Geno's Genius: just showing up

[bags27]

The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, said Kohelet (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Cynics add: "but that is the way to bet." Sure, talent talks and talent walks. Geno's the first to agree with that.

But to be as great as Geno has been, there is a massive amount of just showing up (to quote someone I have absolutely no personal respect for: Woody Allen). When we think that Geno has been doing this at UConn since 1985.... Well, that's 32 seasons of organizing drills, scheming offensives and defenses, dealing with coaches, PR folks, schedules, player issues, Rotary Club talks--and on "off "days taking airlines and rental cars to watch some talented 10th grader in some broken-down gym play against kids with no basketball talent, just to show that he's interested--and then once the season is over (usually at the beginning of April) gearing up all over to do it again and again and again the next fall, well...

I can't find, despite looking forever for it, but I read a quotation as a kid that completed Kohelet. "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but he who prevails who shall be saved." (I think it's Augustine, but I've data searched his works and can't find it.)

Anyway, Geno prevails because he's incredibly talented as a teacher but also because he persists, with the same degree (though wiser and different) commitment to extraordinary excellence, year after year after year: despite all the pressure of his job, he just shows up. How many of us can make the same claim? How many of us even know anyone who has done that?

 

[Jim R]

How many of us can make the same claim? How many of us even know anyone who has done that?

Thanks ...let's hope we're listening

 

[CL82]

I can't find, despite looking forever for it, but I read a quotation as a kid that completed Kohelet. "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but he who prevails who shall be saved." (I think it's Augustine, but I've data searched his works and can't find it.)

Ecclesiastes 9:11 King James Version (KJV)
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

 

[bags27]

Ecclesiastes 9:11 King James Version (KJV)
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

this brings us close to a religious discussion, so I'll try to keep it as academic as possible. The appearance of chance, as well as fate in 9.2, is one of the (several) arguments that Kohelet is an early Hellenistic text (maybe 250 BCE), showing that Jews were already beginning to fall under the influence of Greek philosophy.

 

[CL82]

this brings us a bit too close to a religious discussion, so I'll try to keep it as academic as possible. The appearance of chance, as well as fate in 9.2, is one of the (several) arguments that Kohelet is an early Hellenistic text, showing that Jews were beginning to fall under the influence of Greek philosophy.

Agree, if you want to talk more we can PM. The "he who persists shall be saved language" is a recurring theme but I don't remember it be be associated with the quote, which deals more with the impact of chance even for those who are strong, smart, etc.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Again I learn something new everyday on the Boneyard.

 

[bags27]

Agree, if you want to talk more we can PM. The "he who persists shall be saved language" is a recurring theme but I don't remember it be be associated with the quote, which deals more with the impact of chance even for those who are strong, smart, etc.

right: completely agree: what is added takes the sentiment in a very different direction, away from chance and toward human effort and determinism. It's a later parse, and, as I said, I have this vague recollection it's Augustine. (Though have to admit, I don't remember if the author starts out with precisely quoting Kohelet). And I read it as an English translation, and to search Augustine effectively, I'd have to render it into the precise Latin, and well...(to quote Marvell), not world enough or time (or talent!).

 

[CL82]

right: completely agree. I didn't mean to imply that it's in the "original" Kohelet or reflective of "his" sentiment. It's a later parse, pretty sure it's Christian, and, as I said, I have this vague recollection it's Augustine. But I read it as an English translation, and to search Augustine effectively, I'd have to render it into the precise Latin, and well...(to quote Marvell), not world enough or time (or talent!).

Try Matthew 24:13.

I think your quote conflates the two quotes to reflect more modern sensibilities rather than the fatalistic one from Ecclesiastes.

I looked up the quote "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong... but that is the way to bet" and it is attributed to Damon Runyon. I had forgotten it. It is funny, I suspect that we'll have occasion to use it over the season.

 

[bags27]

Try Matthew 24:13.

I think your quote conflates the two quotes to reflect more modern sensibilities rather than the fatalistic one from Ecclesiastes.

I looked up the quote "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong... but that is the way to bet" and it is attributed to Damon Runyon. I had forgotten it. It is funny, I suspect that we'll have occasion to use it over the season.

Bet you're right! Definitely the Matthew sentiment and maybe it was added in modern times to Kohelet. Thanks! That's an itch I've been scratching for decades!

 

[CocoHusky]

@bags27 not to go from religion to politics but one of my favorite quotes and to your point about Geno:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
– Calvin Coolidge

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong,

Conflation? "Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all." Bible Gateway passage: Ecclesiastes 9:11 - English Standard Version

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Ecclesiastes 9:11 King James Version (KJV)
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Well I could have saved a post had I read the thread!

 

[FanFromMaine]

Bags's quote sent me back to the original Hebrew text. The final phrase of 9:11 in Hebrew is translated as "time and death" in the Artscroll Bible. But the word translated as death is more commonly translated as affliction or vulnerability.

However, I can't agree more that the ability to persist is a real strength, not given to everyone.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Ecclesiastes 9:11 King James Version (KJV)
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

That in it's entirety makes more sense: Time and Chance happens to them all. Now that's a scripture I could bet on; it reflects life. Yet, in the case of Geno with his Strong, him making more bread shall enhance his riches because preparation favours men (women) of skill!!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Well I could have saved a post had I read the thread!

Winding thread around a post to save it is a crime in some jurisdictions ..

 

[bags27]

Bags's quote sent me back to the original Hebrew text. The final phrase of 9:11 in Hebrew is translated as "time and death" in the Artscroll Bible. But the word translated as death is more commonly translated as affliction or vulnerability.

However, I can't agree more that the ability to persist is a real strength, not given to everyone.

okay....now we're getting into the nitty-gritty! Be careful of Artscroll: it's (IIRC) a Hasidic translation that veers toward smoothing out the complexities that might appear to "compromise" the "purity" of Hebrew thought.

The Hebrew is וָפֶ֖גַע and it most certainly means [and] chance.
Concordancia Hebreo de Strong: 6294. פֶּ֫גַע (pega) -- ocasión, aparición, oportunidad.
As I said, it's one of the many "clues" that the work is Hellenistic, not the words of King Solomon (living 600 years earlier), as the author (Kohelet) affects (and as the most orthodox of Jews may still believe).

 

[FanFromMaine]

Ah, the gauntlet has been thrown and I accept.

The Oxford Hebrew-English dictionary defines pega as: afflicted, stricken, hurt, damaged. And while the Artscroll series has its biases so does any production of the Hebrew Bible which went through the Greek, Arabic, Latin and English translation cycle. Your getting awfully close to being offensive.

 

[bags27]

Ah, the gauntlet has been thrown and I accept.

The Oxford Hebrew-English dictionary defines pega as: afflicted, stricken, hurt, damaged. And while the Artscroll series has its biases so does any production of the Hebrew Bible which went through the Greek, Arabic, Latin and English translation cycle. Your getting awfully close to being offensive.

I appreciate what you say about translation. But the text itself hasn't gone through translation. I'm going back to the original, which is entirely my point. It's important to look at the entire text within context. The preferred translation is chance, and given the use of fate at 9.2 and Koheleth's appeal to a resigned philosophy which is profoundly Stoic and unheard of otherwise in the TANAKH, the dating of Ecclesiastes in the Hellenistic world is really compelling (in fact, it's one of the last books canonized, because the rabbis had serious doubts about its religiousity) and so, to my mind, is the preferred translation. Ecclesiastes is just so obviously Hellenistic wisdom literature that it's widely accepted as such: see, for example, the mainstream publication of the Jewish Publication Society edition by Michael V. Fox.

If I offended anyone with what I said about the Art Scroll editions, which is a lovely production, many volumes of which I own but do not find convincing because it has a very specific brief, I apologize.

 

[Huskee11]

despite all the pressure of his job, he just shows up. How many of us can make the same claim? How many of us even know anyone who has done that?

The success he has had on so big a stage for so many years is truly incredible. His persistence has to be part of the cause of that success.

And few if any have or will achieve the level of success in their chosen fields that Geno has in his.

Not to disagree - but I suspect, without knowing, that more than a few of this group have in fact spent a lifetime of showing up. Probably without much fanfare, and unfortunately not always with success. But there when the bell rings. Some for more than 32 years in the workplace, some for less. And relating better to Geno because of that.

 

[VAMike23]

I appreciate what you say about translation. But the text itself hasn't gone through translation. I'm going back to the original, which is entirely my point. It's important to look at the entire text within context. The preferred translation is chance, and given the use of fate at 9.2 and Koheleth's appeal to a resigned philosophy which is profoundly Stoic and unheard of otherwise in the TANAKH, the dating of Ecclesiastes in the Hellenistic world is really compelling (in fact, it's one of the last books canonized, because the rabbis had serious doubts about its religiousity) and so, to my mind, is the preferred translation. Ecclesiastes is just so obviously Hellenistic wisdom literature that it's widely accepted as such: see, for example, the mainstream publication of the Jewish Publication Society edition by Michael V. Fox.

If I offended anyone with what I said about the Art Scroll editions, which is a lovely production, many volumes of which I own but do not find convincing because it has a very specific brief, I apologize.

I always appreciate well-articulated erudition

 

[FanFromMaine]

I see that you have put some considerable time and thought into biblical studies. Your persistence has paid off. And thanks for the consideration.

If this is your metier, I would like to suggest a book that is not exactly on this topic but which I found extremely fascinating in the same vein: Molly Worthen's Apostles of Reason. She writes about how evangelicals are trying to apply biblical literalism to today's world. Ms Worthen doesn't take a side but she does give insights about why religious discussions are so loaded.