The Futon Report

Maybe here’s how I’ll run my blog from now on:

• 10 I write a post about something
• 20 You write a comment leading me somewhere awesome
• 30 I write another post about that comment
• 40 GOTO 20

This iteration of the post takes us to fan response of Gregg Brandon’s comments. Click through to also see Coach Brandon’s startling comments in return.

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Grant Cummings is the proprietor of the Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba message board and sent this e-mail to Coach Brandon following comments about the “pitiful” crowd:

To: greggb@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Cc: gachris@bgsu.edu

Dear Coach Brandon,

“That crowd was pitiful and I’m so disappointed. The fans that showed up, that’s awesome because they’re the true fans. Our kids deserve so much better than that. To be in a championship with so much on the line and [having] that kind of crowd, disgusts me,”

I didn’t “Show up” last night. My wife is 38 weeks pregnant and my grandmother just got brought home from the nursing home and is on hospice care so that she can die at home. I thought it might be nice to spend some time with them. Apparently this means I’m not a “true fan” in your eyes.

Had the circumstances been different though, I’m not sure I’d have been able to get to the game anyhow, because my company (like many others) has had layoffs recently and those of us who remain work extra hours to keep the company viable. We produce products that our customers purchase based on our reputation for quality and performance, so we have to continue to keep those levels high during lean and difficult times. This often means working late, and Fridays are no exception. When 6:15 rolled around and I was leaving work I probably could have gone down to The Doyt, but after a long 50+ hour week, I went home to my family. Sorry.

Lots of different people, Bowling Green fans all, lead lots of different lives and support Falcon athletics in lots of different ways. To generalize that anyone who wasn’t at the game last night, at 6PM on a Friday, watching your demonstrated inferior product in less-than ideal conditions, is not a “true fan” is RIDICULOUS and it alienates hundreds… THOUSANDS of TRUE Falcon Fans that have been here before you arrived… and will, thankfully, be here after you’re gone.

I’m sorry you think I let you and your players down.

Good luck against Toledo.
Grant Cummings
BGSU ‘93

And now for a spirited response from the coach:

Grant,

I will never apologize for calling out the fans. People need to understand SUPPORT. Support isn’t running a message board that is demeaning and insulting not only to me, but my coaches and players as well. I realize circumstances sometimes dictate not being able to make it to all the games. I never said any of you were not true fans. I said only the true supporters showed up. As you said, thousands of “true fans” will be here long after I’m gone and still not coming to games.

Support and winning go hand in hand. Rarely do we have one without the other- except at BGSU. For six of the last seven years we have won at BG with disappointing home game support. Granted we have struggled at home this season. However, I remember big wins at home through the years with poor crowds. I don’t schedule the games or set the times, but that shouldn’t matter. Those are excuses.

As I said in my post game remarks, our players deserve better. The UB game had championship implications. As far as our players leaving before the alma mater, that is regrettable, and it will be addressed with the team.

GB

Look, coach, I said I was sorry for not going to the game and causing our football team to lose in double-overtime. Quit dwelling on it! I’ll work on my tackling. I’ll maintain my gap assignments. I’ll run better routes. I’ll switch to decaffeinated pop. I’ll try something to turn this program around.

The players deserve better. Sure they do. But in what way: better than 13,000 fans or better than a 5-6 record with some very heavy senior experience?

Also: true fans never move away from the area and remain as townies in Bowling Green for all eternity. So if you get a sweet job with a biodiesel company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was unable to watch the game because it was on a Friday night and you had a stack of, um, biodiesel paperwork to fill out, then you’re just not a true fan, now are you?

Moral of the story: football coaches shouldn’t be allowed to check their e-mail for at least three days after a loss. It never ends well.