Great article everyone should read.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

You told someone else not to assume something and just gave yourself permission to assume the opposite.  Hilarious.

You and he can assume whatever you want. I think if you took time to think about it, you'd recognize that what's available in the public sphere is probably not the whole story.

Ok so the rational response is to blindly assume that Wojo experienced the same thing Liddell experienced? Noted.

The same thing? Maybe not. Worse than what's publicly available? Yes, I think that's the most realistic scenario.

[5DollarPitcher]

The same thing? Maybe not. Worse than what's publicly available? Yes, I think that's the most realistic scenario.

NM. You sound ridiculous.

[GooooMarquette]

I don't view booing at a game as a personal attack--it is directed to Wojo as coach. All of the MU examples given were acts directed to Wojo as coach.  If you identify actual (not made up or possible) death threats or personal attacks I will condemn them.  In the meantime, I  (just a little) resent the idea that acting ungracious is hateful harassment, and the implied moral judgement that comes from equating such innocuous acts with an actual death threat.

Neither the author nor I "equated" booing with death threats. She used them as an example of the ridiculous extremes to which some fans will go. That is a huge difference...and a huge leap you made to interpret it as equating the two.

Anyhow, the fact that my incredibly innocuous comments are upsetting to you - even though they are MUCH milder than things fans have said about Wojo as a coach - is exactly the reason why it was wrong for people to kick him on his way out the door. He is a human being. He posted a gracious note right after he had been fired. It was immature and unnecessary for people to post snarky comments at that point.

[skianth16]

Neither the author nor I "equated" booing with death threats. She used them as an example of the ridiculous extremes to which some fans will go. That is a huge difference...and a huge leap you made to interpret it as equating the two.

Wait, booing at a sporting event is now considered a ridiculous extreme? Sheesh.

Imagine if the author of the article ever met a referee!

[connie]

Neither the author nor I "equated" booing with death threats. She used them as an example of the ridiculous extremes to which some fans will go. That is a huge difference...and a huge leap you made to interpret it as equating the two.

I don't know a gentler way to tell you that you are wrong than to point you to the last paragraph of the article.  After examining the deplorable comments made to Liddell -in a number of paragraphs with a number of examples- the author quotes Scholl talking about what a great person Wojo is, before claiming: "There's too much hate in the real world for there to be even more animosity online. Social media harassment in college athletics needs to stop because athletes and coaches are humans with families, just like the rest of us. Put yourself in their shoes and be more compassionate because, at the end of the day, basketball is just a game."  If she isn't including the booing at games or #firewojo into this "hate" then why write the article and give those examples and call them acts of hate and harassment?  Of course she is equating the two, and yes, I object to that.  A few MU fans said some classless things.  If you or the "Executive Sports Editor" want to try to shut down booing at a game by calling it "hate" and "harassment" and equating the examples she provides with the actual racist death threats made to Liddell then I think you both are wrong in a number of ways.

[GooooMarquette]

I don't know a gentler way to tell you that you are wrong than to point you to the last paragraph of the article.  After examining the deplorable comments made to Liddell -in a number of paragraphs with a number of examples- the author quotes Scholl talking about what a great person Wojo is, before claiming: "There's too much hate in the real world for there to be even more animosity online. Social media harassment in college athletics needs to stop because athletes and coaches are humans with families, just like the rest of us. Put yourself in their shoes and be more compassionate because, at the end of the day, basketball is just a game."  If she isn't including the booing at games or #firewojo into this "hate" then why write the article and give those examples and call them acts of hate and harassment?  Of course she is equating the two, and yes, I object to that.  A few MU fans said some classless things.  If you or the "Executive Sports Editor" want to try to shut down booing at a game by calling it "hate" and "harassment" and equating the examples she provides with the actual racist death threats made to Liddell then I think you both are wrong in a number of ways.

I don't care if you're gentle or not. I know exactly what you are trying to say, and I disagree with your point. Nobody was trying to 'equate' the two extremes.

[5DollarPitcher]

I don't care if you're gentle or not. I know exactly what you are trying to say, and I disagree with your point. Nobody was trying to 'equate' the two extremes.

Then why include in the article? We all conclude the two things aren't the same nor even remotely close to each other. Are we trying to illustrate that booing Wojo and saying "bye bye" on his instagram could lead to what happened to Liddell? If so, that's a huge stretch and a practice in gaslighting those of us that boo him or have expressed our displeasure (on Scoop for instance). As I've said before - it takes someone completely mentally unhinged from reality to do what that guy did to Liddell.

[dgies9156]

There are two exceptions to that rule.  Well, maybe three if you include the Cardinals.

Jealous Chili?

On a serious note, nobody cheered harder for Wojo than me. Nobody wanted him to win more than I did. Many equaled it, but I'm in a Marquette family and have loved Marquette basketball for decades.

As it became apparent that Coach Wojo wasn't getting the job done to Marquette standards, there was a feeling of sadness. He is a decent guy and he has a high-quality family. I wanted him to succeed and really felt for him as well as for our team when things went sideways.

I hope he's successful and rebounds from this disappointment. He's a class act.

P.S. -- Go Cardinals

[Silent Verbal]

The article asked us to feel sorry for Wojo and his family while conveniently failing to mention the $9 million buyout he was paid to go away, in addition to the $2 million annual salary he'd been receiving at Marquette.  He had a horrible season, was a stubborn a$$hole to his boss when changes were recommended, and now his children's grandchildren will never have to work a day in their lives simply because he was given his walking papers.

I'm not gonna feel too sorry for a guy like that, and I think it's fine for fans to voice their displeasure as long as his family is kept out of it, and threats to the safety of him or his family aren't made.  In other words, "you suck" and "thanks for nothing" and "bye bye" are all fine and come with the territory of being a major sports coach.

[Galway Eagle]

The article asked us to feel sorry for Wojo and his family while conveniently failing to mention the $9 million buyout he was paid to go away, in addition to the $2 million annual salary he'd been receiving at Marquette.  He had a horrible season, was a stubborn a$$hole to his boss when changes were recommended, and now his children's grandchildren will never have to work a day in their lives simply because he was given his walking papers.

I'm not gonna feel too sorry for a guy like that, and I think it's fine for fans to voice their displeasure as long as his family is kept out of it, and threats to the safety of him or his family aren't made.  In other words, "you suck" and "thanks for nothing" and "bye bye" are all fine and come with the territory of being a major sports coach.

Classless after the guys been let go. And your 'the money makes it ok' comes off as jealousy more than anything. I'm all for displeasure when he was the coach but again I refer to my post here:

That's a good point and if he'd been on the sidelines again I'd be posting on here how ticked off I was about it. But the guy was fired already, what's the point?

I equate it to this, if you're in sales and you're dragging down team performance preventing bonuses then your team rightfully can grumble around the water cooler, try to coach you, ask you if maybe this isn't the best career, etc. But when once you're fired, should they all clap in your face and say "finally we'll get bonuses!"? No of course not, and it's no different here. The guy wasn't up for the task, he deservedly was a lightning rod for criticism but he was already gone so why pour salt on it?

[GooooMarquette]

Then why include in the article? We all conclude the two things aren't the same nor even remotely close to each other.

Easy. To give an example of how far things can go.

Nothing more, nothing less.

[Pakuni]

The article asked us to feel sorry for Wojo and his family while conveniently failing to mention the $9 million buyout he was paid to go away, in addition to the $2 million annual salary he'd been receiving at Marquette.  He had a horrible season, was a stubborn a$$hole to his boss when changes were recommended, and now his children's grandchildren will never have to work a day in their lives simply because he was given his walking papers.

I'm not gonna feel too sorry for a guy like that, and I think it's fine for fans to voice their displeasure as long as his family is kept out of it, and threats to the safety of him or his family aren't made.  In other words, "you suck" and "thanks for nothing" and "bye bye" are all fine and come with the territory of being a major sports coach.

Maybe just don't be an a--hole to anyone, regardless of how much they earn?

[5DollarPitcher]

Easy. To give an example of how far things can go.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Subtly accusing the fans booing Wojo and commenting "bye bye" on his Instagram of being on the precipice of threatening his and his family's safety? That's great journalism.

[Aughnanure]

I don't really understand the vitriol some have if their coach isn't successful, or, if their coach chooses to leave on his/her own. It just says more about those people saying and doing those things. And, words and actions have consequences if they cross the line.

Probably also has to do with how out of whack compensation has gotten in comparison to the average fan's or alumnus'.

Really hard to feel genuine empathy for someone losing their job who made 50x more than you did by literally just getting fired. Yeah it sucks and people shouldn't be d***s about it but hard to not roll your eyes when someone who made $20+ million failing is trying to tell you a sob story about it.

[Galway Eagle]

I'm gonna put this scenario out there. You're a teenager who thinks your dad's your hero and don't really have a grasp on income disparity yet. Scrolling through the social media you see fans badgering him like crazy, and people advocating for him to be fired. Next, he is fired, it's scary because you don't grasp money fully yet, and your dad gives you a talk about being classy and appreciative for everything. But then you read all this hate being spewed.

It's not about Wojo and his checks it's about letting him go out with the same class on our side that he showed on his.

[5DollarPitcher]

If the Liddell thing didn't even happen does this article even get written? I mean - it would be a pretty whiny, nothingness piece if she didn't disingenuously parlay it into the Liddell thing.

[Silent Verbal]

Classless after the guys been let go. And your 'the money makes it ok' comes off as jealousy more than anything. I'm all for displeasure when he was the coach but again I refer to my post here:

Part of the fun of being a sports fan is having guys you don't like.  If Wojo wants to escape that type of criticism, he can get an anonymous job in the "real world" where that type of stuff doesn't happen.

[GooooMarquette]

The funny thing about this thread is that the more the vocal Nojos complain about the article, the more it proves the writer's point.

The Nojos feel they should be able to express their opinion about Wojo's performance in the manner they choose - be it booing, or ranting on a message board, or with condescending responses to a social media post. They say, "he should be able to handle it." Sometimes they rationalize it by quoting his salary.

But the minute a writer expresses her opinion about their ways of criticizing Wojo, those same Nojos claim it's unfair for her to criticize them. And unfair for some of us to agree with her.

Interesting.

[Pakuni]

The funny thing about this thread is that the more the vocal Nojos complain about the article, the more it proves the writer's point.

The Nojos feel they should be able to express their opinion about Wojo's performance in the manner they choose - be it booing, or ranting on a message board, or with condescending responses to a social media post. They say, "he should be able to handle it." Sometimes they rationalize it by quoting his salary.

But the minute a writer expresses her opinion about their ways of criticizing Wojo, those same Nojos claim it's unfair for her to criticize them. And unfair for some of us to agree with her.

Interesting.

Some people don't like what they see when a mirror is held up to their face, and their solution is to punch the mirror.

[muwarrior69]

I'm gonna put this scenario out there. You're a teenager who thinks your dad's your hero and don't really have a grasp on income disparity yet. Scrolling through the social media you see fans badgering him like crazy, and people advocating for him to be fired. Next, he is fired, it's scary because you don't grasp money fully yet, and your dad gives you a talk about being classy and appreciative for everything. But then you read all this hate being spewed.

It's not about Wojo and his checks it's about letting him go out with the same class on our side that he showed on his.

If we had Wojo's checks we have a lot of class too and if she doesn't grasp the worth of the dollar she must have had everything handed to her on a platter. She is conflating job performance with cura personalis.

[The Sultan]

The funny thing about this thread is that the more the vocal Nojos complain about the article, the more it proves the writer's point.

The Nojos feel they should be able to express their opinion about Wojo's performance in the manner they choose - be it booing, or ranting on a message board, or with condescending responses to a social media post. They say, "he should be able to handle it." Sometimes they rationalize it by quoting his salary.

But the minute a writer expresses her opinion about their ways of criticizing Wojo, those same Nojos claim it's unfair for her to criticize them. And unfair for some of us to agree with her.

Interesting.

Yeah they are being quite defensive...

[Aughnanure]

Maybe just don't be an a--hole to anyone, regardless of how much they earn?

If we had Wojo's checks we have a lot of class too and if she doesn't grasp the worth of the dollar she must have had everything handed to her on a platter. She is conflating job performance with cura personalis.

[5DollarPitcher]

The funny thing about this thread is that the more the vocal Nojos complain about the article, the more it proves the writer's point.

The Nojos feel they should be able to express their opinion about Wojo's performance in the manner they choose - be it booing, or ranting on a message board, or with condescending responses to a social media post. They say, "he should be able to handle it." Sometimes they rationalize it by quoting his salary.

But the minute a writer expresses her opinion about their ways of criticizing Wojo, those same Nojos claim it's unfair for her to criticize them. And unfair for some of us to agree with her.

Interesting.

I just take exception to vocal Nojos being compared to the Liddell guy. Absolutely insane comparison, and it's absurd to even give it the time of day.

[Pakuni]

I just take exception to vocal Nojos being compared to the Liddell guy. Absolutely insane comparison, and it's absurd to even give it the time of day.

That's not what she did.
You're trying way too hard to be offended.

[GooooMarquette]

I just take exception to vocal Nojos being compared to the Liddell guy. Absolutely insane comparison, and it's absurd to even give it the time of day.

So other than the Liddell reference, you're totally OK with the article?

I know the article isn't perfect - and certainly could have been done without it - but I think her point stands. Do you?