How does this look to Lickliter?

GhostofBTT said:
Just because I rumor gets spread further doesn't make it closer to being true. People seem to get confused about that.
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I get that. And I'm not saying the rumor is true. But from the sounds of it all, the fans HAVE spoken. Outside of coaching for the love of the game and some money too, having the fans support you is kind of a big deal.
 
I don't understand the people that feel bad...GOOD I hope he wants to leave. It's not like he doesn't deserve the criticism...his teams SUCK. They're hard to watch. I want him to leave too.
 
storminspank said:
I've had wanteed to ask Lickliter off the record what he thought about the fan base.
Lord knows Iowa fans haven't treated their last 4 coaches worth a crap.
With Iowa City being a fishbowl, it can take it's toll. I do understand that some of the things said about Lickliter are warranted. He did just get done coaching one of the worst seasons in Iowa BB history, so there's going to be some repercussions. But still, Iowa fans are pretty polarized as a whole.
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I diagree...all fans treat their coaches like crap. Lets take Louisville, when Ricks little folly went awry they were ready to ship him out. Creighton who packs the qwest to the tune of 17000, are ready to send Altman packing after they begged him to come back from piggy heaven. Fans are fickle...at the D1 level down to city rec fans. I was told by many a coach that you are as good as your last game. Lick has made too many mistakes when he took this job, recruiting, staff, communication within his team...he did not embrace it all. There is no way he can stay, he thinks the fishbowl was small this year...you ain't seen nothin yet.
 
GhostofBTT said:
I am sure Lickliter has bigger fish to fry than worrying what the message board fans think about him. I am so what of a message board pariah myself, and it never bothers me. I hope he is expending energy working on rebounding next year than how to get Skeeter in Clear Lake back on his side.

One of the most fascinating things about these message boards is the fact that it makes some fans think that just because people can read their opinions, that they acctually matter. The people in charge are in charge because they are smart and know their business. They do their jobs, and they don't put much thought into what you or I (but mostly you) have to say about it.
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He absolutely has to worry about what the fans think. Above all else, big time college basketball is a business. Fan apathy leads to low attendence which leads to lack of revenue. Not having the fans on your side is a huge problem for any big time D-I coach. If Iowa was selling out and still had the same record, the pressure on Lick would be much less. Just look at Gillespie at Kentucky, he never connected to the fans which lead to Kentucky being so quick to fire him.
 
I agree with the original post. When Alford was here, I loathed him with the passion of a thousand suns. I didn't care who we got next as long as he was an above board guy who brought good kids back to Iowa. Now we have it. While I think Lickliter is a good guy, it's really hard to watch his teams. Hopefully he goes out on good terms, people remain fairly respectful and we go back to a faster paced game.
 
NewMexHawk said:
One could also say, "He made his bed, now he has to sleep in it."
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To a certain extent this is true. But what happened today was below the belt. Whether it was a booster, an overzelous media, disgruntled message boards or a combination of all of the above it was dirty pool.

Alford may have "deserved" this kind of backlash, but Lickliter has been civil through it all. No question the performance hasn't been there, but for me, it doesn't justify a lynching. Merely a shake of the hands, a wave goodbye and a "no hard feelings".

A lot of the blame for this debacle is on Barta. I don't think he realized how disconcerted the fan base really was.
 
clicheusername3 said:
And some people seem to be confused and think that just because something is rumored it is a lie...
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Not nessecarily.

I refuse to believe any rumors because there is nothing of substance attached to them. I do not dismiss them as lies, but I do not presume they "could" be true, and then start wild speculation after that. Doing crap like that is irresponsible, and to me anyways, foolish.

So many people wasted so much of their day yesterday assuming a baseless rumor was true, and making wild speculation based upon that. We heard Lick was fired. Lick was resigning. Barta already inked a new coach. Players were transfering. And what was all of this based on?


If all of you guys want to come pile on me if, in fact, Lick is fired, be my guest. I just think there is more value in getting the facts correct rather than getting the story first.
 
"Lickliter has been giving us his best. Whether that has been good enough is another story. But if you're Lickliter, how do you feel after a day like this?"

If this was Lickliter's best I would hate to see his worst...considering his place among coaches in Iowa BB history.

What I am saying is I don't really care what Lickliter thinks at this point other than, "Honey, where do you want to retire. We can live anywhere."
 
NewMexHawk said:
If this was Lickliter's best I would hate to see his worst...considering his place among coaches in Iowa BB history.
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This still doesn't justify what happened to him yesterday. Be upset that his record at Iowa has been unacceptable, I am.

But it he still deserves to be treated with dignity. Having boosters (or whatever powers that be) start a rumor that lead to yesterday's debacle isn't respectful or justified.
 
tubahawk said:
This still doesn't justify what happened to him yesterday. Be upset that his record at Iowa has been unacceptable, I am.

But it he still deserves to be treated with dignity. Having boosters (or whatever powers that be) start a rumor that lead to yesterday's debacle isn't respectful or justified.
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It comes with the territory. Once you sign that million dollar contract at a major conference school, you open yourself up for all kinds of rumors and criticisms. Big time coaches need to have a thick skin, it's a requirement for the job.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
It comes with the territory. Once you sign that million dollar contract at a major conference school, you open yourself up for all kinds of rumors and criticisms. Big time coaches need to have a thick skin, it's a requirement for the job.
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Thick skin is fine... and you have to have it to be a coach. But just because someone makes a lot of money it does not mean its okay for the people to treat them like pond scum.

Lickliter has been a reputable and respectful person (who has a horrible coaching record) throughout the last three years. Yesterday the Iowa fan base did not reciprocate.

After the rumors started yesterday (even before the game started) Lickliter no longer had anyway to walk away from this program and still save face. We never gave him the opportunity to "do the right thing".
 
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