We’re all bummed about how the Syracuse Orange football season has fallen from grace since the big upset over Clemson. That’s obvious.
Chief among the disappointed is SU coach Dino Babers, who wants you to know exactly who to point the finger at for the current state of unrest among the fan base, and the program’s drop over the final half of the year...
Babers says community (believe he means media) needs to handle success better. Says there are steps to success.
— chris carlson (@ccarlsononSU) November 20, 2017
Syracuse.com’s Chris Carlson later provided a little bit more on the full statement from Babers. While you can debate whether or not the coach is talking just about media or about the wider community (which includes the media), it’s tough to see this as anything but some passing of the buck and truly twisted logic about success.
Here's the full Dino Babers quote about how the community handled the early-season success, for anyone who is curious. pic.twitter.com/PO5GxZyTov
— chris carlson (@ccarlsononSU) November 20, 2017
Now, it’s one thing to blame media for over-hype and the fans for getting too excited about one win. We were worried this could happen, while also buying the hype ourselves.
BUT: Dino Babers courted this environment mid-year, and now suddenly seems unhappy with the result.
Brent Axe pointed this out as well -- the national interviews for a week after the game showed he was happy to take the praise. We were happy to give it to him for that win to. I still am, to be honest. And many others are as well.
To me, this is insane logic by Babers, and logic that fails to acknowledge everyone’s part in this. As we’ve mentioned before, positive stories and results drive more reader engagement for media and the numbers back that up. We’re all anxious for a winner, and when we thought we saw one, we were happy to praise that fact.
National media did the same, so this isn’t something only the Syracuse community is “guilty” of. Everyone was ready to buy SU as resurgent. Babers was on the short list of potential Florida hires for a hot second. THINK ABOUT THAT.
This isn’t to hammer Babers or his job or tenure or the state of the program. You’d be hard-pressed to find a member of the Syracuse-specific media who’s negative about Babers (self included), and that seems to be the problem -- according to the coach. We’re too positive. You have too much faith.
No, we’re not in “get out of the car” territory, but we’re close. Babers asked us for belief without evidence. He provided some evidence and we believed. Apparently it wasn’t enough evidence, though, and he wants us to wait for more.
I’m willing to wait, but the jump to conclusions isn’t the reason this team’s lost four straight in increasingly frustrating fashion.
Sorry, Dino. It’s not our fault. We didn’t know.