Generational Gap in Fan Support Question

[paindonthurtDCD]

This is true, but there was an age of people that I would guess are 50 all the way down to maybe 35ish that were constantly indoctrinated that student loan was "good debt" at the same time that going to college was no longer really a solid indication of being a good or even better than average student. Even when I was in school, I remember some guy talking about how he was going to change majors and spend an extra year and his debt would only go from like $50k to $60k or something. And he was I think changing to history or poli sci, but said it was "good debt". I thought he was stupid at the time, but even though I was reasonably smart about finances for a senior in college, I still don't think I realized what an albatross that was going to be for that guy. I'm guessing he came out and either went into teaching or went into the service industry and probably had debt that was 2.5 to 3x his income. Granted, that's not the best example because he was probably 22 when he was making this statement, but for the 18 year olds coming out of high school constantly being told student loan debt is good debt, I have some sympathy for the idiots that did things like go to Washington and Lee and get a degree in English.

Correct but my point is it wasn't a bunch of bankers just convincing the poor poor student to do it.

It was a "movement" (maybe that is a tame enough term for this crowd) that college was a must and any degree was worth it as long as you got it. It was stupid then and its stupid now.

But lets say you want to be a teacher and can't really afford college. There are ways to get it loans forgiven/paid. It requires some sacrifice (like teaching in the mississippi delta).

 

[johnson86-1]

For those that travel to Starkville often and stay at least one night in a hotel, roughly how much does that trip cost you (include tickets in that estimate)?

The reason I ask is because a reduction of in-person attendance is directly related to greater apathy for most people. I couldn’t attend for about a decade (numerous reasons). Now I’m in a season of life where it is very difficult to attend. Considering the cost to attend is not something I am used to spending, and you have a very high likelihood that I won’t attend.

It’s funny that SPS keeps me more engaged than anything else MSU related.

You could have described me to a t. I'm a little over a decade removed from attending and although I miss seeing people from college at tailgates, I can think of a lot of three day weekend trips I can do for the price of staying Friday and Saturday night in Starkville and goign to the game. Just hard to bite that bullet on picking that expense up again.

I will say I don't know that not attending has made me more apathetic. I think watching games with a group of people has kept me engaged. But what has made me more apathetic is that we haven't been fun to watch since 2017 except for a few brief stretches in Leach's tenure. Even when we were winning with defense, it was painful to watch us dump it to the running back repeatedly on 3rd and long for him to get blown up. We had two years of an incompetent head coach that wasted a great team his first year. We had three years of Leach, but one of them was basically wasted between injuries and having a true freshman QB and trying to implement the air raid. The second year actually looked decent on offense for a good number of games, with a good LT combined with Will and Polk actually resulting in a competent offense at times. Then we had another year of pain on offense although the defense at least kept us in games. Then we two 17ing times in a row hired an inexperienced head coach too arrogant to believe they might need experienced coordinators on the other side of the ball from them. So basically one year in the last 7 seasons have we looked competent on offense and defense, and three years we've looked incompetent on both sides of the ball, and are probably heading towards a fourth this year. It's really not fun doing watch parties for that and I've moved from not attending to not even watching. Really need to have somebody competent make the next hire, and if we can't get somebody competent, we need to limit them to hiring G5 head coaches because it's apparently too hard to ask coordinators if they have a plan to get an experienced coordinator on the opposite side of the ball.

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

OM leadership is hiring better coaches in athletics, not better human beings, better coaches. They have their supporters all on the same page. They don't distance themselves from organization of things like ours. We over here grabbing some OC who hired his buddy who can't coach defense and we kept all that even after seeing it. Baseball lol!
I still like the Jans hire he needs to sign players and stop signing baggage.
But our leadership treat the supporters like dog **** and don't even attempt to get things organized. They just threw everything under the single worse group, the arrogant *** BC, and told the fans to suck it! Now the fans are giving them the finger and walking away.

Again, you are talking about the last 2 to 3 years.

Their timing on Lane was favorable.

Chris Beard? Hell half of our fans would have lost it if we hired him. Admin can't change that. Their supporters are on the same page. They didn't do that.

Lebby? He was thought of as good hire when we hired him. Its been 1 year and he walked into a terrible situation. FACT.

You like the Jans hire but are whining about who he signs.

You are proving my point. We have a fan base that b1tches and whines more than anything and they don't want to support.

 

[Choctaw Dawg]

We've got to find them.

At the end of the day, Cohen and Strick were about Cohen and Strick. And let's be honest - neither were particularly stellar in the job to begin with..

I'll give Strick credit, he had the marketing thing figured out. Granted, Dak Prescott helped a lot with that, but Hail State Productions was pretty stellar under him and it seemed to die when Derek Cody left and Cohen came in.

 

[L4Dawg]

Chill man.

So forging quotes now? You are a real low life scumbag. I'm not surprised at all, very typical of your type. First a slur and then this.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Again, you are talking about the last 2 to 3 years.

Their timing on Lane was favorable.

Chris Beard? Hell half of our fans would have lost it if we hired him. Admin can't change that. Their supporters are on the same page. They didn't do that.

Lebby? He was thought of as good hire when we hired him. Its been 1 year and he walked into a terrible situation. FACT.

You like the Jans hire but are whining about who he signs.

You are proving my point. We have a fan base that b1tches and whines more than anything and they don't want to support.

I mean, my complaint was we hired unproven coaches. Lebby is that. And Beard has won NCAA games. They've passed us up man. It's easy to see.
I'm not whining, I'm saying look at NCAA and the end of season falls each year and look at the fact we again had a NIL transfer refuse to play and then we took on Kugels baggage and it didn't work out. Also, name the HS signees that Jans has here outside of Hubbard, It's nonexistent so far. We just cleared our whole bench too. Jones and Hubb and now we try to grab portal guys again. It's ok to say it hasn't been great recruiting so far. Jans the coach is ok. Jans the recruiter not so much.

 

[AttalaDawg72]

So forging quotes now? You are a real low life scumbag. I'm not surprised at all, very typical of your type. First a slur and then this.

That’s harsh

 

[L4Dawg]

That’s harsh

No it's not.

 

[AttalaDawg72]

No it's not.

Please don’t cry. I’m sorry that I’ve upset you bro.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Keith Carter is an Ole Miss alum. He's completely bought in on Ole Miss. He's probably at his dream job.

We have a resume-padding fundraiser who's looking for the next career step and has no loyalty to MSU. He's not about MSU's longterm best interests. It makes sense that he would kick the can on coaching hires because one less coaching search is one less opportunity to eff up a coaching search.

To your point, I’ll add: the recent chest-beating over funds raised for BI and big donations are hard figures one can conveniently place on that resume instead of W-L/ subjective results from your decisions.

The circle jerking over money seems insane to me when you look at the overall picture of the athletic department over the past 5-7 years.

 

[L4Dawg]

Please don’t cry. I’m sorry that I’ve upset you bro.

LOL!

 

[dorndawg]

It blows my mind thinking about this now, but I can distinctly remember taking out my first mortgage in ‘07, and the lender was literally pressing me to go ahead and take nearly 50% more because hey, you’re qualified so why not?

TBF it wouldn't have been the worst financial move if you were in that house for about 15 years or whatever (assuming you couldafford the note initially). Hindsight's always 50-50*

 

[Seinfeld]

If you had to rank college administrations with very little information, I'm not sure you could do much better than rank them in inverse order of how much the faculty dislikes the administration. You would surely miss badly on some, but I don't know what single metric would do any better.

No doubt. My mom's a lifelong State fan and past employee, and anyone that knows me knows that you do not ever besmirch her name in my presence. That said, let me just say that she sure loved her some Croom, Rick Ray, and Selmon while she doesn't have a single positive thing to say about Doc, Byrne, or Mullen.

Once in a blue moon, you get a guy like Byrne that I think was genuinely good dude, but by and large... if you're well liked in college athletics these days, I think there's pretty good chance that you're not doing the job that you should be doing

 

[beachbumdawg]

View attachment 781315

Nice consolidation of logo

probably needs to happen at a lot of places

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

I mean, my complaint was we hired unproven coaches. Lebby is that. And Beard has won NCAA games. They've passed us up man. It's easy to see.
I'm not whining, I'm saying look at NCAA and the end of season falls each year and look at the fact we again had a NIL transfer refuse to play and then we took on Kugels baggage and it didn't work out. Also, name the HS signees that Jans has here outside of Hubbard, It's nonexistent so far. We just cleared our whole bench too. Jones and Hubb and now we try to grab portal guys again. It's ok to say it hasn't been great recruiting so far. Jans the coach is ok. Jans the recruiter not so much.

Yeah you are whining.

Its cyclical. It always is. We aren't going to pass them by anymore than they are going to pass us by. They had a slightly better regular season and then made the sweet 16.

Yes that sucks but ffs. quit being a b1tch.

 

[dawgnabit]

Interesting topic and I fall into this demo. Me and my college group chat are talking about this now. I’m 31 and grew up a life long state fan. Attended state from 2012-2016 during the Dak years. I had season tickets right out of college with all my buddies and then when Covid happened we didn’t renew. We all ended up having kids and it made it harder to go back. I think one of the biggest things working against Mississippi State is the economics on Mississippi. All of my friends moved outside of MS and none of them live there. Even the ones that grew up there. Part of that is if you look at the companies recruiting state students, they all relocate them to outside the state. So it makes it harder to remain connected to campus and the city. The other factor is the cost to go back. We try to go back at least one weekend a year but we all get an AirBnb. If you do a hotel, you’re looking at $1500-2000 for a weekend family trip after you include two nights in a hotel, tickets, and food.

The other factors and this the university can help is that there is just no excitement in the university right now. Football and baseball stick. Basketball has been fun but it’s hard to invest into it financially because people don’t really make weekend trips centered around basketball like they do football and baseball. I know it sucks to compare ourselves to OM, but it is what is, but Keith Carter looks like he genuinely loves OM and fights to make them better. Cohen didn’t seem to care at all and I think Selmon does to a degree but it’s not being shown. My OM buds feel connected to school because the teams are doing good and they are participating in exciting things. and it’s simple things… OM just release their own bourbon that goes to NIL. No one at state even knows what the BI is doing now and they haven’t publicly done anything in months. They just ask us to send them money to support teams that currently suck. The administration has done nothing to stir up excitement in the fanbase and help us feel like we can connect to the university we love. I know it’s harsh to say, but what are they doing for the fans in 2025? They just lose and then ask for money.

FWIW, I did give to BI and then moved to SEF when it started so I still do give regardless of how stagnant our university feels right now

 

[AT4 Dawg]

I’m in that mid 40s group. I think there’s also a difference in how / why we support sports.

The older generation is more the “hail dear ol state” crowd that supports msu because they are loyal to the school

The younger generations live for this portal stuff. They don’t care if we have a different qb every year, life changes so fast for them that they expect it.

But us guys in the middle - we were raised to love the players. We faithfully follow Dak even if we hate the cowboys. We were more excited watching Mangum last night than anything we’ve seen on our own baseball field in almost 4 years. But college sports has changed. We’ll likely never have another Dak or Mangum… and that sucks. Everyone’s on a 1 year contract now. If I buy my son a jersey, that player will probably be at LSU or Georgia next year.

I’m better off financially than I was 10-15 years ago. That has nothing to do with it for me. I simply have less desire to follow college sports. A big part of why I loved it to begin with is gone and never coming back.

I echo this sentiment. Just a tad behind you in years but this is a good summary.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Yeah you are whining.

Its cyclical. It always is. We aren't going to pass them by anymore than they are going to pass us by. They had a slightly better regular season and then made the sweet 16.

Yes that sucks but ffs. quit being a b1tch.

Nah, but you do you internet badass. I don't waste my time on 17rs who can't even argue their stance and just want to name call etc. You blow your wad on athletics. I'll sit it out and enjoy life just the same.

 

[ETK99]

I find it weird those accusing people of bitching are the quickest ones to become childish and want to force their take on them. I'd say that's exactly what this thread is about and they proved the point of it very clearly.

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

Nah, but you do you internet badass. I don't waste my time on 17rs who can't even argue their stance and just want to name call etc. You blow your wad on athletics. I'll sit it out and enjoy life just the same.

I mean isn’t that what you are doing?
Being an internet badass saying you know more than the people who get paid lots of money?

 

[PhredPhantom]

HOGWASH. It's insane to even entertain the thought that the administration at MSU is deliberately tanking everything about the university. It's NUTS, completely bat guano crazy.

 

[AttalaDawg72]

I mean isn’t that what you are doing?
Being an internet badass saying you know more than the people who get paid lots of money?

Fellas, let’s all come together to make fun of @L4Dawg

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Our chance to move beyond our current state died with Leach.

I think this was probably when my fandom died, just that whole sequence. Coming out of the national title, I thought we were in a pretty stable place. Even with NIL and the portal hitting in July 2021, I thought we'd be alright because we had Leach for at least another decade. Howland was stale, but steady. And baseball of course was on top of the world.

From June 2022-December 2022, we sat there and watched Ole Miss dog pile, our 'leadership' push a terrible logo on us, Cohen leave us, and Leach die. What was most stunning is how our fanbase treated both Cohen and Leach, during a pretty difficult landscape with the lingering COVID effects and then of course NIL/portal.

Cohen did not leave us for Auburn. Many of our people aided in 'pushing' him out.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

I think this was probably when my fandom died, just that whole sequence. Coming out of the national title, I thought we were in a pretty stable place. Even with NIL and the portal hitting in July 2021, I thought we'd be alright because we had Leach for at least another decade. Howland was stale, but steady. And baseball of course was on top of the world.

From June 2022-December 2022, we sat there and watched Ole Miss dog pile, our 'leadership' push a terrible logo on us, Cohen leave us, and Leach die. What was most stunning is how our fanbase treated both Cohen and Leach, during a pretty difficult landscape with the lingering COVID effects and then of course NIL/portal.

Cohen did not leave us for Auburn. Many of our people aided in 'pushing' him out.

Leach wasn't staying here a decade. He had already mentioned retiring. He was likely gone in a couple years no matter what. NIL/Portal was going to really speed that up. Cohen leaving was the best thing ever! The timing was not ideal with Leach passing.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Leach wasn't staying here a decade. He had already mentioned retiring. He was likely gone in a couple years no matter what. NIL/Portal was going to really speed that up. Cohen leaving was the best thing ever! The timing was not ideal with Leach passing.

Agreed.

Cohen has a history of not keeping jobs too long.

He must have consulted with Bjork on how to move upward. And if he did, he really is the smartest man in the room.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Leach wasn't staying here a decade. He had already mentioned retiring. He was likely gone in a couple years no matter what. NIL/Portal was going to really speed that up.

It would have been a good couple years. A niche like Leach was about the only chance we have in this NIL/portal world.

Cohen leaving was the best thing ever!

Yeah things have really been great since he left, I tell ya what.

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

TBF it wouldn't have been the worst financial move if you were in that house for about 15 years or whatever (assuming you couldafford the note initially). Hindsight's always 50-50*

If you were disciplined enough to take the extra money and invest it and not touch it? sure. But 80% plus aren't that disciplined.

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

I think this was probably when my fandom died, just that whole sequence. Coming out of the national title, I thought we were in a pretty stable place. Even with NIL and the portal hitting in July 2021, I thought we'd be alright because we had Leach for at least another decade. Howland was stale, but steady. And baseball of course was on top of the world.

From June 2022-December 2022, we sat there and watched Ole Miss dog pile, our 'leadership' push a terrible logo on us, Cohen leave us, and Leach die. What was most stunning is how our fanbase treated both Cohen and Leach, during a pretty difficult landscape with the lingering COVID effects and then of course NIL/portal.

Cohen did not leave us for Auburn. Many of our people aided in 'pushing' him out.

That logo really has you butt hurt doesn't it.

And Cohen went to Keenum about getting more money. Not saying he was greedy, but auburn called. He tried to use it as leverage. Keenum said bye.

And yes a lot of our fanbase was upset with Cohen, but when you go lay down face first on the concrete to protest for George Floyd in Mississippi? Well thats on you. All he had to do was show up at the amphitheater for the speech like Keenum did. Win/win.

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

Leach wasn't staying here a decade. He had already mentioned retiring. He was likely gone in a couple years no matter what. NIL/Portal was going to really speed that up. Cohen leaving was the best thing ever! The timing was not ideal with Leach passing.

This is my point. everyone has a different opinion. I happen to agree with yours here but in this thread there are at least 10 different opinions of what to do and how to do it. But no one giving these opinions has ever actually done it. EVER.

 

[paindonthurtDCD]

Agreed.

Cohen has a history of not keeping jobs too long.

He must have consulted with Bjork on how to move upward. And if he did, he really is the smartest man in the room.

He probably got it from greg byrne who stated on a several occasions thta being somewhere for 10 years was too long. You get stagnant.

 

[The Peeper]

It would have been a good couple years. A niche like Leach was about the only chance we have in this NIL/portal world.


Yeah things have really been great since he left, I tell ya what.

GOAT, I have seen you mention "NICHE" offenses now for years, 2+ to be exact. I just used the search feature in the top right of this page and used "threads in this forum, NICHE, and OG Goat Holder" as the search terms. You have made a total of 120 posts about "NICHE offense" and how that is our key to survival. Who exactly is this NICHE coach you support and what NICHE offense does he run?

 

[The Cooterpoot]

I just want the school to value the people who are now on the hook for all this stuff. Don't 17 over everyone handling the increases and donations like they did. I was prepared to renew til they pulled the rug out from under us. They screwed things up and it's reflected in them not being able to sell tickets now. Maybe they'll listen to the fans now, because we're giving them the finger. Now fix it!

 

[L4Dawg]

Dang phone

 

[L4Dawg]

delete

 

[L4Dawg]

Leach wasn't staying here a decade. He had already mentioned retiring. He was likely gone in a couple years no matter what. NIL/Portal was going to really speed that up. Cohen leaving was the best thing ever! The timing was not ideal with Leach passing.

Yep

 

[85Bears]

Leach wasn't staying here a decade. He had already mentioned retiring. He was likely gone in a couple years no matter what. NIL/Portal was going to really speed that up. Cohen leaving was the best thing ever! The timing was not ideal with Leach passing.

Nice rewrite of history. Leach coached in the portal, nil era and still won nine games. You hated him and trashed every move he made while he was here.