Post by Kasey on Mar 27, 2015 1:51:39 GMT -8
March 27 -
This is a family forum. One of my top priorities when it was created was to make it so that if a fan was reading one of our articles or participating in our game threads with a young one looking over their shoulder, that the young one would not see anything inappropriate.
Frankly, I know that has hurt our registration numbers. I understand some feel the need to use profanity, cite indecent saying or lyrics, or post graphics depicting the same. I will not allow that. I accept that. I own it. It is my responsibility. No one else.
We are all human. We all take joy in accomplishment, as I did here when I had the first exclusive non-official Q&A with Matthew Sauk very shortly after he became the first head coach of the Thunder in October 2013. When I say non-official, I mean the first Q&A not sponsored nor submitted by the team.
We also attempt to bring the biggest stories and features to the forum. We cannot cover everything. For instance, how many reports do we really need about Robin Lopez standing up against mascots? Okay, bad example. We can never get tired of that!
It's not easy to keep up with everything these days. Our general manager here, Angi (DiamondThief), is the driving force behind this forum. The regulars are well aware of that. As much as LaMarcus Aldridge is the best power forward in the NBA, Angi is the perennial all-star of our forum. She not only prepares the best game previews for all sports, but hosts about 95 percent of them. I truly believe that a lot of our regulars come here for that reason alone (though I hope they are not too upset when we give her a night off!). However, our GM is a senior in high school, focused on graduation preparations, prom and other those other things we found ourselves involved with when we were seniors. She also happens to be the team captain for her softball team.
Julianne (SurferGirl), who has always served as our cop of sorts, is near to completing her first year in medical school. As for myself, I am about to complete my first year of law school.
We took a heavy heart when we informed that, after the DiamondThief submitted her questions for a Q&A with new head coach Mike Hohensee six weeks ago, her request was not honored. We were informed of that yesterday. She submitted her request on February 17, She and I were simultaneously informed via e-mail by the Thunder's new director of communications of that decision -- again, six weeks after the request was made.
The answer to my similar request by coach Sauk prior to last season was answered -- by the coach -- the next day after the request was made. .
I have kept abreast of the happenings regarding the Thunder fairly well, but I will tell you that no one on on this forum has poured more time into learning about the Thunder, the other teams in the Arena Football League, the history of the league, the rules of the league and the mindsets of opposing fans, than the DiamondThief. She is much like her oldest sister in her rigorous search of knowledge..
Coach Ho appeared on Talkin' Ball after the Trail Blazers 92-89 win over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on March 25. He was asked what the most important part of an arena team is. The Coach answered it is the quarterback.
"A quarterback You got to have a quarterback with experience; a quarterback who understands the game; he's got to have the ability to make all the throws, he's got to be tough as nails. Quarterbacks in this league take a beating. Kyle Rowley is our quarterback and I think he is one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He's won a championship in this league. He's 35 years old. He's not playing this year to make the all-arena team or to pad his stats. He wants another ring. He wants a championship, and it's showing in his preparation from October when I got here watching what he does to how engaging he is in the meetings with the young receivers we have this year. He's been phenomenal. He's going to be like a coach on the field to me."
That's high praise for Rowley and I have no problem with that. Rowley seems like a hard-working, no-nonsense guy. That's what I want from the quarterback from my hometown team.
He later in the interview talked about the quarterback position, specifically about Darron Thomas, the backup to Rowley.
"The quarterback has to be flawless. He has to get rid of the ball quickly. He's got to have a quick mind. He's got to see things on the run quickly. I think that's one of the problems with Darron Thomas last year. He was learning the position and he came late to camp; late with that squad, and didn't get a chance to learn the game, so it was moving way to fast, at least by watching the film I watched. And this kid in the off season has reinvented himself. He's become a passer. Before he was a thrower and was looking to run first, and he had an incredible camp. He's not going to be our starter, but I've got no issues if when he comes in, is something happens with Kyle or Kyle is not getting it done; I'm not going to change my game plan. This kid can run the offense now."
Now, I have a couple of problems with this.
The first is that Darron Thomas was the second player assigned to the Thunder in October of 2013. The team's training camp did not start until late February. Thomas, who led Oregon to the national championship game to cap the 2010 season, became the face of the franchise from the moment he was announced. Now, I'm not trying to insinuate he was arena football ready when he took the first snap of the season for the Thunder, but he by no means showed up to camp "late."
Hohensee also said he would is not interested in gimmick lineups. That's great. Neither am I. However, starting Thomas at Jack-Linebacker due to injury in last year's playoff game was not a matter of a gimmick. He was an injury replacement. Of course, no one can know if the coach was actually watching since his (at the time) Iowa Barnstormers were getting on with their off-season break after missing the playoffs for the third straight year.
The Thomas statements, to me, are direct assault on Matthew Sauk's coaching abilities. Fine, Hohensee has been in the league longer, and he has won a championship in 2006 with the Chicago Rush. However, as that fact is thrown out there, it is not mentioned that Hohensee's ArenaBowl championship benefited from a lucky run in the playoffs. They finished their regular season with a 7-9 record and only earned a playoff berth due to the AFL's liberal playoff seedings.
And why is no one talking about Coach Ho's 25-47 record over the past four years as head coach of the Iowa Barnstormers and Philadelphia Soul. Why is no one asking why that after Coach Ho's three-year, 19-35 record the past three years in Iowa, did he get another head coaching job in this league.
The other night on Talkin' Ball, the coach talked tough and tried to be cool, but looking at his recent "success" he should be begging on his knees with the utmost humility for a team to let him merely attend a game, let alone be the coach of a team in the AFL.
If this character cannot take 15 minutes to answer a few questions from the one locally based forum regarding the Thunder, and if the Thunder's new director of communications cannot figure out how to tell someone in less than six weeks that it is not going to happen, then how is this team going to fill seats? I mean, we all love motocross to an extent, but we need a winning and team which is accessible. This team is not accessible. This incarnation of the Thunder has an arrogance. It's an arrogance that is unacceptable to Portland sports fans. This is an arrogance we saw 12-15 years ago with the Trail Blazers. Clearly, we need no more of that in Portland.
We know bravado comes from owner Terry Emmert and Coach Ho thinks he has some some as well, but I am not sure that a lot of these moves or decisions stem there. Clearly, if a coach cannot take 15 minutes to answer a few questions for fans over a six-week period, then something is broken.
I care not who is to blame.
However, I do care about my sister who discussed these questions with the director of communications and waited, checked, waited some more, checked some more, only to see if the request would be honored. Look, I understand if this is something that, perhaps, could not have been honored to begin with. That is fine. It is understandable. My problem here: If it cannot be done, then tell us. Communicate. Be adults.
Angi will graduate from high school in two-and-a-half months. She is the team captain for her varsity softball team. She shrugs off these kinds of things, but for someone who works harder on this forum than anyone else, this is not right.
She told me last night that she really wanted to prove that she could put this together; that she could prove to me that she could do it.
Angi has absolutely nothing to prove to me. I told her that, yet I know my sister and I know it will nag at her. This was beyond her control but anyway, She's proven she can run this forum. She did not let me down in the least.
The Thunder, Coach Ho and the director of communications let her down. They also let down the readers of this forum.
Sauk answered my questions before last season and was very gracious. He felt that while social media has its drawbacks, it could be a very useful tool to communicate in a positive manner with fans. He was -- and still is -- correct. It's a tool he continues to use in his new role as offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles KISS
Despite the descriptions above, we will still cover the Thunder this year, as we did in their first year. Someone should be professional, shouldn't they? I suppose we will have to do it without the cooperation from the Thunder and its staff.
This is a new Thunder regime and it has already lost off the field. Come week 20 of the season, as many predict, they may just lose out to Sauk's KISS team by being beaten out of a playoff spot. Couch Ho's recent pedigree would certainly entertain that possibility.
From where will the bravado come then?
~ Kassandra
To comment on this thread and others on this forum, please login or register.
In Kassandra's Words began on the now defunct Blazers Blogger Network and continues here on this site. Relocating this blog has allowed me to include Blazers blogs, but to also expand it to other sports and teams as well. Click here for access to the more than 100 entries on the Blazers Blogger Network (note that the link will take you to the most recent of the entries, prior to when this blog was moved to this site).
This is a family forum. One of my top priorities when it was created was to make it so that if a fan was reading one of our articles or participating in our game threads with a young one looking over their shoulder, that the young one would not see anything inappropriate.
Frankly, I know that has hurt our registration numbers. I understand some feel the need to use profanity, cite indecent saying or lyrics, or post graphics depicting the same. I will not allow that. I accept that. I own it. It is my responsibility. No one else.
We are all human. We all take joy in accomplishment, as I did here when I had the first exclusive non-official Q&A with Matthew Sauk very shortly after he became the first head coach of the Thunder in October 2013. When I say non-official, I mean the first Q&A not sponsored nor submitted by the team.
We also attempt to bring the biggest stories and features to the forum. We cannot cover everything. For instance, how many reports do we really need about Robin Lopez standing up against mascots? Okay, bad example. We can never get tired of that!
It's not easy to keep up with everything these days. Our general manager here, Angi (DiamondThief), is the driving force behind this forum. The regulars are well aware of that. As much as LaMarcus Aldridge is the best power forward in the NBA, Angi is the perennial all-star of our forum. She not only prepares the best game previews for all sports, but hosts about 95 percent of them. I truly believe that a lot of our regulars come here for that reason alone (though I hope they are not too upset when we give her a night off!). However, our GM is a senior in high school, focused on graduation preparations, prom and other those other things we found ourselves involved with when we were seniors. She also happens to be the team captain for her softball team.
Julianne (SurferGirl), who has always served as our cop of sorts, is near to completing her first year in medical school. As for myself, I am about to complete my first year of law school.
We took a heavy heart when we informed that, after the DiamondThief submitted her questions for a Q&A with new head coach Mike Hohensee six weeks ago, her request was not honored. We were informed of that yesterday. She submitted her request on February 17, She and I were simultaneously informed via e-mail by the Thunder's new director of communications of that decision -- again, six weeks after the request was made.
The answer to my similar request by coach Sauk prior to last season was answered -- by the coach -- the next day after the request was made. .
I have kept abreast of the happenings regarding the Thunder fairly well, but I will tell you that no one on on this forum has poured more time into learning about the Thunder, the other teams in the Arena Football League, the history of the league, the rules of the league and the mindsets of opposing fans, than the DiamondThief. She is much like her oldest sister in her rigorous search of knowledge..
Coach Ho appeared on Talkin' Ball after the Trail Blazers 92-89 win over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on March 25. He was asked what the most important part of an arena team is. The Coach answered it is the quarterback.
"A quarterback You got to have a quarterback with experience; a quarterback who understands the game; he's got to have the ability to make all the throws, he's got to be tough as nails. Quarterbacks in this league take a beating. Kyle Rowley is our quarterback and I think he is one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He's won a championship in this league. He's 35 years old. He's not playing this year to make the all-arena team or to pad his stats. He wants another ring. He wants a championship, and it's showing in his preparation from October when I got here watching what he does to how engaging he is in the meetings with the young receivers we have this year. He's been phenomenal. He's going to be like a coach on the field to me."
That's high praise for Rowley and I have no problem with that. Rowley seems like a hard-working, no-nonsense guy. That's what I want from the quarterback from my hometown team.
He later in the interview talked about the quarterback position, specifically about Darron Thomas, the backup to Rowley.
"The quarterback has to be flawless. He has to get rid of the ball quickly. He's got to have a quick mind. He's got to see things on the run quickly. I think that's one of the problems with Darron Thomas last year. He was learning the position and he came late to camp; late with that squad, and didn't get a chance to learn the game, so it was moving way to fast, at least by watching the film I watched. And this kid in the off season has reinvented himself. He's become a passer. Before he was a thrower and was looking to run first, and he had an incredible camp. He's not going to be our starter, but I've got no issues if when he comes in, is something happens with Kyle or Kyle is not getting it done; I'm not going to change my game plan. This kid can run the offense now."
Now, I have a couple of problems with this.
The first is that Darron Thomas was the second player assigned to the Thunder in October of 2013. The team's training camp did not start until late February. Thomas, who led Oregon to the national championship game to cap the 2010 season, became the face of the franchise from the moment he was announced. Now, I'm not trying to insinuate he was arena football ready when he took the first snap of the season for the Thunder, but he by no means showed up to camp "late."
Hohensee also said he would is not interested in gimmick lineups. That's great. Neither am I. However, starting Thomas at Jack-Linebacker due to injury in last year's playoff game was not a matter of a gimmick. He was an injury replacement. Of course, no one can know if the coach was actually watching since his (at the time) Iowa Barnstormers were getting on with their off-season break after missing the playoffs for the third straight year.
The Thomas statements, to me, are direct assault on Matthew Sauk's coaching abilities. Fine, Hohensee has been in the league longer, and he has won a championship in 2006 with the Chicago Rush. However, as that fact is thrown out there, it is not mentioned that Hohensee's ArenaBowl championship benefited from a lucky run in the playoffs. They finished their regular season with a 7-9 record and only earned a playoff berth due to the AFL's liberal playoff seedings.
And why is no one talking about Coach Ho's 25-47 record over the past four years as head coach of the Iowa Barnstormers and Philadelphia Soul. Why is no one asking why that after Coach Ho's three-year, 19-35 record the past three years in Iowa, did he get another head coaching job in this league.
The other night on Talkin' Ball, the coach talked tough and tried to be cool, but looking at his recent "success" he should be begging on his knees with the utmost humility for a team to let him merely attend a game, let alone be the coach of a team in the AFL.
If this character cannot take 15 minutes to answer a few questions from the one locally based forum regarding the Thunder, and if the Thunder's new director of communications cannot figure out how to tell someone in less than six weeks that it is not going to happen, then how is this team going to fill seats? I mean, we all love motocross to an extent, but we need a winning and team which is accessible. This team is not accessible. This incarnation of the Thunder has an arrogance. It's an arrogance that is unacceptable to Portland sports fans. This is an arrogance we saw 12-15 years ago with the Trail Blazers. Clearly, we need no more of that in Portland.
We know bravado comes from owner Terry Emmert and Coach Ho thinks he has some some as well, but I am not sure that a lot of these moves or decisions stem there. Clearly, if a coach cannot take 15 minutes to answer a few questions for fans over a six-week period, then something is broken.
I care not who is to blame.
However, I do care about my sister who discussed these questions with the director of communications and waited, checked, waited some more, checked some more, only to see if the request would be honored. Look, I understand if this is something that, perhaps, could not have been honored to begin with. That is fine. It is understandable. My problem here: If it cannot be done, then tell us. Communicate. Be adults.
Angi will graduate from high school in two-and-a-half months. She is the team captain for her varsity softball team. She shrugs off these kinds of things, but for someone who works harder on this forum than anyone else, this is not right.
She told me last night that she really wanted to prove that she could put this together; that she could prove to me that she could do it.
Angi has absolutely nothing to prove to me. I told her that, yet I know my sister and I know it will nag at her. This was beyond her control but anyway, She's proven she can run this forum. She did not let me down in the least.
The Thunder, Coach Ho and the director of communications let her down. They also let down the readers of this forum.
Sauk answered my questions before last season and was very gracious. He felt that while social media has its drawbacks, it could be a very useful tool to communicate in a positive manner with fans. He was -- and still is -- correct. It's a tool he continues to use in his new role as offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles KISS
Despite the descriptions above, we will still cover the Thunder this year, as we did in their first year. Someone should be professional, shouldn't they? I suppose we will have to do it without the cooperation from the Thunder and its staff.
This is a new Thunder regime and it has already lost off the field. Come week 20 of the season, as many predict, they may just lose out to Sauk's KISS team by being beaten out of a playoff spot. Couch Ho's recent pedigree would certainly entertain that possibility.
From where will the bravado come then?
~ Kassandra
To comment on this thread and others on this forum, please login or register.
In Kassandra's Words began on the now defunct Blazers Blogger Network and continues here on this site. Relocating this blog has allowed me to include Blazers blogs, but to also expand it to other sports and teams as well. Click here for access to the more than 100 entries on the Blazers Blogger Network (note that the link will take you to the most recent of the entries, prior to when this blog was moved to this site).
Graphic courtesy of David.