Virtual Reality vs. Reality

On the first night of the NFL draft, the Temple football Owls hosted a “virtual reality” event to ostensibly talk about the state of the program via Youtube.

On the most-watched channel in the city of the Owls, the NFL draft was about to start.

Not the best platform planning we’ve ever seen. Maybe another night (err, Wednesday?) might have been a better choice.

Virtual reality vs. reality.

I will take less band and cheerleaders if I can see more of this for at least eight of the 12 Saturdays.

In that hour, we heard “Hey Jude” played by the Temple band and saw a performance by the Temple cheerleaders. We also learned about pulled hamstrings and such from a Temple doctor.

Insight into the football team?

Not so much.

We don’t talk politics here (sorry, John) but the politics we do talk about is political correctness when it comes to the Temple program. Listen, I like the band, cheerleaders and Temple doctors well enough but in an era where we don’t get enough real news about Temple football itself, would have preferred the entire hour stick to the state of the team.

On the other channel, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay were not talking to team doctors, listening to Beatles songs or being wowed by a sis-boom-bah cheer.

Kinda reminds me when I was sports editor of a Calkins Newspaper daily and the managing editor yelled across the room: “Mike, this is a parent of a band member. Can you talk to her?”

“Sure.”

More of this kind of cowbell, please.

“Why do you guys give more coverage to the CB West football team than the band? Those kids work just as hard as the football players.”

“I’m sure they do, ma’am. I have a hypothetical question, though. Do you think 10,000 fans would attend Friday night’s CB West-Souderton game if it was just the band and the football team went through drills at halftime of the band performance?”

“I guess you’ve got a point there.”

“Have a good night.”

The Temple publicity people haven’t grasped that simple concept probably because a lot of Title IX and similar rules dictate that other areas of the uni get “equal” coverage.

There’s simply not the interest there.

The host, Kevin Copp, seems like a nice enough guy. In fact, I don’t think there are too many Temple employees of the last few years (Morgan Siegfried excluded) who works as hard and is as affable as Copp. Yet there were no tough questions (“when are we going to stop fair catching?” is just one I can think of). I don’t blame Kevin at all because, as a uni employee, he is not going to rock the boat because he is “in” the boat and might not be able to swim should it tip over.

Winning trumps effort every time.

That also applies to the owner and operator of one Temple sports site.

It doesn’t appear that we are going to get answers to tough questions but Rod Carey did say he wanted to have a team that “plays hard, gives maximum effort and makes our fans proud.”

Paul Palmer had the best comment of the night when he mentioned how important it was for the Owls to win early to grab the attention of the fans. I would have liked to have heard the same from Carey.

Nowhere in that entire hour did Carey mention the most important word: WINNING. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather see a team that plays hard, gives maximum effort and kicks our opponents’ asses every Saturday. Everyone can try to have positive results. It takes special people to deliver those results.

The winning part appeals to me more than the effort part. Winning is not everything. It’s the only thing.

That’s the reality. I’m not interested in the virtual.

Monday: Five guys portal guys Temple should woo

Friday: Temple Guys

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6 thoughts on “Virtual Reality vs. Reality

  1. Mike, your point on “effort” versus “winning” is spot on. Results are the baseline for success. That is simply life. Yes, there are times when someone is in a tough situation in life, or in an athletic competition, where you are over matched, and a gallant effort is met with a pat on the back. But, we are talking about College Football. Results are how success is measured. My personal analogy is this. My transition from Temple Soccer to Temple Football, from Coach Bahr to Coach Hardin was seamless. {I still feel blessed to have been at Temple, and play under two of the most renowned Coaches in their respective sports} If I botched a play on the soccer field that Walter Bahr expected of me, I would hear a loud raspy voice yell “Donald”! My name is Don. Bahr called me “Donald” because he was irked. I was on the bench shortly thereafter with bits of the cigar Bahr chewed spattered on my chest. Ugh. I recall this as a 67 year old because the point was made. My effort was always the optimum. Execution of the game plan was essential. When placekicking, my first year ever kicking a football, I was 0-3 in field goals attempts. Game 4 in 1973, Coach Hardin sent me on the field with 4 seconds left versus Cincinnati to attempt a 20yd field goal from the left hash. As I left he side on the sideline, he said two words of encouragement. “Don’t miss”. I didn’t. So profound was that message, that I did not miss another PAT or inside 40yds the remainder of my Temple career. Mike, you called it. It really is all about results. Yes, we want our Owls to give tremendous effort, and exhibit class in every aspect of their representation of Temple both on and off the field. Winning is the most important thing in College Football, back then, and certainly today.

    • Outstandingly put, Don. Owls won 14 straight football games (the longest streak in the country) when you were the kicker. Hardin and Bahr seldom talked about effort, always about results.

  2. Just a couple of comments on the state of things at Temple Football.

    1) Passively paying attention to the NFL Draft yesterday and this weekend, but have to point out that it is very likely that NO Owls will be drafted at all this year. When is the last time that NO Temple player was picked?

    2) Just saw that Kansas Football hired Lance Leipold away from Buffalo. Temple is no longer a step up from Buffalo, mainly due to the success of Leipold, but why do s*** programs like KU hire guys like this and we get teh Carey’s of the world. Is it really worth the jump to the F5 for such a bottom-feeder?

  3. Mike,

    I pointed out that it was likely that no Owls would get drafted for the first time in a while and I was right.

    i also then remembered that Roche and Yeboah were ex-Owls who would be drafted. Roche went to the Steelers which I assume is a good place for him to land. I was quite surprised that Yeboah went undrafted. I saw that he signed with NY Jets.

    Mack has signed with Denver correct? Any word on other Owls?

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