Ever feel like you really want to have a conversation with someone, but you’re not sure exactly how what you have to say will go over, so you spend time fretting over how to say it and what their reaction will be and so forth?
No? Well, I have. And the time has come for me to just get it out there. If you like it, take it. If you don’t just send it right back:
Indiana fans, stop being so hard on this team.
I know, I sound like a huge homer, and I can clearly see why it would come across that way. But the fact is that too many of the good folks in Hoosier Nation set the bar impossibly high for this basketball season, whether consciously or otherwise. (Seriously, someone had to say it, so I figured it might as well be me, because well, people hate gingers anyway.)
Look, I know last season was hard on you, I get that. Watching a once-proud program stagger and stumble its way to six wins in 31 tries isn’t an easy sight to swallow when it’s happening in front of five national championship banners. And yes, this team is markedly more talented, and deeper in almost every feasible way.
But it’s not just about talent, which this team has in good — but not great — supply. It’s about experience, and poise, and focus, and composure. None of those traits will magically blanket this team after one or two wins, no matter the quality of the opponent. They take time and patience to build, like a homemade car or a rare stamp collection.
Look, Digger Phelps agrees with me.
“The way that thing was left in shambles, you’ve just got to be patient,” Phelps said by phone last week. (Like how I snuck that up on you? Gingers aren’t well-liked, but we’re crafty.)
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A plea for perspective (Digger Phelps agrees)
No? Well, I have. And the time has come for me to just get it out there. If you like it, take it. If you don’t just send it right back:
Indiana fans, stop being so hard on this team.
I know, I sound like a huge homer, and I can clearly see why it would come across that way. But the fact is that too many of the good folks in Hoosier Nation set the bar impossibly high for this basketball season, whether consciously or otherwise. (Seriously, someone had to say it, so I figured it might as well be me, because well, people hate gingers anyway.)
Look, I know last season was hard on you, I get that. Watching a once-proud program stagger and stumble its way to six wins in 31 tries isn’t an easy sight to swallow when it’s happening in front of five national championship banners. And yes, this team is markedly more talented, and deeper in almost every feasible way.
But it’s not just about talent, which this team has in good — but not great — supply. It’s about experience, and poise, and focus, and composure. None of those traits will magically blanket this team after one or two wins, no matter the quality of the opponent. They take time and patience to build, like a homemade car or a rare stamp collection.
Look, Digger Phelps agrees with me.
“The way that thing was left in shambles, you’ve just got to be patient,” Phelps said by phone last week. (Like how I snuck that up on you? Gingers aren’t well-liked, but we’re crafty.)
Continue reading this post »