Bill Curry, College Football 19y

Things are good as long as you win

Charles Dickens was not a football fan, but the title of his famous novel indicated that he would certainly have understood fan behavior. We expect. And for those of us who are passionate about sport, we greatly expect. The fact is that our great expectations often make the job of meeting them a nightmare for the players, coaches, and their families.

What I mean is this: We take a bunch of teenage males, dress them in pretty uniforms, train them as if the earth depended on their performance, force them to learn and grow, tell them how wonderful they are going to be, then throw them out to perform before an audience of millions.

If they play well we rave, scream, chronicle and replay their brilliance. They watch the broadcast of the state religion, SportsCenter, with wide eyes, seeing themselves in all their glory so they just know their future as demigods is assured. So it goes, as long as they win.

The cheerleaders are beautiful, as long as they win. The National Anthem is emotional, the players are big men on campus and the coaches are geniuses. As long as they win.

The narcotic of winning and meeting those great expectations is 100 percent heady, 100 percent addictive and 100 percent destructive. The next time you watch a game in a big stadium, watch the players' eyes after a big play. They are looking up, up, up … to the Jumbotron to observe the beauty of themselves. Believe me, you are watching self-adulation in its most public and pronounced form.

Narcissus never had such technology.

It is our culture that sets the standards, and impossible as they may be, we have come to believe it is our birthright to denigrate our competitors -- and even their families -- when they fall short. Otherwise mature, thoughtful people become victims of the system when they buy in.

If they are in position to do damage with their taunts and boos they often jump at the chance then lapse into some kind of awful guilt response, much like the hung-over drunk or the gambler who loses the equity in the house.

When the players predictably behave as any teenagers on an ego trip would, we are offended, citing their loss of civility.

In one of my coaching stops we had a talented quarterback who became a lightening rod for controversy, in part because our team was not strong and in part because he was African-American. When he was roundly booed I warned the fans that we would not tolerate such behavior from our own people.

The discourse became heated as I continued to bring it up and was reminded by the loyal boosters that it was their "right" to scream any kind of obscenity they desired. Our player was such a great person that he defused the situation with his maturity and continued good performance.

A couple of years later I was walking my dog on a deserted country road when I spotted a lone figure standing astraddle a bike up ahead. He was expectantly looking at me. I wanted nothing less than to talk football on that quiet morning so I looked away, trying to will the man to disappear.

As usual, it didn't work, and as I approached he cleared his throat. When he opened his mouth he was unable to speak for a few seconds. As he worked his jaws tears began to form in his eyes, trickling down his face. After an awkward pause he began to speak in hushed tones so that I had to lean forward to hear him. What he said shocked me.

"I, uh, have been, looking for you for a long time," he said.

"You have? What for?" I asked.

He gathered his courage, looked me in the eye, and spoke again. "I want to apologize. I was terribly wrong."

"When were you wrong?" I asked.

"That day at the stadium with all the booing. I was there and I booed that wonderful young man. I am an ordained minister and there I stood, booing and jeering. I am so ashamed. Please forgive me, and ask our quarterback to forgive me. . .I am so sorry."

I reminded him that we had all done things like that, and that his response was that of a good person and a good pastor. He rode on off, having considerably brightened my day.

But since most fans are not like my penitent preacher a number of good football teams are dealing with expectation syndrome as we speak. It is a fascinating exercise to study the methods of each coach as he tries to keep his men chugging, recovering or surviving in the brutal crucible that is the BCS race.

I have categorized the various types of current situations into the terms that seem most interesting:

  • Best wakeup call: The ugly victory -- Current practitioners USC and Florida State each looked terrible in their respective wins over California and Syracuse. The Trojans won with near-perfection in the kicking game, and the Seminoles won in a fashion indiscernible to Bobby Bowden. At season's end the two games will simply appear as "W"s. Practice will be very focused in Los Angeles and Tallahassee this week.

  • Second-best wakeup call: The loss that does not destory BCS hopes -- Current victim Georgia floated into Sanford Stadium last Saturday as huge favorites over a Tennessee team they had beaten four times in a row, a Volunteers team that had the temerity to start a true freshman at quarterback against the mighty 'Dawgs. They got whipped, and will also have very focused practices this week.

  • Toughest challenge: A less-talented team playing beyond itself -- Current overachiever Purdue is riding the considerable gifts of quarterback Kyle Orton and a maniacal defensive effort into the teeth of a schedule that includes three teams in the next five weeks with more talent than the Boilermakers. What this means is that Joe Tiller and his staff cannot afford an off day. The margin of error is essentially zero.

    What all the above teams are dealing with is the natural tendency to think one great performance will somehow make the next one easier. The coaches know full well that the opposite is the truth. How they teach that to their teams is the key to consistency, and the most fun to watch!

    ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry was an NFL center for 10 seasons and coached for 17 years on the college stage. His Center Stage examinations appear each week during the college football season.

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