Musings
I've been thinking a lot about OBNUG. It's not really about football. It's about people. People who wrap their philosophies to life around football or perhaps the other way around.
What started me on this line of thought was visiting the Ole Miss site, Red Cup Review. I have been liberal with commendation to some really thoughtful people over there. They have what they call a Friday Forum. I gather they pick a topic and allow members to comment. This past week it was about good cheap food. It was clever, fun, and interesting. I even added my 2 cents posting about a place I dined in Gulfport while visiting relatives a few years back.
They have this thing called Hate Week at RCR and at present Boise State is the object of their hated. The comments are crude, vulgar, and base.
Over the last few days I've read a little about Ole Miss's football history. A lot of good folks have graced their turf over the years. Yet, in the last 40 years they have had little success. A lack of success can often times make people bitter and hateful. Those emotions are worse if you want to compete and win.
This Is Personal Stuff You Can Skip
During the 60s I played junior high and high school basketball. Our cross town rival beat us every year since the 7th grade. The scores were never close. They had three starters that would later play college ball. They had one player that averaged 30 points a game (before the 3 pointer). I know this sounds cliché, but I've seen few players his equal when it came to shooting. He was flat-out incredible.
During the off season they were friends, but when the season started and especially the week before we played them they were hated enemies.
The week of our final meeting my senior year our coach told us there was a difference between hate and passion. "They are your friends and after school and basketball is over you'll be business associates and colleagues. They may become your doctor, lawyer, or minister." He than talked about a strategy. Don't defend them tight, just outscore them. Don't let them win the game at the foul line."
The result: we were never in a 1 and 1 situation. Our starters were never benched for foul trouble, but only to give them a breather. Our opponents were in foul trouble and breathing heavy all night long. They were ahead till the middle of the third quarter and we turned it on. We won 85 - 80. Their star player scored 49 points.
The point: we played with passion and not hatred thus not allowing hatred to interfere with our strategy.
About 8 years earlier I was a bully punk. I picked a fight with a kid. We met after school. He was calm, not nervous at all. In fact he looked downright friendly. I shoved him to start things out. He delivered a haymaker that made me crumble to my knees. It was a "no mas" moment. As I steadied myself on all fours I saw a roll of dimes in the other kid's hand. While I was busy being hatful he was busy developing a strategy.
OBNUG Is Not About Hate
Back to Ole Miss's Hate Week. I hope OBNUG never stoops or devolves to that level. It is infectious. It carries over to the team. There is good natured poking fun and hatred. With hatred a team can lose focus.
As I read comments on OBNUG I note a clear, measured, mature, and analytical spectrum of thought. As a collective Nuggies do a yeoman's job. Some seem so well schooled in the game they stretch beyond the paid commentary. There is passion.
Without Passion You're Ole Middle - sippi
After analysis comes planning and execution followed closely by motivation and confidence. This is something that only those who have immersed their lives into football are capable of accomplishing.
The final ingredient is passion; it can bind all the other qualities together. It is passion that makes a blocker hold his block even though over powered. It is passion that makes a running back carry tacklers three yards and break free. It is passion that makes a quarterback toss a ball to an open receiver as he's about to be hit. It is passion that makes a player get to his feet and run down the ball. It is passion that makes the defensive back never give up on a ball to haul it in for an interception. It is passion that keeps fans enthusiastically and loyally rooting for their team no matter what.
Hatred only causes teams and fans to lose their way. They become detached from reality and blame others for their demise and hatred. It creates an atmosphere for losers to flourish, dominate, and spill their animus.
Hatred sucks the life from the hater. He thinks it fuels him, but it's like a sudden infusion of sugar; there is the sugar rush followed by the crash and provides nothing of lasting nutrition value.
Swagger Without Passion Is Just a Funny Way of Walking
We toss words around like swagger, but behind that swagger must be passion.
As I'm writing this it has come to me that the last two years have been passionless. Not from the players, but from the coaching - "dumbing down" the play book or "trimming it" - whatever. The Broncos were like a stage full of actors acting their hearts out and the director, writer, and producer being distracted by their own self-importance.
The game with Ole Miss and the season comes down to passion. Passion's vigor remains far beyond hatred's rush and debilitations.