This thread is a perfect example of what happens when guys like Chris, CPR, and Jamie do nothing but sell hype hype and more hype. It's been going on for two straight years, and it has become ridiculous. I can't tell if Chris really believes some of the things he sells, but I have to admit he is a hell of a salesman and because of that this site does very well. He deserved credit for that, but he also deserves blame for this type of crap. He's taking it like a man and I applaud him for that.
I think there is a fine line that a guy in Chris' shoes has to walk. His job certainly has benefits when he is connected with the program. It's pretty tough to stay connected to the program if you're constantly bashing the players and the coaches who are running it. On the flip side it's pretty tough to maintain what I would call "journalistic integrity" when all you're doing is writing dreamy things about a team that ends up being flat out terrible. You can't honestly tell me there hasn't been some serious red flags these past couple years. You have to cover both sides of it, and Chris just focuses far too much on the positives. You can be critical and respectful at the same time, and I would think his connections within the program would understand and even respect that (then again we all know CPR can be a bit immature with the media so who knows).
I get the positivity, but like I said, there's a fine line. In my opinion, which I'm entitled to, Chris crosses the line by being far too positive and many people on these message boards read much too far into things that he says which then causes them to create totally unrealistic expectations,. In some cases it makes the fan base look a tad bit ridiculous. Like Stormin for example... That guy severely fed into all the hype. His comments all offseason just look insane right now. Some of that type of stuff is absolutely the result of the way Chris, CPR, an JP go above and beyond to sell the fan base even if they know damn well the stuff they are saying is a huge stretch. This type of meltdown wouldn't happen if the Cyclone fan base wasn't served so much hype these past couple years. Chris doesn't work for the University. He's the one person out of those three individuals who has a lot more room to be critical and he just doesn't do it.