Originally posted by gravelburn:Originally posted by TDilvr:
He needs to earn the respect of fans and his coaches and teammates alike and if he has to weather a few unpleasantries along the way, then that is what he has to do. Him reluctantly (Sing shoving his a$$ out there) stepping in front of a bunch of cameras and reporters today to answer for himself was the first step in owning the mess he created.
In Singletary I trust.
I trust in Singletary too, but I'm wavering as to whether the press conference was a good idea. Sing treats his players like his kids, and in this situation, it's like he was sending Crabtree out to apologize to fans. But we all knew he wouldn't give any real information and other than saying he was "humbled" by the experience, I didn't sense any sort of real apology or resolution of the mess Crabtree created of his relationship with the fans. All this event served to do was make him more "humbled" when what we need him to do is move on to the business of contributing to this team. Once he starts doing that, maybe a press conference makes more sense and he has the distance to the holdout to speak more candidly and maybe even express sincere regret. As it is, he probably feels even more alienated than he did before the press conference. Yes, he did it to himself and he has to live with it, but it's in the team's best interest for him to move forward.
I see your point but the reality is that there are some on the team who are going to need to see something from Mr.Crabtree before they fully buy in. I apply that to the fans as well. For players and coaches in particular the need to get the crap out of the way first is important before they can truly move on. Otherwise the team has this "issue" that nobody dares to speak about and just ends up becoming a distraction. I applaud Sing for setting the tone of tough love respect earned the good old fashioned way.
We live in a culture that seems intent on avoiding responsibility. He does not need to have his nose rubbed in his mistake but he should be allowed to experience at least some of the consequences his hold out created. I see that as a good thing.
Its like a media feeding frenzy in here 
