ITH: On Romeo’s season … to this day if I tweet something about him, there will be a certain set of comments I’ll get that say he was a bust … I don’t know if it is just because the expectations were ridiculous, but do you think any of that is unfair? The way people, in a lot of ways, kind of ripped him for how he played at IU. The dude averaged 16 points with a torn ligament in his wrist. What did you think about that, especially as someone who is from Indiana, to see how some fans bailed on him?
Hartman: That’s the Indiana fanbase, in my opinion. You’ve got a bunch of people who never played the game, especially at this level. And you got a lot of people who didn’t even go to the university. That’s what makes Indiana fans so great is they are so passionate. But they are also very irrational. You have to put it in perspective. This kid is 18 years old. The thing is, he’s so young and when you get put on a pedestal like that and you have such high expectations and the stress … when fans turn their TV off, the game is over. But the dude still has to live with whatever the result was. He’s gotta go back to his dorm room. Not an apartment, not living on his own … he goes to a dorm room because he’s an 18 year old kid.
My freshman year, I almost transferred because the Indiana fanbase said I was a wasted scholarship, I didn’t deserve my scholarship, I shouldn’t be here, I’m worthless … I internalized that stuff as a freshman because I didn’t know any better. And my sophomore year on, I didn’t care what the fans thought or said. Because none of them had been in my shoes, ever. I stopped reading your guy’s (message) boards because people would comment and say whatever. I stopped reading all of that stuff. Because none of it was positive.
And so as a kid, it is hard to stay off of those platforms and it’s hard to not internalize those things because you are not emotionally mature enough to do it yet. I was blessed and lucky enough to have a support system that reinforced that I belonged there and that I could do it and that I was doing the right things and that it was going to take time. A lot of kids don’t have that.
Think about it this way. I always ask IU fans, do you have kids? Just imagine if you had thousands and thousands of people just destroying that person’s personal identity not just as a player, but them as a person. Destroying them on the most public of platforms, how would you feel for that person? It’s hard because people are irrational and don’t understand that. Yes, you can be passionate, but you have to be passionate in the right way. You can be critical, but you have to be critical in the right way. You can’t just throw out insults and throw out irrational comments when you have nothing to back it up. And you have no perspective because you are not in their day-to-day.
Even you guys in the media room have more perspective because you are at least talking to the coaches and having interviews with us. You guys turn off the recorders and we have a personal relationship like I do with you and Zach (Osterman) and Kyle (Neddenriep) and all of those guys, it’s different. You guys know us on more of a personal level than fans do. So they don’t understand that kids read that stuff. And they take it to heart. And their parents take it to heart and it pisses them off, too. And it really accomplishes nothing.
Because I’m going to tell you right now, all of these fans tweeting at the coaches tweeting at the coaches saying ‘you need to play so and so,’ they’re not reading that. (Laughing.) Coach Miller is getting paid a lot of money. Do you think he’s not going to do his best? Do you think he’s going to listen to some guy on some message board or tweeting him that’s never played the game before at this level? Do you think he’s going to listen to that? No. So you are literally wasting words. Wasting your time and energy and all of that. I just think it is comical that people think they’re going to make a difference by doing that. All you are doing is bringing negative energy to the program, the players, to the coaching staff, everything. You’re not accomplishing anything. I always thought it was comical how people truly think they’re making a difference when you say things like that. It’s not for the better, that’s for sure.
Hartman: That’s the Indiana fanbase, in my opinion. You’ve got a bunch of people who never played the game, especially at this level. And you got a lot of people who didn’t even go to the university. That’s what makes Indiana fans so great is they are so passionate. But they are also very irrational. You have to put it in perspective. This kid is 18 years old. The thing is, he’s so young and when you get put on a pedestal like that and you have such high expectations and the stress … when fans turn their TV off, the game is over. But the dude still has to live with whatever the result was. He’s gotta go back to his dorm room. Not an apartment, not living on his own … he goes to a dorm room because he’s an 18 year old kid.
My freshman year, I almost transferred because the Indiana fanbase said I was a wasted scholarship, I didn’t deserve my scholarship, I shouldn’t be here, I’m worthless … I internalized that stuff as a freshman because I didn’t know any better. And my sophomore year on, I didn’t care what the fans thought or said. Because none of them had been in my shoes, ever. I stopped reading your guy’s (message) boards because people would comment and say whatever. I stopped reading all of that stuff. Because none of it was positive.
And so as a kid, it is hard to stay off of those platforms and it’s hard to not internalize those things because you are not emotionally mature enough to do it yet. I was blessed and lucky enough to have a support system that reinforced that I belonged there and that I could do it and that I was doing the right things and that it was going to take time. A lot of kids don’t have that.
Think about it this way. I always ask IU fans, do you have kids? Just imagine if you had thousands and thousands of people just destroying that person’s personal identity not just as a player, but them as a person. Destroying them on the most public of platforms, how would you feel for that person? It’s hard because people are irrational and don’t understand that. Yes, you can be passionate, but you have to be passionate in the right way. You can be critical, but you have to be critical in the right way. You can’t just throw out insults and throw out irrational comments when you have nothing to back it up. And you have no perspective because you are not in their day-to-day.
Even you guys in the media room have more perspective because you are at least talking to the coaches and having interviews with us. You guys turn off the recorders and we have a personal relationship like I do with you and Zach (Osterman) and Kyle (Neddenriep) and all of those guys, it’s different. You guys know us on more of a personal level than fans do. So they don’t understand that kids read that stuff. And they take it to heart. And their parents take it to heart and it pisses them off, too. And it really accomplishes nothing.
Because I’m going to tell you right now, all of these fans tweeting at the coaches tweeting at the coaches saying ‘you need to play so and so,’ they’re not reading that. (Laughing.) Coach Miller is getting paid a lot of money. Do you think he’s not going to do his best? Do you think he’s going to listen to some guy on some message board or tweeting him that’s never played the game before at this level? Do you think he’s going to listen to that? No. So you are literally wasting words. Wasting your time and energy and all of that. I just think it is comical that people think they’re going to make a difference by doing that. All you are doing is bringing negative energy to the program, the players, to the coaching staff, everything. You’re not accomplishing anything. I always thought it was comical how people truly think they’re making a difference when you say things like that. It’s not for the better, that’s for sure.
