My Take on Wake - Hanging in There With the Deacons

Hanging in There With the Deacons

There’s a passage in Life on the Mississippi where a young Mark Twain, upon becoming a riverboat pilot, realizes all he lost to gain his heart’s desire. He describes in rich and eloquent detail the beauty he once saw in a sunset on the Mississippi.

“A broad expanse of the river had turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced. . .’‘

He understands, having attained his goal, that he would never look at the river the same way again. Instead, preoccupied by his responsibilities, he would note in every color, shape and form not the beauty and wonder but the practical signs all pilots must be able to read and discern to get the boat from New Orleans to Memphis and back in one piece.

“No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty’s cheek mean to a doctor but a “break” that ripples above some deadly disease. Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn’t he simply view her professionally, and comment on here unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn’t he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?’‘

The question is one I have asked myself a time or two since I first started writing sports way back when. I’ve labored to explain to friends and family so intent on gauging my allegiances that I don’t look at games the same way they do. I’ve been trained not to. And because I’m not to invest as much emotionally, the thrill of victory is not as thrilling to me. And thankfully, the agony of defeat is not as agonizing.

Over the past few weeks several friends have expressed sympathy over what I’ve been through as Wake Forest’s beat reporter, given the sad state of the football season and the less-than-rousing start to the basketball campaign. One regular of the Peanut Gallery, Tom, noted that I have often described covering Wake Forest sports as the best beat in America, and wondered if I still felt that way. I truly appreciate the concern.

First off, let me begin this day after Thanksgiving by saying I’m thankful to have a job writing sports. Too many sportswriters I know don’t. Second, it’s easier to live when you don’t live and die with the outcome of a game. But third, in the interest of fairness, I have to acknowledge that all the negativity that has blanketed the program in this season of discontent has gotten to me a time or two. I understand the outcry. Fans have every right, if not an obligation, to detest losing and to do everything they feel is in their power to avoid it. I also understand that there are many readers who don’t give one whit about my feelings about having to cover a 2-9 football team and a basketball team that has already lost at home to Stetson and Winthrop. Nor, in the final analysis, should they.

Still there are times when someone has to do something to lighten the mood before the black clouds envelop everyone in a pit of darkness. That was the real reason I wrote and performed my song “Jim Grobe Punched Me Out’’ on this blog a couple of weeks back. The rancor had gotten so thick, somebody needed to tell a joke. I told one, and if you notice, I really told it on myself.

I don’t believe I could have gotten away with that covering most other programs. If nothing else, the head coach wouldn’t have stood for it. I haven’t heard any reaction from Jim Grobe, but my sense is if he ever saw it he took it in the spirit in which it was intended. And whereas Jeff Bzdelik has encountered more bad fortune in his first seven months at Wake than most basketball coaches face in seven years, he has gone out of his way to be cooperative and accommodating. These are two good men. Both are down right now, and both know they have to get back up to be worthy of their present jobs. They’re working hard at it every day.

So in answer to your question Tom, I’ll just say I still wouldn’t trade my beat for any I know.

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 11/26/2010 (3:57 pm)

Comments

Mr. Anglin,

I love your enthusiasm. Indeed, we will still have a young team next year, but it will be a young team with some significant experience. There is no reason not to expect the Deacs to significantly improve next season. I certainly do not expect to be disappointed again.

The one area where I am more concerned than with the defensive backs is with the offensive line. Unless some of our redshirt freshmen provide a major contribution, I am just not sure if we have sufficient talent there. A player can certainly improve himself over the offseason. And after such a poor year, I expect every player to work on certain aspects of the game (i.e. strength, conditioning, technique, etc.). But if the current group of offensive linemen has hit its ceiling, one offseason won’t result in much improvement.

The DBs, on the other hand, seem to have more upside. More importantly, the best friend of a DB is a good pass rush. And I think that we have the personnel on the front seven to generate a consistent pass rush, especially if we take advantage of the variety of blitzes that can come from the 3-4 defense.

I’m still looking forward to next year.

DC on 11/30/2010 (9:47 am)

How exciting is it finally to win a fb game, the third of the season! Seems a good omen for next year. According to my counting, there are just twelve seniors, while there are 56 freshmen and rsfreshmen; eighteen sophomores and rss; twenty juniors and rsjs. I count thirteen super-heavyweights, not including the line-backer crew. Coach has his qback and some good running backs, tight ends and defensive ends. At this time my single-highest concern is the dbacks. Here’s hoping they’ve learned a bunch in 2010. And, Dan, is it not a very positive thing that the win at the end lifted the Go-Deacs crowd up more than a notch!

Lee Anglin on 11/29/2010 (7:34 pm)

Nor would most true Deacon fans trade their sports teams for any other either. Well said.

steve h on 11/29/2010 (2:37 pm)

Thanks for your continuing coverage on the Wake Forest University sports beat. I have enjoyed your columns for [at least] a decade - How long have you been at WSJ? It is not always happy news from Reynolda as in “Hanging in There With the Deacons”, but the reports in your columns are fair, factual, and informative. And, they are often entertaining, as with the words of Sam Clemens. The craftsmanship is appreciated, especially in an cynical world that overflows with extemporaneous banality.

As an adoptive son of Wake Forest: Even when your Alma Mammy falls short of expectations, she is still your Momma.

Inglis on 11/29/2010 (1:17 pm)

I always enjoy your columns on WFU sports. It’s a great thing to be able to work at something you enjoy and provides enjoyment to others. Keep up the good work!

Deac69 on 11/28/2010 (6:30 pm)

Excellent article, Dan. You are right about the need for us all to lighten up. Thanks for the reminder.

Looking forward to your next article and reading other’s comments on last night’s win.

Danny C on 11/28/2010 (4:49 pm)

Long time reader first time commenter. Great Post! I am reading “Life on the Mississippi” right now and that is so far my favorite passage. In my view, being a Wake fan is about the good years and the bad years. Its about sticking with your school through the bad times so that when a good year rolls around it feels so much better. Jim Grobe is no Jim Caldwell, and he deserves a few more seasons with Wake. I don’t know Coach Bz at all, but the kids he is coaching seem like great kids and hard workers who represent the school well. I think we should support them no matter what.

Conor on 11/28/2010 (3:38 pm)

“Hanging in There with the Deacons” is a great and most appropriate by-line…..most of us have been hanging in there for a long long time…...and most of us aren’t going anywhere.

This board is pretty good evidence of why “fan” is short for “fanatic” from one side of the spectrum to the other….genuine and understandable frustration, justified and sometimes constructive criticism, Pollyanna like flights of fantasy (do the Cubs sound familiar), totally unrealistic or uniformed expectations to mean spirited stupidity.

We are who are….the second smallest institution (after Rice I believe) playing major college sports, with extremely high academic standards and an academic model that is both very expensive to fund and makes it very difficult to hide large numbers of “athletic exceptions.” Combine that with the fact the we are competing in a world where the concept of “student athlete” has become an oxymoron…...to wit everything from Calipari’s intercollegiate farce at Kentucky to once squeaky clean Carolina being unable to field half of it defensive unit for most of the season…..and I think we all know that’s just the tip of the iceberg out there in NCAA land. To my mind it’s wrong, it’s a travesty…...but it ain’t going to change. It’s a big time business, with big time money given by many people who could care less if the kids they cheer for on Saturdays can read or write when they graduate. It’s also a business where many of the kids place “zero” value on what they are being given in return for their “services”....an education.

It is extremely difficult for schools like Wake and all it takes in football is missing one or two key recruits or having a mediocre recruiting class and you can go from the penthouse to the outhouse pretty quickly.(2010 being a good example).

At the end of the day however, it is a “big time business” if you are going to play in this league no matter how difficult it might be. As a business you can be successful as a conglomerate or a specialized provider of products and services. I think Coach Grobe is experiencing what any football coach is going to face at Wake and that is ups and downs…..I think he has earned our patience and an understanding of the realities of our position in the real world. Basketball is a different story…we can and should be able to comepete year in and year out….all the way through March. That is a realistic expectation even considering the challenges we face. Will we every be able to start 5 guys like Calipari’s mercenaries?
.....I wouldn’t want to BUT we can and should
put a top quality product on the floor each and every year….with kids who WILL be able to read, write and be successful after they graduate.

Deacon23 on 11/28/2010 (12:52 pm)

Coach Bz was brought into this program to bring a measure of respectability that had been lost under Gaudio. Recruiting talented players is one thing, but Gaudio was unable to control them, coach them, or turn them into anything resembling a team. Anyone here who thinks Teague, Johnson, and Aminu were team players is on some sort of illegal drugs… And lets face it, Woods and Walker were obviously very overrated… Dino got fired the moment that Chas McFarland refused to shake the hand of Cousins at the beginning of the Wake/Kentucky game last tourney… He walked off the court and Dino did nothing… Embarassing to say the least. Too many Wake fans have forgotten the Stack years, the first few Odom years, and the drought during Skip’s non CP years… You want a win at any cost mentality, then join the Calipari fan club at Kentucky… I and many others want to win, but want to play the game with some respect and darnit we want to see a team in control, not some sort of street ball fiasco… Duke doesnt play that, Carolina doesnt play that, why do we??? So lets give BZ a chance, not just bomb the man after a few weeks.. geez…

The Deacon on 11/28/2010 (1:44 am)

“Jeff Bzdelik has encountered more bad fortune in his first seven months at Wake than most basketball coaches face in seven years”

Please… Mr Bzdelik’s partner in crime RW has brought this on WF, Jeff Bzdelik and the entire program. If you thought the Football season was a train wreck just wait.. At least Grobe has a wining record over his career. That’s more than the BB coach seems to be able to say.

Rick on 11/27/2010 (6:49 pm)

Apparently it’s true that, once upon a time, Babe Ruth pointed to the fence and, on the next pitch hit it out over the same spot to which he had pointed. Mark this: in two years the fb team will be 8-4 and the bb team will be 23-6. Or better. You can take it to the bank.

Lee Anglin on 11/27/2010 (2:48 pm)

One nice thinkg about being a life long Wake fan is that the victories we do have are more satisfying than they would be if we were a perenial favorite. I believe that Coach Grobe will bring us back to relevance in the ACC soon, probably next year. I am realy looking forward to that time. Perhaps we start a winning streak tonight!

DannyB on 11/27/2010 (8:02 am)

..Now I read this between the lines in your article…“this is our finest hour!” Hey gets going to get better, somehow through some bad player evaluations we have ended up with the wrong type of players in both sports…but we will bottom out and return… both coaches are just too experienced and accomplished.

pensive1 on 11/26/2010 (11:56 pm)

Okay….Okay, I get it.We’re not solving the North Korean strikes against the South nor have we come up with a solution for world hunger, I understand that. It’s football; I think you could call it that, although at times it was hard to tell. I think the bigger question is, why would a university spend tens of millions of it’s money(it’s a private institution), to fund, what is without question, it’s most visable national marketing tool, aka. the athletic department and not just expect, but demand reasonable and positive results? The answer is it( the university) should. With the Akron Zips winning today, WFU now is sole owner of the longest losing streak in D-1 football.I received this news from a national post game show on CBS along with millions more who were watching.If this is the ” reward of investment” WFU has in mind for it’s spending practices on athletics, then the trustees need to fire themselves after the President of the U. gets his walking papers then let it trickle down to the A.D. and the football coaches and whomever agreed to the budget. A complete embarrasment and a total waste of money.Talk about a fleecing,one of those 300.00 govt. hammers would be a bargin to these people.Just an observation….Gotta go, I need to wake(pardon the pun), Nero…...Rome is not only burning,it’s completely engulfed and getting closer to the gas station!

GCF on 11/26/2010 (8:18 pm)

Dan - You and I are both “experienced” enough that we have been in a few rodeos. So, we know that there’s never a road that doesn’t turn. Wake fans have experienced the high of an Orange Bowl and a couple of #1 basketball rankings. Now, we’re at the other end of the road, and we’re looking for the turn. I’m glad you were writing about the Deacs at the high points. I’m glad you’re the one writing about the low points. And I’m glad you’ll be on board when the road turns again and there are more smiles than frowns awaiting you in the interview room.

Rhenish on 11/26/2010 (5:38 pm)

Country,
Classic column and to quote one of my favorite authors Mark Twain. Sometimes I guess we all are unable to see the forest for the trees.

Me and I feel many in the gallery only want to see the athletic programs competitive. To lose by one point or a touchdown, one can only imagine “how close” we came to a win. But to be humiliated on the field or on the court is unacceptable by any measure. Because of Coach Grobe’s previous success, he deserves another year to steer the ship in the right direction. U. Maryland did it this year after last years debacle. I would ascertain Jim Grobe will reassess the situation and Make some hard decisions with personnel and get the program on the right track. We all know it is much easier to sleep at night with a W rather than the alternative.

Coach Bz being new receives a pass as he had no influence on recruiting this years players. It is mandatory that recruiting be the number one priority as the other three major programs in the center of the state have been kicking a.. and taking names!!! To fall further behind in recruiting quality players will mean several more long years struggling to rejoin basketball’s elite…

At some point the A.D. has to be held accountable since he is the individual ultimately responsible. When revenue from ticket sales, endowments, etc. decline substantially, then the University President and Trustees will have some difficult decisions to make…

Tom on 11/26/2010 (5:32 pm)