The revisionist history story today, by Doc Daugherty, in the Enquirer got me thinking. I’d like to revise history too, both the past and even the future. Like my gramma from Sicily used to say, “Spit in one hand, wish in the other, see which one gets filled up first”. But hey a little Pizon can dream can’t he.
So I wax philosophical about 6’10” Octavious Ellis and Aaron Mcghee. In 2001 what if the #1 seed Bearcats had Aaron Mcghee on the 2001 team instead of playing for the final four Oklahoma Sonners. Our coach made a thick headed move encouraging Mcghee to red shirt or attend Junior College, his sophmore year. He left, winding up at Oklahoma.
Or dare I conjure up Octavious Ellis, playing on this bearcat team in March. Instead he’ll be play for Arizona State next year. Ellis had to leave too, IMO, because of our long standing image problems discussed below.
Which brings me back to Daugherty’s main point about some fans not appreciating Mic Cronin, Most I think feel this way because of that little evil devil Huggins conscience on their left shoulder. I was the biggest Huggins fan out there and leaned to that shoulder for awhile too. His intensity, dead pan interviews, and talks about working in the coal mines were legendary, but I see now, revisionistly, he was a big part of the problem.
The bb program had an image problem. As they say, image is everything. We were looked at as a thug program. We played hard, and us local folks liked us, but nobody else did. This thugishness eventually effected our recruiting and results and now, in my revisionist future, maybe this March.
If we didn’t have our past image problems, Mic could have probably keep Octavious Ellis on the team, a team that desperately needs some front line depth. Some yahoo bouncer entices Ellis to make a bonehead move and Mic is forced to move on. Whereas another less image plagued program could have weathered that storm. This image stuff does matter.
I feel Mic has the team finally not viewed in a bad light. We’re known now as just playing hard. Justin Jackson’s mean face is viewed as intensity, or to us locals as an endearment, instead of Mongo, the horse puncher. Our defense is, as another Jackson, Jesse, might say, “prized, not despised”.
So you holdouts out there listen to that other little Mic conscience on your right shoulder. He wins with as much intensity as before, and we fans don’t have to deal with all the excess baggage.
So I wax philosophical about 6’10” Octavious Ellis and Aaron Mcghee. In 2001 what if the #1 seed Bearcats had Aaron Mcghee on the 2001 team instead of playing for the final four Oklahoma Sonners. Our coach made a thick headed move encouraging Mcghee to red shirt or attend Junior College, his sophmore year. He left, winding up at Oklahoma.
Or dare I conjure up Octavious Ellis, playing on this bearcat team in March. Instead he’ll be play for Arizona State next year. Ellis had to leave too, IMO, because of our long standing image problems discussed below.
Which brings me back to Daugherty’s main point about some fans not appreciating Mic Cronin, Most I think feel this way because of that little evil devil Huggins conscience on their left shoulder. I was the biggest Huggins fan out there and leaned to that shoulder for awhile too. His intensity, dead pan interviews, and talks about working in the coal mines were legendary, but I see now, revisionistly, he was a big part of the problem.
The bb program had an image problem. As they say, image is everything. We were looked at as a thug program. We played hard, and us local folks liked us, but nobody else did. This thugishness eventually effected our recruiting and results and now, in my revisionist future, maybe this March.
If we didn’t have our past image problems, Mic could have probably keep Octavious Ellis on the team, a team that desperately needs some front line depth. Some yahoo bouncer entices Ellis to make a bonehead move and Mic is forced to move on. Whereas another less image plagued program could have weathered that storm. This image stuff does matter.
I feel Mic has the team finally not viewed in a bad light. We’re known now as just playing hard. Justin Jackson’s mean face is viewed as intensity, or to us locals as an endearment, instead of Mongo, the horse puncher. Our defense is, as another Jackson, Jesse, might say, “prized, not despised”.
So you holdouts out there listen to that other little Mic conscience on your right shoulder. He wins with as much intensity as before, and we fans don’t have to deal with all the excess baggage.
