Knudson: Learning to Fly
FacebookBy Mark Knudson, The Mtn. Insider
March 10, 2011
Winning for long, consistent stretches of time is a learned behavior. Perhaps the reason that so few programs can do it is because so few have learned how.
Most often, it’s easier to rise up, rally the troops, assume the underdog “us against the world” mentality and put together a great season than it is to reach the proverbial “next level” and stay there. Yes, often times it’s easier being the underdog. But what about being the “over dog?”
All across college athletics, including the Mountain West Conference, there are programs that know how to win and win consistently year in and year out. They have a history of success is on their side.
They’re supposed to win.
For instance, how long has BYU been great in football? Like forever? How long has UNLV been a basketball power? Forever and a day? Who doesn’t expect New Mexico’s basketball team to be a contender every year?
There are also programs that in recent years seem to have learned how to win and win consistently. Boise State football or TCU football and baseball, for example. Their histories are just now starting to be written.
These programs have developed a mental maturity that allows them to continue to play at a high level, even after they add and subtract players and can no longer claim that no one believes in them. A rallying cry has been replaced by a quiet expectation of greatness.
It says something about a team and a program when they understand how to deal with success; how to handle the roll of the favorite and still put out a solid effort every time. It doesn’t mean you’ll always avoid the upset bug or that you will win every championship. It just says that you have that mental maturity as a team and a program to put out a consistent, high level effort each and every time out, regardless of whom or where you’re playing.
When you lose, it’s not because you were out prepared or not ready to play.
At Colorado State, they’re still learning how to win on the basketball court. The Rams won 19 games (so far) this season, and by all accounts, this will go down as a successful year and a nice step forward for Tim Miles and his program. But it could have been so much more.
CSU played the underdog role brilliantly early this season. What they could not do was handle the role of favorite.
After winning at UNLV, and then nearly upsetting San Diego State in Fort Collins, the Rams established themselves as underdogs no more. After beating New Mexico at home on February 12, everyone was on the Rams bandwagon. But lacking the mental maturity to handle success the right way, CSU instead began to sputter. They won just two of their last seven games. Two key losses – falling at home to the same UNLV team they had beaten on the road, and then stumbling badly and dropping a game to a gritty but undermanned Air Force team kept CSU out of the NCAA tournament despite an RPI rating of 47, which could have gotten them in.
Once they became the “over dogs,” these Rams could not properly handle the accolades nor the expectations and their collective game went south. Turnovers, defensive lapses, poor rebounding all contributed. Things they did well early in the season they suddenly could not do right.
This is not unusual, of course. In fact, it’s the more common outcome for upstart programs. What Miles and his staff must try to do now is convert CSU from upstart program to consistent winner.
That starts with attitude.
This is not a season to celebrate; it’s a season to build on. There are many more steps to climb. The next level remains out there within reach, but it’s not yet within their grasp.
First, they have to learn how to be the “over dog.”
ALL TIMES MOUNTAIN
