I, for one, am still buying my season tickets next year (and every year for the foreseeable future), proudly wearing my red on Friday’s, and repping UH at work (SEC country). Everyone else should do the same.
Was there collusion on the part of the networks? Maybe. Does the Big XII look ridiculous because of this whole process? Definitely. Will UH still be competative? Absolutley!!
But nothing turns people off more than butthurt fans with a chip in their shoulder (reminds me of Texas Tech fans). Nobody, neither new fans or prospective students, wants to show up to games where fans are angry at what could have been. Be angry now, briefly, and move on.
Schools that have left the Big XII have done fine and Louisville is doing just fine as well. Cougar Nation will be okay too, as long as everyone has the same attitude and intensity we had during this whole expansion process. We have great, innovative leaders who should be trusted to lead and make the most of the next opportunity to come along.
I can’t agree that this changes nothing. Your examples of teams that left the Big XII and Louisville have one glaring difference from us: they ended up in P5 conferences. This turn of events hurts us a lot in the short term, as anything more than $3,000,000/year in TV revenues would have helped tremendously. But I’m confident it will help us in the long term. We all know the Big XII is the weakest of the P5 conferences, and the entire world (minus the Big XII presidents) know the conference just sealed its fate by failing to expand. In the last couple of weeks leading up to yesterday, I was becoming more and more convinced that our addition to the Big XII would have ended up like our addition to the Big East sooner rather than later. I, for one, would not like to go through that again.
I’m choosing to see the silver lining here. Missing out on this upgrade does hurt right now, but probably will be better for us in the long run. A little patience will likely bear that out. In the meantime, I just really hope we can hang on to Tom Herman. I’m sure there are worthy replacements out there if he leaves, but I like knowing what we have rather than guessing at what’s out there. With the culture and recruiting he has installed, I truly believe Herman can turn our football program into a dynasty of sorts. And, if he’s being honest when he says he would rather be the big fish in a little pond than a medium fish in a big pond, I like our chances of keeping him. He knows he has a better chance of going to NY6 bowls every year here than anywhere else out there. For a guy who loves winning, don’t discount that piece of this puzzle.
You can all form your own opinions, but I would encourage you to hang in there. Keep buying season tickets and wearing red. It’s fun to be engaged and proud of your team, no matter their circumstances. Life is short, so enjoy the things you can enjoy and don’t sweat the things you can’t control. And that concludes my feel good PSA for now. Go Coogs!
Well, this changes nothing for me personally. I will still buy my season tickets, sport my UH gear, and continue to give what I can to my alma mater. I haven’t given up on the Coogs as long as they don’t give up on themselves. Go Coogs!
It’s kind of a mixed bag, what I mean, and I agree with 2002Coog, it will be a short term problem. All the team can do is keep winning, and of course keep CTH, but his staying…well, it’s out of our control. IMHO, I think CTH will stay a COOG, and continue to build on the success he’s developed here, and eventually, we’ll get into a P5, but that too is out of our control. Whichever way the wind blows, I’ll support the school and the team.