Basketball diary

I ran my eyes over a sports page article this morning discussing the hiring and introduction of the new Maryland men’s basketball coach. The journalist mocked the hire as “performatively adequate” but uninspiring, forced by difficult circumstances (their highly successful young coach recently quit, disparaged the program publicly and slammed the door behind him en route to another job). This new hire, though decent, was emblematic of a program adrift. 

She begrudgingly complimented the new coach on having achieved a notable, though not superlative, winning record over the years. Yet, she also characterized him unflatteringly, as others have: “quirky.” Even his nickname, “Buzz,” is a bit odd.  And she quoted his words from the introductory new conference as emblematic of an uninspiring, performative, drifting moment in Maryland sports history.  Her prime evidence? These words from his opening remarks: “Being on a team, there’s something that doesn’t change. There’s something that’s life-changing about being on a team.” 

She reckoned these seemingly self-contradictory words were gibberish and noted how the administrators in attendance applauded nevertheless. Performative applause to nonsense!? How can being on a team not change yet still be life-changing?? Not a good sign for Maryland….

But I read these words aloud twice and, without judgment, began to be struck by how each statement was profoundly true. “Being on a team” is an archetypal, unchanging experience that any athlete understands; teams are unique but the experience of being on a team is an unchanging archetype. And any athlete also understands the unique life-changing journey that comes from being part of a team that bonds– the rare alchemy which occurs when a collection of individuals forms around something larger than any single player. 

Perhaps there’s something more to this new old coach than meets the eyes? Perhaps his “quirkiness” divines a kind of brilliance? Perhaps his being able to hold seemingly contradictory statements together in tension could be evidence of uncanny wisdom? Maybe Maryland just got very lucky?