Now, on to the work at hand.
There is an old saying that goes something like this: A happy Sailor is a complaining/angry Sailor. By and large that saying is accurate – Sailors are always complaining and pissed about something. Often times the smaller the inconvienience, the larger the complaints. Sailors just Love to complain (b_tch), no matter the subject.
Others abound who just love to ‘Stir the pot’. Folks who are in love with creating brushfires, creating strife, inventing issues, and just in general who love being a pain in the rear. I know these folk well, as I generally belong to this club myself.
Some folk are just plain jealous. They are the ‘crabs in the barrel’ and can’t stand the thought of someone getting out and leaving them behind. Many of these types subscribe to a negative variant of ‘all folks are equal’. This variant states: We are better than you – and if we are stuck in this barrel, we will do all within our power to keep you in here with us.
Lastly, but not exhaustively, are the folk who hate success. They always look for the chinks in Lancelot’s armor, in order to attempt to negate his accomplishments. They look to take him down a notch or two. Whether UNC, KU, Creighton, Kent State, Murray State, Xavier, Appalachian State…it doesn’t matter. These folk will always seek to demean and denigrate successful programs, they always toss crap into the mix by way of belittlement of the coaches, their coaching systems, demeaning the players and their talents, facility shortcomings. You name it and the haters will attack it, in the name of bringing the successful down a peg or two – back to mediocrity. Many haters are not affiliated with less successful programs, although some generally are. Many haters are genetically predisposed to this sort of thing – they come from a long family lineage of losers. Hating successfulness is what they do.
Sailors, Pot-stirrers, Sandcrabs in the barrel, and Haters…just what, gtmo, do these folk have to do with the price of tea in China?
Vigilance and Fortitude.
In and of themselves the folks above are reasonably harmless. It is only when good folk do nothing that the effects of the sailor, stirrer, crab, and hater can slowly build up and infect good programs with their cancerous vitriole. Fans should be vigilant. We should challenge the bull that the four above spew forth and spread liberally within our midst. We should refute their assertions on every occasion, lest we fail to fully clean up their messes – we will have to excise their cancers later. These fearmongers must be kept in check. They are the beginning of the end. Many a good program (St John’s, DePaul, UNLV, Auburn, among others) failed to keep these types in check, and when coupled with some wellmeaning others (“Taking 1 or 2 small shortcuts” won’t hurt and the omnipresent “Win at all Costs”/Ends justify the Means), these programs collapsed like a house of cards.
Great programs start as growing programs. Growing programs cannot afford compromise. They MUST walk the narrow path-the straight and narrow. Fortitude and strength are necessary to maintain our walk on the way. Submitting to the fearmongers, taking ‘shortcuts’, and justifying any & all means to an end are all slippery slope areas which can fast result in disaster for growing programs.
Staying the Course.
We must stay on the road. Take it slow. Resist the urge to hurry the process – grow and prosper in the required, regimented, and ethically proscribed manner. Stay our course with fortitude and heart. Let’s do it the Right Way and enjoy the journey. Success, especially sustained successes, are best enjoyed warm – with a good wine & cheese.
Creighton is on the Right Way. Enjoy the Ride. Our Best is yet to Come!
