Tuesday, February 26, 2013

An evening with Steve Addazio

Last night Brad Bates and Steve Addazio hosted a Town Hall. It was nice of Brad Bates to show up, but it was really the Steve Addazio show. Like a veteran performer, he mixed in a little comedy, a little drama and sent the crowd home happy. Per the recappers:

Make 'Em Laugh
Last night Addazio broke out his Spaz impression! No one got a picture of it, but I now have a new white whale. I must see our new coach openly mock our old sad sack coach. I guess it involved crossing your arms and sulking. I don't get the sense that this was premeditated. Addazio seems more emotional and seat of your pants in these types of situations. But his instinct to mock Spaz was right on with his audience. It also shows a sense of humor, something that has been sorely lacking around football for a few years.

Poetry Night at the Coffee House
Addazio read his new favorite poem the "The Oak Tree" by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr. He read this early this winter at some booster meetings. A bombastic, rah-rah football guy stopping for poetry is certainly different, but once again, it went over well with the crowd. Here is the text:

"The Oak Tree" 
by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day.
It stole the Oak Tree's leaves away.
Then snapped its boughs 
and pulled its bark
until the Oak was tired and stark. 

But still the Oak Tree held its ground 
while other trees fell all around. 
The weary wind gave up and spoke, 
"How can you still be standing Oak?" 

The Oak Tree said, I know that you 
can break each branch of mine in two, 
carry every leaf away, 
shake my limbs and make me sway. 

But I have roots stretched in the earth, 
growing stronger since my birth. 
You'll never touch them, for you see 
they are the deepest part of me. 

Until today, I wasn't sure 
of just how much I could endure. 
But now I've found with thanks to you, 
I'm stronger than I ever knew.

Always be selling
Ultimately this will be decided on the field, but Addazio does understand selling his vision to BC fans. He said he dreams of driving up to Alumni as it is surrounded by tailgating fans. He talked about fans noise and making the game day experience more exciting. He emphasized the he's in charge of recruiting and thinks BC is a sleeping giant. It was exactly what everyone wants to hear.

If not for his final season with Temple, I would be chugging the Addazio Kool-Aid. I like his coordinators, I like his passion and I like his work ethic. Now he just needs to translate those things onto the field. One thing is clear though from these meetings: Addazio knows how to work a room. Comedy and poetry are a tough tight rope for anyone to walk in front of a crowd and even more so when you are public figure and football coach. Most of his peers try to remain deadly serious (think TOB or Saban). Addazio is letting us see who he really is. Like anything else this is risky. But if he wins, it will make him that much more endearing.

14 comments:

mod34b said...

Now, that is some bad poetry.

@timstwrt said...

It's like a homeless man's version of Shel Silverstein.

EL MIZ said...

i am happy with the outreach and the enthusiasm. not sure if it is a product of Spaziani being such a loser and fraud that literally anyone with a pulse would come off better or Addazio actually being a good head for the program. probably a mix of both.

Hario said...

Easy to get excited with what Addazio is saying so far since Spaz was so completely incompetent (probably could not lead a PTA meeting let alone a football program).

I am a bit more cautious about getting caught up in the rah rah talk. I will wait to see on field results before getting on the bandwagon. All the outreach in the world won't matter if we don't become bowl eligible soon.

mod10aeagle said...

I wasn't there, and neither was our intrepid reporter, apparently, so I don't want to overreact out of ignorance, but the basic idea of Addazio mocking Spaziani is not encouraging. In fact, it's classless, and that's not BC, at least, it's not the BC I root for. I'm as relieved as anyone to see the Spaziani era come to a close, but no one deserves public ridicule from his/her successor. (And there is no such thing as "private" any more; just ask Mitt.)

As for the poetry, baby steps. For a football guy, the path to Eliot may begin with Silverstein wannabes.

dixieagle said...

I'm seeing the "mighty wind" (aka "blowhard") in the poem as GDF...

Peter said...

Agree with mod10aeagle, think it's classless to mock your predecessor in a (somewhat) high profile position. Thank him for his service, or don't say anything specific, and move on.

JBQ said...

It takes awhile for roots to grow. PR is the fertilizer which makes the mighty oak grow stronger.

mod10aeagle said...

As long as we're waxin' poetic ... Wins make the roots grow. Leaves and acorns are the PR that attract and/or protect resources and spread the word (or seed).

Unknown said...

what mod10aeagle said.

ditto and ditto. Yes, it might have been funny (and i'm always a big fan of humor), but it feels instinctively classless and I would hope that a coach at BC leading the charge to excel in all areas including inspiring our athletes in the way of character and integrity would rise above mockery to lead by example.

Summarized differently but not disprespectfully - BC is not Temple, nor are we Notre Dame. We are BC - and let's allow our leadership to reflect that fact.

blist said...

come on guys, Spaz disrepsected BC every lame gameplan he trotted out and every player he kicked out the door. What's witth everyone being a stick in the mud lately? Sports are supposed to be fun.

chicagofire1871 said...

From the way it's been described, I'm not even sure it was meant as a Spaziani impersonation. He was saying how he's not going to be quiet on the sidelines because of his big personality, and then the mimicked what being quiet on the sidelines would look like.

Yeah, that's Spaziani, but I'm not sure it was intentionally so. Ease up everyone.

mod10aeagle said...

Chicago's explanation sounds more plausible than the original reporting. Fire's out.

Matt said...

I am sick and tired of the Spaz apologists calling Addazio classless for his gesture that he wouldn't be passive on the sidelines. I commend Addazio's attitude.

The fact of the matter is that the fan base was sick and tired of Spaz. He was paid $1 million a year and, among other things, ran the football program into the ground. Hell, Addazio could have even said, "I am not going to be like the last coach and do this."

Addazio recognizes that the state of football BC suffered the last couple of years is unacceptable and I am glad he is not forgetful of our not-too-distant proud history. He wants to win and knows the key selling points that make BC attractive.

Addazio will be judged by his on field performance, but at this point he is saying and doing all the right things.