Posted by Chatty (anonymous) on November 10, 2007 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Better luck next year!

Posted by mythoughts (anonymous) on November 10, 2007 at 6:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Yes! It's a building year. You guys knuckle down, focus on your academics and keep watching game footage from winning teams. Like KU. ROCK CHALK!!

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 1:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

To mythoughts-with no disrespect to you!
This was not a building year, what a joke! These coaches tore down "This building year." This football team will not rock until these coaches change their way of coaching.

Posted by simplyme (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

What you do is not what defines you. What defines you is how well you rise after the fall.
Keep up the hard work.

Posted by EsqEB (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 6:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The laughing sound you hear coming down the turnpike is Washburn.

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 6:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Deleting (8) vital comments was the chicken way, quess you just confirmed what we already know.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 8:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Jesse Newell- why do you take all the comments away from the previous story? They were not disrespectful, nor confrontational. You must be trying to help cover our inept coaching staff. How does it feel to be Higgin's bitch? Now that may have been just a little disrespectful, but not untrue.

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 8:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Letters to President Lane are all that counts, and plenty will be sent, you may want to hide some of the time, but you can't hide all of the time! Wrong choice. WRITE LETTERS TO END THE VERBAL ABUSE!

Posted by EsqEB (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 8:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Football Eyes I noticed that too. Kind of sad the Gazette didn't want Purkeypile's side of the story and is doing everything it can to cover for ESU's downright laughable coaching.

Posted by mashford (Michael Ashford) on November 11, 2007 at 8:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

footballeyes

I take great offense to you calling my writer a name like that when you can hide behind the anonymity of a message board.

To set the record straight, neither Jesse nor I removed those comments. That was either done by our managing editor or our publisher. Jesse and I had a conversation about those comments, and we both agreed they should be allowed the stay. The decision to take them down was not ours.

I would appreciate it if you had a comment directed to my writer or me to call me personally. My office number is (620) 342-4841 ext. 207.

Michael Ashford
Gazette sports editor

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 11, 2007 at 9:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Mr. Ashford,
Yes, the comments should be allowed to stay, it is not fair that the coaches can treat our boys like that and for us not to be able to discuss it. And further more, hide the truth. Why cover for them? It is not justified. Thank you for telling us it wasn't you all and that you agree. I never used foal language and don't ever attend to.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 12, 2007 at 7:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Sorry guys, I should not have said that about Jesse. Maybe that term should apply to the managing editor or publisher. This paper has certainly covered for this coach, maybe because he is thier buddy's son in law?? It really is too bad that apparently so much has been swept under the rug on Higgins behalf.

Posted by chriswalker (Chris Walker) on November 12, 2007 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hearsay, slander and personal attacks will not be tolerated on emporiagazette.com.

The reason the comments were removed on the Pitt State preview story is because they were filled with unsubstantiated accounts. Please review our User Poster Policy Agreement located at http://www.emporiagazette.com/rules

Chris Walker
Editor & Publisher

Posted by getreal (anonymous) on November 12, 2007 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The new coaching staff needs to apologize to the football players and to the parents. I have never seen these coaches talking to the parents after the games or trying to get to know them or their kids. At least Wiemers cared about the boys. On the field it's just as bad. How can anyone expect the players to perform well and play like a team when they feel like the coaches don't respect them or value them as players or as people. I still believe that Higgins and his staff are just biding their time until they have all their recruits in place. Until then they don't seem to care if we win or lose. Ben Purkeypile has his own style as a quarterback. The coaches don't know how to utilize his talents. There are different types of running backs too and the coaches don't know how to utilize their talents either. I could go on and on but really, what's the point?

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 12, 2007 at 11:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Mr. Walker, can you please explain the accounts you refer too as unsubstantiated? Do these same rules apply to stories that are written in your newspaper? Do you attempt to substantiate all statements quoted in these stories?

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 12, 2007 at 2:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I take it that Mr.Chris Walker is just saying hash this out somewhere else, not on my paper. I do understand Mr. Walker. I just feel they need to clean up their dirty work so we can keep it clean, too. I do not know any of these readers, I do know we "as the fans" have seen how they have treated these boys, even bad mouth them in the parking lot at a game. At the end of 4th quarter (Pitt's) did anyone see coach #2 get into it with #9 player and coach #1 had to break it up? I do not speculate anything, I see for myself. For the remaining players and new players, I'm just hoping that the code of ethics will be changed. There must be a rule book that states "Respect" your players and the players will respect you. After all, isn't that the way it is in every job? I agree with footballeyes on this, "Does everything that is quoted on these articles speak the truth? Coach #1 said (in an article a few weeks back), that one of his quarterbacks wasn't much of an athlete. Is this truth or an opinion? Then isn't it fair & ok to make an opinion then to say coach #1 or coach #2 is not much of a coach in this level of football? In an article a coach made the comment "We are just working with what we have". (Article on your paper) Look-you win as a team , you lose as a team, you take the responsiblity as a team, etc. They say they have a plan, (This information was an article in your paper) so when they get their recruits next year and they build their team up, and forbid if something went wrong and they had a losing streak again, will it be ok for this to happen again?

Posted by gregorymed (anonymous) on November 12, 2007 at 4:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Now that the first year "Higgins" honeymoon is somewhat officially over i hope Mr. Walker and Mr. Ashford will allow constructive critical inspection of Higgins performance. After all, whether you like it or not the ESU football program is a public reflection on the city of Emporia, the ESU campus, Alumni, and football families. No one wants to be viewed as an embarrassing joke but the only thing that would be worse is if the local newspaper puts its head in the sand or is influenced by ad $$$ from John North Ford! Thank you Mr. Ashford for your phone number....you will hear from me in the spring regarding coach higgins progress or lack thereof and it will be a small test of your papers journalistic fortitude.

Posted by tosie (anonymous) on November 12, 2007 at 4:17 p.m.

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Posted by EsqEB (anonymous) on November 13, 2007 at 8:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The comments section of most articles in the Gazette are filled with unsubstantiated accounts and Mr. Walker never removes them. Just strikes me as kind of odd he would ensure they were removed from this article.

Posted by anneroel (anonymous) on November 14, 2007 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

As "gregorymed" points out, the Gazette has failed in its journalistic responsibilities. More than that, this newspaper has slandered my son. It has falsely reported in a way that has insulted his character, thereby making it difficult for him to go somewhere else and play. In addition, this newspaper has shown outright bias. Notice that Jesse Newell's article fails to report Ben's touchdown passes. If Mr. Walker wants to call my comments unsubstantiated, it is only true because his newspaper has failed to substantiate, or even to report at all, what has really happened on this team. It would easy to find out if what I say is true. Simply interview any of the players who had been at practice and they will tell you Ben was put on the scouting squad right after Sloan El was injured. Simply interview people at the fundraiser and they will be able to tell you the condition and attitude of the coach and his staff. Anyone at the practices or even close to the sidelines can hear the words used by the coaching staff. How hard is it to do your job?

Posted by quarterback (anonymous) on November 14, 2007 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Annereol who cares. The season is done. Lets take our sour grapes and move on. Higgins is here and he is in the process of rebuilding the team. Its time to talk about basketball.

Posted by eatasheep69 (anonymous) on November 14, 2007 at 12:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

AMEN!
Both the women's and men's teams are nationally ranked. Looks like it may be a great season. Let's all get out and support them and MAKE SOME NOISE at the games.

Posted by laughing (anonymous) on November 14, 2007 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is hilarious! I stumbled onto this by accident. Now I know where all the crybabies, losers, and armchair quarterbacks who have never strapped on a helmet hang out.
I am amazed at how some people like to display their ignorance for all to see.
Goodbye forever.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 14, 2007 at 4:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Looks like quarterback and eatasheep69 have both done a good job of displaying their ignorance. If you guys ever strapped one on, I'm certain it was not on the football field.

Posted by gregorymed (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Laughing,
Glad you are gone "forever"! This is an important and serious subject and your post added nothing to the discussion Goodbye.....and for your information i have strapped on a helmet and played the game.

Posted by Chatty (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The bottom line is...if your son is on the football team and didn't play, you hate the coaches. If your son played, I'm sure your opinions would be different. Have you ever thought that maybe the coaches didn't have the right players to get the job done this year? They're not the ones out there fumbling the ball, missing passes, throwing interceptions, etc. etc. For the comment about not utilizing the talents of the RB and QB...when they are in the game their talents should show if they are a good players. I don't think throwing a million interceptions and running one yard or even negative yards shows any talent. And, for the verbal abuse comments...I agree that yelling and screaming doesn't work with every player. But, that's all part of it for a lot of football teams. Toughen up. At least they are making the players responsible for their actions instead of telling them it's alright to suck. Maybe when the coaches get good players they won't need to yell at them as much. This is just my opinion.

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 1:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Goes to show you, you probably didn't go to the 8 games they lost in public to see for yourself. I'm not a mad parent, a player or a spectator to vent for revenge. My opinion still remains the same. As for recuiting the right players, what web page are you on? They got recruits last year, did they receive honors? Did you know one of them was let go before the last game? I am not saying they didn't have problems with some of the positions, I'm saying they didn't give players that showed talent opportunities like others. Example: made many tackles, but taken out, made interceptions, but taken out, stopped the other teams offensive, etc and did not show errors. I bet ya none of these players left as a crybaby, loser, or an armchair quarterback, instead I bet, they were glad to get the h-e-double l hockey sticks out of there! Chatty-do you know any of these players? Have you talked to these players? IN MY OPINION-these coaches were embarressed due to the fact they had a losing streak, new from another college and everyone was excited to see a fresh face and they weren't getting the job done. So- they vented out and showed their true color. If nothing else, I hope it changes lack of respect for players, after all, it's their butts they busted not the coaches. Yes, you hear foal language out of coaches mouths at times, but it should not be degrading, why not a happy medium to build up a team.
So-go tighten up the ship you sail chatty! Go to some of the games and observe and clean out your ears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 1:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Oh, by the way, your right better luck next year!

Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 1:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"They got recruits last year" Really? I thought Higgins was hired AFTER prime recruiting season which basically forced him to use what the prior coach had recruited, which apparently didn't amount to much. You cannot expect a coach to walk in stuck with the leftovers of a failed prior coaching staff that had slowly run the program into the ground and expect them to turn the first season around. We are in one of the toughest leagues - with the fierce competition we couldn't have expected to win more games than we did this year or were you not aware of that going into this season?

Posted by minorityinemporia (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 2:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Does it really matter ! No ! Just Graduate and get a good job and say I did not get pimped ! The most important thing is for them to Graduate from college , Football is only a Game !!

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 2:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I never made any comment , that I expected to win or lose. I know the past coach was respectful and not degrading but not tough enough to win games. I am impressed with the competition league this year, so many of these colleges have improved and have seen a complete turnover in the last 4 years. I do hope we see a difference here at ESU but I fail to see this happen with this negitive staff. Who would want to play for someone who in my opinion shows lack of leadership. What about some of the high school plays they performed? Who were they listening to? I'm not backing up the prior coach either. I guess we will just have to watch, see, and hear if the current coaches get stuck in their muck with their new recruits. My only point I have been saying is respect these boys in not a degrading way. I cannot say on here what I have heard that went on day in and day out during this season.

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 2:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Your right it is only a game, so why go to the extreme?

Posted by LilJHawkFan (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Just a bunch of fair weather fans on here....

Posted by playersfan (anonymous) on November 15, 2007 at 2:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I will support the players in good and in bad, this year, next year and so on, but I will not support these coaches #1 & #2 unless they prove to change their way of leadership. I'm only one person out of many who feel the same way.

Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on November 16, 2007 at 7:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

You called it LilJHawkFan - it's sad really. Funny how quickly people forget that in '06, ESU Football was 3-8 also under the direction of a coach that apparently had a completely different coaching style, so is it really the style that matters? I never witnessed some of the things that others have referred to as far as behavior from the coaching staff, so I can't have an opinion on that, but I am going to support ESU football through the good and bad. The players that work their butts off deserve our support, and that's what they will get from me.

Posted by minorityinemporia (anonymous) on November 16, 2007 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Okay , I have to clean up the word pimped ! This is the name for when a athlete goes to college and plays 4-5 years of any given sport and leaves college without a diploma.
I played and I graduated from college . When I left school there was about 19-21 seniors.
Do you want to guest how many Graduated !! about 5 of us , I know it is sad but it is true.

I will not say most coaches because in my life I have only known maybe 20-30 college coaches or have talked to players who played for certain coaches . I remember I had a friend who played for Northen Iowa University in Cedar Falls Iowa and he told me that the coach over recruited and he had some players he thought were good enough to play Division 1AA but they did not pan out , right before the season this coach came out to the practice field and gave out about 10 Greyhound Bus tickets and told those players he thought was not good enough to play at that level to go home. And some of them did but the rest stayed to finish school.

What I am saying is this is a business and most coaches will do or say anything to get ahead in this business so that one day that can have the shoe deal and their own sports talk show. Most players must realize that they must graduate and develop and nourish the friendships that they will have with other teammates. A coach is only a Person with no special powers . Too many times we look up to them like they are Gods but they are only regular people with a skill to delegate and instruct , and when they do this in a manner where they can motivate and inspire and develop trust they most likely will win more games than they lose.

Too many times there is a different Hello when you have 3-4 years of eligibility than when you have none. When a coach can show you true love and respect and spend time with you discussing your life plans after playing sports , that shows some integrity within that coach.

There is no perfect Coach , he or she will make many mistakes on the road to becoming a successful coach and person within any community .

Posted by EsqEB (anonymous) on November 19, 2007 at 7:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Too bad the Somalians don't have father in laws who own car dealerships in town and pay for ad's in the Gazette, perhaps then Mr. Walker would take down all the horrible comments about them.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 19, 2007 at 7:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Is it true that Coach Higgins is interested in the NEO job?

Posted by dillon (anonymous) on November 20, 2007 at 2:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

footballeyes are you just trying to stir up the bee hive or did you really hear this?

Posted by admireed (anonymous) on November 20, 2007 at 4:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Leave Mr. Walker and Mr. North out of this discussion. Their ethics are above question.

Posted by minorityinemporia (anonymous) on November 20, 2007 at 6:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

He better stay for at least 3 years ! That would be a waste if he leaves.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 21, 2007 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I have heard his name mentioned in reference to this opening.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 24, 2007 at 6:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

CORRECTION: That would be Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, not NEO.

Posted by EsqEB (anonymous) on November 25, 2007 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"Leave Mr. Walker and Mr. North out of this discussion. Their ethics are above question."

And your relation to the two of them would be? Employee of the Gazette, or employee of the car lot?

Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on November 26, 2007 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Why is it someone has to be related to someone or work for someone if they dare stick up for them on this site? I have read plenty of negative comments on here about the football coaches, so your logic makes no sense about certain comments being removed because of relation and advertising space. Otherwise ALL negative comments would have been removed.

Posted by footballeyes (anonymous) on November 26, 2007 at 9:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Boy, emporialifer sure dodged that question, or did he really?

Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on November 27, 2007 at 7:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

footballeyes - if you would go back and re-read before you jump to conclusions and post - you would realize that the question was not posed to me - he didn't quote my post, so I guess I did not dodge any question. Good try. Just FYI - I am not related nor do I work for either. I know - surprise surprise - being that I'm sticking up for them.

Posted by EsqEB (anonymous) on December 3, 2007 at 6:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There are plenty of negative comments on here about football coaches, college qb's, police chiefs, etc...and they all stay up. But for some reason, they delete the ones about the head coach...just seems kind of odd.