Friday, November 16, 2012

Being Relevant

Our country in in flux.  Morals, character, integrity such as I knew them growing up now seem to be ignored with abandon.  We're in attack and blame mode yet there is no satisfying end.

I'm in the same mode.  I told a reader today to, literally, take a hike.  I was tired of what I perceived as  being put down.  Thin skinned?  Maybe, but there are ways to disagree without being patronizing and like with so many things today I just got tired of the tone. Will I regret it? At the moment I have no idea.  It's not the way to encourage readers, that's for sure.  But suffice it to say this has been going on for a good while.  It has always been civil which has always been my criteria, I'm just tired of the contentiousness.

Flux?  I'm in that mode too.  In one post I'm encouraging our citizens to look for younger leadership yet quick to find fault with those chosen.  I expect too much I guess.  I expect more common sense and less sense of self than many seem to have.

Still, I think there comes a time when we who have lived and experienced much should perhaps spend our energies mentoring rather than being activists.  Not that we need to be couch potatoes, but don't need to run marathons to prove our worth either.  We have much to offer, we just need listeners.

So how does this work?  Imagine this.  A college football team from a school nicknamed 'Silo Tech'.  It reminds me of my college days at 'Moo U'.  They have one set of uniforms for away games and one for home games.  Not multiples of each. "No earrings or hats in the football complex, no dreadlocks hanging out of helmets ", no missing classes or team meetings.  Players, some good, some not so, came to the program none-the-less and they're winning.  The players have risen to excellence in their positions and function as a team rather than an amalgam of super stars. It is possible they will reach the BCS championship against Oregon, a team that is their antithesis.

What I hope these young man take away from their football experience is that team work is more important than showboating. Education is important and attending classes is how to get one.  Commitments are to be kept and team meetings are commitments. Substance is more important than dazzle.

Just who is responsible for this phenomenon in the world of college football, of all venues? The coach of course.  One Bill Snyder.  73-year old Bill Synder.  This is being relevant!

1 comment:

marlu said...

Both our sons went to "Silo U" but were not athletic.

We are proud of Coach Snyder. There are so many things in Kansas that seem backward but the efforts of the coach with his teams are just great.