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What's up with the silent treatment???

Frank, recruiting wise? Has ISU even been out recruiting? They are always a day late....and this year is going to be worse....How are they going to get players to come into a program like ISU? They have a losing program and they give their current players nothing....What did the players receive for their sacrifice....They should have received something for the $1,000,000.00 they put in the ATHLETIC FUND. That may have something to do with the MORALE!
 
(post edited because I didn't get at what GBO was referencing until most recent post...apologies for being shortsighted there)

Anyways...

Recruiting wise, we need to hit California and the Midwest and the South; those areas combined have literally millions of recruits that want to play somewhere. Hell if our rugby club can lure away people from Alabama, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Colorado, why not football?

Morale is lower than hell because the team isn't playing like a real unit, nobody knows what they're doing, nobody has a vision of where we want to be in 5 years and we lack unity; we have terrible chemistry and we can't seem to convert our chemistry to alchemy (turning nothing into something really good, like base lead into gold).
 
The two money games that THE PLAYERS played against Oklahoma and ASU brought $1,000,000.00 into THE ATHLETIC FUND NOT THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM. The players receive nothing for being sent to the slaughter house. Does not boost morale. Don't get me started on recruiting Idaho players...Go tell AJ Storms, Dustin Tew, Josh Hill or Kelvin Krosch they aren't viable recruits (I'd love to have more players just like them).
 
Big Orange, have you forgotten that we have other teams that need money? Jesus H Christ. They need money too, so they can maintain the good momentum built up for the past 3-4 years
 
Then send the other teams to the slaughter house also, superfan...Don't leave it up to the Football players to save all the programs!
 
GBO- didn't the coaches get brand new headsets and a new video system with footballs cut from the money games? That stuff costs quite a bit and is necessary for the players. They need to watch film, get the plays during games, etc. How they are used makes them a worthwhile investment for the program. And that could be debated.

The reality is that money games a necessary evil at this level. Athletic depts don't turn profits and these games provide a shot in the arm. No more whining about them. Everyone in the Sky (except montana) plays them. Nau is playing two this year, I'm sure there are others that have to as well. The key is how you play those games. Playing our starters the whole game like zam has dumbfoundedly done, is stupid. Everyone not redshirting should play. Starters maybe a quarter, the rest finish it all off. Save your players. That's how you treat them right GBO. You stop banging your head into the brick wall. You may eventually get through but there is an easier way around the way.

S.I.D.- if zamphony is going to change how he does things why has it taken him 3 years to realize it? Do those changes mean getting rid of his lame duck d coord (and not just changing his title and keeping him on staff)? Does it mean changing the way he deals with injured players? Does it mean he will become a figure head coach like bobby b., hire a staff actually qualified to coach d1 fb and just stay outta the way? Does it mean surgically repairing another hip and suiting up himself (thàta boy blue)? Does this plan of his involve him resigning after destroying the last shred of confidence/hope/desire for bengal football in the community, while leading the program down a rabbit hole (under the disguise of being tough) to the worst it and possibly any 1aa team has ever been?
 
Just a point, but I won't respond to non-serious questions. Again, I will state that he has addressed certain problems, ones he, or anyone, would have been hard pressed to deal with when not knowing if he was returning to the head coaching position. His two-year contract gives him a chance to implement some things and ideas.

I do not think making fun of a surgically repaired hip is very funny...he's battled the flu for several weeks, are you going to make fun of that too?

Everyone talks about how great this last recruiting class was, and by in large it was very, very good, and that was after a 1-11 year. Don't underestimate the power of the new locker room on recruits, nor the draw of potentially playing as freshmen. John and his staff have shown over the last two years that they can recruit very well.

I do know he won't please everybody, because Montana is 8-0 and their fans still bitch and whine, which is unfathomable to me, but I digress.

Again, I know that he has identified trouble areas in the program, and he is working on fixing them, and some of those changes cannot be made during the season.

Also yes, the football team did get some of the money from their road games, and they bought tons of new video and computer equipment, and new sideline headphone sets that they can now travel. Both things weren't cheap, and both are first class. Our other programs have also benefited as well, and those coaches have gone out of their way to thank Coach Z. for the games, as has the administration.

ISUSID
 
So SID the assistant AD, why comment and say that he has a plan if you aren't going to say anything about it. Sounds to me like you're acting exactly like what sparticus likes to call a TROLL. Posting inside info that only you are priveleged to. Why mention something and then say that you can't say anything? We all know that he'll probably make some changes.

Don't get me wrong SID, you work very hard at your job. But your job isn't on this board. With the exception of the hip question, those are viable questions. And if I was going to say anything about the flu. I'm sure there are lots of people battling the flu, not just zamberphon. I'm glad you stick up for him, but what about all the players that weren't given flu shots while some 'others' were? That's what I would say if I were going to bring up the flu.

But I guess that now that I've ruffled yours and the staffs feathers, you'll try to find me and try to blackball me because I bring up a different viewpoint. Oops I talked about that too... My bad.
 
One of the danger signs for any program, in my opinion, is apathy. When you step back, look at the body of work by the Football program in '08 and thus far in '09, there really is not a lot to get excited about - very few games in which ISU has been competitive. The football program has not shown any consistency in getting better week-to-week. At this point, I'm more concerned about the lack of improvement than I am about the win-loss column.
 
GOBIGORANGE said:
Then send the other teams to the slaughter house also, superfan...Don't leave it up to the Football players to save all the programs!
Click to expand...

Sorry GBO, it doesn't work that way. Football is supposed to be the vanguard of the athletic program. They bear the burden of bringing in the money for themselves and the other teams. It's not fantasy, it's how things work. Wonder why Texas A&M can afford to give lavish upgrades to their basketball teams? Football. Why Florida can suddenly raise basketball contenders? Football. There are exceptions to this rule, such as Duke, who's basketball programs (men and women's) and soccer program bear the burden of bringing in money for the rest of their teams. But it's essentially the same thing. The football program is our money maker (at least, it's supposed to be), and because we're only a 1-AA school in a small area, they will always be in the unfortunate position of having to play slaughterhouse games. It's how it works, Big Orange.

Besides, I don't think soccer plays money games. There are tournaments they go to so they can compete for money, but that's it I think (Frank check that for me). It's the same with Volleyball. Also, volleyball and soccer are usually playing a mean road stretch to start the season, and are away more than they are home. If you don't think that's hard, I suggest you try it. I know, because rugby usually only has 1 or 2 home games in the spring out of a schedule of 8 or 9.
 
Last post on this, but I don't blackball anything. I'm just letting folks know that John isn't sitting around thinking everything is rosy, as it seems to get portrayed here. I was just letting folks know that. I could tell you all the things John and I talk about, but then I'd either lose the trust we have built up, or get fired.

I would also say that calling John zambaphony or whatever isn't helping any arguments, especially when you go by a screen name. Just saying you guys should keep it civil. I can't, and don't want to do anything about bitching here...I'm just saying that he knows there are deficiencies and is working at correcting them.

I will again state that I am a fan as well...so i like visiting here....voice of the fan thing. Just chillax a bit...sheesh. OK, back to work...

ISUSID

EDIT: i should add as the guy paid to write about this team, no one except John is more tired of losing than I am....just saying.
 
Sure I think that we can all point the finger at Zamberlin and staff for not getting the job done as of yet. But I think we need to accept some of the blame ourselves for not providing the facilities and resources that they need to be more competitive. With our facilities the way they are it would be difficult for any staff to win more games. The state of Idaho can't give us one penny for facilities, unlike states like New Mexico and Wyoming. And so it's up to all of us to pitch in and help out. And I know there's plenty of middle class, lower-middle class and unemployed people here that don't have a lot of money to give, and they can just give what they can -- and that's fine. But there's got to be some alums, fans, boosters and former players with a little money that can help the cause. The new lockers are fine and when we get a new turf soon that will help recruiting quite a bit, but we've got a ways to go, if we want to continue with our committment to eventually provide competitive football teams at the 1-AA level. I know that our recruiting budget as been cut, and that's a shame, because we're going to have to continue to recruit a lot more out of state players, unlike teams like EWU and Sac St., because you only have so many Idaho players that are good enough to play at this level. Larry Lewis had said that it's a big recruiting advantage to be able to fly the kids into Pocatello on recruiting trips, rather than just flying them into Salt Lake. And it's about $200 extra round-trip to be able to fly a kid into Pocatello instead of SLC, if they're flying a kid in from southern California or Portland. So if we were able to raise another $20,000 or so just to fly kids into Pocatello on recruiting trips, then something like this could pay big dividends.

Also thanks Frank, I'm relieved to hear that Coach Z is going to make some important and drastic changes in the off-season and employ different recruiting tactics, etc. -- he'll announce those when the time comes. Because I'm glad he's not happy with the way things are and he's willing to make some drastic changes to ensure that we can eventually field some competitive football teams.
 
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