Re: Severe Ronaldstorm Warning: the Michigan Tech 2010-11 Season Thread, Part the Sec
The team is too far into a tailspin for gimmicks to work. Coach Russell is leading a group of players who've can no longer visualize winning once the chips are down.
Unlike pro players, there is no paycheck riding on their performance and "playing for pride" is just an euphemism for 'who cares?' Also, unlike the pros, the team can't sign new players and suit them up the same day. In effect, Russell has to sleep in the bed he made. After all these losses, no matter what the excuse(s), he is clearly in over his head.
What needs to happen, IMHO, is some coaching for the coaching staff. The AD should bring in a consulting coach who has a proven record of success in getting teams mired in a perpetual losing culture, which usually includes long losing streaks, turned around. Yes, many years in the business world make me automatically suspicious of consultants, but Tech's coach needs to lean on someone who he trusts will give him a tough love assessment of his program and methods.
As I've said before, winning Tech hockey is part of the Tech franchise and to allow a decades long deterioration is like an act of devaluing the MTU value proposition. Of course, there are literally thousands and thousands of Tech alumni for whom the winning tradition of Tech hockey ended before they were even born! Maybe the current administration feels these alums will won't miss or care about something they never experienced.
Well first then you remember from your business classes that money is not a motivator. Pro players are not better with a bigger paycheck, nor do they work harder.
It may be that the players can no longer visualize winning but I doubt it, they know what it's like to win, and as far as the coach being over his head, I don't think we are in a position to know that. I know for a fact that jamie knows as much about hockey as anyone and more than most. This also begs the question, So why wasn't he over his head three years ago as well, I didn't hear anyone saying that then.
We as fans don't know what kind of professional development the coaching staff is given, but certainly it is something that is needed by all walks of life on a continuous basis if one is to be much of a success.We kind of lie to our young people telling them that if you go to school you will do fine. This is false. No, you must really go to school all your life to do fine.
I would not assume though, that simply because the team loses, it means the university does not invest in the coaching staff.
So yes, I am all for some sort of professional development for the staff, if in fact it is not happening now, it certainly should be.I view this as quite important to our success.
I think bringing in a consultant is a total insult at this point. I'm pretty sure most of the areas that need addressing are already known.
No one on the boards, at least to my knowledge, is at all happy with the situation I assure you, and there is no question that losing like this is a lot harder for everyone and challenges everyone, far more than winning does.
I agree we have had a winning tradition, one we were all very proud of and which gave many of us much of our identity. But not for a long time now. Can we get back to it?, absolutely we can.
I view the hockey program as the embodiment of the values and hard work that Tech students put into their education. It is an honor and a responsibility to be a team member, Just like being in the military, you carry with you the souls of others and you have a responsibility to them.
Someone else pointed out a few months ago, and it's true, money would solve this issue. A lot of money. And with the BTHC coming in and big changes to the structure of college hockey, it is going imho, to cost a lot more money to be competitive in the future. So I am doing what I can to make things better and that's by donating.