Fool’s Gold
Standing at the Backer on Friday afternoon, I sent this email to a fan after he wrote me.
I expect big things tomorrow…we’ll look back years from now and will be able to point at this game and say that’s when it started. I’ve been coming to games since I was [redacted]’s age and there’s a vibe in this town that is different than anything I’ve felt before.
I meant it too. The whole weekend felt electrified.
Right after that, I tweeted “We’re gonna win.” Eric responded, agreeing and saying that it wasn’t even going to be a competitive game.
We were—like so many others this weekend—foolish.
The Irish came out flat. Unprepared. At times, unemotional. And at others, undisciplined. We had our flashes…followed by our fumbles.
And as everyone is searching for answers and demanding changes or placing blame on reasons that they can’t support, there’s really not much consolation out there to be had.
We are back to where we began, wondering what do we have in this team?
Well, we have a good team. Not yet a great team. Despite all the shortcomings of this game, we were in it until the fourth. We were in it til we had bad breaks, or tried to force things, or refused to stone up.
That’s why we are a good team…but not a great team. Great teams finish. Great teams can overcome turnovers. Great teams don’t turnover as often as we have and do.
My friend Pat pointed out LSU and Auburn when talking about this very thing. LSU is a great team. Their closest games were 13 point victories. The rest have been blow outs. Auburn has three of their victories by 4, 7 and 3 points. A couple bounces the other way and they could have lost all of those. LSU is a great team. Auburn is a good team.
And at the moment, we are sitting in the same situation as the Auburn’s. Great athletes. High expectations. Crumbling under pressure.
It’s frustrating, I know. But that’s sports…and at the end of the day that’s all this really is. And as a Cleveland sports fan my entire life…this is nothing new. So rather than throw it all away, I’ll happily continue being the fool and cheering for the Irish on Saturday’s.
We’ll be great again.
