Moving Forward, Remember to not Out-think the Room November 17, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Politics.Tags: Ann Kuster, Barack Obama, Byron York, Charles Bass, City, compassionate, convention, Democrat, electorate, executive, George W. Bush, GOP, Hispanics, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Meadowlands, MetLife Stadium, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, NFL, out-think, party, Phoenix, Republican, Ron Kaufman, room, San Diego, skill set, Super Bowl, weather
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MetLife Stadium in the winter: does this look like ideal Super Bowl weather? It is a vital reminder to avoid “out-thinking the room!”
One of my favorite bits of advice to give to students and to friends alike is, “don’t out-think the room.” Trying to come up with something you think nobody else is going to think up might show that you are more creative, but it could lead to an overall worse idea or product in the end. Moreover, this bit of advice can apply to more basic scenarios, too. If you go to a restaurant and you are not sure what you want to eat, it is usually wise to order up what the place is known for, not to order up some obscure menu item that is rarely served. If the place is known for crab cakes, get the crab cakes. If it is known for its pizza, get the pizza. Don’t out-think the room.
The NFL was in danger of doing that his past Super Bowl when the 45th “Big Game” was awarded to — Indianapolis? Traditionally, the Super Bowl is hosted in a warm-weather city that is built to handle big crowds. Every time the Super Bowl is hosted in Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix or San Diego, things always turn out well. Jacksonville may have relatively warm weather, but it’s not built to handle the big crowds that come in for the big game. Late January in Indianapolis is hardly the ideal spot, either. As it was, the city and the fans were very lucky in that the weather for the game was unseasonably mild. The NFL dodged the bullet in trying to out-think the room, and should have learned their lesson. Alas, they did not. They awarded the hosting of the 2014 Super Bowl to…MetLife Stadium, as in, New Jersey, as in, across the Hudson River from New York City, as in, upper Twenties at nighttime in late January or early February. Brrr! The Super Bowl was never meant to be played in freezing weather, and yet the NFL foolishly overlooked this basic rule in awarding the hosting of the Big Game to the Meadowlands. The Super Bowl always works in Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, and San Diego, NFL: do not out-think the room!
The reason I say all this is because, in light of the disappointing outcome for the Republican Party in the recent election (namely, we’ll have to put up with four more years of the incompetent B. Hussein Obama), many luminaries in the party have been calling for this change or that change to quickly occur so that the GOP does not gradually shrink to permanent minor party status. Given what is at stake for the country, some of these ideas have been offered with considerable urgency, hence with start warnings about the future. Some, such as veteran Republican strategist and Romney campaign adviser Ron Kaufman offered his thought at the Republican Governors Association Meeting in Las Vegas:
“We need to make sure that we’re not perceived as intolerant,” he said. “The bottom line is we were perceived to be intolerant on some issues. And tone-deaf on others.” This is fine advice when it comes to philosophically complex and deeply emotional issues such as abortion. But what about others that are less complex, more straightforward, and more salient, such as fiscal issues?
“Republicans have to start understanding that small business and entrepreneurs are important, but the people who work for them are also important,” said Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., who lost his seat to Democrat Ann Kuster. “We’ve got to be compassionate conservatives.”
The first part of Bass’ idea sounds fine: connect with the average Joe. But the second part raises a few eyebrows. Did we already not try this “compassionate conservatism” before? Under George W. Bush, government spending went up, and that overall action trashed the GOP’s reputation as the grown-ups in the room when it came to fiscal prudence, a reputation the GOP faithful have been laboring ever-so diligently to repair over the past four years.
And of course, there were the calls one has been hearing so often these past ten days of appealing to more minority voters, namely Hispanics. As I have mentioned before, this is an important issue, and one that must be delved into seriously and with the right ideas in place so that we can broaden our electoral base.
The point in all of this is, many of these issues can be solved in a single, large action by nominating a candidate whom more people believe in from the get-go. It sounds simplified, sure, but it worked for Obama. Byron York makes the compelling case that whatever facets of the overall problem party members are bringing up these days, many of them can be effectively addressed all at once with the right candidate in place, somebody whom people want to get around and support.
That is not to say that Gov. Romney was without his die-hard supporters. The business-oriented among us, yours truly included, recognized that he has just the skill set that we need for a leader in these troubled times. But sadly, the vast majority of the electorate has no concept of executive skill sets in leaders, hence it was a non-issue to them. Mitt appealed to his supporters minds in a very big way, but not enough to the overall electorate’s hearts.
The point in all of this is, many party members and operatives seem to try to position themselves as the smartest person in the room in trying to come up with one unique solution to a particular facet of the overall electoral problem the party faced in the past election. But if one focuses on a few small things among many and fail with their ideas on those fronts, then where will we be? What York reminds us is that, overall, the solution is much simpler, and much more straightforward. Find someone who can effectively connect with large swaths of the electorate early on (someone who can win hearts and minds), and much of the problem is solved. We have less than four years to find that person.
College Football Week 8 Awards October 22, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Alamo Bowl, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Atlanta, Auburn, Baylor, BCS, Beavers, Big 12, Big XII, Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Boston College, Bowling Green, Brian Kelly, Bulldogs, Charlie Strong, Charlie Weis, chrome, Cincinnati, Civil War, cocktail, college, Colorado, Colorado State, Corvalis, Dana Holgorsen, Danny Hope, David Cutcliffe, Ducks, Duke, East Carolina, Eugene, Florida, Florida State, football, Gators, Georgia, Hawaii, helmet, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Jacksonville, Jeff Driskel, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, LSU, matte, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mountaineers, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, Nick Saban, no-huddle, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Orange Bowl, Oregon, outdoor, Pac-12, party, Purdue, Red Raiders, Rutgers, SEC, SMU, Sooners, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, The Swamp, Toledo, Tommy Tuberville, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, West Virginia, Wildcats, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 8, pre-week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Glad I’m not him: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Lucky guy: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Poor guy: Danny Hope, Purdue
Desperately seeking a clue: Charlie Weis, Kansas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Cutcliffe, Duke
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking … anything: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 10 USC (beat Colorado 50-6)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 12 Georgia (beat Kentucky 29-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to No. 8 Oklahoma 52-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Navy (beat Indiana 31-30)
Thought you wouldn’t get your butt kicked, you did: No. 17 South Carolina (lost to No. 3 Florida 44-11)
Dang, they’re good: Florida
Dang, they’re bad: Auburn
Did the season start? Iowa
Can the season end? Boston College
Can the season never end? Kansas State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 18 Texas Tech 56, TCU 53
Never play this again: No. 2 Oregon 43*, Arizona State 21
What? No. 4 Kansas State 55, No. 25 West Virginia 17
Huh? Duke 33, North Carolina 30
Are you kidding me? Toledo 29, Cincinnati 23
Oh – my – God: Navy 31, Indiana 30
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Notre Dame @ No. 8 Oklahoma (notwithstanding Georgia vs. No. 3 Florida in Jacksonville)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Kent State @ No. 18 Rutgers
Best non-Big Six matchup: Navy @ East Carolina
Upset alert: No. 13 Mississippi State @ No. 1 Alabama
Must win: No. 20 Michigan @ Nebraska
Offensive explosion: No. 15 Texas Tech @ No. 4 Kansas State
Defensive struggle: Missouri @ Kentucky
Great game no one is talking about: Cincinnati @ No. 16 Louisville, Friday, 8 PM
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bob Stoops of Oklahoma vs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? Colorado @ No. 2 Oregon
Why are they playing? UMass @ Vanderbilt
Plenty of good seats remaining: Hawaii @ Colorado St. (notwithstanding Indiana @ Illinois)
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 22 Texas A&M @ Auburn
*If Oregon did not call off the dogs at halftime, they could have scored 86 points, not just 43.
Offensive Explosion, C-USA-style: Who’da thought that the Thursday night Houston-SMU matchup would have led to such offensive fireworks?
Two trends in helmet design: One of which is the matte epidemic that must be discussed in a future article, having infected teams such as TCU, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Baylor (their green helmets in the recent Alamo Bowl), Michigan State (sort of), and a host of others. But another emergent trend, one more becoming of ultra-modernity, is the “chrome” effect. Oregon debuted it during the most recent Rose Bowl, where they triumphed over Wisconsin wearing helmets with chrome [duck] wings on a chrome shell. Recently, they demolished Arkansas State with chrome [duck] wings on a plain yellow shell. Now, Michigan State has furthered the trend with a special helmet they wore in their narrow loss to rival Michigan, sporting a chrome-green shell with a silver chrome decal. Not bad!
Will Muschamp seems like “the guy” after all: “The guy,” meaning the guy who is capable of maintaining the high level of success that Florida fans have come to expect during the tenures of Steve Spurrier, followed indirectly by Urban Meyer. Having established his credentials as an excellent defensive coach while at Texas, Muschamp has finally carried that over into a smothering defense on the part of his current team. Indeed, the Gators have held opponents to just an average of roughly 12 points per game, and that includes a lackluster performance on both sides of the ball during their season-opener against Bowling Green. Offensively, the Gators have shown considerable signs of life, thanks in part to the able QB skills of one Jeff Driskel. On that side of the ball, Florida has averaged 33 points per game for the past five games. Fourteen points was enough to overcome LSU’s stingy ‘D,’ while the Gators put up a whopping 44 points on South Carolina’s reputable defense yesterday in The Swamp.
The “So What” for the SEC: If these shadows remain unchanged, it will be a Battle Royale in Atlanta between Florida and Alabama come early December. But first, Florida must take care of Georgia in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, while Alabama has to contend with undefeated Mississippi State. Bama also has LSU left on their slate, while the Gators’ only major challenge after the Bulldogs (UGA, not MSU) will be a regular-season closer at rival Florida State (thankfully for the Gators, a non-conference foe). Stay tuned!
The current race in the Big XII: Kansas State remains firmly in the driver’s seat after dispatching with yet another viable challenger in West Virginia. Geno Smith might very well be leading a high-powered offense, but the Mountaineers’ defense is clearly another matter entirely, one that Coach Dana Holgorsen would be well-served to shore up at some point. The challenge for head coach Bill Snyder and the Wildcats is to turn around after a big win against a formidable team on the road, and be ready for the same level of performance at home, as Tommy Tuberville’s Texas Tech Red Raiders are about to come calling. A loss on the part of KSU could make for a very rather muddled race for top spot in the conference.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma is determined to maintain its insurgent conference championship run, but a number of potential challenges remain with Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and TCU awaiting their respective confrontations. Having said that, Bob Stoops & Co. have the opportunity to get back into the national conversation, as No. 5 Notre Dame comes into Norman for the biggest challenge the Irish are likely to face the entire year. The season for both teams hangs in the balance.
Oregon, meanwhile, keeps motoring along up in the Pacific Northwest. The Ducks remain undefeated, and their scores have been so high, they have practically required oxygen to read them, averaging 51 points each game thus far. Their no-huddle offense is so fast-paced that it has caused Nick Saban of seemingly invincible Alabama to grumble. But it will not be a smooth road to Miami for the Ducks for the BCS title game. In two weeks, they must face resurgent USC. Just two weeks after that, Stanford will not be playing dead just because Oregon is, well, Oregon, and they close their regular season with in-state rival Oregon State in the annual match-up known as “The Civil War.” Given that the Beavers have crept into the No. 8 ranking, the game between these two teams this year could very well live up to such an august game title/nickname. Moreover, that game this year will be in Corvalis, not Eugene. If the Ducks end up making it to the Orange Bowl part II, they will certainly have earned it.
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