All good things must come to an end.  Even when it seems like someone or something has been at a place for so long that there's no way it could go on without it, that will eventually end.  The flip side, however, is that a good thing coming to an end does not necessarily mean that whatever follows it won't be at least as good as what just ended. 

Boise State and longtime AD Gene Bleymaier parted ways, to the great consternation of many longtime Bronco fans.  Is this a sad thing?  Yes - it's hard to let go of the person who installed the now famous (or infamous, depending on your allegiances) blue turf, built the football program from a D-1AA powerhouse up to a perennial Top-25 D-1A team, and hired - IN ORDER - Houston Nutt, Dirk Koetter, Dan Hawkins, AND Chris Petersen to head up the rocketing football program.  OK, maybe Nutt wasn't such a great hire - 5-6 in his one year in Boise.  Still, though, that's an impressive streak.  However, by no means can we attribute such a streak only to his hires - none of those coaches attained a great deal of success AFTER leaving Boise.

On the flip side, the guy has made some pretty abysmal basketball coach hires in the past, and isn't the greatest at fundraising, it seems.  It apparently took a serious run at Coach Petersen by Stanford AND personal involvement from Dr. Kustra to get Bleymaier to commit to a timeline for the new football complex and keep Petersen in Boise (disclaimer: the preceding statement is all secondhand info and rumor).  Bleymaier ignored multiple e-mails about violations in certain sports programs, brought two lawsuits on the university for sexual discrimination and wrongful termination, and brought down the wrath of the NCAA in a charge of "lack of institutional control."

Is it sad that Bleymaier has left Boise State?  Yes.  Was it time for him to go?  Yes.  All good things must come to an end.  However, as Bleymaier's football hires over the years have proven, the good thing that just ended can often be replaced by something far better if you're willing to have an open mind and look to the future.

On a related note, I might or might not be writing something very similar to this when Kellen Moore and Doug Martin leave after the 2011 season.