2008 Woodie Awards
Waiting for an attitude adjustment
Ben Nielsen
Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: Sports
The buzz you may have been hearing last Tuesday (Feb. 6) may not have been from the Southwest Baptist victory over Washburn. Instead it may have been from a small article written in the Springfield News-Leader highlighting the arguments from University President Dr.. C. Pat Taylor and Football Head Coach Jack Peavey.
The article, titled "Time for a change?", outlined the dismal history of SBU football and SBU's plans to escape by going independent. Though there were many interesting and gut-wrenching quotes, what ended up epitomizing the state of SBU athletics for me was this short blurb:
"'The first three years of this might have seemed like career suicide,' Peavey said. 'But I truly believe we can compete in this conference.'
Then, why go independent?
'The table is just so lopsided against us,' Peavey said. 'It's just a level playing field by going independent.'"
There is a word for this kind of logic, but this is a Baptist paper.
Normally after hearing things like this, I shake my head, do an eye roll and move on. But this article stung for me. Really bad.
If I were an athlete reading just these comments by Peavey, this is what would go through my mind: "Hey, Missouri Southern? Yeah, I'll take your offer now."
Considering the Oscars are in the process of being decided, I would like to add Peavey as a late nomination for the "Worst Public Relations Move of the Year." Exactly how contradictory can one be about something? How can one be so confident in their ability to win at a certain level and put at risk their own career ("seemed like career suicide") yet say we can't compete in the very next sentence?
Either you can or cannot compete - it is not possible to do both.
The reason why SBU has had 19 losing seasons since 1983 is because no one believes in this program.
Men's cross country had never finished better than dead last in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association coming into this season. I had heard many different coaches say improvement could not be made here because of an assortment of reasons.
Then Head Coach Jeff DeLong showed up. SBU finished second this season.
When attitudes change, programs change.
Basketball Head Coach Jeff Guiot has been preaching all week to his players, "If you are afraid to fail, you're going to fail."
The same applies for SBU football. When you mark yourself for failure before ever setting foot on the field, nothing good is going to happen.
Yes, there are plenty of reasons SBU should be horrible for eternity in football. Last August, I would have said the same thing about Rutgers or Wake Forest. Look what happened to them.
For once it would be nice if we had a football coach and an administration who would say: "It does not matter what we have or do not have, because the point to having a football team is to win and that is what we are going to do."
I will not hold my breath, though, because I do not see this happening anytime soon.
The article, titled "Time for a change?", outlined the dismal history of SBU football and SBU's plans to escape by going independent. Though there were many interesting and gut-wrenching quotes, what ended up epitomizing the state of SBU athletics for me was this short blurb:
"'The first three years of this might have seemed like career suicide,' Peavey said. 'But I truly believe we can compete in this conference.'
Then, why go independent?
'The table is just so lopsided against us,' Peavey said. 'It's just a level playing field by going independent.'"
There is a word for this kind of logic, but this is a Baptist paper.
Normally after hearing things like this, I shake my head, do an eye roll and move on. But this article stung for me. Really bad.
If I were an athlete reading just these comments by Peavey, this is what would go through my mind: "Hey, Missouri Southern? Yeah, I'll take your offer now."
Considering the Oscars are in the process of being decided, I would like to add Peavey as a late nomination for the "Worst Public Relations Move of the Year." Exactly how contradictory can one be about something? How can one be so confident in their ability to win at a certain level and put at risk their own career ("seemed like career suicide") yet say we can't compete in the very next sentence?
Either you can or cannot compete - it is not possible to do both.
The reason why SBU has had 19 losing seasons since 1983 is because no one believes in this program.
Men's cross country had never finished better than dead last in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association coming into this season. I had heard many different coaches say improvement could not be made here because of an assortment of reasons.
Then Head Coach Jeff DeLong showed up. SBU finished second this season.
When attitudes change, programs change.
Basketball Head Coach Jeff Guiot has been preaching all week to his players, "If you are afraid to fail, you're going to fail."
The same applies for SBU football. When you mark yourself for failure before ever setting foot on the field, nothing good is going to happen.
Yes, there are plenty of reasons SBU should be horrible for eternity in football. Last August, I would have said the same thing about Rutgers or Wake Forest. Look what happened to them.
For once it would be nice if we had a football coach and an administration who would say: "It does not matter what we have or do not have, because the point to having a football team is to win and that is what we are going to do."
I will not hold my breath, though, because I do not see this happening anytime soon.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
sbu
posted 2/15/07 @ 9:14 PM EST
Ben, your articles are the best reads....
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