Monday, March 12, 2007

It's Been Quite a While

I see that San Diego Steve has created quite a stir as he has pushed the page views of the blog today to well over 500. Give him credit, the guy can get a reaction out of everyone if he wants to. I actually would like to branch off of what San Diego Steve has said and go in a little different direction today. After reading all of the responses to Steve's blog I began to think about the idea of being able to say what you want to on a board such as The Barkboard or the Blue Turf Board. Sometimes people seem to take offense to what is said regardless if it is personal or not. I have strong personal feelings about the way a board should be run. I have felt since the day I began posting that a board is public and as long as you don't go on a cussing tirade or put anyone down specifically you should be able to say exactly how you feel. Today Steve made some comments that may or may not have been true. Of course the Boise fans took offense to it while many Fresno State fans did as well. Here is what bothers me: Steve is only one person. He does not represent all of Fresno and never will.

If you were to go to the Barkboard and read the responses to what Steve has posted you would think that Boise fans feel Steve's voice is the one voice in Fresno that counts. I on the other hand do not feel like Steve's voice counts for any of us aside himself, hence the point of the blog. Steve did exactly what the blog is intended to do and he garnered interest when the blog had slown down a bit. MDG and I have not had time to post on here regularly and we needed someone to step in and help out for the time being. So although his post created quite a stir I want to thank Steve for stepping in and giving the readers some material to stew over.

At the same time another aspect I wanted to cover is that of the Fresno-Boise rivalry. What Steve did is great in this sense because really we have gotten along far too well for two teams that want to rival one another. It is fine to support one another out of conference but during conference play there seemed to be a love fest going on between the Dogs and Donks, something that truly makes me feel ill. We should not be sitting here praising you for everything your program has done, but instead we should be envious and want what Boise has done. I mean that is exactly how a rivalry is formed, either that or an intense hatred for one another like the Dogs and Hawaii have. My point is that Fresno State and Boise State will not be friends in the years to come. There is going to be far too many fans that are like I am who will not enjoy watching Boise beat the Dogs anymore. In the past years Fresno State has taken a back seat to the success of the small school from Idaho and the fans should not enjoy that regardless if it happens once or ten times in a row (that one is for you San Jose State fans).

Fresno State and Boise State have a chance to give the WAC something it is starving for: A rivalry that the entire conference would look forward to seeing. As fans it is our job to help build that rivalry between the two schools. No, I don't think we should fight or anything of that sort but what is the harm in throwing jabs at one another during the off-season? I feel like the Dogs and Donks should be getting on each other's nerves right now. Do you think Florida and Florida State are enjoying one another's boards at this moment. I would venture to guess that the two schools don't get along very well with respect to fan base.

As I mentioned in a post on the Barkboard the Dogs need to make a run in this series. The Dogs need to find out how to break through against the Broncos. If the DOgs can run off three in a row sometime in the future this series is right back to square one and a rivalry will have the chance to be born. You can't tell me as WAC fans you do not want to see two perennial top 25 teams take on one another on the field of play. Not only will it be good for the WAC but in terms of the national picture it will only give the winning team that much more of a chance to play in a BCS game come January and that is something we all want to see as WAC fans.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Boise St. coaching staff has abig advantage over the Fresno St. staff. And it all starts at the top. It has been proven time and time again.

Anonymous said...

Smack is one thing. Posting unsubstantiated anonymous claims of malfeasance at a public university conducted by public employees is quite another. It's like yelling fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire.

Say Boise State sucks. Whine about the coaching, the luck, the scheduling, whatever. But when one of your past board admins calls the NCAA Coach of the Year Petersen and NCAA Board of Directors member Gene Bleymaier cheaters, that is another thing altogether.

Anonymous said...

oyhftnI quite agree: unless one is able and willing to back it up, posts like these are cheap, worthless, and desperate-sounding.

On the other hand, if you've got the "goods," then share! We are all waiting.

Steve Burnes

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