Garrett Gilbert Plays For Texas

Well said. Yet another reason why I’ve been converted to this site over the others. Thank you.

That needed to be said. Thanks, Scip. Anyone who feels the need to boo these kids, or take personal shots at them (no matter whether it’s on anonymous message boards, or on radio call in shows, or in the stadium) can go fuck themselves…

I don’t think you should ever boo college athletes. There are very few people in the works I can sit and watch an Aggie game with b/c I don’t like people being overly negative about my team and it’s players. All that said, 90 percent of the Tx fans out there did not want Gilbert to start this year and felt he got the starting job handed to him by Mack Brown. If you are paying thousands of dollars in donations for the right to purchase your tickets, and the coach is trotting out a QB who obviously doesnt give your team the best chance to win then you should be frustrated. I’m not saying you should boo, (Chris Rock voice) but I understand. Sometimes the frustration builds up to the point where you just gotta let it out. If someone had given me rotten vegetables when Fran and Torbush were on the field I would have been tossed out of the stadium for throwing stuff at the coaches. I don’t think anyone is expecting perfection, they just want a solid product. Mack was depriving them of that by starting Gilbert so they booed.

Thank you for writing this. The number of fans who fill themselves with hate for players who SUIT UP FOR US is truly astonishing. Sadly, hearing “Chrissy Simms” or “Chris Simms sucked” has become my personal litmus test as to whether I can have an intelligent conversation about football with a fellow Longhorn. Anyone that tries to justify booing Garrett Gilbert will now fall under that umbrella as well.

I’ve yelled at a ref before, but I’ve never booed, not even a bad call.

It’s not like anybody ever told me not to… My dad booed all the time. It’s just… he looked stupid doing it, so I decided I never wanted to be “that guy”. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of times he didn’t look stupid. That only added to the contrast, though — you can go from witty and urbane one minute, to trollish and soggy-headed in a heartbeat with one simple action.

And the biggest reason it looks stupid? It’s a mob word. Mobs are for Aggies, not for for those of us who attended an institution of higher learning.

No boos.

And if Gilbert transfers to a DII school next year, we should all cheer heartily when the score scrolls across the screen, and he has broken a zillion records for some one-read offense on the smaller stage, and hope he gets picked up for some NFL practice squad.

Even if he stops being “one of our guys” as far as I’m concerned he’ll still be “one of our guys”. For all the aforementioned reasons.

Excellent, and necessary. A fine young man that needs our support. And, our young team needs our support too, not merely applause when things go well. Hook ’em!

Thanks Scip – I got so tired of that crap on the saturday thread I pretty much skipped reading most posts.

MikeTag – Booing might be acceptable at A&M, it’s not at Texas. Not Ever. Not for the coaches, not for the players, not for the school or the State. You praise in public and criticize in private. When the frustration levels build, that is when control and poise is needed. That is true for the players, the coaches and the fans. As fans, we are like extended teammates in that you never throw a teammate under the bus. Not Ever. Maybe Class is something you don’t have at A&M.

Great read. Playing for UT has been Gilbert’s dream since he started flinging footballs around. I am not one to stomp on dreams or revel in one dying. I wish him the best and hope Harsinwhite can help him continue to develop for situational plays.

Hook’em

What about airplane banners?

There’s a discolored pillar on the Barton Creek overpass with a patch of gray paint covering up “Simms Sucks.” A pretty good reminder to me of how easily feelings get out of hand.

I guess it is impossible to distinguish fans venting their frustration at the coach who has a bad habit of lying openly to his fans and the the student athlete trying hard to succeed.

Anyone yelling hateful things at Gilbert the player can fuck off.

Those who were simply frustrated with our coach for 5-7, the conference imploding because of our greed and the mockery that was this QB competition I can certainly understand those feelings.

Amen.

The booing and nasty back-biting over the QB issue here and elsewhere on the ’net after the game was disgusting and embarassing. The spoiled entitlement of a segment of our fanbase is the primary reason we are hated by many college football fans.

The other main reason we are hated is for winning. That I am perfectly OK with, and, oh yeah, we did that again Saturday in a gutty fashion very well described by PB over on BON.

I’m not sure what to say to anyone so caught up in the personality cult “QB controversy” that they aren’t enjoying what this coaching staff and young team are doing.

Thanks for saying what needed saying. Any forum needs an occasional cleansing. 99.99% of what we (as your adoring readers) want is fact, analysis, and speculation in all things Longhorn. We are rarely disappointed and I would add that most replies here are worth reading. Keep up the standards.

Thank you.

Obligatory comment about Chris Simms being one of the toughest players to ever wear the burnt orange (see throwing a TD with a dislocated finger against Nebraska or leading a TD drive with a ruptured spleen (!) in the NFL).

I’ve thought more than I expected about what GG must be going through right now. There has to be a part of him that’s watching his lifelong dream- a dream that always seemed very obtainable- fade away. If the issue is a good practice QB who wilts under the pressure, I think too many people (who’ve never really faced this kind of pressure) see this as some character flaw. As someone who regularly has to deal with a similar pressure, and has heard similar hate-filled boos while performing my job (minus all the stupid internet banter, and no one would ever have known my name if I failed publicly), I know these mental games can be debilitating.

These issues don’t stem from a lack of trying or wanting or will. In fact they arise from the very opposite. It takes medication for me to get through some of these situations- something I’d never admit to non-anonymously- there’s still too much stigma.

Maybe this is his issue. Maybe he’d be best served seeing a doctor, taking some pills (we still love Ricky, right?), playing at a smaller school, trying a different position, or sitting and watching for a while. Maybe he’s just not good enough to play D-1 ball- I’m not good enough to QB a high school team. Whatever the case is (see what I did there?), it sucks being booed. Booing a kid while his lifelong dream possibly evaporates? Despicable.

I agree that personal attacks are uncalled for. With that said, it seemed that 99% of Longhorn fans felt that the second half of the BYU game needed someone other than Gilbert at the helm. UT has the pick of many fine Texas (and other state’s) football players and we expect wins! Gilbert clearly isn’t a great QB and hurt us badly Friday night…look at the difference between the halves. Your statement: “Gilbert is a Longhorn who tried his best” does not give him the right to play QB at ANY school, especially UT. You can be the worst cook in the world, and you can try harder than everyone else…but you will NOT be the chef at a 4-star restaurant…same with Gilbert. UT fans hopefully have enough class to let Mack and the rest of the staff know their feelings w/o airing them on the field in front of the world…I too believe BOO’ing is for those who fail to communicate well in other ways and I will not do it. I am stating here that Gilbert should not be allowed to start games until the QB coach has been shown great improvements and he has shown he can play in tough games (bring him in for a series here and there). I kinda like the thrill of a McCoy/Shipley duo again!!! I also like the versatility of Ash. Hookem’ HORNS!!!

In all of this I was never upset with Gilber, Ash, or McCoy. They are all the victims in this thing. The person to be upset with is Mack Brown. My anger on Saturday was the result of coming to the conclusion that he completely manufactured a quarterback competition. Garrett Gilbert had not progressed an iota and he did everything he could to hand him the job. A cause of the same sense of entitlement that he was so eager to weed out of the program. He did wrong by Gilbert because he put tGilbert in the position where he was going to get crushed by the fan base for any and all mistakes.

Most importantly, based on Mack’s comments I get the feeling that he viewed this quarterback situation in the same way as the same as the Simms-Applewhite controversy. But there is an inherent difference between the two situations, Simms and Applewhite were two very productive quarterbacks and either was an okay choice but Garrett Gilbert vs the others stemmed from Garrett Gilbert’s non productivity.

Amen, Scip.

I have never understood the GG love affair. The Kansas State game was brutal to watch from my couch. As it unfolded, I sympathisize with GG still going out there when everyone but the coaching staff knew he was done.

I never had a personal issue with GG, Chris Simms, or anyone who plays for UT. However, I have always had an issue with the coaching staff. The horrible game plan for the OU game. The handling of Simms, who lacked some intangible that Applewhite had. Further, Simms’ mechanics left things to be desired.

I thought the coaching staff learned their lesson when Chance Mock and Vince Young came around (or hell Richard Walton and Applewhite).

GG does not seem to have progressed. His performance against BYU was no different than his performance than other outings.

You can and should critique, comment, and review a player’s performance without making it about the player. You can wonder how a quarterback throws two interceptions in 30 minutes. You can review play calling, mechanics, intangibles, etc. You should not boo the player.

There is a line, a distinction, between the two. Just because you wear the burnt orange and white does not absolve you of people reviewing your performance. However, it should shield you from being called a bum by the faithful.

I wasn’t at the game but if I had been I can’t say I would not have booed. Because I was booing at home. And my boos were 100% directed at Mack Brown, because it was clear to all that were watching that Gilbert should not be on the field. And thus it was more of the same, seniority and loyalty above talent, at least it appeared that way to those of us who may not be as educated as those who write on this blog ( which I truly love, btw). After an offseason of promises that things would change, they weren’t changing, at least not in the first quarter

I think the reason so many of us were so elated at the end of the game was not so much that we came back and won but that the coaching staff finally demonstrated an ability to make changes. The next step is more snaps for Malcolm Brown, earlier in the game.

Go ahead and accuse me of not getting it but maybe I represent the partially educated fan that expects more than 5-7. I totally agree with you on your assertions that we should not be personally attacking a kid who is doing his best to perform for our team. But I think we have every right to criticize a head coach from whom we expect better.

“Maybe the commercialization of college football and absurd ticket prices have created a professional mindset in fans. "
This is it. When you run an NFL-style event, you get NFL fans.

I’ll never forget boarding a flight about 4 years ago in Newark NJ headed back to San Francisco and I got the upgrade to first class (I used to be a baller!). I’m stowing my carry-on and look down at the guy who will be sitting next to me for the next 4 hours and he looks up at me and sees my Longhorn hat, my face reflected the recognition of a celebrity of sorts, while his was a mixture of dread and resentment. It was Phil Simms. After I expressed concern for Chris (he had just had the spleen injury the season before) and I told him many of us were rooting for his son, he became more comfortable with me. At that point he unleashed as any father would talking about how horrible the Texas fans were to his son. He said many things that day and I sat and listened and tried to represent the other half of the fanbase that cheered for Chris because he was our guy. I understood I was listening to a father who loved his son and hated to see and hear some of the things he had to during his time on the 40 acres. Saturday night as I sat in DKR and the boos rained down on Gilbert I thought of his father sitting somewhere in the stands having to listen to that. Now as a father myself, I can’t imagine having to hear that directed at my boy. Stay classy Austin.

Scipio,
Firstly, I want to thank you for bringing this matter up supporting our team and players. It is shameful that our team has fans that whether under the influence or frustration of the current circumstances they had to express their disgust in such a dishonorable manner.

While this does take place in other venues and other sporting events, we as Longhorn fans need to remember that no matter the results of personnel decisions made by the coaches, this is ONLY a game. It is sports entertainment that we choose to follow. I am not saying we should not voice our displeasure with certain player or coaches action, but we must do so in a civilized manner.

I enjoy the information provided in this site as well as Recruitocosm as well as the majority of the discourse provided by fellow posters, but sometimes I just skim over some comments from the infrequent posters that vomit their diatribe on this excellent site.

We ARE Texas! Let’s remember to show our support for our team and players no matter the results. Hook’em!

Unfortunate that this subject needed to be raised . . . but fortunate that it was well presented.

Based on reports here, Gilbert performed well in practice . . . which makes me think he presses in games. Boos are sure to help that . . . I also wonder what recruits thinks when they see a fan base go after a player.

Maybe it felt good to boo, but not sure all the consequences are what people want.

Amen, brother!

As a wise man once said (the wisest, yo):

f the haters

As you said, he’s actually been a good kid that gave the team good effort. The fact that it’s apparent he’s not cut out to be our starting QB doesn’t give people the right to be dicks to him personally. There’s not a single member of our fanbase that would say “No, Coach Brown, I don’t want to play quarterback for Texas anymore. I don’t believe I’ve progressed properly.”

Good lord. The condescending self-righteousness emanating from the top of the BC masthead this season has become overwhelming.

Gilbert just had one of the worst performances from a QB in the history of the program. Vitriol from a drunk fanbase still shell shocked from 5-7 is inevitable. Every other fanbase of every other college football factory would have reacted in similar fashion.

I’m not excusing the worst of the behavior, but the best way to deal with the obvious trolls and malcontents is to delete their posts and eliminate their access without acknowledging or addressing them.

I been holding my fire all this time, but I think I need to say it now…we shouldn’t be blaming Gilbert, its our QB coach who is to blame. I mean he is a grown man even if he isn’t as old as Gundy. I think after all we have seen it is time to put Harsin on the hot seat.

I agree with the basic premise that you don’t boo athletes who are non-professionals. I’ve been to many Texas HS football games watching my sons play and have seen and heard some of the most disgusting displays of “fandom” ever perpetrated in the name of sports, including hearing my own son being boo’ed after taking a vicious hit that caused him to fumble the ball before being helped off the field with a concussion.

Some of this crap starts at HIGH SCHOOL games! Not the pros, or even college. HIGH FUCKING SCHOOL football. I’ve heard refs being threatened, been threatened myself trying to correct a behavioral situation in the stands, seen punches thrown in the stands, etc. And, this wasn’t even Dallas or Houston. This is small town Texas HS football.

It has come to the point where at the start of the game, before the National Anthem, an announcement has to be made to tell the fans not to boo the refs or the players on either team.

Hear! Hear!

Well said! He’s a young man who’s given us his best. Even if that’s not met our high expectations he deserves our respect and appreciation.

We’ll always wonder “what might have been” had his early experiences been the kind to build him up instead of tear him down… I think, to a great degree, he’s the victim of circumstance and bad luck at a key point in his development.

Thank you Scipio for the reality check. I was dismayed by the boos and the vitriol on this and other boards. He’s a good kid and we may yet need him in the clutch again when Ash keeps it on an option play against Alabama in 2012.

Even worse than pillorying him on this board is the booing at the game. It’s made more embarassing by Mack’s gallant attempt to defend the boobirds (they paid good money and should be able to watch a good game) in postgame conversations.

I’m sure that as GG was walking off the field after his second interception, boos raining down on him, he was thinking “thank goodness they are booing Mack Brown and not me, that would be really crushing. The timbre of the boos makes it clear.”

I am ashamed to say I booed lustily. I apologize to GG. However, 85% of my “boo” was for the coaching staff to hear. The boo was supposed to say, “Mack, pull your head out. This isn’t working.” However, that doesn’t actually translate to a young man. Sorry GG.

ethorn, booing is not acceptable at A&M and I would say in general is done extrememly rarely. The Mizzou game last year would be one instance I’m aware of, but can’t think of many incidents beyond that, and it’s not like we’ve been having great teams for the last decade either. I think it’s been much more of an issue in Austin of late and don’t exactly see how you can give Ags a lecture about it. On the bright side to Texas – you’re #1!!!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20110911-bcs-computer-poll-ranks-texas-as-top-team-in-the-country.ece?ssimg=266306#ssStory267737

WOW!!!! Great Post Scip.

@milksteak – Nice.

Thank you, well said and needed. My 10 year old booed on the 2nd int. I had to explain to him that we don’t boo Texas players and why. He thought about it and a while later, with a tear in his eye he said, “I’m sorry for booing our players.” That will never happen again and if I can explain it to a 10 year old, I’m not sure what the hell is wrong with grown men that actually boo 19 year old kids. Disgusting, immature, ridiculous. Get a life or go find another team, preferably in the NFL. Seriously, please just go. At the very least, leave this site alone. There are plenty of other sites where you can wax poetically about how bad our players suck and be welcomed with open arms.

Amen! Thanks for saying what needed to be said.

I attended UT during the tail end of the Todd Dodge era and had many opportunities to boo if I had so chosen. I did not understand then and still do not understand now why you would boo your own players if they are giving their best effort.

Awesomeness as usual. Yes, your free prose is better and more insightful than any other. Keep up the great work!

Watching the game on TV, I felt Taylor Potts sympathy for Gilbert. I’ve never understood who these people are.

In the final analysis, football coaches NEVER listen to the fans unless the fans resort to booing. Until BC can provide an alternate way to get the coach’s attention, I am sure that booing will remain a part of the modern game.

There is little doubt in my mind that MB would not have pulled CS or GG without the helpful input from the fans. God love ’em, but coaches are weird people.

boos were 100% directed at Mack Brown

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that all the boos were directed that way, but I know that in my immediate area Saturday night, the ones who were booing expressed exactly that opinion. I refrained from booing, specifically because it seems (and no doubt in many cases is) directed at the player himself… but, honest to fucking christ, is it possible that anyone on the coaching staff still thinks Gilbert is the Truth at QB for us?

As I’ve expressed before, I feel terrible for him, and it has to eat him up to hear the boos raining down. And even that torrent is, as said, meant for the HC himself, the final cause is the play of Gilbert. It does seem that he’s had every chance, and chance beyond reason, at that. He appears to have all the requisite physical abilities, but it looks as though he is thinking too much and running out of time in actual playtime… sort of like the bullet-time sequences from the Matrix, but he is thinking instead of acting, and about a third of the way through the twist, the bullet goes right through his brain. The whole point of practice is to instill that muscle memory so that you don’t have to think about the actions themselves. Hell’s fire, if you had to use your thinking brain to control your physical actions, you wouldn’t even be able to walk, let alone run. Consider the simple act of reaching out and picking up a pencil: hundreds of muscles, thousands of individual contractions and relaxations involved… you don’t think about it, you just reach out and pick up the damn pencil.

Is Mack really trying to give Gilbert chances beyond what many of us think is reasonable? It seems so, and Harsin has bought into it up to this point. It’s hard to blame them, because IF the light suddenly comes on, Gilbert looks to have all the ability needed to be all-world. The question is, given that he’s struggled mightily through fifteen games and still plays like that very first one, how far do we go with him in hopes that there will be light? The tunnel looks pretty damn dark at this point.

I’m hoping for him, but we came awfully close to losing to BYU in the course of this experiment. How many times do we repeat it before either the switch does flip or we decide that it’s time to move on? I’m thinking maybe we change the lab setup and see if McAsh can put up enough of a lead that Gilbert can come in without a trememdous amount of pressure – how much is enough? Two TDs, two and a half? Three?

The tone now is starting to turn amazingly hypocritical towards the boo’ers. You say it is not classy to boo a player or coach but you thrown down a long string of personal insults towards others.

So clearly it is not a moral distinction. It just pisses you off.

Not exactly a moral high ground.

Thanks, Scip. I was going to put this comment on Toadvine’s post below, but I needed to think about it a bit more, so I’ll pull it forward.

I know none of you people have ever failed at anything, so you find it impossible to empathize with GG. While my own dreams of athletic glory died in junior high school, in my professional life I have had the experience of failing to perform at Nobel prize level, so I can fully relate to watching a cherished dream die. It doesn’t matter whether the dream was realistic or not; it was your dream and it hurts.

To those of you who are trying to cover yourselves by damning Mack and HarsinWhite for starting GG: It seems to me you have two choices, either Greg Davis was a competent OC, or GG did not get a fair opportunity to succeed last year; I know which of the two I believe. I’m fine with giving GG the shot; his history indicates that he should have all the physical tools, so why not see if he can overcome last year? If he could have, we’d be at least a year closer to competing at an elite level. I’m proud of Mack for trying to do the right thing – someone once said that life is not fair; I say that only assholes don’t at least make the effort to be fair. We could have afforded one loss in order to really see what we had.

That being said, GG had to understand that the kind of second chance he had this year comes around rarely, and he had to grab that chance by the throat and not let go. If his parents and mentors didn’t help him to understand that; they didn’t do their job. So I’m fine with giving Gilbert his shot, and now I’m fine with moving on. At the risk of sounding like Fanatico, Saturday night was the best of all possible outcomes.

Look, in the sporting world, the paying customer has the right to boo if they do not like the effort or performance. Yes, they’re teenagers in some cases, but they knew what they were getting in to when going out for a major D-1 program. If they can’t handle the pressure and any fallout, there are plenty of other places that they can find a coddling home!

Personal attacks on the other hand have no place…

The two stupidest justifications I have seen for booing:

1. I was booing the coaches, not Gilbert.
2. The feelings of millions of UT football fans are more important than those of Gilbert and his family.

Neither of these are deserving of a direct rebuttal, I just feel they should be recorded for their idiocy.

I can’t help but think how much fun it was to root for the Longhorns when they weren’t contenders.

When an interception for a game clinching TD against Louisville sent the stands rocking, a last minute stop by Stoney Clark against the hated Sooners was all anyone could talk about all season long, when an upset win against NU in the Big 12 CG causes celebrations that stop traffic on Guadalupe.

Now every win is criticized.

Not saying it was better, but looking back, it was much more fun….

50 years: Sorry but I totally disagree. I attended all the games in the dismal 1976 season (6-6-1) and fans were resigned (Earl injured, etc) but there was very little booing. In fact i don’t recall much of it at all; not many people would boo DKR.

It’s quite clear that Mack is anguished about last year, and is driven to win like anybody else. With 2 less interceptions, or having MW make that end-zone catch, GG might have won us the NC game. He really does NOT deserve the boos; its disingenuous to say that you are just booing the coaches. The boos start when GG walks off the field after another INT…do you really suppose he believes that they are not directed at him??

And the coaches are new and trying damned hard. They are all driven to win…they don’t deserve it either.

Well stated Scipio. Unfortunately, Garrett (who I share a name with) is unlikely to know how many of us did not boo. I’m in full agreement that he needed to sit. And I certainly don’t defend the booing, but I can understand the frustration. Regardless, it is classless and detrimental to the program and the perception of our fan base. Just like when our fans boo the opposing team coming on to the field. Wouldn’t it be better to greet them with 100,000 completely silent opposing Horn Fans?

FWIW people, if you’ve been reading here about the Big Cigar and the Asset and really think there aren’t some influential people that let Deloss/Mack, et. al. know about these issues, then you’re not really very bright now are you?

I couldn’t have said it better myself, Scip. I’ve been embarrassed and frustrated by our fans time and time again as of recently. When did we lose our class? I don’t remember it being this bad when Chris Simms was at UT.

Amen! And I expect the same protection for Blake Gideon from this site as well.

Thank you for writing what needed to be written. No one feels worse than the kid when he throws a pick. And they all do. Tony Romo, one of the top half-dozen qbs in the League, threw a crucial one last night. GG is not a professional, though at some point he still may be one day. But the kid is a proud Longhorn. He deserves our plaudits for picking himself up off the ground and trying again and again, particularly last year, rather than our boos. Lets be thankful for him.

Scipio, thanks for saying what needed to be said on Gilbert.

I have been very impressed with Garrett’s handling of his problems, and the strength of character he has displayed in his struggles. The young man may not be impressive on the football field at the college level, but both as an individual and as a team member, he appears to be world class to this casual observer.

el viejo

Bill Bradley, Gary Keithley, Mike Presley, Ted Constanzo, Mike Codaro, Todd Dodge, Rick McIvor, Donnie Little, Donovan Forbes, Brett Stafford, Shannon Kelley, and Chris Simms approve of this message.

Any chance that we can apply a similar stardard to Blake Gideon? He has his deficiencies as a player, but he always plays hard and is the definition of a good student athlete and citizen. I’ve read things written by moderators that egg on the same people that boo Gilbert to take personal shots at Blake.
With all of the shots aimed at him for his play, I found it telling that very little was ever said about the play of the other safety last year. I would like someone to identify a game where the other safety (whoever it was) played better.
I don’t know if this is a UT thing, but over the years, I have found that our fans treat white players differently. I can’t think of another explanation for why the other safety got a pass.

Let’s just all try to be positive and respectful toward our players and each other.

When did we lose our class? I don’t remember it being this bad when Chris Simms was at UT.

People in general are getting stupider. Idiocracy, imo. Expect booing after every incomplete pass within 15 years.

Oh yeah, and toward our coaches too!

@Scipio

Wow, I must’ve missed some really lame comments. I’m sure I’m the poorer for it. Stoopits are on the interwebs, it’s true, but no one’s paying us to tolerate them. If they’re annoying, what do we lose if admins ban them? No harm there.

OTOH, if you can cheer, you can boo, IMHO, so help me YHVH. I’ll just state that as my opinion on the principle of the matter.

But in this particular case, Scipio, perhaps you’ve overestimated the football intelligence, administrative experience, and sobriety of the average Longhorn fan in the stands? OK, stop laughing. I kid because I’m making a point: the emotional state of the average Longhorn fan in the stands is still a product of last year’s trauma. The emotional state of the slightly more football-smart Longhorn fan in the stands is a product of over a decade of suffering from the intransigence of GDGD. Neither understands how different the situation is now.

The fans in the stands are still feeling 5-7. They’ll boo so long as they fear the staff is in denial about needed change in order to publicly shame them. This is part of an overall transition from a guilt culture to a shame culture we’re going through right now, but that’s a conversation for another time.

The situation now is that the staff will make changes when there’s an advantage in doing so. Most Longhorn fans haven’t internalized that yet. Why should they? Until Saturday night, they hadn’t seen an offensive staff with a willingness to admit something wasn’t working and make a wholesale change while there was still time to save the game. They’re used to a staff that pulls Vince Young against Washington State and replaces him with Chance Mock.

Conventional wisdom moves slowly. If you are one of the cognoscenti, get used to frustration. It’s the price you pay for not being an idiot.

At least, they weren’t booing a guy who was completing 67% of his passes with a 4:1 TD to Int ratio. I’ll give the UT boo birds credit on that front.

Well said!

I thought there as an interesting juxtaposition in the game. At one point the announcers pointed out the text on Coach Mendenhall’s tee-shirt “Band of Brothers” and what it mean for teamwork and unity. Sometime later, the announcers discussed Coach Brown’s desire to the find the “guy” to give a spark to the the team.

Rice, ‘95. I remember a shitload of boos for the defense and thought they were well-deserved. The situation then on defense was much like the situation last year on offense: those in charge were going to do whatever they wanted and didn’t expect accountability. People got mad.

A booster can pick up a phone. The mob just brings rotten cabbage.

Keep it classy San Diego.

Let’s replace the boos with a “MAAaaack”.

Could’nt agree more. Even to boo at the coaches is ridiculous. People love to stomp on others to make up for their own failures in life. The coaches gave Gilbert a chance and pulled him at an appropriate time. If you had a coach who pulled QBs faster, you’d be in serious trouble and the QB would never take a risk.

That said, I hope the Gilbert era is closed. Hopefully he does well. I’m sure he will be great at something, just not at being the QB for Texas.

Agreed with Scip. But why do you assume its the QB that’s getting booed?

The most boos from my section came right before the Gilbert 2nd INT. We finally got our first first down of the game. Then we get the ball past the 50. All without Gilbert… and then we put Gilbert back in for one play… INT.

I don’t care how much you like our team. That was a stupid decision. Keep the momentum going. Don’t go back to the guy who was 1-5 for 5 yards and 0-3 on 3rd downs at that point. Just because you boo that decision doesn’t make you a bad fan.
 
I repeat. From where I sat, the boos came right BEFORE he even had int #2. It was the coaching decision that was booed. ( yes some booed after the INT. Agreed that was classless)

bigduke – I am fairly certain UTomlinson was being sarcastic. Simms was brutally crucificed at Texas and he was actually damn good. As srr notes, Texas QBs have gotten shit for generations.

Does the desire to saint Gilbert for the “classy” manner in which he has handled his poor performance represent the opposite end of the spectrum from booing? I find this sentiment to be far stranger than the visceral booing of the average college football fan. I don’t recall any of our below-average LBs (who had real physical limitations) through the years receiving such compassionate praise for playing poorly but with class.

Wow. The self-righteousness of HornFans rears it’s ugly head. He was terrible and deserved to get booed. He might be a great guy and nice and tough but he was one of the top reasons we went 5-7 last year and that is not acceptable at Texas or anywhere else. When you do well, you are rewarded. When you suck, you are booed. That’s life, so deal with it.

@Scipio:

I’ll give you another, albeit extreme, example.

I was there for Rout 66, sitting in the best seats I’ve ever had for a Texas game: right behind the bench. As the stands began to empty in the 2nd half, guys came down from the cheap seats and began abusing the team. One by one, red-faced orangebloods would stomp down the bleachers, bow up, try to stick their chests out beyond their beer guts, and belt out really keen observations like “THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU QUIT!!!!!!!!!!” with a kind of staccato delivery that reminded me of a gerbil’s fear response.

The faces of the team were a study in WTF? It seemed to have no impact on them, beyond wondering “who’s the fat guy?”

I was embarrassed for our burnt-orange gerbils, but years later realized that they were right. Not being a football guy, I didn’t know how important that kind of confrontational, negative reinforcement was, and that the team wasn’t getting it from the staff at that time. The reason why the team looked so surprised was because that wasn’t part of their culture at that time.

When Brown’s staff came in, I remember a post-practice workout where the head coach was having to explain why they new staff was “being so mean” to them. Apparently, guys were complaining. And transferring.

Abuse has its place. It’s a scattershot weapon, clumsy and counterproductive. Fear of failure has to come from somewhere, and if the fans start thinking it’s their job, it’s gonna get ugly.

Psychotic cheering for the 3rd string quarterback when he steps onto the field may have the same effect. Gilbert hears that as well.

Could not have been said any better. Everyone at our tailgate was talking about this after the game. Hopefully, now that this has been pointed out, it will stop.

“People love to stomp on others to make up for their own failures in life.”

Do you really believe this is responsible for booing? Not too many individuals are contemplating their personal demons while half-drunk at a football game.

The booing is a direct reaction to GG’s continued poor play. No more, no less. The appropriateness of that conduct can certainly be debated but let’s avoid complicating its genesis.

I second what Spider said; an emotionally invested fanbase is subject to harsh negative reactions when things aren’t going to plan. Maybe some people feel like Gilbert let them down. I’m sure many are booing the HC/OC, but there are certainly boos directed toward Gilbert. Can’t imagine how he feels getting booed as he enters the huddle, or cheered as he leaves it for the sideline.

Also, I cringed at the idea of recruits being at the game and seeing that kind of hostility.

Bravo

Let’s not forget that Gilbert was a vocal advocate of the Texas program during his recruitment, and after committing to Texas. He has conducted himself honorably both on and off the field. He deserved better than to be booed off. I can tell you that the other players didn’t appreciate it. Actions like booing our own player are beneath us as a fanbase.

A large percentage of the population is stupid. Get 100,000 people together and that’s a lot of stupidity in one place. And it’s one reason I now miss more home games than I attend, after going about 10 years without missing a single one.

i’m an aggie, who also like to see UT do well.

i must say that i don’t think i’ve ever seen that happen at kyle field, and it’s pretty sickening to see what yall are doing to gilbert.

I didn’t boo, but I was saying “What the hell?!, Ahhhh, make it stop! Why is he still in there?” I doubt I was the only one, including many in this thread who are chastising those who express frustration in differing vocal patterns.

It seemed to many fans that Mack Brown had lost all sense. I understand their frustration and that they needed to vent. Like I said, I didn’t boo, but if the boos helped influence the decision to go in another direction them I’m thankful for them in that regard.

I have a ton of respect for Gilbert, or anyone with the courage to chase their big dream, they amaze me. Boos are not what will keep him up at night. Yes the boos sucked, but I think too much is being made of them.

Oh yeah?!?! Well – BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to you, Scipio!

I repeat. From where I sat, the boos came right BEFORE he even had int #2. It was the coaching decision that was booed. ( yes some booed after the INT. Agreed that was classless)

The whole “we are booing the coaches” explanation is bullshit. Of course you are booing the coaches decision — for putting back in the guy you think sucks. He is the one who takes the brunt of the booing. Well actually his family in the stands take the biggest hit.

tl; dr

But I will say that I think the boos were directed more at our coaching staff. I know they play for Texas too, but they have a much higher degree of culpability and make millions per year. When mack stated after the game that the boos were directed at him, I think he was right.

I can’t speak for some of the vitriol on the boards directed at GG—that’s just how the internet go—but I don’t think the majority of Texas fans have hatred for Garrett. It’s a really odd situation, frankly. He comes in as the best QB in the nation, plays admirably in the MNC with no practice snaps, but a season+ worth of mind-bottling decision making and failure to mature at the position has forced everyone to do a collective “WTF?”

That’s beside the point of course. Bottom line: I was gonna boo this weekend, but the rest of the crowd did it for me. I have booed in the past (99.9% of the time it has been directed toward GD playcalling). In fact, I can’t remember having ever booed a player.

Rightly or wrongly, being a football fan means you get to boo. This ain’t a game of crochet being played on the royal lawn, yo.

Don’t listen to the aggies. They boo all the time. BEEN THERE> They just call it a hiss instead. Hiss = boo to aggies. So its done not just occasionally, but at EVERY SINGLE GAME. Every mention of UT and they hiss.

Mack wasn’t defending the “boo birds”, he was getting out in front of the question and taking the boos onto himself, deflecting them from Gilbert. Mack isn’t going to tell people not to boo, and he shouldn’t have to. There should be enough people in the stands telling the “boo birds” to STFU.

Oh, and if you are going to scream “MAKE ’EM EAT SHIT!!!” instead of the real worlds to our fight song, do a clearing turn first to see if there is a 7 year old kid standing next to you with his horns up. That kid’s dad is probably trying to teach him how to be a classy fan. He can learn the drunk student antics in 12 years from now.

There really is something pathetic about grown men booing a kid for having a bad day on the football field. Just because Mack can’t say it at the press conference doesn’t make it untrue.

I wonder how much of the booing was a product of the coaching decisions with GG last season. If this game happened a year ago, we would have abandoned the run and asked GG to throw it 50+ times in a losing effort. Was the booing truly focused on GG, or was it the expelling of years of pent up frustration toward Mack Brown and Greg Davis?

About thirty years ago, after we lost a game to Houston in Austin (largely due to a horrific performance by Todd Dodge), I was standing in the restroom at the Nighthawk on I35 raving to my Dad about the performance of the quarterback and my conviction that he must have been paid to throw all those interceptions. The man at the urinal beside me flushed and turned to me and said “Todd Dodge is my son.” Then he just walked away.

I felt like what was perfuming the air in that particular location. I’ve not booed or publicly criticized a player since.

Okay the “boos were directed at the coaches” theme needs to die. I was at the game at basically field level and the boos were the loudest after bad plays from Gilbert. The message was crystal clear.

I think the reality is that most people are so emotionally wrapped up in the game that when things don’t go their way, they lose it. Once they boo once then if something else goes wrong it becomes justification for their booing and encourages more booing. Those of you who claim you were booing at the coaches are kidding yourselves… it’s a narrative that might give you some comfort but really it’s just a justification for you losing control in the moment.

The first half reminded me why I don’t usually like to go to games, the second half reminded me why there’s no substitute for being at the game.

Our staff responded to the situation appropriately and the team and fans responded in kind (post temper tantrum). To me it was evidence of the autonomy that our new staff has been given and a big piece of data that suggests the new staff is getting to know this team and will make the decisions that give us the best chance to win.

You have not been paying attention. Booing at Texas is a time honored tradition…I distinctly recall boos at Super Bill in 1968. I remember hearing Todd Dodge being booed during a telecast from Stanford in Cali.

Let me make this point perfectly clear. For me this isn’t just about booing.

For some of our “fans” it goes well beyond booing in the stands. For a while Todd Dodge’s family quit coming to home games — the personal attacks were too much. I have seen the hate mail that our QB’s got in the past that would stun you with the depth of their venom. Answering machines were easy targets for profane-laden stream of conciousness attacks.

Now thanks to advanced communications, God forbid anyone find out our QB’s cell phone # or email address.

When thousands let out with their boos it enboldens the truly neanderthal in our fan base to ramp up the attacks. It is indefensible.

Booing any player is for cowards and ingrates. Cuss like a sailor when there is an interception but don’t boo college football players or coaches. It’s the same thing especially when you boo when a certain player is jogging out onto the field.

Just cut it out. Express your frustration some other way.

I have hoped and prayed all along that Gilbert would pan out. He has all along tried hard and been the kind of player in character that you want on your team. I really feel bad for him that it just hasn’t worked out, apparently. I think he could be a contributor still as a “package” player. He throws a great deep ball, even if his judgment about when to throw or not is suspect. He’s a decent runner. Since we have no one QB who is ready to fully take over yet, use all three to their strengths. I am quite confident in Harsin’s ability to scheme that.

“Boo birds” are the kind of people this world is full of. It would be a boon to all the rest of us if they all just dropped dead. That type exists all over the world. Think of the benefit to the environment. The pressure on our natural resources would be massively relieved. Of course, there would be the problem of the stink, but one solution at a time.

To those that boo’ed on Saturday -

Try explaining why the fans are boo’ing to an 8 year old and 6 year old who can’t wait to be Longhorns one day. It’s amazing that my kids behaved better at the game than the “grown—ups”.

I don’t care if you’re disappointed from last year, sober or not, frustrated or whatever. We all give lots of money, we all want our Horns to win and be successful, we’ve all been disappointed. We all want our coaches to make perfect decisions. Of course Garrett thought you were boo’ing at him.

Grow up and be the adult – and hopefully human being – that you are. The boo’ing is an embarrassment to Longhorn nation and jeopardizes recruiting. If you can’t behave like a grown-up, stay at home and yell at your TV where the rest of us and the country don’t have to be around your childish behavior.

Thank you to this site for all the great work you do, and for this post. And hook ’em!

Agree with both Scipio and thujone.

The only time a college player should be booed is if he does something abhorrent on the field, i.e. commits personal foul with extreme violence after the whistle, taunts the crowd, etc.

However, coaching staffs that seem ignorant of their performance should get some kind of immediate notification.

Here’s an idea for any enterprising programmers out there. Develop a “boo” app for phones that’s directed at college coaching staffs. That way, player’s don’t have to hear the boos, but the coaches and/or school get a shitload of “boo” texts. And as a way to weed out fans from other schools texting, you have to register your phone with the school and allow ads from the school. It’s revenue stream!!!

You can mail my participation checks to Texoz, Austin TX.

We’re all emotionally invested in UT football to some degree, or we wouldn’t be having this discussion. And with the exception of the non-Longhorns who post here, our emotional investment is all geared towards winning the football games.

Booing Gilbert is wrong, the over-the-top personal attacks moreso. Scipio, your point that Garret Gilbert is a Longhorn, one of us, is 100% true.

And I am sure that if Mack Brown could give the fanbase something vaguely resembling a coherent reason to be playing Gilbert, there would be much less anger and frustration and booing.

Mack Brown has done no such thing. While we are emotional, collectively we ain’t stupid. It was crystal clear many games ago that Gilbert lacked the intangibles necessary to win games at UT. Coach Brown continued to start him, in the face of bullshit slogans like “Not Our Standards.”

So for those of you who find booing inappropriate, I’ll wait for the crickets to stop chirping while you explain the better way to communicate to the coaching staff that they are making a mistake.

I don’t blame Gilbert- he is playing the best he can, trying as hard as he can. I blame Mack Brown and his coaching staff. I’m a big believer in pay for performance, and seeing as how he’s the highest paid state employee, I take it kind of personally that we went 5-7 last year, and that he continues to struggle with on-field personnel decisions. We have a fellow in the defensive backfield who has a solid track record of huge mistakes, dating back to Texas Tech a few years ago, and he continues to start to this day. It’s on mack Brown, not the kids on the field.

I hope we don’t forget how bad we treated Chris Simms. Chris was the #1 prospect in the entire country and decommitted from Tennessee, which, at the time, it was QBU. He bought into what Mack was selling and helped Mack take the Texas program to the next level. GG was the #2 QB prospect in the country and a Gatorade…umm, something or other. He was a take all the way and we should still be ecstatic he chose UT. We have to remember these guys are 19 or 20 year old kids, they aren’t all going to be world beaters. At the end of the day, we’ll get our good QB and we should still pat the guys on the back who tried, but failed.. It doesn’t make them evil or retarded if they aren’t VY or Colt.

Specific history has more of an impact that most of you are giving credit for. As spider points out, if fans feel helpless and frustrated that nothing will change this kind of response should not be surprising.

There was a poster on 24 7 that shared an observation that Mack looked like he had to be convinced on the phone for several minutes to pull Gilbert. I think Mack fully intended to keep him out there for another 2-3 interceptions.

If this site condones flying a banner over the stadium that says “Greg Davis is not our standard” then attacking other fans for their lack of loyalty is extremely hypocritical.

Interestingly, from where I was sitting, the loudest booing was coming from the student section. And 90% of the negative commentary I heard was directed at Mack. There is a growing frustration that his personnel decisions have been holding the team back. I’m not supporting booing, but there was monumental frustration that we were losing a winnable game because of stubbornness.

As for Gilbert’s shortcomings as a major-college QB, I blame Greg Davis. Lazy evaluation and poor development for two years.

I was not at the game, but I cannot swear under oath that I would not have booed. I’m still hoarse from screaming at the TV. However, I can confidently say that my vitriol was directed at Mack. I also fully acknowledge that a player on the field cannot tell the difference so it is inappropriate to boo.

I do think Mack is the one responsible for the boos (other than the people doing it, of course). He has shown a pattern of continually putting people in a position to fail long after it has become painfully obvious there are better alternatives- GD, Madden, et al. and a slew of unnamed players that have bled for the program.

If fans truly believe that a player is the best we have and gives us the best chance to win, there is no booing. Typically, a coach will do whatever it takes to improve the chances of winning so you can be confident the best alternatives are on the field. Not necessarily so with Mack.

Combine Mack’s history, Gilbert’s performance, the pent-up rage at 5-7, and glowing reports of the backups and you have all the ingredients for what happened Saturday. It doesn’t make it right, but that’s why it happened.

Right on. Booing is for less-than-classy students and youthful individuals, 99.99999% of whom couldn’t throw a 5-yard pass on target if there were only 2 people on the field—the thrower and the intended target. Many times I have read ultra-critical posts that were almost unreadable because of third-grade grammar and spelling mistakes. No, booing is for those who probably have been boo-ed before and think it makes them big to talk shite about people in a large public forum such as this. Most probably would run like a scared rabbit if they confronted Gilbert in a public place. Just chickenshits who are real brave behind a cloak of anonymity, so don’t take their criticisms to heart because they come from a small brain and a big mouth. My personal policy is not to defame via derogatory rhetoric if I can’t do what I’m complaining about as well as the target of the verbal assault.

Esquivel,

As a retort to your first comment, would you suggest that we apply your strategy to society as a whole? There are people in society whose lack of education and/or intelligence cause problems for society. Should we forego trying to educate and reform them and just send out intelligence police with assault rifles to just pick off people as they are observed displaying stupidity?

Again: It’s perfectly fine to want another QB or to be critical of someone’s play. I’ve been pretty clear about where I stand on that matter. You can also have plenty of fun with it if your intent isn’t mean-spirited. And we’ll continue to do so.
 
However, there’s no need for people to call him a piece of shit, wish for his death, luxuriate in his failure, or attack him personally for decisions made by others.
 
Similarly, if you can’t see the difference between"Gilbert, I hope you die" and “Blake Gideon is slow in run support” I’m not sure what to say.
 
As for the boo birds – go with your conscience. I don’t necessarily equate that with the personal attacks, but I think it’s weak and I’ll always think so. It’s our team. Those are our players. The guy you’re booing is 20. Enjoy.
 
The coaches are fair game. However, if you think your boos for Mack can be distinguished from those for Gilbert, you’ve got cognitive dissonance issues.
 
BTW, the crowd’s booing had zero influence on Gilbert being pulled. Gilbert had another series after the 2nd interception and when he completely lost his composure on that three and out, the coaches knew it was time to stick a fork in it.

This needed to be said. Thanks, Scipio.

So for those of you who find booing inappropriate, I’ll wait for the crickets to stop chirping while you explain the better way to communicate to the coaching staff that they are making a mistake.

Don’t donate to the Foundation. Write a letter to Mack – copied to Deloss.

This is a great piece and anyone who follows Texas football or the sport should read this (get that tl;dr stuff out of here, Thujone). The booing and childish nicknames given to players is absurd and embarrasses this university and football program.

When I was a 18-22 year old student I might have felt like it was ok to boo or berate a player. But once your out of school and able to afford a ticket again you should understand these players are just young men barely removed from living with their parents. Think of them as your little brothers or sons playing in front thousands of people. If they make a mistake would you boo or derate your little brother or son. No I don’t think you would. Think about that the next time one of our players doesn’t perform to your expectations and maybe you’ll make a better decision.

Great comment….He is just a kid. He cannot even legally drink beer. What gives these people the right to be such asses and to run down a good kid who triues hard and comes up short. One such ‘fan’ sat next to me at the Rice game.

I make up that these ’ were cut from thier Jr. High team, were the last to be picked in sandlot games, wore a wedgie most days in High School, kick their dogs, beat down their kids, and tell their wife how she always does things wrong. What a miserable life they must lead.

Ever wonder why the rest of the state and the conference thinks UT is arrogant? Just think what these fans must look like to the other teams’ fans when UT is rolling….pretty ugly…an Ugly Texan.

boj,

Applying principles for maintaining decorum on a message board to society at large sounds brilliant.

I’m confident that Scip’s approach of dismissing the Gilbert haters as idiotic cowards is the better solution for effective behavior modification.

these ’men’*****

Newy -
 
Pull it together man. You booed. Fine. Stop careening around trying to find moral equivalence. This site had nothing to do with the GD banner, and if we had, if you can’t see the difference between coaches and players, I’m not sure what to offer. Clearly you don’t see the difference.

It would have happened in any stadium in American given the history of the situation and the head coach’s handling of such issues in the past. I find it hypocritical and condescending to pretend the Texas fan base is somehow different than any other while deriding other fan bases for the exact same thing. People are people.

Just be thankful that KSU 2010 was in Manhattan.

I can honestly say that I don’t know if I did or I didn’t. I was conscious of the strong onset of Texas Tourrettes with the second int. balanced by the knowledge of young ears in the immediate vicinity.

Very nice article.
It’s tough to be the QB at Texas. There is great reward, but you are putting yourself out there on a very public stage. It takes a lot of guts to do that. The personal attacks on Gilbert are disturbing, but not unlike what political candidates undergo. It’s sad.

Usually booing is reserved for the officials or some jackass behavior from the opposing team. I’ve certainly participated in that. A player playing poorly effects me differently. Sometimes it just evokes laughter, other times I just start wondering what craziness has to transpire for another option to see the field, and sometimes it is silence.

As for Saturday night, the stadium was emotional. 5-7, A&M departure, LHN negotiations, ticket prices. I didn’t like the booing and wasn’t there, but I understand where it came from. I certainly was calling for a change at QB. Thankfully our coaches delivered and earned some trust from the fans. As if the fans had any influence on the decision, but we like to see competence.

Keep swimming Garrett. Prove them wrong. Make it work.

I booed. I am ashamed. What is my penance? How do I make it up? I want my conscience to be cleared.

I agree with this post entirely. I told everyone around me at the game who booed him to shut up. Fortunately the only people booing were some really ignorant white trash girls.

The kid did his best; but he was also given more chances after failures than any one of us ever gets at our job. I’d have been fired a year ago if I failed as consistently as he did over the same time frame.

If he’s been damaged by all this, then I say letting him go out there and fail game after game — this was his 15th start for us — is as much a cause as the booing.

How any longhorn fan not wish the kid the best at this point is baffling.

Agreed with all above the booing is for Mack Brown. He wanted us emotionally and financially invested in the team. He has that now, but that combination can lead to emotional responses. It was Mack who said Texas should compete for a national championship every year. You can’t do that when you leave a QB in the game after multiple turnovers, or change out personnel just when they are finding a rhythm.

Mack is a WELL compensated professional who many times deserves and can take the criticism. Booing at the game is not the way to do it. Regardless of when the boo is delivered the player will always feel it.

The football program is something of corporation with seat licenses (errr donations) and ticket prices. Mack should be accountable to his stockholders just like any other CEO. He should have yearly meetings to hear gripes and explain himself. How about a weekly live chat?? I know it’s a polyanna view of things, but Mack ignoring the fan base is not acceptable, just like booing the players is unacceptable.

Imagine if Chris Simms and Garret Gilbert (for his first two years) had a real QB coach. A good QB coach teaches mechanics and helps you to learn to read defenses. By next year Harsin may have taught Gilbert how to read a defense, Greg Davis was not able to do that.

“I find it hypocritical and condescending to pretend the Texas fan base is somehow different than any other while deriding other fan bases for the exact same thing. People are people.”
Bobby_Batronic,
We are as flawed as any fan base but there’s a big difference between recognizing that and resigning ourselves to it.

I wasn’t even at the game. Had I been I am not sure how I would acted. But for BC to all of the sudden take the high ground seems strange.

“Agreed with all above the booing is for Mack Brown.”

That’s the rough equivalent of farting in an elevator but telling everyone who has to smell your stink that the hot blast was only meant for the guy in the corner.

Let’s lock this baby up and move on. There’s lots of good stuff from the game that I’m sure Scipio, JS and LonghornScott have been working on. Bring on the post-mortem, play-by-play breakdowns and Big Cigar/The Asset commentary please.

Esquivel,

An internet blog is a microcosm of society and I was discussing a scalable principle. I am not defending Scipio’s post or his choice of words for those at whom he was directing it. I’m defending the idea of giving people a chance to change their behavior and contribute something valuable before giving up on them. That is all.

KilgoreTrout said: September 12th, 2011 at 6:12 am
ethorn, booing is not acceptable at A&M and I would say in general is done extrememly rarely. The Mizzou game last year would be one instance I’m aware of, but can’t think of many incidents beyond that, and it’s not like we’ve been having great teams for the last decade either. I think it’s been much more of an issue in Austin of late and don’t exactly see how you can give Ags a lecture about it. On the bright side to Texas – you’re #1!!!
-—
Going back a bit here, but I was at Kyle Field in 1995 for the last SWC game. A&M fans were lustily booing Corey Pullig after Carter’s interception. “Pullig I’m GLAD YOU’RE GRADUATIN’ WHOOOP!” There is no Aggie exceptionalism here.

I couldn’t agree with you more, Scipio. And I believe you hit one aspect of this phenomenon dead on: the “pro” mindset one finds more and more at (and comments about) college games. I’m afraid Belmont Hall does a bit to further this (the ticket prices, of course, but also the hideous godzillatron and the incessant rock/C&W/etc “soundtrack” I heard on the Internet radio broadcast of the game [I live far from Austin & couldn’t tune into the game via Intenet TV]). Everyone, including Belmont, could do with toning it down a few notches. It’s a game, folk & people. Let’s have fun and enjoy it . . . and not only respect our own players but the players of the opposing team too.

Well said Scip.

I think a lot of the booing comes from people who have never competed and failed. It just kills you inside. They wouldnt know that.

I am just not down with booing guys who essentially do this for free for my entertainment. Never understood it.

As for on the field, I am still not sold on any one solution at this point. I think we will have a three headed QB deal for a while and I am ok with it.

Someone once said the typical football fan is a guy who boos a 20 year old who cant throw a 50 yard dart into an area the size of a shoebox but after the game he cant find his car in the parking lot.

Sounds about right.

Longhorn Scott I don’t believe you read the rest of my post

Thank you Scip. I’m not going to bother reading all the other comments on here because it’s not necessary. You said all that needs to be said and you said it well.

BTW, what would the message be to potential recruits who look on here. “If you f___-up even though you’re trying your best you will not only be criticized but publicly humiliated, so come play for Texas.”

That being said. Great piece, Scipio. We should have standards for our fans and proclaim them in every forum possible in a well reasoned fashion as much as we do with regard to our players.

The guy sitting next to our group was a perfect example of the kind of fan Texas doesn’t need. He spent the entire first half booing and cursing while displaying a complete lack of nuanced thought toward the game, then was gone at halftime. His absence made the inspiring comeback all the more enjoyable.

pompous douche bags … screw the booing, punch the dolt next to you when you’re pissed

same here, most of the booing was coming from the student section but as someone said, it’s a football game and you’ll get it at every level. I didn’t boo but I’m not going to judge the booees here. I still wonder why they put the player’s parents near the student section b/c it was approaching simms venom in that area.

I’m hoping that any “non student”/person over 25 would be smart enough to scream “mack, you idiot!” or something along those lines instead of booing b/c GG was obviously struggling out there and the people booing probably didn’t notice his sister bawling her eyes out nor think “this boo is for mack, GG will understand as his pride is crushed”.

I feel bad for the kid because he basically wasted last year being under the guidance of GD, so he still looks like a 2nd year player and didn’t mature one bit under last year’s shitfest.

Eloquent, thank you. We consider ourselves the premiere program in college football & as such should be held to the highest standard as should everyone at the game. None of us love UT more than Garrett Gilbert & I suspect none of us have given as much of ourselves as Gilbert.
 Chris Simms was the first huge recruit Mack landed at UT & he played some great football for us but he never won a championship. I wasn’t a Rhodes Scholar. Because of behavior similar to what Gilbert is receiving Chris Simms has never come back to UT. This says a lot more about the way he was treated by us than it does about who Chris Simms is.

Newy25 -
 
But for BC to all of the sudden take the high ground seems strange.
 
Yes, the notion that I’d prefer not to call our QB a piece of shit that we’d like dead is some high ground we’ve staked out. Next thing you know we’ll come out against arson and rape.

Scipio Tex said:
September 12th, 2011 at 7:38 am

“BTW, the crowd’s booing had zero influence on Gilbert being pulled. Gilbert had another series after the 2nd interception and when he completely lost his composure on that three and out, the coaches knew it was time to stick a fork in it.”

This is just a hypothetical question. Not condoning here. But if the boos helped lead to his loss of composure which led to his being pulled, then were they not influential in starting the McCoy/Ash era? If so, then there’s the issue of balancing hurting one individual’s feelings versus an act that helped changed a game’s outcome, and possibly a season.

Again, I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. But this is a valid point, based on your comment, if the boos may have been part of said loss of composure.

I can foresee the accusations of “You believe in crowd sourcing efforts to mentally destroy players in order to get them off the field you sick SOB!” I’ll just say NO right now. Just thinking out loud.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you said in regards to personal attacks and demeaning Garrett Gilbert. He’s a kid who has tried his best, and would certainly do better than any of us couch quarterbacks. Even more, you have to realize that this is one of the worst moments of his life in that his college career could possibly be over, as well as what he thought his life was going to be. Tough for anyone. Real tough for a 20 year old.

In regards to booing, there is no doubt that there are some who are taking it out on the kids. That is wrong. I’ve always held, however, that the price of the ticket includes the right to express your disapproval. Not always, not at the kids, but certainly at the coaches. I do realize that it is hard for the kids to tell where the boos are aimed in any regard.

I do like that Mack has taken a better stance in regards to booing though. To be fair to UT fans, the Longhorns have had some disappointments and the fans have been pretty good about supporting the team, even in a loss or failure. The only situations that I have seen where the boos have been prevalent is in obvious situations where the coaches are the ones worthy of a good booing.

Case in point. Big 12 championship game against Colorado, Simms is having an awful day and Mack keeps running him out there. The whole fan base and the rest of the team want to win that championship, but at that time Mack had made it all about his support for Chris. The point being, we all have bad days, and Simms was definitely having one, and a former Big 12 player of the year is backing him up. I understand and support booing Mack to quit leaving that kids dangling in the wind and to give another kid who certainly has proven he deserves a shot a chance to pull this out. Mack chided the fans after the game for booing Chris, but I really think they were booing him. After the BYU game, he ackowledged that he is the target of the boos. Same goes for Gilbert, in that he was having a bad day and it was crushing his confidence to keep running him out there. At some point it just becomes cruel, even though I have no doubt Brown had Gilbert’s best intentions in mind. But you invite that when you have a reputation for historically supporting personnel choices that defy imperical evidence, and that is the history that Mack has. To be fair, if one of your worst weakness is unwavering loyalty, your probably a Hell of a good guy.

So for the record, personal attacks on children: bad; Rare, but appropriately placed and coach directed booing: ok. Just my opinion.

Look,

I think people are going overboard against booing. Every single recognizable player on the football team gains so many benefits that no other student has. Free food at most Austin restaurants, entrance to clubs, women. UT football players on a good team are treated as close to royalty as you can be treated. But with these benefits come responsibilities, one responsibility is performance.

This new generation of YMCA no score based athletics has really undermined the very basic principle of athletics, performing well. So many people on here are upset that a fan base is booing at someone performing horribly at their task. Guess what, If i performed that horribly at my job I would be fired just as most people on this board would be.

 When Garrett Gilbert chose to go to Texas he knew the stakes. Succeed and he is royalty, fail and he is booed off the field. He didn’t perform. He got what he deserved the same way that Vince and Colt got what they deserved for succeeding. This isn’t the YMCA league, in the real world people are rewarded for success and punished for failure. The same fans, more importantly their fanaticism, are responsible for the glory and the boos. Only because the fan base cares so much about the team does he gain all that he gains for being successful. You can not have one without the other.

This isn’t about a fan base being bitter at their lot in life or projecting their life’s failures onto some kid. This is basic human behavior.

Forgot to add an important piece to my previous post.

While I think booing is an acceptable and expected reaction from a rabid fanbase if the performance is horrible, personal attacks are not acceptable.

Booing is not a personal attack. Screaming personal assaults to a player from the stands is completely different from vocalizing “Booo”.

Steel Horn,

I read it, I just don’t agree. I’m all for accountability, but you’re presenting it as if to say: what does Mack Brown expect… he has created this monster. To any fan paying attention, this program has changed substantially in the last 9 months. But even if they aren’t paying attention I don’t buy into the argument that the boos are some way of holding Mack accountable. They are a temper tantrum and that is all that they are.

burntorangejuice,

“The guy sitting next to our group was a perfect example of the kind of fan Texas doesn’t need. He spent the entire first half booing and cursing while displaying a complete lack of nuanced thought toward the game, then was gone at halftime. His absence made the inspiring comeback all the more enjoyable.”

Vasherized had to get back to the tailgate for the 2nd half.

Don’t forget the recruiting aspect of all this. I’m sure the recruits in attendance were impressed, although hopefully the lasting memory will be of the second half.

The three rules of booing.

1. It’s always acceptable, encouraged even, to boo the opponent. Especially when they take the field at the beginning of the game. And it’s absolutely required if the Sooner Schooner is moving at all.

2. It is acceptable to boo a crappy call by the ref or an interminably long delay for a play review.

3. It is NEVER acceptable to boo your own team.

I agree. Thanks for posting this.

I’m not sure how some in our fanbase don’t appreciate the difference between criticizing and making it personal. It’s not that fucking complicated.

Scipio-

No one here thinks calling a player personal insults is acceptable. That is deplorable. If anyone said those things about a player they should be ashamed of themselves.

I am not using booing as a catch all for any pooor fan conduct. I am simply talking about booing coach Brown for what was an astonishingly arrogant move.

I don’t condone booing the players that strap it on for the Horns, however the boos were for Mack Brown, by frustrated fans that pay a hefty price to attend those games. Garrett tried his best and it didn’t work out, I felt sorry for the guy. I didn’t have pity on him, i felt sorry for him b/c once again Mack Brown has made a bad decision to leave him in a position where he’s in over his head. Mack has a history of making bad decision’s with players that don’t deserve to be on the field given the options available. Garrett by all appearances is a great young man. As a father of three I feel bad for his dad and the despair Garrett must feel. I’m sure at some point Saturday night or early Sunday Gilbert senior showed up and let him know how proud he is of him and the two can turn this into a postive. Mack thinks he’s doing these kids a favor by stubbornly holding on to nothing more than hope. Some bench time last year may have help Gilbert coming in to this year. We’ll never know though b/c Mack can’t see the forrest through the trees sometimes.

Thanks for a poignant and much-needed post.

I’m an Aggie but have enough good Longhorn friends that I end up watching many Texas games. Just as many of you seem to encounter rude Aggie fans, I inevitably end up having to avoid similar Texas fans. However, I know that at each university (every university, I’m sure) there are rude idiots alongside respectful, loyal fans. Just a salute to a blog and a group of readers that seem to understand sportsmanship, enjoying the game, and respecting the players who put it all on the line every Saturday. Cheers -

The boos really frustrated me. I actually did the “quiet the crowd down” thing a la madden and holler don’t boo – mainly got looked at like I was crazy. Seems to be a visceral reaction to the guy…..and this was in the heart of the alumni section.

First and foremost, thanks Scipio for saying this and saying it with authoritah. The insight and analysis of this blog makes it always worthwhile, but tempering the analysis with the ‘We are FANS’ approach makes it my favorite, despite fairly regular reachability issues. I would add that Scipio’s points apply to Blake Gideon, Trey Allen and anyone else who dons an orange-and-white uniform.

Second, I’ll admit to the bias of being one who was really rooting for Gilbert to pull through, both last year and this year. Those two things said, I figure this is as good a thread as any to don my tinfoil hat again..

My theory, which admittedly seems in conflict with a number of posts above, is that coach Brown never wanted Gilbert to play this year. Hell, I don’t think he wanted to play Gilbert last year, at least not from the second half of KSU and on. Go back and re-watch (re-listen, re-read, whatever) his comments after KSU and you’ll see the same caginess that he showed before Rice this year. He was willing to be “normal coach Brown” and go into Clintonian detail (all these numbers!) about any number of positions but with QB it was “you’ll need to ask (coach Davis/Harsin).” He desperately, it seemed, wanted to talk about anything — even re-a-fucking-lignment — other than QB.

So, in 20 years when some authoritative biography is written of coach Brown, I think the chapters dedicated to 2010-11 will show that coach Brown wanted to play McCoy at KSU last year, wanted McCoy to finish the rest of last year’s debacle, and wanted McCoy to win the competition this summer. Whether because he will forever associate Gilbert with failure, because he “promised” the McCoy family something and doesn’t want to violate that promise, because he (like many in the fanbase) has enduring faith in the intangible magic that seems to follow the McCoys, or because of some other reason, I think he wanted Gilbert out. And more than any other single factor, I think that’s what broke Gilbert, what had him continually push to succeed, even as he was terrified to fail.

To be clear, I don’t blame coach Brown for this; obviously having a professional opinion about his players is clearly part of his very-well-paid job. But, while I’ve thankfully never been in this position, if I worked for a boss who liked me OK, but whose boss’s boss (or boss’s boss’s boss) really didn’t want me there, it would (a) become very clear over time, and (b) likely get into my head as well.

/tinfoil

Longhorn Scott,

That was not my intention, I agree with you they are a temper tantrum and the player(s) will always feel they are directed at them. The point blending muddled my message!

50 Years, coaches shouldn’t be listening to the fans, anyway, ever.

In a professional league, maybe, but not on the collegiate level. If a change needs to be made at any position, the coach should make it because he thinks it needs to be made. The second he starts listening to the backseat drivers, he deserves to lose his job.

I would intellectually disagree with the decision, were he to make it, but if Mack were to decide to put Gilbert back in charge as a “screw you” to everyone who booed, he would have my respect.

That having been said, if a fan really wants to get the coach’s attention, said fan could always vote with his/her pocketbook. I’m sure either a) your donations would be gladly accepted, or b) if you yank your donation and/or ticket purchases, someone else would gladly fill your influence void.

I think it’s hilarious that the booers are upset that Scipio criticized them. How dare he? He doesn’t know them! He doesn’t understand their situation!

Irony.

Well said and thank you! Our players bleed orange burn wth a competitive fire that most people can’t even comprehend.

WE DON’T BOO OUR PLAYERS. (PLEASE NOTICE PERIOD AT END OF PREVIOUS SENTENCE).

I also am of the opinion that some of you are bit bit wordy in expressing yourselves.

This might be the year when we actually give the staff the benefit of the doubt we they said they would play the players they needed to play to win. It looks like that is exactly what happened Saturday night. I might have been painful to watch (no kidding dasmithjones, ya think?) but maybe that brick by brick thing is more than just a catchy season motivational thing.

for me, personally and professionally, I don’t ever say anything about someone that I wouldn’t say directly to their face. And I wouldn’t ever go up to anyone and tell them that they’re doing a shitty job. criticism, even constructive criticism, is all about packaging. and antagonistically addressing an individual is just not my style. so I don’t boo our guys.

all this said, the psyche of longhorn nation right now is so fragile. and for better or for worse, our “brand” is huge. we’ve got a bunch of people on the bandwagon that are in it for different reasons than most of the people on this site. for me, this doesn’t justify booing GG, but it’s reality.

so in sum, while I wouldn’t advocate booing any of our guys — including the coaches — I can’t say I was too surprised. are our fans spoiled? entitled? used to winning? yes on all levels. but that doesn’t make it right.

twitter accounts from our players very promptly threw the booing fans under the bus (see Garrett Porter and Trey Hopkins). Henry Melton called our fans “the worst fans in the big 12” last summer on the twitter. so the actions of the booing fans — fairweather or not — are unfortunate and do affect the players on some level.

“We are as flawed as any fan base but there’s a big difference between recognizing that and resigning ourselves to it.”
Longhorn Scott

I understand the thought that we should not resign ourselves to it, but you might as well try ceasing the tide from coming in or the sun from rising in the East. For every person who reads this blog or subscribes to other UT forums in the stadium there are at least 5-10 who don’t, and won’t care a lick for all the soapboxing on boo birds. This ,unfortunately, is the direction our populace is headed, and it would have happened in Lincoln, Collie Station, or pick your self righteous better fan than you filled stadium.

We can fight the good fight, but if GG is reinserted into the lineup and starts GGing again the boo birds will make an another appearance. And then we can try the lecturing routine again. And again when it happens in 3-4 years. It’s not right, just inevitable.

Very well said. It’s not surprising that 20% of the crowd were childish and acted like 50% of the Ohio State fan base. We have an overly entitled somewhat football ignorant fan base but more than most places most of our fans have a fundamental sense of decency. Our percentage of low lives is still significantly lower than the jackass percentage of the general populace.

It is funny that someone brought up Henry melton. It is on this very site that the term “twinkle toes” and “ballerina running back” were coined to described his running style.

Of course insults to players are deplorable now but when it makes for good blogging fodder it’s all good. If you believe insulting a player is morally wrong then it is wrong all fo the time, every time.

And it is wrong to go after a player with insults and that includes opposing players if we are going to be fair and consistent.

I appreciate Scip’s thoughtful post, but the pile-on of self-righteousness in the comments is a bit much to bear. In any case, a few points:
- Despite many in our fanbase being obsessed with “good fans”, which teams have “good fans” and what constitutes a “good fan”, a decent number are not that bright and/or do not know how to behave in a stadium. Case in point: making almost as much noise on a key 3rd down play when we had the ball as when BYU was on offense.
- The idea that “I PAID MY MONEY, I DO WHAT I WANT” is ridiculous, whether it comes from a moron on a talk show or the head coach. It’s a hassle for me to go to the bathroom during halftime, so since I paid my $85, I’m just going to whip it out right in section 1, row 11 and cut loose there, okay? If you are older than 15 and don’t yet understand that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to do it, or should do it, best of luck in the future. You’re going to need it.
- Building up your fanbase and encouraging their heavy investment emotionally, financially and otherwise can have negative, as well as positive, repercussions.
- My personal frustration was with Mack, and to some degree, the other coaches. What I was most frustrated by was that they put Gilbert into a horrible position where he became the brunt of the fans’ ire, both by putting him back into the game before his 2nd interception, then making a poor playcall (granted, we have the benefit of hindsight).

IMO Mack talking about the booing wasn’t an attempt to deflect anything of off GG; it was not just getting ahead of a question but setting the agenda for the discussion of the next few days, and in turn deflecting the criticism off of his and his coaches’ decisions. What frustrates me most about this is Mack putting GG into a position — repeatedly — where he’s subject to this nasty atmosphere. I’m not trying to excuse anybody’s behavior, but focusing on the boos alone ignores why they’re happening, and it runs a lot deeper than “some people have no class.”

It’s worth noting that, one on one, “GiGi” could kick anyone’s ass on this anonymous meeting place. He’s a big, strong dude and (I suspect) many of us are flabby “internet experts” at football…

Bully for you, ScipioTex. I am in 100% agreement. I was really disappointed to hear our fans booing Gilbert. What are we, Arkansas? I haven’t heard the Land Thieves boo their QB, either, and back when I could afford the time and $$$ to go to Texas-OU, those savages were always the ones setting new lows for classy behavior.

Gilbert is doing the best he can, and we need to be supportive. If Ash or McCoy is to be the man, we’ll support him.

And I always favor intelligent discourse over poorly thought-out diatribes. Thanks for reiterating how we wish to conduct ourselves. I am also a BC fan because I feel like I am actually enlightened (and entertained) by reading this site.

I feel really bad for Gilbert, and his family. The fans should not have booed on Saturday. Unfortunately, I think Mack and especially Greg Davis set him up to fail last year, especially at the Kansas State game. I’m not sure if undoing that damage will be easy or even possible at this point. Rightly or wrongly, I think the fans were reacting to the coaching decision to leave Gilbert in and have him continue to commit turnovers in the BYU game, turning it into another Kansas State fiasco. But yes, it’s difficult to draw that distinction when it’s your son out there being booed. I do give props to the coaching staff for actually making the changes that needed to be made, although it sucks for Gilbert. I hope he can get his head together and salvage his dreams in some way.

Thanks for the post Scipio. First time post btw. I think one variable here hasn’t been considered. 80% of the people sitting in the student section were probably drunk or half way there. People say and do irrational things when the alcohol does the talking. Milksteak had the best point regarding boos, but forgot to account for the booze.

I think the only acceptable time to boo YOUR team is an obvious lack of effort. Even then, I’m on the fence. These guys are busting their ass showing alot of grit and fight. GG wants it bad and I believe is doing everything he can to get the job done. It is just not working out for him. Players can’t differentiate who the boos are directed at. Just because I pay a premium price for tickets doesn’t give me the right to voice my displeasure. Some say it does give you that right. Maybe we just have a different opinion on what it means to have some class.

The place to voice your opinion about the coaches is on the internet. I think the coaches are doing the right thing by letting this work itself out on the field. We will see in Pasadena what they have learned about getting off to a better start. Malcolm Brown is more productive than Fozzy. Hope to see more of him earlier against UCLA as well.

There is good and there is evil in this world. Some people boo individuals on their own team. Some people psychologically abuse their own children.
“You freekin’ idiot, how could you not win that geography bee. Moron!!!”
It’s just human behavior. No worries right?

Yay Garrett…you’re starting record at UT is now .500!

and Mack just said in his presser that GG was great on Saturday…so there’s that.

I was in the stands for the game and was ashamed that so many people booing were wearing the same shirt color as me. Scum.

Haha. Mack is a joke.

“and Mack just said in his presser that GG was great on Saturday…so there’s that.”

I don’t believe you.

He said he “Thought Garrett did a great job.”

http://youtu.be/Q_c7SbkGaLk

I get that he’s the mad clapper and always positive but does he think we didn’t see what happened the other night? Just say he had a rough night. You’ve already moved him to third string. We all know why!

Just heard on Sports Center that Case has been named the starter for UCLA.

It seems appropriate to me that this is happening in comments on this thread, because a lot of you guys are just silly. I’m watching the press conference and Coach Brown’s comments about Gilbert were that he “did a great job” handling himself after he came out. Was positive on the sidelines, in the locker room, didn’t pout or run and hide, etc.

Lighten up, Francis..

Savage I didn’t watch or listen to the PC, but that’s just simply not possible.

Well said. I HATE it when we boo our own guys. The only person I have ever booed at a Texas game is Scott Fisher.

Well said.

And for the record, I have attended Aggie games my entire life and have not witnessed a collective boo. If anyone is jeered with distaste it is a referee or umpire for a perceived bad call. It is never one of our players. Even as Jerrod was struggling, we did not boo. We did, however, cheer with enthusiasm when Tannehill came in and played well. I was appalled to hear the stadium boo in Austin on Saturday. I would like to continue in my hope that those who booed were not true or knowledgeable fans. So it is nice to see that the true Texas fans do not approve either. In the meantime, save your jabs at A&M for the SEC crap. We do not boo our own players.

So for those of you who find booing inappropriate, I’ll wait for the crickets to stop chirping while you explain the better way to communicate to the coaching staff that they are making a mistake.

Don’t donate to the Foundation. Write a letter to Mack – copied to Deloss.

People wonder, when did things change? Well, they haven’t to some extent.

But how have they changed? This is how. Ticket prices have skyrocketed. High D-I universities impose significant donation requirements. It’s not unreasonable to say that decent season tickets at UT cost $1,000 and up per year. Some people hiccup that, but I sure don’t.

My wife and I made it to the game on a whim and paid face for a couple of decent seats. But when you add up the gas and parking and the food, we were north of $250 for a wild 13-hour adventure. I can find a lot of things to do with $250 that more than fill my available entertainment time and budget for a month. You spend this kind of money, you want some payback. It’s largely mental — you enjoyed the experience, the weather was nice, the band was great — and you want to see the team win.

I don’t have any problem with people treating UT football like a pro team. They run a pro-style organization in every way except for one — they don’t pay the players in cash. The players willingly sign on for the deal in part because that pro-style organization offers a way to that pro level. You’re going in as a pro-in-training, using pro-style facilities and being coached by men who are being paid like pros. But the people watching you are paying like they’re watching pros. If you think you’d like to be cheered, you risk being booed. This isn’t high school, or D-II or D-III. It’s a big deal. Some people are fully invested, in more ways than one. It goes with the territory.

That said, I can’t bring myself to yell insults at a college kid. I have college kids. I know how hard they work. I’ve celebrated their successes and consoled them in failure. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a father of player who is being booed. Hearing the anger of some of the people around me just made me sad. I sympathized with Gilbert, and wondered if these people really knew how they sounded.

Pittzer, your three-point plan you be included in season ticket packets and distributed at freshman orientation.

I would be willing to lay odds that 98% of the people that booed have never played football and 99% of the men that booed live vicariously through their own sons that play pee wee football.
Another pet peeve of mine is the pooooor aggie crap at and during games with A&M. As much as we like to poke fun at them, they are still people and this sort of stuff is sophomoric and steps over the line of good taste!

Thanks, Scipio, I wish I could have said it as well as you did.

For the people celebrating the end of the Gilbert era, consider this – Gilbert had two years with Davis and now two games with Harsin. IMO he deserves a spot in the rotation, but not as a starter at this point.

Check this out and tell me he has a spot in the rotation.

http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/showthread.php/96678-BYU-was-a-good-test-for-our-offense-%28pics-included%29

I sat in the upper deck in the 80s and was as disappointed as anyone during the Dodge years. In fact, after Penders came to town I switched to BB season tickets. But I never boo’ed. You just don’t do it. But I can only imagine how Dodge stood up under that.

Fast forward to 2000. My son, who was the dead weight on his mother, trudging up those decks, is now playing for Todd Dodge. I’m pretty proud of my son. He’s a fine young man, a Marine, headed to Afghanistan for his second combat deployment next year. I’d like to think I had a role in how he turned out. But I would be an idiot to think that the lessons of perseverance, selfless leadership, dedication to a common goal, etc., that make him an effective combat leader weren’t inculcated by that very man so many felt entitled to boo. We UT fans have been blessed with a series of quarterbacks of outstanding character, of which GG is just the most recent, and certainly won’t be the last. ( Thank heavens Ryan Perilloux jilted us!) None of them deserve what happened in DKR on Saturday.

And OBTW, I refuse to sing anything other than “Give ’em hell” during the refrain of Texas Fight. I can’t pin point when either of those aberrations started, but just like booing, then reflect a coarsening of the conduct in the stadium. If you want to draw the line on juvenile behavior, you need to back up a degree or two. You can be passionate without being tacky.

Nicely said Bob.

Looks like Mack has finally made it official.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2011/09/12/mccoy_will_star.html

Thanks, Ern.

Mack said whoever has the best week of practice will start.

“McCoy and Ash are listed as "or" options as starter. But McCoy’s name is listed first.”
AAS using this as a reason to say “McCoy will start” is par for the course.

Mack said who starts depends on the first play Harsin calls.

I hope that Gilbert finds a way to contribute to the team. Perhaps that is not as a QB. Bill Bradley was the most heralded QB recruit UT had at the time but he was pulled for a backup named James Street and never played as QB again. He did, however, have and outstanding career at safety at UT and in the NFL for many years. I hope that Gilbert can find something similar. I think Gilbert does need to find something that will make him feel better about himself. He is a gifted athlete.

I was saying boourns.

Also worth mentioning for those who missed the link: MB will start, too. So will Dorsey and Goodwin, and Goodwin’s now listed as 1st kick returner.

Accountability and reward for good play. Awesome.

If y’all trip on that mountaintop it will be a long-ass fall.

Tough to booster for a billion dollar TV network while tuition sky rockets and then not treat it like a pro franchise. List the professors who make more than Mack (which I am cool with, by the way).

Booing the coach is OK with me. Heckling our players is not. Easy as that.

I’ve never booed at DKR but I did chant MAJOR along with a lot of Texas Stadium at the ‘01 B12 Champ. Game. Pretty sure I’d do it again…even earlier.

I think we can all agree that if we stop calling for the early deaths of our starting quarterbacks then the terrorists have already won.
P.S. Only someone with a titanium spine would have the courage to say that.

I said this on another post, but I’ve changed my stance a bit.

I admit up front, I booed lustily and loudly on Saturday. I know when I did it too. Right after Ash called a timeout as the play clock was winding down, as Gilbert was trotting back out. I booed before the 2nd INT, because we’d pulled a QB who’d just led us on our 2 or 3 biggest offensive plays of the game to that point, in favor of a guy who was something like 1 of 5. If you’d asked me at the time, I’d have said my boos were directed at the coaches, for making that decision, and I still feel that way.

I just made myself read every comment on this post, and I don’t know how I feel about booing at this point. I feel like booing a guy that made $1 Million bucks per victory last year is probably ok, and I still feel kinda justified about booing that moment on Saturday, and for one reason. Texas at Kansas State, 2010, FIVE FRIGGIN’ INTERCEPTIONS. Oh, and the lame ass excuse that followed: The backup wasn’t properly warmed up.

I haven’t said a bad word about Gilbert, and I don’t intend to. He hasn’t run over a member of my family, caused the deterioration of my 401(k), or anything else to me personally. That being said, he does not give us the best chance to win any of our remaining games. So I hope he has excellent success in his future career. He should probably give Matt Nordgren a call, as that guy is making a career of doing nothing but pulling serious ass in Dallas. (My wife makes me watch this crap on TV, one of the things I didn’t know about marriage being that I’m obligated to at least be in the room while she watches crappy TV.)

Scip, there’s a difference between an idiot poster saying something stupid or classless on a game thread, and fans booing a substandard product on the field. There just is. That being said, I think this post was well-articulated, and well timed. I’ve been going to games at DKR for a long time. I’ve never seen a sign that says “Don’t boo”, but if that’s the rule, I’ll follow it going forward.

While I don’t mind where the thread has gone, I’d just like to point out that the word “booing” isn’t in Scipio’s post one time. He’s addressing guys like RS who come to BC sites and crap insults toward 20-year-olds on community property like some kind of self-appointed boot camp instructor.

I don’t boo the team but I’m not the world’s best fan either. I would gladly sit down before the first score if I could see the game otherwise. I’ve left early during blowouts. So I won’t cast stones over that. But going on popular fan sites and player-trolling is different. There’s nothing ambiguous about the target and that shit is published where a simple Google will bring it up on pages one or two.

One final peeve: people who call GG “Squinty” or something like that. That usage has taken off lately – a caller on the radio postgame show even used it – and it DRIVES ME NUTS. You know who squints? Tom Effin’ Landry. Who else? Clint Effin’ Eastwood. Squinting is what badasses do just before they beat you down with a lead pipe. Insult FAIL.

Well said, Scipio. Sets a good tone for this forum and keeps me interested. And I approve of SSR50’s message.

TexanNick,

Exactly. I feel that there is a line but simple booing does not cross that line. Attacking a family member in the stands, yelling non sport related insults at the player also cross the line. But booing in general at a horrible performance just does not draw my ire.

These players CHOSE to play football while in college. No one forced this on them.

The booing and deifying of these players are two sides of the same coin. The fanaticism that causes deification also causes the booing.

There is a line but mere booing doesn’t even approach crossing that line.

Good education Mr. Scipio. Think the guy is a great guy, seems affable and tries to roll with the punches. Thought Connor was a good guy too but things don’t always work out. Thought it was awesome that other programs thought highly enough of our recruits to give them a shot even after losing eligibility. I have never and will never boo my team. Ever. And if this was even a possibility, I’d stay home.

Newy25 said:

September 12th, 2011 at 9:01 am

Of course insults to players are deplorable now but when it makes for good blogging fodder it’s all good. If you believe insulting a player is morally wrong then it is wrong all fo the time, every time.

Amen, brother.

It reminds me of the adage, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

While I don’t mind where the thread has gone, I’d just like to point out that the word "booing" isn’t in Scipio’s post one time.

Yes, it is. And not just one time either.

Football is the most mentally and physically demanding sport. It challenges your will, your stamina and your character. It requires you to push beyond what you thought were your limits. Any player in a major college program has done this for years to earn a place on the team.
Every player who walks on the field deserves our respect for all that they have endured and achieved. They should not be booed.

Garrett Gilbert has demonstrated all of these characteristics during his time at Texas and at Lake Travis. He has achieved more than the vast majority who play this game. Garrett is a model player. Sometimes, in spite of our best efforts, things don’t work out. It’s not always clear why, but it happens.

The next time Garrett Gilbert steps on the field, I hope the crowd greets him with applause. He deserves it.

This article is terrible. I believe more fans boo’d to say “Hey Mack, put in someone else” rather than to try and make him cry. Seriously, he stares down EVERY WR hes throws the ball to.

On the subject of booing, one of the more baseless and infuriating attacks on VY in Tennessee was that he couldn’t handle booing by the crowd or adversity on the field because he was “coddled” at Texas. I’ve always thought that was crap, and that the “failures” of some high profile Longhorns in the NFL had more to do with the situations and coaching that they were put into, rather than any kid gloves handling that might have occurred at Texas. Nor could I understand in the NFL why a coach WOULDN’T coddle his starting QB, if that’s what it takes to get the best out of them.

I mean, if Mack Brown can lose something like 3 or 4 games with VY, by supporting his player, having his back, and protecting him from bad situations… is it more on Mack for not instilling some internal resiliency, or the NFL coach who can’t figure out how to make it work?

Joetx – fine, I missed a couple. Two mentions to be precise, in an obvious context of talking about people’s behavior in BC comments where booing isn’t literally an issue. Still the takeaway from this post hopefully won’t be stuff about booing at the stadium but more about how people behave on this site.

Scipio puts it this way in a later comment:

“As for the boo birds – go with your conscience. I don’t necessarily equate that with the personal attacks (emphasis mine), but I think it’s weak and I’ll always think so. It’s our team. Those are our players. The guy you’re booing is 20. Enjoy.”

The conversation about booing at the stadium is a fine one, and worth having. I’m just pointing out that the original thrust of the message is about personal attacks on players in BC comments and that’s worth repeating.

I bet it was those dicks from the bachelor party at the tailgate that boo’ed first.

Just heard it again on 1300. Mack said “I thought Garrett did a great job and he will continue to work to try to get his job back.” Nothing about dealing with boos. Mack thinks we’re all stupid.

Format fail. Tried to emphasize “I don’t necessarily equate that with personal attacks”.

Point being, I think a lot of people who booed (or think it was OK to boo) at the game are feeling defensive b/c they’re concerned that the full force of vehemence is being directed at them, because the discussion veered off so hard onto the booing thing. But the number one object of scorn here is (and I think should be) the people who player-troll in comments. The booing issue touched a bigger nerve but hopefully it’s not all that people remember from this exchange.

I am not a Greg Davis fan, but to blame him for Simms and Gilbert’s shortcomings means you have to give him much credit for VY and Colt’s awesomeness. Truth is…some guys have what it takes to succeed at a high level and others struggle when they face more complicated defenses.

As for the boo’s “helping” the coaches pull Gilbert earlier…Ugh! What an ignorant self-important statement. I coached for several years and am now an official and I can tell you the exact opposite is true. You don’t think Mack realizes Gilbert is playing terribly until he hears your drunken boos from the stands? I promise you that nobody here wants to win more than he does. Did you see his reaction on the sideline at the end of the BYU game? Trust me, he has had many sleepless nights over last season. I, for one, remember the half-filled stadiums and mediocre teams that were our reality before he came to Austin. I don’t always agree with his decisions, but I know enough from personal experience to understand that I am working without all of the information. I trust Mack to consider everything and make the right decision. He helped to give me the greatest sports memory of my life (2005 championship) and I know he has one more in him.

K-State. Kid loss it all in that game. Five picks and they still put him back in. He gave up hope after that. It was bloody child abuse. On the plus side, he’s got a free education. I still owe money on my tuition.

I would go easy on the trusting Mack to make all the decisions bit. He’s had a number of meltdown games, not just losses, but epic meltdowns where he couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag. And lets not forget that much of the change from this past offseason was forced upon him.

Insert all the great things he’s done and how he’s forgotten more football in the last 30 seconds than I’ve ever known comment here. I agree, but he’s far from the greatest in game decision maker in the game.

I’m pretty sure that when MB said GG did a great job, he was talking about helping Ash & McCoy with reads & what the D was doing.

I’m not saying that. I’m just tired of his passive aggressive act of trying to make us all feel like assholes that know nothing about what we’re seeing on the field.

txsa,

I sure hope GG is never consulted on reads and he had no clue what the D was doing!

Not completely off-the-wall:

(Assuming this isn’t against the latest version of NC2A rules…)

Since one of Gilbert’s biggest problems is watching his (apparently one-and-only) receiver all the way until his release, it seems like if we could do something to keep his eyes hidden, we should do it. I’m not a big fan of the plastic visor/shade – whatever they’re called – and that’d have to be tinted to do any good, which reduces your own vision, too. But I’ve noticed various lycra/spandex type outfits going back to Blue Man days that have a full head coverage which obviously can be seen through reasonably well, while giving no hint of eye direction… if that’s a legal bit of uniform, we might want to invest in some – or at least in some burnt orange panty hose for him to pull over his head (maybe leg rather than crotch, tho’). Maybe it’d have a sort of Dr. Bronner’s pin-hole glasses effect too (if you’ve ever tried ’em, you know they work, if the pinholes are small enough and spaced right). Regardless of any other benefit, at least no one could tell if he was squinting at the sideline call…

“Mack . . . is basically becoming a senile old has-been.”

Irony? Poo-runny?

And without even listening to the quote. Way to go.

Why boo when you can horse laugh?

Whoop!

Tough, don’t feed the trolls, it only makes them come out from under the bridge, asnd then you have to look at them, too…

This is the worst article I’ve ever read. BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Thanks, Scip! I was one of the first to post my disdain for the boo birds on the game thread.

They are always going to rationalize their behavior. Thay did it in 20001 when we were a very good team playing for the Big 12 championship, and they’re doing it now using the 5-7 season and the tired" we were booing the coaches" theme. In fact, A guy who first stated that on the game thread as a rebuttal now admits he wasn’t even in the stands. I wonder how he knew?

I was in the stands and they weren’t just coming from the student section. They were coming from mouthbreathers sitting close to me and a lot of it was from fat cats in the UT Club seats one rowabove me in Section 30 on the East Side. They were booing Garret Gilbert. It wasn’t at all difficult to deduce, as their simultaneously insults to him were be being spewed forth. I was as pissed as the next person about him being put in aftet the second INT, but I never booed and I never will. Anyone who does needs to get help, IMO.

Speaking of banning, does poo have compromising pictures of the mods? Not that it would be hard to get them, from what I’ve seen you guys post about each other (insert smiley face here), but for God’s sake—-why is that twisted sonofabitch still lurking about?

The situation is a very interesting paradox as it is not “just a game”. A game in monopoly, canasta, or Yahtzee and doesn’t require you to pay a damn sizable chunk of change to watch.

College sports are just another variation of the entertainment industry and here is where the rub comes in for me. Gilbert and the other players on that field for the most part were recruited to play at whatever school they attend and are only compensated by their schooling (Try to be very basic here.). So if my neighbor is asked to be part of the local community theatre and I only have to pay a minimal price to see the play then I agree I should curtail my frustration with the cast and crew if the play isn’t very good.

What if however, the play is directed by a famous director, the cast is still amateurs, and I am asked to pay On-Broadway prices to attend, the director is compensated in reality a ridiculous amount of money for “community theatre”, and the production isn’t very good. Is it poor form to express my displeasure during the production?

 I agree that booing college kids is never good and to make GG the focus of the displeasure isn’t proper. Mack and his staff earn more than 99% of the America, to purchase season tickets basically requires an annual PSL, and it was quite apparent that when Ash and later McCoy entered the game the other offensive players responded in a completely different manner.

Well Said. I was one of thousands of fans who was yelling at my TV when I saw Gilbert come back in after he clearly was underperforming, to say the least. But not once did I ever utter a negative word about Gilbert, the coaches, maybe. I know how it feels to be the QB in the game and have an absolute horrific night. I felt the wait of the world on my shoulders and I gave every ounce of my effort so not to let my teammates down or the fans. And this was just high school. I can only imagine how Gilbert felt in front of 100,000+ fans and a national TV audience. I know people boo at mostly coaching decisions or bad ref calls but as a player, you feel those boos are meant for you. I felt bad for Gilbert and I hope the young man overcomes this adversity.

If DKR seems like a professional environment it’s because UT has taken all the college pagentry out of game day. Does the band even play anymore? I’m sure when they do it’s brought to you by Taco Bell or UFCU.

I’ll boo all that shit!

Savage Henry,

You didn’t hear the Longhorn Band cover “Welcome to the Jungle” Saturday night?

A lot of us booed that piece of shit aggy that cheap shotted Colt. Should we feel bad about that? He’s just a little college kid.

Yes, I’m joking.

DO’B

Exactly.

Bobby – Sure, every coach has their weak areas. Does Mack “baby” his players a little much and is slow on the trigger to change personnel? Probably, but I know our guys are well-prepared for their bowl games and before last year, he averaged 10 wins per season. He absolutely changed the way Texas football is perceived around the country. Name me a coach that hasn’t screwed up some games and I will show you a guy who hasn’t coached for very long.

Gilbert could do no wrong and his 4-turnover performance in the Bama game was an aberration because, you know, he had one scoring drive and looked great throwing to Shipley.

Now it’s like that sentiment never existed.

While I support Scip’s thesis that fans shouldn’t boo the home team, this is actually being blown a little out of proportion. I would guess the number of people booing might have been 5% and as I said before, the majority were students. There was a lot of grumbling going on, however.

I drive 320 miles one way to attend every Longhorn home game. I spend two nights each weekend in a hotel, eat out every meal, and own as much Longhorn merchandise as anyone. I donate to the foundation and buy six tickets. I pay ridiculous amounts for drinks at the Alumni Center and the games. I think I invest enough in the program to express that Mack’s coddling of certain players after 14 years is getting “really, really” old. I didn’t boo but I was plenty pissed when he trotted Gilbert back out there after the second interception. I was far from alone.

We all know that writing letters is a complete waste of time. That just allows Joe Jamail to belittle you as a $200 fan who doesn’t deserve to have an opinion. They wipe their ass on those letters and send you a form letter thanking you for your support. So, perhaps as unseemly as it might appear, the fans’ dissatisfaction with the status quo needed to be heard. And fuck Mack in the ass if he’s too stubborn or arrogant to get the message.

Can you boo the coaches? How about the play calling?

If UT fan sees UTQuarterback trotting back on the field after another interception – what do we do? Clap politely? Remain silent?

It is a sporting event after all. It is a bunch of young adults some who weigh over 300 pounds running into each other with a lot of force and power.

So, it may be low-class to boo, but it is what fans do. It is what they have always done and what they will always do.

IMO, Gilbert’s defining positive attribute is physical toughness and a willingness to take on the violence of the game without squinting.

The band has been removed from the student section and placed in the end zone, where it is not nearly as loud as in olden days.

The environment is highly professionalized, and it’s not a good feeling.

I don’t care much for the giant tv screen in the south ez, and I sure as hell don’t care for the blaring adverts on it – one of the purposes of which seems to be to distract the crowd during the incessant game interruptions for adverts on home tv. If the soccer football world had this going on, there would be (even more) blood in the streets. Seeing the red-shirted dipshit with the fluorescent sleeve come out on the field after a turn-over, to halt the game for commercials, is enough to raise the bloodpressure into the thousands.

And what’s this bullshit about “professional cameras not allowed”? We’ve made taking of pictures a commercial right? Fuck me, wait until games start being broadcast in 3D, and you’ll all have to wear an eyepatch to prevent unlicensed stereo viewing. I gotta admit, I smuggled in a couple of bottles of water – there is a use for cargo pants, after all. Should I feel remorse for preventing a poor concessionaire from making $12 on my two pints of water?

“Sorry, sir, hats are not allowed through the gate. Yes, sir, I relaize it’s a Noon kickoff and the temperature is 108. You can buy a hat at the souvenir stands. Your hat? You can toss it in that pile and it will probably still be here after the game, or you can check it for $6 plus tip.”

I’d bet, the most outspoken, mean-spirited “fans” crucifying Gilbert’s mistakes, would crumble with one-tenth of the criticism and pressure Gilbert is asked to perform under.

Fans that boo players will always get a smile and a nod from me.

It was a beautiful fall evening in 1981 when I dropped back to pass. Just as my slot slot receiver was breaking over the middle behind a linebacker, I let it fly but was creamed from my blindside and never saw where the ball landed. While being slammed to the turf, all I could think about was please do not let that be an interception. I do not want to hear it from my dad , neighbors, and whoever else wanted to jump on the bandwagon saying “what were you thinking when you let that one go?” As I lay on the ground, I could not see out of my left eye. I thought, this dude hit me so hard that I am now blind in my left eye. My left tackle picks me up and says for the third time “sorry man, I can’t stop this guy”. The reason I could not see out of my left eye was because my helmet had turned to the right, my facemask was over my right ear, my right eye was looking through the left ear hole, and my left eye was blocked by the helmet. As I am fixing my helmet and beginning to focus on things more than five yards away, my ears are ringing, the left side of my body is still numb, I see my wide receiver trotting towards the huddle with the next play. It is now 3rd and nine and I am praying for a draw or a screen, because if it is not, in the next 30 seconds I will be looking out of my earhole again. Here we go – strong right – XY cross – T drag – on 2 – on 2 – ready – break. Ohhhhhhhh Shiiiiit

Fans that boo players will always get smile and a nod from me because I know they did not have the guts to put on the pads and give up your mind and body on every play like Garrett Gilbert does. These kind of fans are the ones that were in the chess club in high school. The next time you are at DKR and you start to boo the Texas players, look around and see who is smiling and nodding at you. Now you will know why. Checkmate.

The beast that took away my manhood that beautiful fall evening in 1981 was a future starting DE at The University of Texas. His name is James Mckinney. He will never be forgotten, by me.

Hook ’em

Our fans were dispicable on Saturday.

And predictably, everybody is coming out of the woodwork now to pronounce their “Classiness and Longhorn Fandom”.

What a damn embarrassment.

Here you go, Savage Henry.

“All three quarterbacks handled the situation well. I thought Garrett [Gilbert] was unbelievable on the sideline after he came out. It’s a very difficult situation when there’s a change at quarterback, and he was the biggest cheerleader. He was in the dressing room. He was on the sideline, and all he wants is for Texas to win, and I thought Case [McCoy] and David [Ash] responded well to the substitution of going back and forth. So I thought they did a good job.”

More SH, and I think this is what you heard:

“On the QB depth chart: The thing that we feel is we have to have a depth chart for you guys on Monday, but it’ll really be fluid, and whoever practices the best this week will start. We felt like Case and David are listed eitheror on the depth chart, or that’s the way it should be. I haven’t seen it. And it would also depend, if those two practice well, which one goes in the game based on the play that Bryan would start the game with because they have packages for each other. But we thought Case did a good job on the final drive for sure to lead to points. We thought David still brings that different dimension. I thought Garrett did a great job, and what Garrett will do is compete again like he has throughout this competition to go back and try to get his job back. And while he’s doing that, I’m sure he’ll be pulling for the other guys. That’s the type of young man he is.”

On booing…

I don’t really see why 18-21 year olds are considered old enough to enjoy the adulation and benefit from the applause but are unfit to handle the boos. In life, the good comes with the bad, and college is for nothing if not learning life’s lessons. Seems hypocritical to criticize Mack for mollycoddling his players and then to do the same thing. Not arguing that anyone <i<should boo, necessarily…Just trying to understand the logic.

But an honest question for Scip and any others: What is the appropriate method of expressing your disgust with the coaches’ decision? Or is there no appropriate method of doing that?

When Mack Brown instructs people to come early, be lound, wear orange, stay late, he’s asking people to come participate. Come invest.

What person in their right mind comes to participate and/or invest, but only does so on the terms that no one’s feelings are ever hurt or that only agreement is allowed, not disagreement?

To me, this is the football beast. It is what it is. You don’t get all the girls, all the glory, all the love, without 100,000 screaming maniacs who are entirely too focused on what you do and don’t do. And part and parcel with that is that sometimes they boo.

Seems to me like the idea of the non-booing, passionate, loud college crowd is rooted in bygone traditions like leather helmets, segregated teams, and other ideas whose time has come and gone.

But again, I return to my question: Is there any acceptable way for a “fan” to let the highly-paid coaches know how dissatisfied they are that doesn’t run the risk of hurting feelings?

What if players’ feelings are hurt when no one shows up to the game? Is that okay?

I hereby pledge to never again refer to Greg Gilbert as the shortened, feminine version of first and last name initials. It dawned on me not as I read Scip’s treatise, but as I read the incessant “piling on” by a number of posters during the BYU-UT Open Thread, primarily Facebook User.

It was as more and more of the piling on of GG continued — many by posters who I have rarely seen on BC — that I realized why I’m so addicted to this site. It’s NOT the typical “Fill-In-The Blank SUCKS!” crap that many sites deteriorate into.

I have nothing more to add to the excellent posts by many above, at least the ones who’ve addressed what, to me, is the main thrust of Scips’s missive and why I seek the Crown’s mercy: The perspective of this blog is critical – skillful judgement, not blind carping – but if you can’t do it with intelligence, a sense of humor, and some measure of respect for the players representing Texas who are doing it right, move on.

Nordberg,

Your second quote is the one I was referring to.

Cut the “I bet people who boo never played the game!” crap. It’s about as useful the “I bet Gilbert could kick anybody who boos’ ass!” stuff. Also, you seem to conveniently miss your tacit approval that if somebody has played the game (to satisfy whatever subjective criteria you’ve established), it’s fine for them to boo.

Scip, I get what you’re saying, and why, and I agree a hundred percent with you. Booing Gilbert is NOT going to make him a better quarterback, or get a more desired outcome when he’s on the field. That being said, there’s a part of me that says, unfortunately, you’re preaching to the choir here. I’d like to believe that all of those who posted here that they’d never boo a UT player…wouldn’t.

It’s fine to love your favorite team, UT, agricultural, okie or whoever. It’s okay to identify with that team, as long as that doesn’t go too far. However, there are those out there who let the team, including UT, identify them so strongly that they see it somehow that a player has not lived up to their (usually unrealistic) expectations, so has no value, no feelings, and it’s okay to boo him mercilessly. They take it personally that Gilbert throws an interception, gets confused making his reads, or doesn’t jump up and down and make locker room speeches to the team. They’re as wrong as can be, but unfortunately, every fanbase has people like that.

I don’t know Garrett Gilbert, but by all accounts, he’s a standup person, and he’s more than proved his toughness after the year he went through last year. I seriously doubt ANYONE feels worse than he does that he hasn’t been this “savior” so many thought he’d be. People talk about the “it” quality, and maybe Garrett Gilbert doesn’t have “it”…so what…that doesn’t make him a failure to anyone except the people he does NOT have to justify himself to. Gilbert isn’t the first UT player not to meet expectations, nor will he be the last.

I will repeat that UT doesn’t have a monopoly on misguided so-called fans that gang up on players who don’t excel, but that doesn’t make it right. Gilbert has represented the university to the best he can, and he deserves respect and understanding for what’s happening to him right now. You’ll never be able to shut up the pathetic folks that somehow enjoy kicking someone when he’s down, but I ABSOLUTELY agree with restricting their bilge on BC.

I don’t know if Gilbert reads BC, or any other blog. If he does, I hope he knows that there are those of us who consider ourselves Horn fans that appreciate him, and the work he’s done for UT, no matter what happens from this point on.

I think it’s hilarious that the booers are upset that Scipio criticized them. How dare he? He doesn’t know them! He doesn’t understand their situation!

Irony.

+1

Last winter I jumped down the throat of a regular poster at another Longhorn site who wrote as though personally affronted by one of our recruits. There’s a fine line between the joy of appraising a team and its prospects based on its talents and circumstantial weaknesses and the fantasy thinking that comes from losing touch with the errancy rate of one’s own judgment.

When you can’t welcome a 16/17 y/o player onto the team because in your opinion he was fourth best, not one of the two best in the state, your ego has over-inflated, particularly when you pulled the same rant over the choice of, say, Vaccaro, a couple of years earlier.

Here is my reasons why I think booing is okay. As a current film major and director I’ve learned that no matter how much you like a film or how good you feel about your video, someone will hate it and it might even actually suck! Well when that happens you get the critics jumping down your throat saying how bad you are. Those bad reviews and ratings to me are the equivalent of getting booed. When that happens I don’t want pity cause either I will still believe in my product or I need to improve my craft. To me its the same thing in football people boo because they wanted to say that the play of the team (especially QB in this case) wasn’t that good. Not only that but people weren’t really booing Gilbert, they were booing Mack’s decision for playing a QB who was obviously struggling and in my opinion should never have been given the starting role this year at least out right.
Yeah GG is probably a good guy, yeah he tried hard, yeah I’m not gonna go up to him in person and boo him cause that is booing the person not booing the performance, but he still played bad! At Texas it is an expectation to win every game. In order to do that you can’t baby guys by trying to avoid rocking the boat by putting Ash or Case in to see who plays better on game day.
You can call me a jerk or whatever other word choices you have but for me I’m comfortable and fine with my decision to boo Mack Brown’s decision to keep Gilbert in as long as he did.

I think, when you feel the need to boo a 20 year old college kid, who is trying hard, it is best consider if you were his mom or dad sitting in the stands and how you would feel.
If you still feel it is OK to boo then you are simply a chickenshit!

The only time I’ve ever felt like booing was in last years ucla game when a certain safety talked shit to one of their players after a tackle. He’d been burned and trucked all day. I was laughing too hard to boo.

Now the question is, Will Gilbert stay a Longhorn or will he move on? He is tough and he played hard. The toughest decision of his young football career is just up ahead. If he had the Redshirt year, things may have worked out better for him. In hind sight Mack should have made Sharrod Harris the starter and brought GG along like he is doing Ash. Instead Harris saw the writing on the was and bowed out of football. Look at it this way, Garrett Gilbert may have turned this teams fortunes around, Mack kept him at QB and got rid of Greg Davis.

Well put. I haven’t been to a game at DKR recently, but from what I’ve seen watching on TV (and the Fiesta bowl I was at in person a few years back) is that there’s a healthy handful of people wearing burnt orange that do nothing to dispel the myth of entitled, self-righteous prick Longhorn Fans. Booing one of our own is the pinnacle of this sort of douchiness. I would expect this out of a USC fan, but not a true Longhorn.

On a completely off-topic note, would somebody please find the asshole that sits below the press box and whistles like a bird with Tourrete’s and rip his goddam lips off? Two games in a row now the one-note wonder has been driving me and my dog nuts (poor bastard has whiplash).

@Curly

Really, a chess club insult??? Let me tell what my observations are on boo-birds at UT games. I see plenty of red-faced, overweight, formerly big men with high school class rings still on their hands who stand up and yell belligerently. Trust me, not ex-chess club folks…these are the same older guys that show up at pee-wee/junior high/high school games and yell at the refs, other parents and kids.

So if you think it’s “nerds” that are the ones boooing because the pursuit of football puts us all under a band of brotherhood, I think you’re flat wrong.

You ever see those indignant individuals at the Erwin Center that stand up after a bad call and jut their chests. You think chess club folks learn that behavior from politely clapping at silent tournaments.

I’d say it’s the opposite. People who are overly invested in sports are usually ex-jocks trying to relive their glory days through kids.

“poo said: September 12th, 2011 at 2:29 pm

because you touch yourself, jake, you self-righteous loon.

"i was one of the first to post my disdain for the boos…"

really? wow. good job, bro! want a cookie?"

Damn, Purg, is that you? I guess you got released from the looney bin again. So wonderful to have you back. Katy Agnor sends her fondest regards.

Now don’t forget those meds, you adorable little physcho.

Kissy, kiss, kiss!

Well said. I was disgusted and embarrassed by the actions of many of our fans the other night. It was completely unnecessary and ridiculous.

Like many others have said, he is a guy that has been a Longhorn all of his life, wanted nothing more than to be at UT, took all of that crap thrown at him last year in stride, by all accounts is a great kid but then he gets that sort of treatment.

He wasn’t effective, but you know what, I hope one day he redeems himself.

NVRFRGT63-

Tell your son we appreciate the sacrifices he makes for our country. We are proud of him and await his safe return. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers. Hooah and Hoorah!

I might boo, but not for something like this. If I had been in Boise the night Blount melted down, or if I had seen Brandon Spikes eye-gouging a guy in a dogpile, I might—MIGHT—have considered booing. But to boo a guy who’s put his neck on the block for Texas? Anyone who boos such a kid really doesn’t get it. Some fans fool themselves into thinking they’re contributing members of a program, but guys like Garrett Gilbert are fans who actually contributed, even if they didn’t make the impact most of us fans would’ve wanted.

Thanks for saying it, Scip.

If you don’t do your job correctly, they change you, the downsize you, they fire you. They don’t “boo” you though. The article is right, he doesn’t deserve to be boo-ed, he is OUR player, he is a Texas player, he is part of the team, he is good, he is doing his best… but his best is not good enough, and he doesn’t deserve to play. And that’s where I think the article misses the point. He is a Texas player, right; But that doesn’t mean that he is untouchable. Last Saturday’s game was completely different from the first half to the second half, and the only thing changing was Gilbert. He is a Texas player, and we should respect him. But he (or mainly Mack Brown) needs to realize that, as a team player, if he wants the best for the team, then his place is in the side line right now, and not on the field.

Don’t feel sorry for Gilbert. He’s a strapping white lad in a white man’s world with a full ride to an excellent university for playing a silly game where guys run around smashing into each other. And please spare me the “crushed dreams” melodrama. Your projection betrays your own miserable life and your pity insults him. For all you know his dad had a little football inserted into his mom’s uterus that the boy’s been dragging around all his fucking life when all he really ever wanted to do was DANCE!

To boo or not to boo. You shouldn’t boo amateurs, you can boo professionals. Where does a scholarship athlete fit? You do pay to watch him play and those funds are distributed to him in the form of a free ride a top university… Also, there are lots of professional sportsmen and women aged <20. For better or worse responsibility comes at a far younger age.

On a different tangent, people put the blame for last year's O at anywhere between 50% and 90% GDGD's fault. He got canned. Does Gilbert's performance this year indicate in the all-world scheme of Harsin mean that GDGD wasn't actually as bad as was made out?

Booing is stupid and low class. Isn’t it understandable, though? Hell, your own site contributors have been doing the slobbering boogie on David Ash’s meat whistle all freaking off season. At worst, you guys have been priming the pump.

I haven’t booed him and never will boo a Horn. That said, I’m glad he was pulled.

I want Bergeron to get more snaps—he’s earned ‘em. I read so many reports about our defensive players not wanting to tackle him in fall camp. Sounds good to me. Good write-up, Scip, but Gilbert’s got it much better than I had it in college. Booing won’t kill him—a tour in Afghanistan might, but not booing.

I’m frankly shocked at the moral outrage toward booing.

Like y’all lay your coats down over puddles for ladies and draw weapons at 50 paces.

It’s booing! BFD!

Well said bevosbackside and Scipio. I was one of the countless fans desiring a quarterback change, but I’m glad I was not one of the countless others booing a kid playing the game he loves as hard as he can.

Hook ’em.

Thank you! I went to HS with Gilbert and he was amazing in HS. I wish he would be able to do the same in college. But I have been a Texas fan all my life and I am ashamed at how the fans are reacting.
Thanks for speaking out!

Hook’ Em!

How do you destroy a star QB? Send him to Texas and let Mac Brown and Greg Davis coach him! Then have the same coaches throw him under the bus for any problem on the team! UT wants a McCoy/Ship show – Ash better look out – he’ll be booed next. Gilbert should have transferred long ago. Woods was very wise. I have taken down my Longhorn flag as long as Mac is Coach!

JL,

It’s Wood not Woods and Mack not Mac. You were a fan for how long?

This is an eye opening experience. You fuckers justifiying your booing are idiots. Please go root for OU or Texas A&M.

I didn’t realize we had so many mouthbreathers for fans. Holy shit.

Amen, and amen. I wish half the booers would read Scip’s post, but if you’re dumb enough to boo, you’re dumb enough to not read BC.

To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.

Thanks Scip, you said it all.

Scipio, one of the best pieces you have ever written. Thanks.

I still mancrush me some Jake Lonergan!

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