A Bit Confused Over The Hate

[UltimateBengal]

This thread caught my attention and got me to log on for the first time in awhile. I have been avoiding message boards altogether for the past few months because they can be so consumed with such utter hatred and at times, pure ignorance. Take for example my own teams message boards. Even though we won and clinched a playoff birth, instead of being happy, many are still calling for the head coach to be replaced!

[tanda10506]

Originally Posted by plenewken

It is precisely because we have watched great Steelers teams for years that we have a hard time accepting the fact that they have fallen so low. If it was due to lack of talent, it would be a good reason but it's mostly because of lack of effort, poor attitude, lack of discipline, no focus, and terrible management (coaching).
After 15 games this season, I will say that besides 2 games (in Baltimore and in NY), the 13 others have been been garbage.

I hope the Rooneys see the writing on the wall and act quickly and swiftly. Some players don't deserve to wear a Steelers jersey and others need to have their @ss kicked before they're allowed to wear it again.
The entire Coaching staff has also to be held accountable for this debacle.

I completely agree. You don't see Raiders fans all pissed because they suck again, or the Panthers, or the Browns, etc., yet we are and your reason is exactly that as you said, we've seen how good we can be, yet stupidity, laziness, and poor coaching has dropped us to a damn near bottom feeder level. That's not to say we're a bottom feeder team, I'm definitely not saying that, but we're 7-8 and have lost to nearly every bottom feeding team we played.

[Steelers5895]

this team never had "it" this year. no key plays at key moments. no big plays on defense. no real comeback wins and several fourth quarter/ OT loses. way too many turnovers, way too many penalties, not many splash plays.

this team was undisciplined all year and the fact we were on the cusp on the playoffs was a miracle. between poor play and injuries it tells me this team can be great but needs to fix a few things.

[jiminpa]

Originally Posted by steve314

The economic argument for NFL teams is interesting. The more loyal the fans are, the less (economic) incentive there is for the team to actually improve. If some owner knew that he would sell out the stadium every week and sell plenty of merchandise despite going 7-9 or 8-8 or 9-7 every year, what's the economic incentive to improve the team? (Of course some owners have pride in the team and want to be good regardless of economics.)

Not saying that everyone should think of the NFL only as a business, but the NFL sure thinks of itself that way these days, so perhaps settling for a subpar product is unwise.

Of course this doesn't necessarily apply to the Steelers ownership. We'll see what happens going forward.

And it is easy to be spoiled as a Steeler fan with all their success. On the other hand, it's been a long time since I first sat through the Steelers losing to a crap team. One of the first ones I remember was the first ever game vs the Jaguars, back in 1995 (a crap expansion team that ended up 4-12)--yes, the Steelers managed to lose to a horrible expansion team. So this frustration with sloppy play, dropped passes, timeouts wasted in the 3rd quarter, and in general playing down to the competition goes back a long time.

I lived in jacksonville at the time, and that really was their whole entire season to them.

[jiminpa]

Originally Posted by Darkstorm05

The entire second half of the season the forum was swamped with people saying the Steelers don't deserve a playoff spot, or even that they don't want the Steelers in the playoffs. Now that we're eliminated, these people have their wish, yet they aren't happy. Instead they're mostly on here attacking fans who preferred to cheer for the team to win.

I don't really understand this mentality. You got the record you hoped for this season. Shouldn't you be celebrating this, since it's what you professed to want? Instead, just more bitching, but now aiming the hate at other fans.

Not me. I wanted it, even when it became obvious that the team, (or some players anyway--BR), didn't. Even without corners the defense came to play though. Too bad the head coach and quarterback were so heavily vested in a bad season. I hope the ownship was watching who was competing and who wasn't.

[jiminpa]

Originally Posted by Steelers5895

this team never had "it" this year. no key plays at key moments. no big plays on defense. no real comeback wins and several fourth quarter/ OT loses. way too many turnovers, way too many penalties, not many splash plays.

this team was undisciplined all year and the fact we were on the cusp on the playoffs was a miracle. between poor play and injuries it tells me this team can be great but needs to fix a few things.

I disagree about the defense. They didn't gamble much, and just shut the other teams down once they found their rhythm. If the offense had stepped up the defense wouldn't have needed to gamble...and special teams...I highly doubt Tomlin will ever address our game-changing special ed teams.

[steeltheone]

Originally Posted by Fire Arians

never 'hoped' they would miss the playoffs, I'd never say that, never wish for a loss ever, even if it's the final game of the season and a loss would gain us the #1 pick in the draft.

with that said, I was a realist and didn't think this was a playoff caliber team after losing to SD. championship teams sometimes drop 1, maybe 2 games to weak competition, but not 4. I knew something was up with the team and knew they wouldn't be getting anywhere. with that said, I hope we win next week against cleveland, because getting swept by the browns would be the ultimate low

Exactly.....to be honest on the present state or outlook of the team is not hate....I hope we win every game too, but i just knew deep down we would not beat both Cincy and Cleveland in consecutive weeks.

[DoctorCAD]

Frustration with "cheerleaders" that could not see the obviously horrid coaching and playcalling.

Really, how many 9 yard deep hand-offs did we have this year. Can't blame that on Ben...

[Killer]

The same haters than ran Arians out of town are now crying for another scapegoat.

[TRH]

Originally Posted by steeltheone

Exactly.....to be honest on the present state or outlook of the team is not hate....I hope we win every game too, but i just knew deep down we would not beat both Cincy and Cleveland in consecutive weeks.

i completely agree. Being honest and knowing we're just not that good and making mental mistakes over and over and over, and then calling this team out as a team that isn't playoff caliber - isn't "hate". Not at all.
It's seeing it for what it really is. We're just not that good. Simple. They shouldn't be in the playoffs.