re: sam-
when he was still in HS and committed to Texas i went to the recruiting board and posted that, imo, sam was good at everything but great at nothing, that he wasn’t good enough to qb a title winning team, and that, again, imo, he’d never pass beuchele on the depth chart, and that i foresaw him transferring before he ever got the starting job. as someone who’d never previously visited the recruiting forum, i was wildly unaware of the hornets nest i had just walked into. from that point forward, a metric shit ton of westlake/Texas fans swore up and down that i hated sam ehlinger, and thus made me the target of their indefatigable ire.
after sam won the starting job, the vitriol was flying at me from every direction. people just spiking the ball in my face left and right. fair enough. but me being me (and i stand by this to this day), i still maintained that, “he’s not as good as y’all think he is.” and he wasn’t. two offseasons in a row there was heisman talk, and when i scoffed, you guessed it-more vitriol.
then, his senior year, i said that sam would never lock down an nfl starting qb job, which again, made a lot of people react hysterically, as if their child had just been shot or something equally tragic. the bombastic and emotional reactions to my takes on sam never accurately reflected anything that i said or felt about him, but good luck convincing the hive mind otherwise.
that’s just the way it is: 90% of the “derka’d” threads on this site take place in this forum (a place i hardly visit), and 100% of those “derka’d” threads involve people becoming incensed because i say and feel, “darling qb ‘x’ isn’t as good as y’all think he is.” and, ftr, 100% of the time i’ve been right. same with shaka, GoT, ted lasso, rick and morty, etc. you name it. when people here like something, they by and large cannot handle a dissenting opinion. anyone who doesn’t parrot the party line “hates” the player, the coach, the tv show, etc. this feeling is pervasive throughout this site.
in conclusion: i’ve always liked sam; i will always root for him; people here are by and large insanely blinded through burnt orange tinted glasses, and they handle opposing opinions as well as chris farley handles being lied to about the coffee he’s drinking. in never going to back down when the crowd hates my opinion, and the crowd is going to hate every dissenting opinion i have. the cycle will repeat. i am at peace with this.