CaBisonFan
11-18-2007, 01:16 AM
Every era of domination and championships throughout the history of the Bison program has been preceded by some near misses and frustration.
I remember what I call 'the chuck bowl,' a championship game where most of the Bison players had either food poisoning or the stomach flu. Some guys couldn't play at all. Others were throwing up through their face masks while they were on the field. That team had a legitimate chance to win the championship game. It wasn't meant to be.
I remember the tremendous heartache of the Troy State game where it seemed that a last half-second 80-yard field goal (hmmm...might have been shorter) won the championship for Troy. That unbelievable game was sandwiched neatly between 3 national championships. Perhaps the 1986 team wouldn't have been as dominant without the adversity of that loss.
There was the era when Wacker was rebuilding, with Wacker commenting that he was leaving partly because he didn't think that there was enough talent here to win a national championship. Still, his tenure was the precursor to the Morton/Solomonson era of the 80s.
Nothing was lost in Brookings in the last game of the year...really. The cup is either 10/11th full...or 1/11th empty. We all have a choice as to which it is. I can either choose to be angry and depressed...or I can choose to focus on how full the cup has become. For the short term, I'm angry and depressed. Slowly...I will turn back to being very proud of this team. My Bison Pride will never go away.
Major progress has been made...but there's a ways to go. As good as the past two seasons have been...there are holes to fill in the lineup. A team that is going to challenge for the FCS championship will need dominance throughout the lineup...with depth behind it. I'm not going to get into where or who. That would be counterproductive at this point in time...besides being ridiculously unfair. I'm not in a position to really know...but I'm pretty certain that the coaches and players have their ideas.
I'm going to take this approach:
This is a process that has been far more exciting that I imagined. The Bison deserved to be in the playoffs the last two years...but can't be. So I'll take the 20-2 record over the past two years, and the thrills that have gone with it...and I'll thank everyone that was involved.
As per my earlier writings about the Bison tradition...one team leads to another...and every player is a part of the whole. If the Bison should win an FCS championship in the next 4 or 5 years...it will be appropriate (and accurate) to say that the players and coaches from the transition era helped to set the table.
Nothing comes easy in this game...and why would we want it to? Isn't the 'challenge' part of the reason why we moved up to DI? This program has never been shy about challenges.
Lastly...much has been written about the total dominance of the 1986 team...and it 'is' accurate. But it would also be accurate to say that it took from about 1963 until 1986 to build a team like that. And the Simdorn/Satter/Hansen/Braxton crew wouldn't have been dominant without the mid-80s crew.
The future can be bright...or it can be depressing. We can point fingers in disgust...or we can shake the hands of this era of coaches & players.
I'll shake hands...because 'we' are the Bison...and because this group has been fantastic. One loss against an outstanding SDSU team can't be allowed to stop the building...or the support.
I remember what I call 'the chuck bowl,' a championship game where most of the Bison players had either food poisoning or the stomach flu. Some guys couldn't play at all. Others were throwing up through their face masks while they were on the field. That team had a legitimate chance to win the championship game. It wasn't meant to be.
I remember the tremendous heartache of the Troy State game where it seemed that a last half-second 80-yard field goal (hmmm...might have been shorter) won the championship for Troy. That unbelievable game was sandwiched neatly between 3 national championships. Perhaps the 1986 team wouldn't have been as dominant without the adversity of that loss.
There was the era when Wacker was rebuilding, with Wacker commenting that he was leaving partly because he didn't think that there was enough talent here to win a national championship. Still, his tenure was the precursor to the Morton/Solomonson era of the 80s.
Nothing was lost in Brookings in the last game of the year...really. The cup is either 10/11th full...or 1/11th empty. We all have a choice as to which it is. I can either choose to be angry and depressed...or I can choose to focus on how full the cup has become. For the short term, I'm angry and depressed. Slowly...I will turn back to being very proud of this team. My Bison Pride will never go away.
Major progress has been made...but there's a ways to go. As good as the past two seasons have been...there are holes to fill in the lineup. A team that is going to challenge for the FCS championship will need dominance throughout the lineup...with depth behind it. I'm not going to get into where or who. That would be counterproductive at this point in time...besides being ridiculously unfair. I'm not in a position to really know...but I'm pretty certain that the coaches and players have their ideas.
I'm going to take this approach:
This is a process that has been far more exciting that I imagined. The Bison deserved to be in the playoffs the last two years...but can't be. So I'll take the 20-2 record over the past two years, and the thrills that have gone with it...and I'll thank everyone that was involved.
As per my earlier writings about the Bison tradition...one team leads to another...and every player is a part of the whole. If the Bison should win an FCS championship in the next 4 or 5 years...it will be appropriate (and accurate) to say that the players and coaches from the transition era helped to set the table.
Nothing comes easy in this game...and why would we want it to? Isn't the 'challenge' part of the reason why we moved up to DI? This program has never been shy about challenges.
Lastly...much has been written about the total dominance of the 1986 team...and it 'is' accurate. But it would also be accurate to say that it took from about 1963 until 1986 to build a team like that. And the Simdorn/Satter/Hansen/Braxton crew wouldn't have been dominant without the mid-80s crew.
The future can be bright...or it can be depressing. We can point fingers in disgust...or we can shake the hands of this era of coaches & players.
I'll shake hands...because 'we' are the Bison...and because this group has been fantastic. One loss against an outstanding SDSU team can't be allowed to stop the building...or the support.