[NU Sports] Now THAT was a game!

[Beamsley, Jeff]

If you are speaking in the Biblical context, yes I am a fan of David.
The point of that story was that you don't have to become Goliath in
order to defeat him.

The same thing is true here at Northwestern.  We don't have to become
Ohio State in order to beat them.

That was also the point of my previous post.  Competition isn't only
about raw ability, otherwise why play the game?  You can just have
everyone pull out their Rivals ratings, add them up, and the group with
the higher score gets the W.  I understand that this is a difficult
concept for you to gasp, but it is not theoretical.  You only have to
look at the results.  At least in the case of Northwestern, Goliath does
not win 98% of the time.

I suggest that the secret to NU's success is our belief that team play
can overcome individual weakness. 

As far as your compliment - "well coached, pretty good players working
their hearts out"; it has a hint of condescension, particularly in the
context of this discussion about "talent".  Perhaps that was unintended,
but the subtext I read was "pretty good players but you're still no Ohio
State".  I disagree.  The way this team is playing right now, if Ohio
State were on the schedule next week, we'd beat them too.

To that end, what Fitz IS saying is that the '95 season is his
expectation for every team every year.  It just depends on how hard the
players and staff are willing to work and how much of themselves are
they willing to invest in becoming a team that believes it can win.  

National Championships are catching lightening in a bottle for everyone.
In the past ten years (BCS era), OSU is the only BT team with a NC in
2003.  From 1989 - 1999, Michigan was the only BT team and they shared
that title with Nebraska in 1997.  But you can bet that winning a NC is
one of the goals of OSU every year, why is it any less realistic for NU?

Jeff



 


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From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
On Behalf Of Dennis W. Brandt
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 6:32 AM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Now THAT was a game!

Re: [NU Sports] Now THAT was a game!<If it really was just about talent,
how do explain the success this group of too slow, too small, too smart,
too lightly recruited kids had in November? They beat teams filled with
blue chip recruits. Every team they beat has lower academic standards
for their athletes. Every team they beat puts way more people in the
stands than we do and probably has better facilities too.

Athletic competition isn't about talent?  That will come as a shock to
every coach in the world.  You have a David syndrome.  Everyone loves to
see underdog David put it to big, nasty Goliath.  Problem is, Goliath
wins 98% of the time.  As I said in my original e-mail on this topic,
the NU football team is staffed by "well coached, pretty good players
working their hearts out."  Last time I checked, that was a complimentt
In NU football history, "pretty good" has been a rarity, so it looks
good by comparison.  We will win more games yet with well coached,
HIGHLY TALENTED players working their hearts out.  We cannot rely on the
1995 dream team as an end-all standard.  That was our Goliath year, and
you don't get many of them.  Fitz clearly has recruited better talent.
If he hadn't, we would have been 2 - 9 this season.  He just as clearly
needs to continue the climb up the talent pool if we are to be a
contender every season.  I don't question that is his intent, nor do I
doubt that if he had an interested stud running back on the academic
cusp, he would fight like hell to get him.  The way to build a fan base
and draw more press coverage is to enter every season as a strong BCS
contender.  In other words, EXPECT VICTORY in reality, not just as a
rah-rah slogan.  If we don't, why set foot on the football field?  I
have no doubt Fitz would agree.

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