Sunday, December 14, 2008

BETRAYED!

WARNING: NON-BIKE RELATED CONTENT

Someone is on my sh*t list. In fact, this guy has placed himself on a whole PILE of sh*t lists.

Normally, I wouldn't stray this far off topic. My blog is about bikes...riding bikes, building bikes, enjoying bikes, and so on. I'm pretty passionate about the bikes.

But I'm also passionate about my alma mater. Back in the stone ages, I attended Iowa State University and actually acquired a degree from that fine institution. I've always been a Cyclone fan and athletic supporter :>). If you watch ESPN at all, you'll know that Auburn has recently hired a new head football coach, Mr. Gene Chizik. Mr. Chizik was formerly the head football coach at ISU. Note that I'm not referring to Mr. Chizik as 'Coach'. You will understand why.

Mr. Chizik

A little background, if you're not an ISU fan. ISU has never been a football powerhouse, in fact, their history has been mostly dismal. About 12 years ago or so, Coach Dan McCarney was hired as ISU's head football coach. After a couple of years with a less than impressive record, Coach McCarney built the program up and actually took us to a few bowl games. In fact, ISU won their very first bowl game under McCarney's tenure. You'd think we won a national championship.

A few years ago, the school hired a new AD - Jamie Pollard. The program had a couple of hard years and Coach McCarney was asked to step down (he's an assistant head coach at Florida right now...and they are going to the national championship this year). At that time Mr. Chizik was the defensive coordinator for Texas and they'd just won a national championship. He was voted one of the most outstanding young football coaches and was considered a top head coaching prospect at the time.

Lucky for us (it seemed so at the time), ISU managed to snag the coveted Mr. Chizik. It was a great hire for our program and hopes were high. In his first year, Mr. Chizik's record was 3 - 9, 2 of those wins were in the Big 12. Not totally unexpected, being his first year without any of his own recruits. But ISU fans were hopeful.

This year, Mr. Chizik amassed a 2 - 10 record, 10 straight losses and zero wins in the conference. Disappointing, but Mr. Chizik explained to us that this was a 'journey', be patient, then publically professed his love of living in Ames, love for the fans, love for the University...basically informing all the fans, students, and alumni that he was in this for the long haul and would do what it took to make the program successful. He demoted the offensive and defensive coordinators, fired the quarterbacks coach, fired another coach.

And out of the blue this weekend, he quit. QUIT.

Yes, Mr. Chizik quit. Took his two 'proven' years of head coaching experience (5 - 19 record, 2 Big 12 wins), and accepted the open head coaching position at Auburn.

Our AD held a press conference, and based on what he said I can say that he was definitely not happy. I have been looking at the ISU message boards and I can tell you Cyclone fans are definitely not happy. I've also taken a peek at the ESPN and Auburn message boards and guess what? They definitely aren't happy. Why would they want this guy, with a 5 - 19 record? The general fan consensus was that it was a stupid hire, and their fans fear that Auburn is going to turn into the Iowa State of the SEC.

Ouch.

Well, there may be a silver lining to all this. Although this could be a big setback for the Cyclones' football program maybe we can snag an experienced head coach, get someone in here who knows how to rebuild a program, knows how to motivate players and coaches, knows how to treat athletic program supporters and will actually give a damn. Turner Gill might be looking for a job. :>)

Good riddance, Mr. Chizik. You were not our Coach. Coach is a title reserved for loyal individuals with integrity who have earned respect.

My condolences to Auburn students, alumni, boosters, and fans. You deserved better.

Sincerely,
One pissed-off Cyclone

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