Friday, October 19, 2001

Letter to the Editor
Football commentary offensive to team, coach

While the right to publish Rusty Simmons’ “commentary” (“Patterson could be jobless by year’s end,” Oct. 18) is unequivocally protected by the First Amendment, you demonstrate an offensive lack of judgment and knowledge of collegiate football in your musings over Coach Patterson.

Recall (if you can) that as recently as 1999, the Frogs owned a 3-3 record and completed the season in fine form (8-4). Your suggestions about the future of our coach are themselves the embodiment of impatience and a lack of understanding.

While the season has not been spectacular so far, it is ridiculous and without support to claim that the season has been an “F.” You haven’t been around here long enough to have experienced “F” times and attitudes and need to realize that in football, as in numerous other facets of life, patience and understanding are required in dealing with wins and losses.

While you make some valid points centering around the application of the term “inexperienced,” you show alarmingly little first-hand knowledge of the team itself.

Acquaint yourself with the coaching staff, the team’s schedule, its players and its opponents before discussing what effects they have on our .500 record.

And finally, for the sake of the realm of journalism, please refrain from quoting rules, written or unwritten, until you have an actual working knowledge of the world in which those rules happen to apply.

— Mark Z. Mourer,
graduate student