To me, being "one of us" is enough to ensure we don't mistreat our coach. That said, being "one of us" won't keep him from being removed if he doesn't perform as expected.
Agreed. Joker and Mark Pope are one of us. If you were a fan in ‘96, you know Mark was not a “coattail” player but was a key reason we won that year. His addition was integral.
If I go to a UK bar in NYC and cheer along side a NYC UK fan, that person is one of us. He or she loves the Cats. The fact that Pope was at UK for only 2 years is irrelevant. There are people who are “one of us” who never went to UK and others who never graduated from UK. It’s not a prerequisite.
Joker was treated poorly by anonymous a$$es just like Pope. He was also treated kindly by people on this site who knew he needed to be fired but still knew he was us. He got three years. He deserved three years. It was obvious by looking at his roster and recruiting there was no way he could win in year four. Many of us loved him and wanted him to succeed, but most of us knew he needed to go.
People tried to get Stoops fired as he built his legacy here. They faded into the woodwork when Stoops continued to succeed. Then, when he started to struggle, they popped back out and began their infantile attacks. As a football fan; Stoops gave me some of the best moments of my fan life. He deserved our respect even if his time had run its course. It was clear at the end of last season that he needed to go, but also deserved to be respected. Without Stoops, you don’t land Stein. Stein is sitting pretty now and that is well deserved. It’s been a great transition, but if his team struggles on the field, he will get the same childish behavior.
The lack of respect for Pope shown repeatedly here is pathetic. To be sure, he is more of a man than any of the weasels constantly barraging us with ugly jokes and comments about Pope. They can hardly stand pushback for their posts, let alone handle the job Pope has. It’s both funny and sad.