March 26, 2007
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This notebook has not appeared for nearly two weeks. And what a memorable time it was!
Basketball…what to write when seemingly everything has been written, told, blogged, podcasted or telecasted? I doubt I can add much to the commentary but here are some things on my mind as I come to grips with the finality of this Season of Magical Thinking.
I was proud of the grace that our men’s team demonstrated in the immediate aftermath of the Georgetown game. With an international audience of millions and seemingly that many analysts, Coach Kevin Stallings and his valiant team refused to whine about the now-infamous no-call in the last seconds of the game. That was not lost upon the masses. “When the One Great Scorer comes around to write against your name, He writes not if you won or lost but how you played the game” – penned by Vanderbilt alumnus Grantland Rice – came to mind.
Quite frankly, I was taken by what I thought was the over-achievement of both our men’s and women’s teams. Last summer it was in vogue to relate just how devastating it was going to be to lose DeMarre Carroll to transfer. Remember? Some felt he was our best player two years ago. Then came the home loss to Furman and that was the clincher for many – we were in for a long winter.
Over on the women’s side of the fence, last summer saw two team members leave and that was all it took to spawn rumors of more unrest. An optimist could have won a lot of bets as some longed for the good old days. Little did some realize this team would run off 28 wins against a half dozen defeats.
It is difficult to remember a time when the “group think” on both teams has been so wrong. But group think does not a ballgame make. Group think never seems to identify the over-achiever, the power of true teamwork, the dreams of youth and what happens when they collide with hard work, leadership and desire. We think we know what will happen but we really don’t. It’s why we have horse races.
I absolutely loved our “Band Together” theme, the brain-child of marketing ace Eric Nichols, although I was a bit disappointed that the goal of uniting in the color white at these games fell short of the mark. I couldn’t figure out if fans didn’t get the message – doesn’t everyone read VUcommodores? – or if somehow we have a lot of independent thinkers out there. What was pretty good could have been even stronger.
A year of so ago I was “adopted” by a contingent of the Class of 1969, a distinguished collection of business leaders, lawyers, a Dean at a prestigious University and even a wayward journalist. It’s been entertaining and educational.
This group conducts its own running commentary on any given topic, all done via email. They don’t appear at first glance to be the types to paint their chests gold or yell “We’re Number One” but I have been taken by the depth of passion they display for this University and our athletic teams.
One old grad wrote that what he hated most about the Georgetown defeat was that it meant the end of the season. He said he hadn’t felt this close to a team since graduation.
Another wrote about first-hand observations of died-in-the-wool Tennessee fans actively pulling for us. At least one Vol was moved enough at the end to cry. Talk about Banding Together! I suspect there were also many `Dore fans hoping the Vols – and the SEC – would hang on to beat Ohio State. Who says the SEC is just a football conference?
With our private school foundation and relatively small alumni base, we will seldom win a head-to-head popularity contest with the state school behemoths we compete against. But when we get to a national stage – such as the 2005 season’s 4-0 football start or these major basketball tournaments – we have the largest collection of fans in the country. Almost everyone pulls for Vandy if they aren’t playing us.
Saying Goodbye to Brick
Those of us fortunate to have known C. R. Bickerstaff, the former Vanderbilt athletics administrator, will miss his colorful ways and big heart. “Brick” passed away March 21 at the age of 87, having never been sick a day until a brain tumor snuck up on him.
I knew Brick when he was at Iowa State, my alma mater, as the chief aide to Clay Stapleton in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. I was just a student then but later rejoined him here. He was a character and will be missed.
Funny what you remember about a person. A man of deep religious faith, Brick was playfully cantankerous and delighted in giving invocations that raised eyebrows and evoked smiles in the audience. I joked that these often needed to be followed by a prayer of forgiveness. He loved the South, college football, his family and his long-time bride, Sarah Lou. He’ll have a very good seat for our next kickoff.
Baseball’s Demanding SEC Start
Raise your hand if you thought our baseball team would go 56-0 in the regular season. If you did, please get an immediate appointment at the nearest mental health facility.
After starting with 20 victories in a row, remarkable in itself, the Commodores began the SEC season by hosting SEC Tournament champion Ole Miss and then traveling to Arkansas and South Carolina. Hmmm, whose next…the Yankees?
We are not going to surrender a game or a single out for that matter. But from my chair, we are probably playing three of the SEC’s best teams bingo-bango-bongo. Nobody will be easy but few teams have a more difficult start.
Home attendance is up, even with many minds on basketball. With good weather and tremendous home opponents, I remind you again that season tickets are sold out and only a limited number of general admission seats are sold for each game to account for potential no-shows. My advice is to sign up for the email “On Deck Circle” on our VUcommodores web site, which will be your best way to know if and when general admission seats are available.
Speaking of VUcommodores
I’ve written this before but if anyone saw better coverage of our basketball teams during their tournament runs, please let me know. We had a coverage team led by the amazing Brandon Barca (how about his blogs!) and included our talented photographer Neil Brake, writers Skip Anderson and Will Matthews in addition to our basketball media contacts Andre Foushee and Chris Weinman.
We can understand why newspaper publishers are worried and why local television sports news is being cut back everywhere. We could post 50 photographs, run a long, entertaining blog, link to other internet coverages, and include our own exclusive content.
There is almost no way a commercial media entity can compete with that – not enough human or financial resources, not enough space in the paper or time on the telecasts. Twenty, forty years ago – yes, we all had to hope the paper would give our team in-depth coverage. There were no other options. No longer.
I just saw where some video on You Tube drew six million hits in five days! Many people, especially the under 30’s, get the vast majority of their information on-line these days. I doubt some kids even realize there are printed newspapers anymore.
Commercial journalists will always have their value and place in my opinion. Their outsider point of view is needed to offer balance to the in-house efforts of webmasters around the world. That is, unless the in-house efforts start to include more hard-hitting content and can attract the best story-tellers.
But for simple in-depth volume, cyberspace is where it is happening. Our goal is to make VUcommodores.com the first place Vanderbilt fans go for coverage of the Commodores. Judging from our daily “unique visitor” counts, we are well on our way toward making that happen.
