I was gone for several years and when I came back to these forums two forums, were hardly being used. The lounge was only being occupied by someone named Swampgas where he would make posts that no one responded to, and the recruiting forum where the newest post was three months old. Now there's all kinds of discussion going on in both.

I know the sunshine pumpers would love to have a forum where it was all sunshine pumpers with no one being critical of jobs coaches and players were doing. They had it but no one had anything to say because everyone agreed. There was no debate on anything which I'm sure became boring, so they quit coming to the forum except to see if anyone committed. I can see the SP's point that the constant negativity can really drag a person down, but they haven't been able to differentiate between constructive criticism, discussion about an action, or funding decisions by the university from just being down on everything. Someone always needs to be the Devil's advocate on issues.

We critics, I believe, have legitimate concerns most of the time, and speaking for myself I would like to hear something that might encourage me rather than the bumper sticker responses like "Haters gonna hate," "Just trust the coaches," "It's a long way til signing day," "Well the Eeyores are back." It appears to us like you can't give us any evidence to show our concerns are overstated.

I understand that it's not helpful to be constantly negative, and I hope the Sunshine Pumpers understand that trying to belittle those who have a negative comment doesn't help either. I'm going to try to do a better job of sharing in the good news when it's presented, and I hope when I ask the question "Why" the SP's will take the time to explain. It is my hope that the SP's will not be so quick to be dismissive of those concerns, and will try to explain why you're feeling positive about a situation. You know, have a discussion.

I fully admit I haven't been the best at that, and I take full responsibility for my actions.