2 questions

  1. if Anderson is retained for another year, how many so called dissenters will support the program?

  2. if Anderson is let go, how many of the adamant i love Mike supporters, support the new coach?

here’s what i expect. if scenario 1 takes place, some will say “i’m done, outta here” and basically refuse to support the “program” because they are strongly against Mike continuing. they have legit reasons, ticket sales will drop, however not substantially, and we will be having this discussion through the end of next year. apathy will set it more than it has already.

if scenario 2 takes place, the “woe is me” crowd will criticize any pick HY makes, “we are doomed to another 8 years of anemic basketball”, and will compare everything a new coach might do to what Anderson has done or not done.

for me, i support the program, whoever is the coach. i have my opinions as we all do, and i tilt to one side, however, that doesn’t matter, what matters is that we support the program. i see a divided fan base right now, and the only thing that will change it is winning a lot of basketball games.

will be interesting when a decision is made, who falls in what camp.

  1. It’s more based on the individual. Some are fans and will still support. Some are fans but will just check the box score to see if we won. Some are fans but not of Anderson and will just hope for mediocrity so he would get fired. Some have never been fans and just want the program to fail.

  2. Depends on who they get. This season has been bad, but most seasons under Anderson haven’t been bad. So if you fire him, you better get a home run hire. I’ll still support the program no matter what. I sat in the stands during the Heath and Pelphrey years, sat during most of Anderson’s tenure, and when I finish my second degree, I’ll be in the stands whoever the coach is.

I will support the program, buy tickets, contribute to the foundation no matter what. I drove from Little Rock for every conference game and key non-conference games under Heath and Pelphrey. I will continue that as long as the good lord blesses me with good health and a buddy to travel with that loves the sport of basketball as much as I do,

I developed an emotional attachment to Nolan. But don’t have that to Anderson. So, it won’t ruin my day if he is released. But that won’t stop me from stating that it is a wrong and risky decision, unless they can land someone like Donovan. Sampsons, Musslemans and Hoibergs don’t do anything to me at this point. I file that under “grass is greener on the other side” syndrome.

I agree with you, I support the program. I’ve been against the last two football hires, but I still want the football team to win. That’s why I am so vocal about the “Fire Coach” threads, it’s alright to be disappointed, but to keep saying “Fire” someone over and over is ridiculous. I mean honestly how would some of you feel if the roles were reversed?

  1. I fully support CMA, and genuinely hope he does well. If he’s doing well, that means my Team is doing well.

  2. When CMA is replaced (and one day he will be), I’ll support Coach “Next Guy” for the very same reason I support Coach “Current Guy.”

For me, coaches are simply TEMPORARY office holders. They come and go. The constant is The RAZORBACKS. I simply don’t get emotionally attached to any particular coach or their staff members.

My only real opinion about coaching changes is this: If the administration chooses to replace a coach because they do not like the perceived direction the program is heading, I wish they’d lock up (written contract) the “Next Coach” BEFORE they release the “Current Coach.” I’ve never felt it was strategically sound to release the “Current Coach” FIRST, THEN hope you can land someone you perceive will be an improvement.

True fans so far.

If Mike is retained I’ll make sure to stop my donation and my ticket purchases for next year. And from several people that I have talked to they will do the same. If you don’t live in NWA, getting these tickets just makes little logical sense with the current product and direction of the program.

From a fan standpoint I will have to take a step back. Not because I’m fair weather, but because following this circus another year would just be too hard and frustrating. It’s not fun. I’ll put more focus on the rest of college basketball as it is still my favorite (and most profitable) sport. And from the way I see it, if the admin is fine with not putting serious money and effort into making this basketball program better…ehh they kinda deserve whats coming.

However hopefully this will all work out and we can start over for next season and get behind a new coach who can finally figure this monster in hibernation out.

I will continue to watch every game as I do in football too. I catch a lot of baseball games as well. I live in Hayden,AL so I usually see us play either at one of the two Alabama and Mississippi schools each year and usually make one trip to Fayetteville or Little Rock for each sport. My parents and brother still live in Cabot.

I will support whoever we hire as basketball coach. Or football, baseball or track. I thought Mike was the right guy and he was my choice but I also knew what we were getting. I’ve pointed it out before but he only has one season of single digit losses at each of his coaching stops. Most comments on here won’t support that kind of production in the long term. Basketball philosophy has changed in the past 25 years as has the way the game is played. But that is another discussion.

Bottom line, I recently cut the cord. Saved over $100 a month. Could have saved more but I picked services that allow me to continue to see every Hog game live as well as the ability to DVR the games. The ability to be able to do that is what made my final decision.

  1. N/A
  2. I don’t know who the new coach is, so I’d be a fool to say I support him. I also don’t have much faith HY will make the right decision, simply because he hasn’t been here long enough to see results from his decision. But, I do support the program and will cheer for the hogs even if I don’t like the AD or the coach (not saying that I don’t like either, just if it were the case).

I’ve quoted Piggus NV here because it reflects my thoughts well. Thank you Piggus!

Ditto

Our fan base is filled with people that have never liked CMA. From day one they didn’t like the hire and have wanted him to fail! That’s the sad part of this whole deal.

I don’t want to see the man fire but I’m a hog fan and will support my hogs! I’ve made the trip for as long as I’ve been able.
I’m no longer able right now. Cancer put a stop to the trip for a little while. That also put a lot of things into perspective. I’m concerned for the young men as much as much as I’m concerned with anything else.
I want the players to have a mentor that’s teaches and show them how to be good men and father. Playing basketball and competing is part of it but not all of it.
I don’t want a greaseball for a coach.

Our fan base is full of folks that have mentioned look at Pearl at Auburn, look at Will Wade at LSU and Ben Howland at Miss St. You can add Calipari at Kentucky as well. Those are just a few of the programs that are in the cross hairs of the corruption and cheating. That tells you where the moral compass of are fan base is headed.
If cheating is what it takes to win I’m not interested. The scoreboard isn’t the only thing that matters. The right way or not at all.
I’m still a supporter of CMA!

Unless AR is playing at Columbia when I go to an appointment, I don’t get to see them play live. I cheer for the Hogs, to me it comes down to this. I don’t like Mike Anderson for personal reasons, but he is our coach. If I root for him to lose so we get rid of him, then I’m rooting for the Hogs to fail. I can’t do that, I have minimal knowledge of sports outside of basketball and football, but if I see AR playing in any sport, I’ll turn it on (including tennis, which I consider to be the equivalent of paint drying, it’s lowest on my list of sports). Drives my wife crazy, especially if it’s gymnastics :smiley:

I’m a fan of the PROGRAM no matter who the coach is. Do I have opinions about if coach X or Y should stay or go? Sure. I did not like the BB hire, my take on the current football coach was “well, if that is the best we can do.” However, I wanted nothing but wins for both of them. I thought the Heath hire was a good hire. I was wrong. I thought the Pel hire was a bad hire (not saying we had better options, not sure we did). I was not in favor of Anderson. My concern with Anderson was recruiting. I didn’t think he was a great recruiter when he was an assistant here. I wasn’t adamantly opposed to his hiring, just figured we be about where we are today in a few years (and yes, that is better than we were under Pel, fully agree). But I sure want him to win.

Unless we have reasons to think we can really make a great hire I say bring Mike back for one more year. I honestly don’t think he will turn the corner, but I will be hoping he does. The worst thing we can do is “fire and hope.”

ANYONE who “hopes for mediocrity” for the purpose of getting rid of a coach is simply not a fan. (And I hate the “you are not a fan if …” statements and here I am making one.)

If you are a HOG fan it shouldn’t matter who the coach is.

You and your friends need to keep the rules in mind. Unless basketball is the ONLY sport for which you have tickets, dropping your donation will have a significant effect on your tickets for ALL SPORTS. Any reduction in donation results in a loss of ticket priority in all sports.

It wouldn’t be an issue for me.

I want Mike to succeed and will support him or whomever is coaching the Hogs, however the frequent references to that some just don’t like Mike or we are where we are because others cheat and we don’t, are getting tedious. I am sure there are some who don’t like Mike (goes with life, seldom does the Coach of a major program occupy the position of total adulation) but I bet there are some who aren’t crazy about Mike who would be sending him love notes, if the program were producing at a significantly higher level. Even as great a guy as Mike is, I don’t think he is entitled to be insulated from scrutiny and not be accountable for the results of his program.

Regarding the cheating references, I don’t like that some are cheating but for me that is not a complete explanation of where our program sits. I may be wrong, but I don’t think it is an either or choice. Run a clean program and lose or cheat and win. As I have stated before, my concerns are less wins/losses driven but more process driven, so some the impact of the issues that I observe would be reduced by greater talent, but I am less certain that some of the concerns/issues would be eliminated. In essence without some process adaptations, I think we are likely to always be less than we could be. Not saying Mike could not make adaptations that some see as issues, just not sure there has been evidence of him either seeing the need or having the willingness to do so.

All this said, smarter people than me need to make the assessments and decisions and it will be my job to cheer on their decisions.

Yes, if you’re a hog fan no matter who the coach is you’ll root for the team. I had my reservations on Anderson to begin with, but up until last game I’ve watched and rooted for the team every single game. I still rooted for us last game, but up against baseball I chose the latter to watch. Not sure how much I’ll b able to stomach tonight. Just tired I guess. As someone posted above a sickness puts things into perspective. I’m just tired of being disappointed. And if he does stay, and I’ll say this and pray I’m wrong, after watching this style for 8 years, I just don’t think Anderson can get us to the next level. A sweet 16 every 10 years or so is probably best we’re gonna do.

Just love the hogs and want more for the kids, the fans, and the state. Feel the same about every sport we compete in the sec.

I agree with the highlighted portion