...and I took BYU. Stoops seems to have reached out to these kids. Very inspired effort I watched last night. I was surprised at the team speed they showed. Congrats Rick!
Thanks, AJ! Speed was the difference in the game. BYU's secondary just couldn't keep up with the WRs. On defense, the decision to put eight on the line and either swarm the RB or pressure Hall paid off. The Cats did give up some plays in the secondary as a result, but for the most part they were able to contain the Cougars. BYU made some uncharacteristic mistakes on offense, mostly the result of being pressured. Man, ten years is a long time.
And the last being against who?... 8) BTW, What a hard poppin' game that was. I can still here some of those hits.
I took the Cats, so I can offer congrats and still feel good about it Rick... something about Stoops is bothering me lately.. He constantly keeps referring to all the troubling times he has had, and how much he has been through... I understand that he had a rough go of it getting some of Macko's kids out of the program, but I can't find too many recent articles without this guy making some sort of reference to his 'troubling ordeal.' Is that rubbing any of you Catfans the wrong way?
You'd have to figure he was referring to how hard it was to get the team finally turned. He was on the hot seat in 2007 and got off to a bad start. This year was his 1st over .500 in both overall record and Pac10 record. I'm sure he probably has taken his share of shots from the Az media and fans and those are the tough times.
I haven't really seen anything like that, Corey, so I'm not sure. Stoops might well be referring to his own struggles learning how to be a head coach, specifically reigning in his emotions. He's certainly had issues with that, and he's apparently learned that his volatile nature in the past could have a detrimental impact on his coaches and players. Quite a few players have complimented him on being more supportive and even-tempered this year.
Rick, It is nothing too big. It's mostly small references like this From the ESPN/AP recap of the game He just seems, to me at least, to make references about them a lot. If he has struggled with gaining control of his emotions, venting publicly about your struggles really isn't a good way to show progress I dunno, to each their own. I'd just as soon see him give all praise to the kids and leave himself out of it. I really hope you guys keep him (from a pac10 standpoint) because I believe he has you going in the right direction after that ESPN idiot ruined all that Tomey had built.
I did see that, but that's really the only instance that I can recall. Some might view it as being self-effacing. The bowl appearance - and particularly the win - has been very cathartic for Arizona and its fans, but the coach and the players are the ones that put in all of the work and they're the ones that feel the sting of losing moreso than anyone else. They should be the happiest with what they've achieved. If the coach takes a minute for self-reflection after what has been a wrenching, five-year ordeal, so be it. I'm more concerned with the winning and less concerned with post-game style points.
Well said, Rick. A true blue (and red) fan with common sense. A rare commodity in the world of Notre Dame football. Perhaps you could conduct an internet clinic for hand-wringing ND fans on the topic of "Common Sense Fandom." :lol:
Rick, I'm with ya. I'm just more concerned about him bolting on you guys. He's done well at Arizona. Picking up the pieces from the "Mack attack" couldn't have been an easy job at all.