junglehusky
Molotov Cocktail of Ugliness
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
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- 7,157
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I like the aircraft carrier analogy. Pardon me while I do my Carl Spackler impersonation (I can't believe I'm doing this). Here goes.
The football program is one aircraft carrier, captained at the moment by Pasqualoni. Warde is the admiral of the fleet, the other carriers are MBB and WBB, each with a captain. Herbst is the secretary of the Navy, the trustees, provosts are the 3-4 star admirals. The other boats are compliance, different schools, programs and academic departments. Just like the Navy we also have R&D, hospitals, recruiting (both athletes/pilots and general body students/enlistees). The administrators and coaches are the officers, the players are the aircraft pilots and some of the guys on the bridge running things, and the fans and students are the enlisted crew, who keep the planes fueled, etc. If you break it down to a hierarchy (thanks wikipedia) you could describe it like this:
Strategy: Nationally successful University, improving every aspect of its operation, financing, branding, reach into society - Secretary of the Navy Herbst
Operational Objective: athletics teams winning conference championships, advancing in the postseason / bowls, competing for national championships, TV contracts, building the brand - fleet Admiral Manuel
Tactics: winning games, scouting opponents, developing players, game planning, also recruiting - Captain P assisted by officers (coordinators, assistants)
Tasks: learning the playbook, strength and conditioning, executing game plan, team leadership - the athletes. School spirit, buying tickets, helping spread the brand - fans / students / alumni.
Right now our boat is off course and the crew are getting concerned. Mind you, we haven't run aground yet - we're in the process of making some difficult maneuvers, in the middle of a big storm (conference realignment) with a chain of dangerous islands around our current position. This was caused by the previous admiral (Hathaway) who was nonchalant about plotting the course and setting goals (operational objectives). The target we have to hit is past the island chain, on a continent on the other side of the ocean. It is also obvious the last two maneuvers (tactics) the captain made (2011 and 2012 seasons) have not helped us get back on course. The first officer (GDL) is openly despised by most of the crew and privately despised by many of the pilots and a lot of the blame focuses on his failures (also tactics). Crew members are complaining to their officers, and even emailing back home and up the chain of command. Some of the more outspoken crew members (led by HFD) begin banding together and plotting a mutiny, doing so out in the open. (Here's where the analogy breaks down a bit, because doing this in the military, while it probably happens, is more of a taboo. And probably leading a charge to mutiny gets you landed in the brig ASAP. Unless you're an admiral in which case it becomes a political power struggle, like McChrystal... think of Hathaway getting ushered out / forced to retire).
Now, the emails to the admirals have gone through. To the point where they are even talking about the concerns expressed in the emails. While the fleet admiral doesn't publicly say "I am gonna fire the first mate's ass", it becomes clear that he expects the captain to reassign his duties. Some of the mutineers see this and some don't, even going to the point of now wanting to mutiny against the admiral. They are even rigging up one of the life boats with extra engines, and painting "USS CONNECTICUT" on the side. Though it's a bit hazy as to whether their intentions are to go AWOL for some booze-soaked shore leave or if they're going to pack explosives to blow up the admiral's office.
But again, we're in the middle of making a turn in the middle of a storm with a bunch of small islands around, and as RSC said it's a wide turn. Let's say the mutineers are successful, saying "we need to replace these commanders right duck*ing now or we're going on strike, no more fuel for the planes" (abandoning their tasks) so the naval command actually caves, relieving the captain and admiral of their duty. Who's going to steer the course right now? There might be some replacement but they have to be flown in and won't be able to hit the ground running. So there's going to be a leadership vacuum both at the level of captain and admiral. Now, it might be reasonable to find a competent captain and get them in quickly, but there's a window of opportunity that is closing too fast. There will be another window after the next turn is completed. But the mutineers want to get rid of the captain and the admiral at the same time, when the fleet is most vulnerable. And on top of that, the mutineers' rancor (the captain sucks, the admiral sucks we're going to crash) is constant... and while the whole crew knows what they are saying, the constant echo chamber is causing morale to drop lower and lower.
Running with this scenario - no captain, no admiral. The crew still has tasks to complete, keeping the engine going, etc., some of which are being abandoned because of low morale. But we also don't have the tactics to navigate through the island chain. Maybe we run aground, maybe we take some minor damage and get through it with an acting captain. But with no fleet admiral we've also lost the objective, the coordination between different aircraft carriers. Maybe the other ships (MBB, WBB) get to the target and execute their missions. But without the fleet admiral, who has only recently taken over for the previous admiral who got us into this storm / island chain in the first place (Hathaway) the football boat is much more likely to a) run aground b) get turned in the wrong direction and go further off course, preventing the pilots from doing their tasks, which then disrupts the tactics further and eventually the objectives.
Another scenario would be to replace the captain immediately, but keep the objectives / admiral for the near term - 2013, when we'll know if we've gotten through the island chain to open seas. I would have been on board with this, especially if he could have promoted the 2nd officer (Don Brown). Too late for that now, Brown's transferred to another boat. But even though it's not being talked about publicly, it should be pretty clear that if the captain doesn't get the carrier out of the island chain in a defined period of time (7+ wins in 2013) he will replace him. Maybe once the boat nearer to the end of the islands, the storm will lessen, the morale will improve, and the crew will be confident we're heading to the target. Or maybe it will be ambiguous, and then the admiral will have a decision to make.
I could go on with the analogy but I think I'll wrap it up for now. The point of the story is that fans can definitely express their opinion, writing letters, posting here on the yard, etc. But please know you're not going to get immediate gratification. Warde or Susan is not going to publicly say "PP needs x numbers of wins or he's fired". I guess some AD's do that but most do not. (To make another analogy, how many successful companies are out there who fire their CEO's every two years?) I didn't go through the whole "Warde define your vision once and for all" thread... but I fundamentally disagree that he has to share his plan for how we are going to execute that vision. All he has to do publicly is state the vision, and he did - winning conference championships, competing for national championships. He and his officers are executing the plan behind closed doors. We do know he told to PP what needs to happen, PPs job is now formally on the line and will be based partially on offense, which is why he's trying (unsuccessfuly so far) to get GDL out the door. We should find out springtime if his playcalling duties are relieved. But we as fans should not abandon our tasks - going to games, spreading positive energy even when it's bleak and stormy outside. Yes, tell the truth, things are not as good as they should be, but recognize if we exaggerate or dwell on the negativity it will snowball. If people have the belief that we are about to run aground right duck*ing now, instead of it being a posibility in a longer time frame, it will wind up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. And if enough of the fans abandon the task, for a long enough period of time, it actually hurts the tactics, objective, and strategy. It gives the enemy (uh... BC & ESPN?) positive morale knowing that we're having low morale. Here's how
Admittedly, it's a leap of faith. Are you going to take it?
. The rest of your demands... those are all multi-year things and I hope that even though we all want them we can at least buy tickets and support the kids in the meantime. At least you didn't say you won't be back full time until we are in the B1G, LOL...
