wanted this one with the way they were playing. The coaching on both sidelines was horrible. I'm happy for our players to get a win, but I'm not pleased with the play of this team again. We should have lost this game and would have lost if it was just about any other team.

I've held of posting for a couple of days to see if I cooled down and felt better about our win over UAB. I don't. I listened to the game Saturday night and kept wondering how UAB wasn't blowing us out. I kept thinking that they should be handling us easily. Fortunately for us they played like complete garbage. I watched the replay last night on CSS and feel no better after seeing it.

Why, oh why can't Croom and company realize their best chance is to allow Omarr to use his athletic ability? Anytime we did that we were successful, but yet we kept going away from it. We have the dumbest coaching staff around without a doubt. Props to Omarr for overcoming the poor coaching and taking it in for the win in that first overtime. I appreciate your effort. Is there any way you can tell the coaches to take their offensive system and shove it and just allow you to do your thing? If so please do for the sake of all of us.

What ticks me off is the fan response. So many are now ok with Croom. What? We beat a crappy team in overtime and suddenly everything is ok? It's not ok with me. We did not show a bit of improvement. If anything this game showed me that Croom's offensive system will not work and that he is wrong in not changing anything. It wasn't Croom's plays that got us yards Saturday night, it was Omarr's improvisation after the play broke down. Set up an offense that takes advantage of that type of play from the QB and sign an athletic QB this year and I guarantee you we would win more games and be more competitive. Bottom line is 1-3 doesn't cut it. We should be no less than 2-2. After the craptastic coaching job Croom and company did Saturday night we really should be 0-4 but we were fortunate Watson Brown did an equally crappy job coaching his team. Next week it's back to reality as LSU skulldrags us all over Tiger Stadium.

Thanks Foglesong

Thanks for giving Croom the old vote of confidence. The big question on the minds of a lot of MState fans is will that be the dreaded vote of confidence that most other schools issue or does he really mean it? I really don't know. A lot of people are pinning their hopes on Doc to clean out the Bryan Building, but I just don't know if it will happen or not.

One thing is for sure, he is noticing the emails he is getting. Marshall Ramsey of the Clarion Ledger referred to it as a "buttload of emails". Keep 'em coming folks, the only way to let the new president know how you feel is to tell him. Will he actually heed the messages sent by numerous fans, season ticket holders, and members of the bulldog club? That remains to be seen. But, that should not deter us from sending them.

If Doc wants MSU to reach its potential he is going to have to kick one Larry Templeton to the curb. That man is the biggest thing holding back MState athletics right now. How he has survived not only this past 5 years of football but also the past 5 years of baseball's slide into mediocrity and the entire department's outright failure in the 2005-2006 year is a testament to the lowered expectations and excuse making ability of the MState fanbase. Wake up people, at any other SEC school, including Vandy, this clown would be gone. Instead the fanbase is mostly unaware that he is incompetent. Hello, he is the boss of the athletic department and when it fails, he is responsible, just as if he were the CEO of a corporation.

The lowered expectations and lack of accountability of MState fans saddens me to no end. Where did this come from? Does noone remember the 90's in football? We were good with less to work with. We didn't have skyboxes or 55K tickets to sale. We didn't have an IPF or a brand new weightroom. Yet we competed and we can do again. Do no listen to the woe is MState line of thought, it is a trap to get you to lower your expectations. Demand better. I'm not talking about national titles, I'm talking about a program that competes that we can be proud of. How about baseball, which has been on a steady decline since Ron Polk was rehired by Templeton in one of his dumber moves. Polk spits out lame excuse after lame excuse while the fanbase eats them up and proclaims "he build MSU and SEC baseball". Let me make a proclamation of my own: "MSU baseball is now an afterthought, even in our own state". We can still host regionals, super regionals, make the college world series and compete for the SEC title. We do not have to settle for 9th place in the conference. Men's basketball is the only program I am pleased with. Stansbury has done above and beyond what his boss told him he expected when Rick was hired. Thank you Rick for not settling for what Templeton considers successful. We made the NCAA 4 consecutive years, won an SEC regular season title, an SEC tournament title, and 2 SEC Western Division titles. We should expect this type of thing now.

Stop expecting us to lose and then acting like we've done something great if we give effort. Effort should be a given. Wins should be expected. Legitimately competing in this conference should be expected and anything less should be rejected as failure. We can do better than we have lately, we just have to demand it.

Tulane 32 - MState 29

Wow, what can I say about this game? It sucked? No, not harsh enough. It was embarassing? No, that still doesn't accurately describe it. It was an abomination to SEC football, that's what it was. I was literally ashamed of the maroon shirt and cap I wore Saturday night. That was the worst performance I have ever seen from State without a doubt. That Tulane team was bad. If you didn't see them in person let me break it down for you - their defense was bad, their offense was bad, and their special teams bad ours look all-world by comparison.

In this game we had every advantage. We were at home, they had no fans show up, and let's not forget he effects of Hurricane Katrina. Then we get to the first half where we had field position the entire half. We had the ball at, just short, or beyond the 50 yard line the whole half, yet mustered only 7 points. Tulane cornerbacks were 10 yards off our receivers all night yet we still tried to go deep on them. Our staff was either too stupid to run 5 and outs on them on first and second down or just too damn stubborn to do it Croom's way - that entails running with power (ha!), using mid to deep passing routes, and completely ignoring the TE and RBs out of the backfield. We ran 5 and outs on 3rd and long and it worked, only it netted 5-6 yards and left us short of the sticks.

The worst part about this game was how flat the team came out. There is a pattern here you know - we came out just as flat last year against Houston and Kentucky, both very winnable games. The year before it was Maine, UAB, and Vandy. This year it's Tulane so far, hopefully Jacksonville State will not be added to this list, although it would not surprise me. With all the flack Croom caught last week and the controversial blast at the fans, I am still a little shocked at the mood of the team. Geez, at least Jackie could circle the wagons and get his team ready to play teh weaker teams on the sched. Croom has no clue what he is doing, none. He has no clue how to motivate the team. He said as much in his press conference. He said it is a total mystery to him why we came out that flat. He said he told the players they have to fight for it. Earth to Croom: this isn't the 1970's. You cannot just tell these players they have to fight for it, you have to motivate them to win. You have to find something to get them into the game. That is part of your job as a coach. Tons of other coaches do it every weekend around the nation. Unfortunately you cannot.

Croom has no clue what he is doing people. He is a good man and wants to win, but he doesn't understand what it takes. That should be obvious to all. He got severely outcoached by Tulane's staff. He is in way over his head. I told somebody at the game this and I will now repeat it - that man will get fired before he will change anything. That is just stupid. Saying you will never fire a coach is stupid, saying you won't change the offense or how you call it is stupid, and blaming anyone other than the staff for this crap is stupid. Croom needs to resign. I would if for nothing else out of shame.

About the 4th quarter points, as far as I'm concerned they don't count. Tulane's 119th ranked defense let up in the fourth and that's when we started scoring. That's the only reason we started scoring. When it really counted and Tulane truly cared the score was 32-7. That's pathetic. Conner is not the answer, we learned that last year. Croom's "offense" will not get it done. This team has a chance at one more game this season - Jax State. Beyond that, we aren't going to come close to winning a game. This team will either be JState and 11 or winless. I'm as loyal as you'll find, I love MState, I give to the BC and have season tickets and I show up to the games and stay the whole time the vast majority of the time. I'll say this right now - if Croom is still coaching us next year, I'm not buying tickets. I'm not paying my hard earned money to watch that crap another year. I sat through the entire 2003 season and was never this mad or felt this helpless concerning our program. We haven't been this bad in a long, long time.

PS: To those cheering at the game when they called out the OM score, we were getting skull drug by Tulane 32-7 at the time. Does OM losing make you happy? Does the fact that they were at least competitive against SEC competition on the road make you happy? It does not me. It doesn't change the outcome of our game, it doesn't make MState better if OM loses, and it doesn't erase my anger at our team's performance. OM is going to take the Golden Egg home this year. They are bad, but they are not nearly as bad as us.

Well, the race card has been played

The first one to throw it into the fray is none other than Sid Salter. That came as quite a shock to this MState fan and reader of the Clarion Ledger. I must admit to being very upset when reading his garbage. I have come to expect better from such an excellent journalist. I have enjoyed reading his material in the past, but this time he has stepped into the picture without knowing of what he speaks. Go read his blog to see of what I speak. Here is my comment to him:

"Nice job playing the race card Sid. I knew it would eventually come out, but I did not expect one as intelligent and insightful as yourself to be the first to blatantly use it. Sid, you were there attacking the secrecy of the last presidential search. You are too good of a journalist to put something like this out. You should be ashamed of yourself.

I'll tell you why MSU fans are upset at Sly Croom - the number 0. That's how many points State's offense has scored this year. I'll give you 2 more numbers - 1 and 6. The first is the number of snaps taken inside the redzone this year and the latter is the number of snaps on our opponents side of the 50 yard line.

Most of all this is why people are grumbling at Croom - it is obvious to everyone that a change is needed yet he states "I'm not changing anything." We have gotten progressively worse overall as a team. Yes, the defense has improved, but he offense is dead last in the nation. With this offense we will win maybe 2 games this year.

Consider this, our defense is largely dependant on our front 7. Next year we lost key seniors to that front 7. Without the ability to stop the run as well, and with our offense still struggling without any changes from Croom, we will actually be worse than we are now.

I was behind Croom when he was hired. I didn't care that he was black - he was a well spoken man of integrity and character. He talked a great game. The second half of his first season showed great promise, but last season and the first two games of this season have erased that. I love MSU. I want MSU to be successful. Nothing would make me happier than Sly Croom leading us to victory, but it isn't going to happen.

I guess this is what we get for hiring the first African American coach in the SEC - the race card thrown our direction. Accusations of racism directed towards fans. We now know why other institutions didn't hire an AA coach before we did. Actions like this will not make others want to hire one either. Even with all the evidence in the world of failure and incompentency the fans still get accused of racism for wanting something better than 3 wins and an offense that is dead last in the nation."

I just don't know what else to say. That last paragraph is what is staying with me the most. That just came pouring out of me but it seems, looking back now, like 100% truth. Nobody else wants to hire an African American coach because of the race card, accusations of racism, and the negative press. The media is the worst enemy in this case of themselves - they want more AA coaches hired yet they blindly attack any institution which they think didn't give "enough time" to build a program. Notre Dame faced it down, but they weren't located in Mississippi, where our history still haunts us and the race card is extremely powerful to this day. That a fan of MState and a resident Mississippian would throw the first one out there is almost unthinkable. It wasn't ESPN, it was a newspaper journalist (not a sports writer) from our own capital city. Shame on your Sid Salter, shame on you. I think it's safe to say that Sid is a member of the sheep portion of our fanbase. Go back to Gene's board with that crap, Sid.