[NU Sports] 'Class-Act' Coach

[cherron604 at aol.com]

Just saw this in this morning's Tribune - here's our 'Class-Act' coach dissing his own fans (page 9, under the headline 'Kicker gives alumni spirits a lift"):
 
The context of the story is that a video of Demos was shown, and greeted with cheers.
 
"I consider the source," coach Randy Walker said later: "Nobody out there has ever walked into an arena with 50,000 people and had to make a kick that meant anything.  He didn't have his best day [in the Sun Bowl], but it's unfair when people have no idea, no clue what it's like in that place."
 
(Can't get the exact link from the Tribune web-site - it is subscribers-only.  Maybe there will be a link to the quote in the Sun-Times or Daily Herald)
 
Apart from the wisdom of a sub-.500 coach, with plummeting attendance, ripping his own fans, did it ever occur to the Central St brain trust that video of a good kicker might make the fans happy, even cheer ?  If they did not want them cheering, why even show the video ?  And this crowd probably included some of the program's most loyal fans - why is he ripping them ?
 
And I do not believe that any fans have anything against Joel Howells.  He is a kicker placed into a bad situation (walk-on), and he did his best.  If they are mad at anybody, it is at a mean-spirited, bunker-mentalitied coaching staff that puts players into bad situations, then blames the fans.
 
Chuck Herron    Tech '85