College athletics is changing so fast we can't really tell how much yet. Throw in covid and what it has done for two years, and it is really hard to tell what is going on. Conferences are having to figure out how to deal with canceled games. Bowl games are just dropped. You have realignment throwing out rivalries playing musical chairs for television money-which now seems to be driving college athletics. Fans in seats at the game means less than it used to. Viewers and the sales of commercials is all that matters.
In the past, players represented the community. It was pride in those we called our own succeeding and yes, the commiserating with them when we all lost. Roberto Clemente ended slavery of a sort when he broke the ownership of players playing rights. He was free to take his skills anywhere, to the highest bidder. About as capitalistic as it gets. It marked the beginning of the end. Loyalty and community were no longer the foundation of our athletic competition. Except the schools. Their teams were made up of our kids, playing for our schools and our communities. And now that has been somewhat stripped away. Or perhaps fading is more accurate.
But we all know that the reality has always been that UTEP is a place to play football and get an education. Miners who make it to the pros are diamonds who came out of the tailings. So, there is the loyalty thing and there is the fairness and unfairness of the moving up and down within the cartels and now in reality a form of single A double A and so on. I have had to deal with this for a long time, and I came to the easy decision to support the players on the football team because they are just our guys playing football. Those who decide that their human capital is best served by moving will no longer be my concern. I will not root for them or against them. I won't hold it against them. Bryson did what he did for him. We have a kid who was a Georgetown player playing down here. I won't hold that for him or against him. We have to come to grips with the fact that the NCAA has opened the doors but that they swing both ways. Water seeks its own level. This has been happening for a long time. Now the transfer happens quicker. As for the fairness, it is the same as it ever was.
Tim Floyd was a pioneer in the use of transfers and ironically it was what drove him to retirement in somewhat of a way that almost looked like revenge. Mike Price had many players come to play when their options had been narrowed. These things that seem to be coming out have been around but have been speeded up. So, you have to look at the speed factor. Is it kind of a reversal of natural order where unlike magic speeding the process up doesn't hide the trick, it exposes it?
Practically, how do you build a program as has been asked. How do you count on the work you do not being just the reward for someone else? Perhaps that question and the answer that goes with it are just as simple as they seem. Silly. The work we do to make someone successful is always going to be someone else's reward. That doesn't mean we work less. It means we work harder. We, each of us do it all day. So that part has not changed. For anyone. One thing I may suggest is that the system is the foundation and players must fit it rather than chasing a constantly changing evolving talent collection of players to make a team. Hell, isn't that exactly what good coaches do?
For the old folks. Pick it up. Don't fall behind. Bitching about it is fine. But keep the fuck up! A bitchin soldier on the march is a good soldier. As long as he is on the march. Bitchin gives him something to do so he doesn't get bored. But the march is on. You may just as well enjoy the scenery. It is damned sure changing quickly. I never felt the pain of a junior college losing their star freshman quarterback to UTEP. If Cowing leaves, as it appears that he will, instead of leaving a gaping hole I think he has shown true top-notch receivers that there is a great opportunity for them at UTEP. Keep eyes open for the transfers coming in for that.
Dimmel has put together the system. It is built with Miners for life as the frame. Bells and whistles, along with other additions and subtractions will come and go. Some will be really cool, and some will need to be scrapped. Some may just need some adjustments. But the basic system and machine seems to be at least a functional football team. Be of good cheer, Miners. The new year is about to arrive, and we have a running machine. And the mechanic may be slower than Uncle Joe at the Shady Rest but seems to know a little and may even have a trick or two up his sleeve.
