I want to talk about our inability to have patience. In a more targeted sense, I want to talk about the high expectations that are destroying the sporting world. I feel that it is an example of what is going on with the larger argument, and I feel it is the one that is the most dangerous, as it forms our expectations and continues to push the narrative of impatience.
I am a fan of Coach Prime. He has his flaws to be clear. He has his drawbacks–one of which is the amount of attention he gets. That in of itself is an engine of division. The more that is said, the more eyes are one him. So, he instantly becomes an example of the larger phenomena. Before we talk about him, let’s talk about Tulsa and Tre Lamb. Tulsa’s new coach took the job after Tulsa went 12-24 over the past three years. He’s 2-7 this season. Nobody is calling for his job. Sanders took over a program that was equally poor and had fewer eyes on it than Tulsa, as the dog of the Pac12. Prime’s record is 16-19. His team has been ranked as high as 16th in the nation in that time. So, what is the difference? Well, I can pull the black card here (Just ask the Jets new coach!) but the real issue is eyes on the program and the larger expectations and polarizations towards what people talk about. If we are talking about them, we expect perfection. Think about Penn State. They had one of the best coaches in football. He got fired for losing 3 games.
The more in the public eye you are, the more money is spent on your program, the larger the expectations of absolute success. I remember earlier this year all eyes were on Arch Manning. He was expected to be the greatest thing since color TV. He stumbled on the big stage and people immediately called for his head. Heck, I did. He didn’t live of to expectations. I hate that the word has such negative connotations, but there it is. Expectations appear to only be good when you exceed them. That should not be how it works.