I wrote this several days ago after reading another in a long string of comments which spoke to the alleged "negativity" of this community. I hope it puts things in context......

First off, like Tasser10 said, if you’ve been reading all this time you should understand the tone that most posts have been taking. There’s very few (I’d say none) who wish the team ill. Its just a completely ambivalent situation (Catch 22 if you will) wherein most are committed to the proposition that BH must go, (and AD DG as well), can’t bring themselves to root against the team and the young men, but realize that the greater success the team, and concomitantly BH, achieves, the more likely it is he’ll keep his job. From there it’s an easy leap to feel good about the team and its wins but continue to see the glass half empty.

It would be hard to hold to the hope of BH’s demise while at the same time finding nothing to criticize him for. This is why most of the negativity focuses on his past blunders and fauxes pas, particularly (and without argument most significantly) his interpersonal relationships with his players. What is going to be very interesting is when, if ever, BH will be let off the hook for his past sins. In some minds it would take a NC; in others even that would not suffice. Most seem to believe this team is capable of going no further than the second week of the Tourney, and that would seal the BH deal. My sense, based entirely on human nature (in this case that of Chancellor Block) is that DG will never fire Ben if he has won the Pac12 and gotten into the second round. And Block will never fire DG if the crowds begin to swell, the money starts (or continues) to come in and the publicity surrounding the program becomes predominantly positive — all of which is highly probable if the team continues to improve and roll on through the Pac12 schedule; certainly making the Tourney.

How far into the Dance we go will not faze Block as it will have little effect on revenues. Block has no sense of the program’s historic importance nor the level of excellence (aside from Ws) that is called for. He will act only if and when he personally has to account or atone for problems in the athletic dept. So, I fear (and am mentally preparing myself for) a long(er) period of relative team success accompanied by continued negativity (if that’s even the right word) from the community. My money is down on Howland keeping his job unless disaster strikes (eg a team collapse due to injuries, transfer or its current luck runs out).