Jake Odum

[Aces0976]

You guys are thinking too small. I foresee Odom leaving school to move on to bigger, better things. The NBA is small potatoes. I personally envision a superhuman force of Jake Odom, Chuck Norris, and Mike Ditka joining together to bring us world peace. Everyone has it wrong why the Mayan calendar stops in 2012, it's not the end of the world, it's the beginning of a new better world in which we don't use numbers for years, because, well, Jake's not a numbers guy!!!!!

[FearDaTrees]

Indiana State will sweep the MVC.....reg season and tournament. The Mayans decided to push the deadline back a few years so they can watch Jake "The Great" Odom torch the Valley for years to come. LOL no but seriously enough with the odom posts....it only shows how truly jealous you guys are. Especially CU fans....McD is good but he couldn't find an open guy if he had 8 others guys out there....and of course he is gonna get boards when you have two monsters down low.....pssssh most overrated player in the MVC since Dearman from SIU. That guy just had some kind of disability cause he was straight up retarded on the court.

[Sycamore_DevilDog]

http://www.gosycamores.com/ViewArticle. ... =205135814

[MVCfans]

As you can see, I tried to move all of the tangential commentary about Jake Odum into a separate thread so that people could resume discussing predictions for next year in the other threads that had been diluted.

Discuss.

[sycamorestateofmind]

LOL! These guys are not discussing Jake Odum, rather they are making a mockery of the entire situation, scratch that making fun of about 3 of us here Sycamore fans at the expense of Jake Odum and you consider this a discussion? That's actually kinda funny!

Let me just say this, several in here have acknowledged his worth or his abilities - some have not recognized him as being the player that a many of us Sycamore fans think he is/has the ability to be. Please understand that it's been a while since we've been good (had anything to talk about) or had a player that's had as much tallent as 13 showed to have for us this past season. Furthermore please understand that the kid was totally overlooked out of high school and pardon us if we feel like he's getting over looked again. Him being overlooked the first time was a benefit to the Sycamores, continuously overlooked now after high school is over? Not sure I can understand it - once again, I understand he's being recognized. I just believe that what he did this past season is worthy of more praise/recognition from outsiders - those that vote for awards. Please understand that this is my own bias opinion - as if I hand't made that perfectly clear already.

Now continue on with your "discussion" at our own expense, I can take it. But please, don't do at disrespect to Jake Odum, he didn't do anything to deserve the kind of sarcastic comments you all are throwing at him. He had a great season and I apologize if I have mis-represented him or our fan base at anytime. I have stated my case with facts/stats to back it up, much of my opinion about 13 has been backed up with actual substance. So maybe, just maybe it's my presentation of my case that's bothersome or God forbid my constant defensive nature toward how others look at a player on my team... None of you would do that in my shoes right?

[MVCfans]

Without pointing fingers, I think it's pretty clear who is responsible for the circular discussion in the other threads. One of the mods locked the thread. I would like to keep the other threads open for discussion because they are worthy of dialogue. Therefore, I moved all comments about Jake into a separate thread where anyone who wants to debate his stats and abilities can do so and those who would like to read the commentary on other topics can do so without having to sift through a bunch of crap.

[sycamorestateofmind]

I'm not sure if it was me, if so sorry... I think it probably was me, without pointing fingers at anyone though. With that being said, these fellas on here (now pointing fingers) were not discussing Jake Odum. For the last 2 days (well I was on a temporary leave of absence) were most definitely putting the "dis" in discussing. But thanks for salvaging those posts so us Sycamore fans could "sift through the s***" that others were posting. Once again slighted, this time by someone who's supposed to remain neutral. I will give you this much - at least he got his own thread, that's pretty baller. I am sure the kid would be proud, probably less proud of how well I have made the rest of the MVC think of him.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Mama mia!

Tree mania!

Move over, Doggies.

[MoValley John]

I'm kind of proud of myself for mostly staying out of the Jake Odum stuff. I was unable to restrain myself once on Monday, but I made a pretty funny post if I do say so myself.

That said, what is currently happening with Jale Odum is nothing different than what happened with Drake posters three years ago and UNI posters two. And this isn't unique to postersfrom any fan base in any conference and any team that suddenly perform at a level that they aren't accustomed to and fans from their rival schools aren't accustomed to. And no, jealousy is not the issue. A temporary or in some cases, permanant chaging of the guard changes the way posters of all schools involved behave.

If you suddenly jump from a bottom feeder to a contender, fans of rival schools respect the solid season, but don't respect the teams ability to become a consistent winner. But why should they? Flash in the pans are more common than a team becoming an annual contender. Doing well one year is much more common than suddenly winning on a consistent basis. Therefore, rival posters will congratulate that team on a fine year but will not expect much from them in years to come. As a matter of fact, history backs that opinion.

On the flipside, fans from the team that suddenly became a frontrunner are elated! And who in the world could blame them? They finally have achieved what they have dreamed of for so many years. They want their just rewards, and rightfully so. More and more fans from that school will attend games, follow the team in the paper, and read these message boards. Postings from these fans will skyrocket. And from some, they will begin to boast. This isn't unique to Indiana State, it happens every time a team goes from a doormat to contender. Look at Drake, look at UNI. In fact, looking back at Kansas State, when Bill Snyder turned their football team around, it took several years for fans in the Big 8 to respect them. And if Valley Talk was still available to read, you would see posts deriding Butlar as recently as just before their NCAA run last year.

In the end, there are many more one year runs like Drake had than what Kansas State and Butler have done. But winning feels good and fans from a winning program tend to see everything that the team as doing as awesome, while at the same time, overlooking weaknesses. Once again, the Indiana State situation isn't unique. The challenge for Indiana State fans is to enjoy the run, enjoy the winning, but at the same time, understand that these comments come with the territory.

Going further, I can't remember the last time anyone took Indiana State basketball seriously, probably back when Larry Legend was on the team. None of the posters that you think are mocking Jake Odum, or disrespecting your program, have ever had a bad word to say about you guys because in fact, you guys didn't matter. Therefore, in the time that message boards became a part of following college and pro sports, nobody has said anything unprovoked about Indiana State. Nobody. Then suddenly the team becomes relevant and fans begin to boast. It hurts. It angers fans. But in reality, you guys still have it easy. The barbs thrown your way are really relatively tame. And if you think I'm wrong, ask UNI fans, I can tell you straight up that they had it much worse. And they still get prodded. But this simply comes with the territory. Much Worse things are said about Wichita State and Creighton, UNI is always a target for the same exact thing. The difference is that UNI has had two years to get a thicker skin and Wichita State and Creighton have been the victims of the barbs for so long that it is just another day. Saluki fans were forever the victims as well, Fat albert comments directed at Lowery and the term GodShawGod speak volumes. The fact of the matter is this, if Indiana State contends again next year and in subsequent years, the barbs won't stop. What will change is Sycamore fans will grow accustomed to it and won't get so bent out of shape if a player doesn't get the accolades they believe is just. In time, Sycamore fans will grow to understand the territory and learn that it isn't jealousy, it isn't disrespect, it's simply what happens on message boards to all contenders. The pain you feel now is simply part of winning the MVC tourney.

Instead of being upset that you are receiving what you feel is unfair negative attention, relish the fact that others are even talking about you. With that, GodOdumGod!!!

[sycamorestateofmind]

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