ISU = Eternal Mediocrity or A Brewing Force?
CycloneFanatic.com
Jeremy Lind
Here's my 2007 'preaching to the choir' motivational speech....
One thing I've always told myself, as most
ISU fans have, is that there will always be next year and we'll do better in a few years. Are we finally getting close to not having to use that line year after year, season after season?
Being an Iowa State fan is in a lot of ways similar to being a Chicago Cubs fan. You start a lot of seasons with a bang but are lucky to find any post-season action after embarrassing ends to the magical starts. It's been that way for the Cubs and the Clones as long as I've been alive but one of the two has a solid chance of getting out of the proverbial funk that is mediocrity. Which is it and why? Read on my friend...
While the Cubs have a huge fan-base and lots of money, they lack a truly inspirational leader to make it happen. I'm not just talking about a coach that motivates, I'm talking about the upstairs type of leaders. You know, the big wigs. Without a truly inspirational leader making the right trades and getting rid of excess baggage, nothing is ever going to change. Words are great and all but if no action is taking place to back them up, they really don't do any good. Maybe the Cubs feel comfortable being mediocre, maybe that's all they know and they're afraid to take chances outside of their comfort zone? Sounds king of familiar.
Well, I'm sure as hell not comfortable being mediocre and I'll do everything I can to make sure the Clones don't start making excuses about a damn billygoat cursing us. It's one thing to joke about never getting it done but there is a point when you need to snap back to reality and just prove everybody wrong. Nobody is in better control their fate then themselves. Be your own leader if you have to, just make sure the right changes are made at the right time. Instead of bringing a billygoat to the games to show the curse, take it out back and roast it for dinner. Make a statement that you're bigger than excuses.
As Cyclones, we have in many ways had the same problem, a lack of thinking ahead and making things happen. We all like to complain about things not going our way and we've all made excuses about this being small-town country where no decent players or coaches want to go. The fact is, we can get to the next level just as easily as anybody else. We have above average facilities, above average tradition in several sports, above average fans, an above average conference and most importantly an above average desire. So what's been holding us back? Us.
Up until about 15 months ago, the mind set in Ames was always to embrace the coaches and the lack of success we had because it's all the better we could do. The fans have always been told that being in the middle of the pack is all we should strive for. We grew up in a climate of mediocrity and we were told that's what we should aim for in the future. Well, we were successful in reaching our goals but is that really something to be proud of? I think not.
When that inspirational leader came in the door 15 or so months ago, a lot of the Iowa State fan-base was put back in awe that somebody dare come in here and be optimistic beyond what we've seen in the past. Somebody came in to our house and told us what to do and how to go about being fans. How dare they disrupt our civilized form of mediocrity that we all felt comfortable with, after all, it was our best bud and lifelong friend.
It's now 2007 and most fans have woken up and rejoiced the sea of change taking place in Ames, although there are still the stragglers that don't like change regardless of the outcome (i.e. my mother and father who loved McCarney). A new year is upon us, a new day has started, the sun has set on the old mediocrity comfort zone and a new sun has risen on what many see as the new era of
ISU Athletics. Is this acceptable now that people have had adequate time to step back and take a deep breath from the countless coaching and mind set changes of the past 15 or so months? Do people realize what's happening in front of them as we speak?
I think so and I sure hope everybody else feels the same way. We have something special brewing in the sky above Ames. Some call it heart-burn, I call it a big can of whoopass, success and optimism. It might take a while to fully emerge from the deeply rooted leaves of complacency, but it will surface and it'll be fierce. Nothing can stop it, there is no wall or shelter strong enough. The stadiums will twist and mutate, they'll sprout weird appendages called championships, they'll be changed forever. You can't stop it, don't try to get in the way. The storm is brewing, are you ready?
ISU = Eternal Mediocrity or A Brewing Force? 
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