Practice Day #12

GTech63

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,117
Location
Montgomery, TX (77356)
Seems to me that even in stressing how bad things were Saturday his demeanor is more upbeat than past years (except last year) Still smiling more than usual as he responds. This is Spring Practice and a patch work OL.

A lot of work to be done before Sept 19. That is the day that we know where we really are. We will probably be doing some crappy things against A State and Tulane too. Just need to keep improving working hard.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,821
Seems to me that even in stressing how bad things were Saturday his demeanor is more upbeat than past years (except last year) Still smiling more than usual as he responds. This is Spring Practice and a patch work OL.

A lot of work to be done before Sept 19. That is the day that we know where we really are. We will probably be doing some crappy things against A State and Tulane too. Just need to keep improving working hard.

As bad as he wanted to say things were yesterday, his demeanor still seemed to be jovial and light hearted about the situation.

Compare that to his demeanor in 2013 where he just looked miserable and cranky all season.
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
Messages
8,955
As bad as he wanted to say things were yesterday, his demeanor still seemed to be jovial and light hearted about the situation.

Compare that to his demeanor in 2013 where he just looked miserable and cranky all season.
Last year about this time when lots of us were nervous, coach made a change. Gone was the status quo and in was its time to win now. The team and the rest of us followed him to close victories and losses and a great orange bowl.
I am encouraged that coach is demanding better!
 

ilovetheoption

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,803
Seems to me that even in stressing how bad things were Saturday his demeanor is more upbeat than past years (except last year) Still smiling more than usual as he responds. This is Spring Practice and a patch work OL.

A lot of work to be done before Sept 19. That is the day that we know where we really are. We will probably be doing some crappy things against A State and Tulane too. Just need to keep improving working hard.

I'm pretty sure I remember saying on this board last year (can't remember if it was spring or fall), something to the effect of "this is as positive as I've ever heard Johnson". Now, with Johnson, you have to grade on a curve, as miserable for a lot of guys is downright giddy for him. I'd say Johnson is "above average" this offseason for him. He's a miserable old crotchety coot, but there are degrees of crotchetyness, and I think he's far less miserable than he has been in lots of years (although moreso than last year).
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
... I'd say Johnson is "above average" this offseason for him. He's a miserable old crotchety coot, but there are degrees of crotchetyness, and I think he's far less miserable than he has been in lots of years (although moreso than last year).
You are on to something. Now we have to find out where he is on the curve, maybe more miserable but less crotchety or some such. Words we won't hear on Sports Center. A pity because the joint needs some livening up.
 

dressedcheeseside

Helluva Engineer
Messages
14,045
You are on to something. Now we have to find out where he is on the curve, maybe more miserable but less crotchety or some such. Words we won't hear on Sports Center. A pity because the joint needs some livening up.
Lol. We are so desperate for anything remotely related to football we are analyzing coach's perceived degree of "crochetiness" in relation to his past perceived degrees of crotchetiness in hopes of having a better understanding of the current team and it's chances future success.
 

GTech63

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,117
Location
Montgomery, TX (77356)
Lol. We are so desperate for anything remotely related to football we are analyzing coach's perceived degree of "crochetiness" in relation to his past perceived degrees of crotchetiness in hopes of having a better understanding of the current team and it's chances future success.
Cheese I actually did Laugh Out Loud at your comment. And you are right on! It is that time of year when we grasp at anything.
 

DrJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,178
I'm pretty sure I remember saying on this board last year (can't remember if it was spring or fall), something to the effect of "this is as positive as I've ever heard Johnson". Now, with Johnson, you have to grade on a curve, as miserable for a lot of guys is downright giddy for him. I'd say Johnson is "above average" this offseason for him. He's a miserable old crotchety coot, but there are degrees of crotchetyness, and I think he's far less miserable than he has been in lots of years (although moreso than last year).
It's fun (and not completely a wasted effort) to try and gauge our hopes based on CPJ's demeanor in press conferences and practice interviews. Especially as the off-season drags on and on.

But, for my sanity I do want to distinguish between crotchety (guilty as charged) and miserable. Paul is actually a WAY funnier person than you're ever going to see. And, that's sad. Because "see" is the operative word. You won't see the other facets of his personality in an interview because it's pretty apparent that he wouldn't do them if he didn't have to. He hinted as much the day he was hired.

CPJ actually has a sharp, quick wit. He can tell stories for hours, a lot of which will keep you laughing. He has more fun than most people would suspect. But, when it comes to football he's all business. Which is good. It's also the only arena in which most people get to experience him. So, a bit of an imbalanced picture gets painted.

He's a generous guy, and fun to have a meal with. Fun just to sit around with and talk about things other than football. A high-integrity guy you would enjoy having as a friend more than you might imagine.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
It's fun (and not completely a wasted effort) to try and gauge our hopes based on CPJ's demeanor in press conferences and practice interviews. Especially as the off-season drags on and on.

But, for my sanity I do want to distinguish between crotchety (guilty as charged) and miserable. Paul is actually a WAY funnier person than you're ever going to see. And, that's sad. Because "see" is the operative word. You won't see the other facets of his personality in an interview because it's pretty apparent that he wouldn't do them if he didn't have to. He hinted as much the day he was hired.

CPJ actually has a sharp, quick wit. He can tell stories for hours, a lot of which will keep you laughing. He has more fun than most people would suspect. But, when it comes to football he's all business. Which is good. It's also the only arena in which most people get to experience him. So, a bit of an imbalanced picture gets painted.

He's a generous guy, and fun to have a meal with. Fun just to sit around with and talk about things other than football. A high-integrity guy you would enjoy having as a friend more than you might imagine.
Well, yeah, but more fun to think of him as slightly miserable and continued crotchety with scattered hope sprinkled through the weekend.
 

dressedcheeseside

Helluva Engineer
Messages
14,045
It's fun (and not completely a wasted effort) to try and gauge our hopes based on CPJ's demeanor in press conferences and practice interviews. Especially as the off-season drags on and on.

But, for my sanity I do want to distinguish between crotchety (guilty as charged) and miserable. Paul is actually a WAY funnier person than you're ever going to see. And, that's sad. Because "see" is the operative word. You won't see the other facets of his personality in an interview because it's pretty apparent that he wouldn't do them if he didn't have to. He hinted as much the day he was hired.

CPJ actually has a sharp, quick wit. He can tell stories for hours, a lot of which will keep you laughing. He has more fun than most people would suspect. But, when it comes to football he's all business. Which is good. It's also the only arena in which most people get to experience him. So, a bit of an imbalanced picture gets painted.

He's a generous guy, and fun to have a meal with. Fun just to sit around with and talk about things other than football. A high-integrity guy you would enjoy having as a friend more than you might imagine.
Thanks for the insight into him on a personal level. I've always suspected as much, we do get to see glimpses of his sense of humor from time to time like during his coach's show. Sometimes his jokes get taken the wrong way like his comment about punching a dwag fan in the mouth. He's definitely not afraid to say what's on his mind.
 

DrJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,178
"Punch him in the mouth" is one of his catch-phrases that he probably goes to a little too often. Always seems to get taken more seriously than he means it. He's joked about that with Brandon as a way not to lose a HORSE basketball game, and I've heard him say it just goofing around off-air.
 

AE 87

Helluva Engineer
Messages
13,016
It's fun (and not completely a wasted effort) to try and gauge our hopes based on CPJ's demeanor in press conferences and practice interviews. Especially as the off-season drags on and on.

But, for my sanity I do want to distinguish between crotchety (guilty as charged) and miserable. Paul is actually a WAY funnier person than you're ever going to see. And, that's sad. Because "see" is the operative word. You won't see the other facets of his personality in an interview because it's pretty apparent that he wouldn't do them if he didn't have to. He hinted as much the day he was hired.

CPJ actually has a sharp, quick wit. He can tell stories for hours, a lot of which will keep you laughing. He has more fun than most people would suspect. But, when it comes to football he's all business. Which is good. It's also the only arena in which most people get to experience him. So, a bit of an imbalanced picture gets painted.

He's a generous guy, and fun to have a meal with. Fun just to sit around with and talk about things other than football. A high-integrity guy you would enjoy having as a friend more than you might imagine.

Thanks for the insight. This has always been my impression, but then I'm prone to get confounded and impatient with idiocy too. My two cents would be that he start looking at his interviews with the press less as a responsibility to answer questions and more as an opportunity to talk to fans/supporters. Reporters are people, and so tend to be lazy at times. If the coaches would just figure out what stories they wanted to be told, then they could shape their answers to questions in a way to get those stories out.
 

DrJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,178
Agreed. I would love for him to seize that opportunity to take control of the message. And, I can't discount that he does this--albeit in his own unique way.

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't look for a massive evolution in his press mindset at age 57.
(You see what I did there with that last sentence...I kinda went CPJ with my answer. )
 
Last edited:

johncu

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
209
I'm not worried about the offense at all. We've ranged from good to incredible on offense throughout PJ's entire tenure here, and I see no reason for that to change. JT has shown the ability to take our offense even further, so I consider our offense a proven commodity at this point.

That said, when I hear about our defense playing so well, I get really optimistic, particularly regarding the DL.
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
Thanks for the insight. This has always been my impression, but then I'm prone to get confounded and impatient with idiocy too. My two cents would be that he start looking at his interviews with the press less as a responsibility to answer questions and more as an opportunity to talk to fans/supporters. Reporters are people, and so tend to be lazy at times. If the coaches would just figure out what stories they wanted to be told, then they could shape their answers to questions in a way to get those stories out.
It's a good two cents, but my impression is that he sees questions not as idiocy by idiots but more an interruption. I know he had some problems with a radio station, but it is, after all, a radio station, and seems to have had a lot more difficulty with message boards than the press. Well, at least one board. (The AJC's questions and conclusions by its columnists all seemed reasonable to me, even I thought them wrong, and the fact is he did have down years, for whatever reason.) The delay in extending his contract seems a result of it, and says to me he was on the clock. That he did not change in those almost-four seasons also says to me that Dr. Jacket is pretty much right. He is what he was and what he will be. Personally I prefer that and, shoot, even a Mary Poppins schtick would get old. Win, Grumpy, win.
 
Top