Post by Bornthrilla on Dec 10, 2007 11:41:20 GMT -5
Dec. 10, 2007, 12:21AM
COMMENTARY
Take ample time to look before leaping overboard
By STEVE CAMPBELL
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
We stand by our microwaves and tap our feet impatiently, waiting for the leftovers to reheat in 30 seconds or less.
We click and reclick when the Internet site we want fails to pop up in the blink of an eye.
We have itchy remote-control fingers, and we scratch as if afflicted by chickenpox.
We wolf down magic-bullet diet pills, with little understanding of the risks we take, instead of enduring the trite-and-true tactics of eating less and exercising more.
We. Want. Gratification.
Instantly.
We. Want. Results.
Now.
We. Want. Answers.
Immediately.
Fire the coach. Dump the general manager. Get rid of the overpaid players. Anoint the flavor-of-the-month player, coach or team as the greatest ever. Designate the downtrodden player, coach or team du jour as the worst. Rush, rush, rush to judgment. People want to hear about patience and the process about as much as they want to see the making of sausage.
How does Texans coach Gary Kubiak look now that he has guided an injury-riddled team to a 28-14 upset of the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Did Kubiak get smarter and shrewder than he was in defeats against the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans the previous two weeks? Will a reversal in fortune this Thursday against the Denver Broncos reduce his latest triumph to beginner's luck?
What kind of visions danced in the heads of Rockets fans when the team was 6-1 under the new Rick Adelman regime? How much hope has ebbed away in the fall to 11-10?
Psst: The Rockets are merely a 5-2 stretch away from being at the same point they were 28 games into last season, when they won 52 games.
Patience doesn't sell
Of course, talk-show hosts won't stay on the air long if their default opinion is, "Time will tell." Print and television pundits don't build street cred by preaching about patience and the big picture.
Barely a fruit fly's life ago, the debate raged over whether Texans defensive end Mario Williams is the biggest bust since the advent of implants. Williams has 5 1/2 sacks in the past four games, 9 1/2 for the season and just might be the Texans' best Pro Bowl candidate.
Busted.
This is the way of the 21st century world. According to a recent survey by Burst Media, 82 percent of Internet users combine Web surfing with at least one other task. Nearly one-fourth of those surveyed juggle Web browsing with four or more activities. That means the most adroit multi-taskers can rail on about the Texans, Rockets, Astros and Bowl Championship Series simultaneously.
In The New Brain: How the Modern Age is Rewiring Your Mind, Richard Restak argues that the forces of modern society shorten attention spans and induce attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Time pressures and the pervasiveness of multi-tasking are rewiring people's brains.
Maybe that's why it's imperative for people to weigh in now on whether the New England Patriots — six victories away from 19-0 — are the greatest team.
Imagine the pox that would fall on a modern NFL coach who starts his career like this: 0-11-1, 4-9-1, 5-8-1, 4-10 and 5-8-1. Tom Landry got a 10-year extension after the fourth season, and he repaid the Dallas Cowboys by winning two Super Bowls and churning out 20 consecutive winning seasons.
Another Landry? Hardly
Does that mean Kubiak is comparable to Landry? Of course not. Kubiak has a full head of hair.
Speaking of hair, follicularly endowed Jimmy Johnson was 1-15 in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys before building an empire that won three Super Bowls in four years. Bill Walsh endured seasons of 2-14 and 6-10 before building the San Francisco 49ers into the team of the 1980s. Chuck Noll went 1-13, 5-9 and 6-8 in his first three seasons as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach.
Noll did that, mind you, with Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, L.C. Greenwood, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Dwight White, Ernie Holmes and Mike Wagner arriving in his first three drafts. The Steelers stayed the course and emphatically established themselves as the team of the '70s.
The gold standard of current coaches, Bill Belichick, went 36-44 during a five-year stint with the Cleveland Browns. Belichick went 5-11 in his first season with the Patriots, who are on track to win their fourth Super Bowl in seven seasons. Kubiak is a snappier dresser, and he's two victories away from leading the Texans to their first .500 season.
There's a word for franchises that make hair-trigger changes: laughingstock.
Make no mistake, being a fan with a deep allegiance to the hometown team can test the patience more than ever.
The fan base of the average NBA and major league baseball team will experience a championship every 30 seasons. The fan of the average NFL team with have a championship parade every 32 seasons.
With the Patriots, Spurs and Yankees messing up the curve, the outlook is especially bleak for the fan of the typical team. Special condolences go out to the fandom of a Bill Bidwill-owned franchise, or of any team with a mascot that rhymes with "flubs."
The world is moving so fast, people don't have the time or temperament for patience and long-term plans. We. Want. Gratification. Instantly. We demand microwave measures, and then we grouse when the filet mignon comes out tasting like Hamburger Helper.
steve.campbell@chron.com
COMMENTARY
Take ample time to look before leaping overboard
By STEVE CAMPBELL
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
We stand by our microwaves and tap our feet impatiently, waiting for the leftovers to reheat in 30 seconds or less.
We click and reclick when the Internet site we want fails to pop up in the blink of an eye.
We have itchy remote-control fingers, and we scratch as if afflicted by chickenpox.
We wolf down magic-bullet diet pills, with little understanding of the risks we take, instead of enduring the trite-and-true tactics of eating less and exercising more.
We. Want. Gratification.
Instantly.
We. Want. Results.
Now.
We. Want. Answers.
Immediately.
Fire the coach. Dump the general manager. Get rid of the overpaid players. Anoint the flavor-of-the-month player, coach or team as the greatest ever. Designate the downtrodden player, coach or team du jour as the worst. Rush, rush, rush to judgment. People want to hear about patience and the process about as much as they want to see the making of sausage.
How does Texans coach Gary Kubiak look now that he has guided an injury-riddled team to a 28-14 upset of the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Did Kubiak get smarter and shrewder than he was in defeats against the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans the previous two weeks? Will a reversal in fortune this Thursday against the Denver Broncos reduce his latest triumph to beginner's luck?
What kind of visions danced in the heads of Rockets fans when the team was 6-1 under the new Rick Adelman regime? How much hope has ebbed away in the fall to 11-10?
Psst: The Rockets are merely a 5-2 stretch away from being at the same point they were 28 games into last season, when they won 52 games.
Patience doesn't sell
Of course, talk-show hosts won't stay on the air long if their default opinion is, "Time will tell." Print and television pundits don't build street cred by preaching about patience and the big picture.
Barely a fruit fly's life ago, the debate raged over whether Texans defensive end Mario Williams is the biggest bust since the advent of implants. Williams has 5 1/2 sacks in the past four games, 9 1/2 for the season and just might be the Texans' best Pro Bowl candidate.
Busted.
This is the way of the 21st century world. According to a recent survey by Burst Media, 82 percent of Internet users combine Web surfing with at least one other task. Nearly one-fourth of those surveyed juggle Web browsing with four or more activities. That means the most adroit multi-taskers can rail on about the Texans, Rockets, Astros and Bowl Championship Series simultaneously.
In The New Brain: How the Modern Age is Rewiring Your Mind, Richard Restak argues that the forces of modern society shorten attention spans and induce attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Time pressures and the pervasiveness of multi-tasking are rewiring people's brains.
Maybe that's why it's imperative for people to weigh in now on whether the New England Patriots — six victories away from 19-0 — are the greatest team.
Imagine the pox that would fall on a modern NFL coach who starts his career like this: 0-11-1, 4-9-1, 5-8-1, 4-10 and 5-8-1. Tom Landry got a 10-year extension after the fourth season, and he repaid the Dallas Cowboys by winning two Super Bowls and churning out 20 consecutive winning seasons.
Another Landry? Hardly
Does that mean Kubiak is comparable to Landry? Of course not. Kubiak has a full head of hair.
Speaking of hair, follicularly endowed Jimmy Johnson was 1-15 in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys before building an empire that won three Super Bowls in four years. Bill Walsh endured seasons of 2-14 and 6-10 before building the San Francisco 49ers into the team of the 1980s. Chuck Noll went 1-13, 5-9 and 6-8 in his first three seasons as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach.
Noll did that, mind you, with Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, L.C. Greenwood, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Dwight White, Ernie Holmes and Mike Wagner arriving in his first three drafts. The Steelers stayed the course and emphatically established themselves as the team of the '70s.
The gold standard of current coaches, Bill Belichick, went 36-44 during a five-year stint with the Cleveland Browns. Belichick went 5-11 in his first season with the Patriots, who are on track to win their fourth Super Bowl in seven seasons. Kubiak is a snappier dresser, and he's two victories away from leading the Texans to their first .500 season.
There's a word for franchises that make hair-trigger changes: laughingstock.
Make no mistake, being a fan with a deep allegiance to the hometown team can test the patience more than ever.
The fan base of the average NBA and major league baseball team will experience a championship every 30 seasons. The fan of the average NFL team with have a championship parade every 32 seasons.
With the Patriots, Spurs and Yankees messing up the curve, the outlook is especially bleak for the fan of the typical team. Special condolences go out to the fandom of a Bill Bidwill-owned franchise, or of any team with a mascot that rhymes with "flubs."
The world is moving so fast, people don't have the time or temperament for patience and long-term plans. We. Want. Gratification. Instantly. We demand microwave measures, and then we grouse when the filet mignon comes out tasting like Hamburger Helper.
steve.campbell@chron.com
