Northwestern DT Sean McEvilly said the team “was pissed off” that NU didn’t go to a bowl game last year during today’s Northwestern football media day.
Now I know that kind of language may seem coarse, crude or unprofessional to my older and more socially conservative readers, but I welcomed it.
It was an actual expression of humanity and true emotion. Something you just almost never get at a college football media day anymore. All you usually get is PR friendly coachspeak and players robotically spouting worthless cliches that are programmed into their hard drive.
“It started in the winter, we were all pissed off that we didn’t go to a bowl game,” was the full quote from McEvilly.
Maybe your virgin ears don’t like the choice in phrase, but again I APPLAUD it. It shows a genuinely human side to the game that is pretty much non-existent within 99% of media day rhetoric. I’d much rather hear “pissed off” than the potpourri of bromides that usually accompany these events.
You know the phrases:
“focused on our execution”
“got to stay focused”
“working hard”
“we’re excited about…..”
“comes down to making plays”
“trying to get better everyday”
“improving any way I can to help the team”
well, you get the idea.
Anyway, for me it was the highlight of Northwestern football media day.
That or when Coach Pat Fitzgerald joking said “thanks for the softball question, Mr. Cat” to Dave Eanet, voice of the Northwestern Wildcats. Pat made the remark in the snarky tone that Fitz sometimes displays at press conferences in order to lighten things up. It was an amusing moment; one of very few that the day provided. Like Big Ten Media Day itself, there wasn’t all that much meat and potatoes when it comes to actual news.
And I know you’re just dying to know what Eanet’s question was.
It was about the specialists. Fitz’s answer was that the competition for the kickers and punters is truly wide open.
Someone actually brought up “5:03” today at Northwestern football media day too. I’ll lay off that one though, because that silly slogan has been torn up enough during the 16 months that it has existed. There was also plenty of “one play away from winning” 5 more games or whatever stuff too. Yes, last year’s team had a lot of bad luck, and did lose a couple games in the final seconds. But the “one play way” maxim is so shopworn. And by all coaches at all levels, it’s not just a NU thing.
Again, to regurgitate that talking point is to do a great disservice to your readers, and to criticize that catch-phrase is to attack low hanging fruit.
So I’ll make this joke once more and then retire it…”I could say I was 5 minutes and 3 seconds away from seducing Candice Swanepoel, and 1 play away from taking her home for the night.” That one play would be somehow making myself a lot more famous, wealthy and good looking; and somehow accomplishing all that in just 5 minutes and three seconds.
This 2014 Northwestern football season has no slogans and buzzwords.
At least not at this point.
Which is the way is should be. It’s a football team with hundreds of human beings playing 12 regular season games. It’s not a bumper sticker. If you need a theme, and given how dumb most of the sports media is and/or believes their news consumers to be, given what they produce, a “theme” seems to always be required.
Because there has to be a “narrative,” today’s was…..?????…..”Ownership?”
Pat Fitzgerald and his players are owning up to what happened last year. They’re saying they’re accountable. “Numerous times we’ve all owned that,” Fitz said.
Check back this weekend, for my Northwestern football season preview.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. He’s also a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)