There are moments when I am sure all of us have done this. For many, it is hopefully short-lived. For others, it might require a death in the family or a significant life trauma, something that wakes us up to make us smell the proverbial coffee. It could be something that forces us to re-prioritize and re-focus our efforts on those things which truly make our heart sing and give our world wings with which to soar above the distractions.
Which brings me back to music. Again.
It seems like just yesterday (make that January) that the University of Texas Longhorns were in the 2010 BCS National Championship game. Longhorn fans watched in virtual horror as Colt McCoy left the field with an injury. Those same fans watched with great excitement as Austin’s very own Garrett Gilbert, a freshman, put the Horns back in contention with a tremendous second half performance. Gilbert almost pulled off the impossible as a freshman in what truly amounted to his first significant playing time all year. What a way to start your college football career.
Now, it is ten months later. The fans are now officially out of their misery, with the season ending with a record of 5 – 7 and no bowl in our future. There have been very few teams in college football history that have plummeted this far, this fast, after a national championship appearance. And, lest any Longhorns fans need reminding, it’s the first losing season in Mack Brown’s tenure, and the first losing season since, yes, John Mackovic’s final season in 1997. If the thought of that doesn’t make you squirm, I am not sure what would.
For those who missed it, we managed to beat Nebraska this year, sending them to the Big 10 with a farewell that UT faithful truly enjoyed. That was on October 16. From there, it was all downhill. Losses to Iowa State – the first time ever – and Baylor – the first time in almost forever – followed. There was a loss on the road at Kansas State. Better yet, call that a drubbing. Let us not forget the loss at home to Oklahoma State – another first – and follow that up with a loss to Texas A&M, again at home. October 16 was truly a long time ago in a football galaxy far, far away.
So with the demise upon us, where does Mack Brown start to find the answers?
For some, it is just another day. For others, it conjures up images of turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie. It is a time to get together with family and friends. It is a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.
And for some, it may even be symbolic of the start of the holiday season, or the coming of Hanukkah, or the impending economic surge of the biggest shopping day in the nation, Black Friday.
Whatever you call it, and whatever meaning you place on it, today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a day of festive family traditions. On this day, people give thanks for a plethora of things. And I am no different in this regard.
It can be pretty easy to forget about, or just overlook, all those things that make our world brighter and more vibrant on a daily or moment-to-moment basis. And we all know that it has become far easier to find fault and lay blame than to simply tell someone that they have done a good job or that they bring something special to our world.
I think it is far more important to acknowledge the greatness in our world. If we all did this, I think the world would be a better place to live. I truly believe in being thankful for and appreciate the simple things in life that make our lives more vivid and much more passionate and loving.
So for Thanksgiving 2010, I present to you a list of things for which I am thankful:
Monday November 1 marked the beginning of National Novel Writing Month – otherwise known as “NaNoWriMo”. The goal of NaNoWriMo is simple – shut up and write! Actually, the stated goals are to write a novel of 50,000 words of fiction over the month of November. That amounts to approximately 175 pages of writing. At the end of the month, you have your word count and text validated, and if you make that 50,000 word threshold, you are officially classified as a “winner”.
No, that doesn’t mean that your book will automatically be published, or that Steven Spielberg will want to direct a big screen version of it (though I do think that Matt Damon could play the lead in my story, but more about that later). Or that it will even be decent writing at all, or that anyone other than yourself, friends, and family will even care. And there aren’t any big prizes other than the pride in knowing that you did it.
This year is the 12th year that NaNoWriMo has been in existence. It started with 21 participants in 1999. In 2009, there were 165,000+ participants, and 30,000+ of them completed the challenge. They have also created a Young Writers Program.
I am not sure I had ever really considered writing a novel. I definitely hadn’t ever thought of it in high school. But then, the inspiration suddenly hit me. It wasn’t about writing a novel. It was about becoming a better writer – regardless of the genre, fiction or non-fiction.
And, imagine this, it was about the mental challenge – not that I have ever undertaken a task for that reason. That’s my story, and I am sticking with it.
Here’s a question for you: If the pre-season coaches poll put the University of Texas Longhorns football team at number 4 in the nation, how much do coaches really know about football? One would have to wonder, given the depths that this team has sunk to over the past few weeks.
At least the AP poll had them at number 5 – maybe sports writers do know more about football than the coaches do. This is something they have maintained for years!
Better yet, let’s extend this thinking a bit further. If the polls are obviously so skewed from reality (we can thank the Longhorns for making that readily apparent), then how can we use their “collective wisdom” in the BCS rankings when they obviously have no relationship to much of anything?
And with that in mind, I’m left with all of the questions surrounding the Longhorns this season, and, more specifically, the questions of coaching or lack thereof on this squad. Or how about the lack of pride – or perhaps the sense of entitlement - displayed on field? Or how about a combination of the two?
It probably goes without saying that the last two weeks for the Longhorns have been the next closest thing to abysmal. Actually, it extends far beyond the last two weeks. The roots are far deeper than that.
Sanity sure does seem to be a relative term these days. More often than not, truth has become far stranger (and perhaps crazier) than fiction itself. With this in mind, this Rumination delves into some of the more insane things that have been on the newsroom highlight reels over the past few weeks. It never ceases to amaze me what has become acceptable in our world these days – the times, they are a changin’!
#1: Insane football factoid: Did you know that since Urban Meyer became the head football coach at the University of Florida in 2005, there have been 30 arrests of football team players? The most recent was receiver Chris Rainey this past September. I’ve been known to complain about the occasional early season arrest of a Longhorn in Austin, be we don’t even hold a candle to this statistic. There was a time not so long ago when the University of Miami would have garnered the biggest rap sheet. I guess that the University of Florida is just trying to keep the honors in-state.
Of course, illegal behavior as a collegian only seems to have fostered the same in the pro ranks. I would like to think that college coaches would take a greater role in the personal development of their athletes – but that might be expecting a lot of a coach making $4 million a year.
But wait, there’s more craziness in this Rumination …
Much as the trees change color in the fall season, the Texas Longhorns have also changed color – from top 5 BCS contender to not-yet bowl eligible – in the month of Red October.
What a difference a month can make – and it’s still not over. For all intents and purposes, October has been as bad as I’d projected. After the UCLA loss at home, it looked like October had the potential to be abysmal at best. And guess what? When Mack Brown calls it “unacceptable”, well, imagine what the fans think.
It has become readily apparent that the #5 pre-season ranking was a little, how would you say it, over-rated. And there have been a laundry list of problems to contend with in the meantime. I would have thought at the start of the season that Texas would have at least 3 losses this season, most of which would come from the month of October. If you had to decide who Texas would be beaten by in the month of October – Oklahoma (at Dallas), Nebraska (at Lincoln), or Iowa State (at home) – which teams would you have selected?
Oklahoma? Maybe. Nebraska? Especially Nebraska with a chip on it’s shoulder? Sure. But Iowa State? Are you kidding me?
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.