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Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
I can't say that it has been easy sitting around trying to watch ESPN or any local news this week. As an Iowa State fan the impending departure of beloved basketball icon and current men's head coach Fred Hoiberg is another in a long series of ninja kicks to the groin for most of us.
The fact of the matter is that we should be used to some type of disaster when it comes to coaching. I believe it started eons ago with Pop Warner who was double dipping coaching assignments and eventually left Iowa State as simply a footnote in a strange game of sports bar trivia.
On the football side any semi-successful coach tends to head for greener pastures as soon as possible, although you might make the argument of slipping Donnie Duncan and Earl Bruce in with Johnny Majors name when you make the short list of success at ISU.
We won't even mentioned that two faced weasel who took off to Auburn and in the end got what he really deserved.
But basketball should be different. In the place where Johnny Orr is still talked about in reverent tones the men's coaching position should be a destination not a stepping stone. Oh sure we want to hear from every new coach that they plan to stay and retire here but how about someone actually keeping their word and doing so? What could be in store for us after the mayor hands over his key to the city and Cyclone Nation and moves on to follow in Tim Floyd's footsteps as an underling of one of the most despised and neurotic owners in the NBA? What if we are forced to suffer through another Greg McDermott of worse Wayne Morgan?
Oh sure, none of us really begrudges Fred if the NBA is always what he has wanted and I'm sure that somewhere in Iowa City there is a huge fruit basket being sent to the Bulls front office but still it doesn't make the situation any easier. Maybe in the end it isn't Fred's fault and you certainly can't pin this on ISU Athletic Director Jammie Pollard, after all he basically told Fred to write his own check two years ago. Perhaps really it falls on the head of all this employers out there who make their employees an expendable number. It lends to a culture today where neither employer or employee feels obligated to the other and there certainly isn't a sense of loyalty (although if my boss is reading this and would like to discuss $10 million for the next ten years I'm certainly one to take a shot at being loyal). No folks, it is just the nature of the beast and another in the long list of things we should blame on the Republicans and Soccer.
See you next week...remember, we're all in this together.
The fact of the matter is that we should be used to some type of disaster when it comes to coaching. I believe it started eons ago with Pop Warner who was double dipping coaching assignments and eventually left Iowa State as simply a footnote in a strange game of sports bar trivia.
On the football side any semi-successful coach tends to head for greener pastures as soon as possible, although you might make the argument of slipping Donnie Duncan and Earl Bruce in with Johnny Majors name when you make the short list of success at ISU.
We won't even mentioned that two faced weasel who took off to Auburn and in the end got what he really deserved.
But basketball should be different. In the place where Johnny Orr is still talked about in reverent tones the men's coaching position should be a destination not a stepping stone. Oh sure we want to hear from every new coach that they plan to stay and retire here but how about someone actually keeping their word and doing so? What could be in store for us after the mayor hands over his key to the city and Cyclone Nation and moves on to follow in Tim Floyd's footsteps as an underling of one of the most despised and neurotic owners in the NBA? What if we are forced to suffer through another Greg McDermott of worse Wayne Morgan?
Oh sure, none of us really begrudges Fred if the NBA is always what he has wanted and I'm sure that somewhere in Iowa City there is a huge fruit basket being sent to the Bulls front office but still it doesn't make the situation any easier. Maybe in the end it isn't Fred's fault and you certainly can't pin this on ISU Athletic Director Jammie Pollard, after all he basically told Fred to write his own check two years ago. Perhaps really it falls on the head of all this employers out there who make their employees an expendable number. It lends to a culture today where neither employer or employee feels obligated to the other and there certainly isn't a sense of loyalty (although if my boss is reading this and would like to discuss $10 million for the next ten years I'm certainly one to take a shot at being loyal). No folks, it is just the nature of the beast and another in the long list of things we should blame on the Republicans and Soccer.
See you next week...remember, we're all in this together.