Phrasing things when the pitchforks are already out

One of the things that’s always bothered me when reading comments on sports articles/blogs/haikus on bathroom stalls is when people rag on previous posters for not being real fans.  "True Hawkeye* fans always support their team no matter what, and your** not a real fan if you don’t."  This is faulty logic at best.  Never say someone is a fair-weather fan when they question the coaches.  This is frustration venting, and a true fan questions things when they're going badly, not blindly accepts them.  True fans have a deep emotional investment to their team, and usually a financial one as well.  Venting, like praising when things are going well, is the only way that a fan has of showing their emotions.  We can’t call up the coach and ask why he’s rolling a left handed quarterback to the right or not running the ball more.  But we can vent to other fans.  While it may not do any actual good, it feels like we’re involved.  Like we have a hand in making things better.  Sure, it sometimes leads to unintended consequences (Ask Gopher fans if they want Glen Mason back), but it’s a way of supporting the team.

That being said, when Kirk says that you don’t just "fire four people, and assume everything’s going to be fine" he is completely correct.  That isn’t the solution.  But right now we have two groups screaming at each other, one saying that KOK at least must be tarred, feathered and run out of town, and the other saying that he made us great in the past, it’ll happen again.  This is the time that I want to Kirk to play PR guy and try to calm the mob, bring both sides together on the common ground that the team is what we care about.

What this whole situation feels like to me, and this may be the worst analogy ever, is that there’s a dead body in the room, and the coaching staff are cops.  Kirk looks at us and says, well, I’m not going to punish my guys just because somebody got killed.  There hasn’t been much crime around here recently, it’s not their fault.

Fine.  I understand that.  It’s a very logical thing to say.  But as bystanders, we’re all standing around calling for heads to roll because it happened or calling for patience to let the professionals do their job, the fact remains...

WE’RE ALL LOOKING AT THE FUCKING BODY!

We can see the body, and we’re scared.  We want action or reassurance.  At least something that seems like one of those so we can all relax.

This is what I’d like to hear Kirk say.  Look, this season...and most of last season...weren’t good.  I know that.  I’m the coach and it’s ultimately my responsibility.  We’re not going to make any knee jerk decisions.  That’s not good for the team, and throwing new things at the players when they’re already struggling isn’t going to help them, it’s just going to confuse them.  Making changes to our house right now in the middle of the season hurts the team and the future.  I’m not going to do it.  When the season is over, we’re going to spend a lot of time looking at what we have, and what’s happened.  We’re going to decide what’s best for the team and we’re going to make our decisions based on that to make this team successful next year.   Now we’re going to prepare to win next weeks game.

This is what I’d like to hear.  Lots of "team", "we" and "win".  Nothing that suggests individuality or that everybody isn’t on the same page.  Acceptance that we’re not where we want to be but we’re planning to get there.   Look, there’s no shame in rebuilding if there seems to be promise in the future.  We’ve had our share of lousy seasons not that long ago.  The drop off has been steep and sudden, all we’re looking for reassurance that it’s only temporary.

*Insert your team here if not the Hawks.  It works for everybody

**Obligatory misuse of grammar in blogs.   I’ve always been partial to "Your an idiot."  But feel free to use your own favorite.