Okay, it’s Friday night of homecoming. Southern Miss’s Golden Eagles are coming to town tomorrow as a slight favorite to test the mettle of Steve Kragthorpe’s thus far uninspiring Louisville Cardinals.
More surprising is, a day after the rumor mills had Kragthorpe backing the moving van up to the hacienda, all is fairly quiet. Or, at least relatively so.
Trust me, I’m the last person Tom Jurich would ever ask for advice. Which doesn’t mean I’m not going to offer him some right now. Suggest a way he could calm things down, if not entirely, at least somewhat.
Fans are furious and frothing at the mouth. Mostly because of the awful play of the team and the steady decline over the period Kragthorpe has been coach. They are also pissed because they sense they who pay the freight are not being heard, or even listened to by the U of L powers that be. They feel they have been belittled simply for having the audacity to point out the emperor wears no clothes. For the most part, they dislike how Bobby Petrino has been made a scapegoat for Kraghorpe’s inadequacies. They feel ignored when they complain about the rampant drunkeness at games, the constant commercials and incessant loud, abrasive music between plays.
I think it would all temper if Jurich would simply address the situation publicly. Which he could do without throwing his current coach under the bus. He could say something like, “I’m as dissatisfied with our record as you fans are. We want to win. I hear what you the fans are saying and all remedies for the situation are being considered. I know it is not fun right now, but we intend to do the right thing so that Louisville football will prosper in the not distant future, just as it did earlier this decade. Please continue to support the team in these tough times as you have through the decades. And please be patient. We will make sure that Cardinal football is back on the map sooner rather than later.”
Or something to that effect.
Of course, there would still be carping. Of course, people will continue to swear they saw Jon Gruden moving into a new home in Prospect. Some will even continue to harass Kragthorpe and his family personally as apparently some have been doing. But the situation would calm down.
My sense is that most Louisville football fans merely want to know their complaints are being heard, and they aren’t total dumb asses for observing and expressing how bad things have gotten on the field for the Cards. Tom Jurich has it within his power to let them know that. One can only hope he sees the light before things really start to get ugly.
– Seedy K
2 Comments
An excellent analysis of the situation. You are correct in identifying the salts being rubbed into the Kragthorpe era wounds of the fans.
A simple sign that we are being heard would change the perception of many fans and alleviate some of the tension now existing between the fans and the athletic department administration.
I don’t think that’s asking all that much. It is a shame that TJ seems to think otherwise. Until hiring SK and his handling of the fall(s) of our discontent TJ has been masterful, without doubt the best AD in the country. His attempts to place blame anywhere but on SK and his stonewalling have tarnished an otherwise exemplary tenure.
Never has a coach promised so much and delivered so little (with the exception of an endless barrage of excuses) than Steve Kragthorpe. Hired to continue a solid level of success built by Howard Schnellenberger, John L. Smith, and Bobby Petrino, Kragthorpe has managed to take the work of these men and destroy it in less than 24 months.
Under Kragthorpe Louisville went from a top-10 team returning 18 starters, to a 6-6 record in 2007 and 5-7 mark in 2008.
2009 looks like 3 wins - 4 tops. Also, remember Weiss’ embarrassing loss to Big East laughing stock Syracuse? Krathorpe has two losses to the ‘Cuse during his tenure.
To add insult to injury, the Louisville athletic administration has offered every excuse possible for Kragthorpe’s failures blaming everybody from the players to Bobby Petrino. The administration has even gone so far as to blame fans for Kragthorpe’s failures, simply because they will not accept subpar football.