"You know, when you get old in life,
Things get taken from you. That's part of life.
But you only learn that when you start losing stuff.
"You find out that life is a game of inches.
So is football. Because in either game,
Life or football, the margin for error is so small.
"I mean, one half step too late or too early,
You don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast,
And you don't quite catch it.
"The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in every break of the game,
Every minute, every second.
"On this team, we fight for that inch!
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us,
To pieces for that inch! We claw with our finger nails for that inch!
"Cause we know, when we add up all those inches,
That's going to make the f*cking difference between winning and losing.
Between living and dying.
"I'll tell you this -- in any fight,
It is the guy who is willing to die,
Who is going to win that inch.
"And I know, if I am going to have any life anymore,
It is because I am still willing to fight and die for that inch!
Because that's what living is! The six inches in front of your face!
"Now I can't make you do it.
You gotta look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes.
Now I think you are gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you.
"You are going to see a guy, who will sacrifice himself for this team.
Because he knows when it comes down to it,
You're gonna do the same thing for him.
"That's a team, gentlemen.
And either we heal now, as a team,
Or we will die as individuals.
"That's football, guys.
That's all there is.
Now what are you gonna do?"
-- "Inches" speech by Al Pacino in "Any Given Sunday".
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In sports, as with a lot of things in life, every so often you reach a moment that defines an era, so to speak.
In life, these moments aren't always easy to see. Like in a relationship, for example. At what moment do you go from being "friends" to something more? Is the defining moment the first time she says yes to staying the night? The first time you do something other than sleep when she stays over? Or is it the first time you meet in person and realize there's an attraction there? Is it the first time you meet her parents? The first time you introduce her to your friends?
Confusing stuff to an easily confusable guy like me.
But in sports, I argue, these moments aren't all that confusing. And they're usually obvious to anyone who pays attention.
I bring this up because I believe tomorrow, Kansas Jayhawks football, and the man responsible for how far its come so far, face their defining moment.
The achievements Coach Mangino has done in Lawrence are inspiring. When he arrived in 2002, Hawk Football was a regional joke. (I'd say it was a national joke as well, but KU was so awful that nobody outside of the Midwest paid any attention to it.) Consider the ugly facts. KU hadn't posted a winning season since 1995. Had only been to two bowls in the prior 20 years, both appearances in the lower-tiered Aloha Bowl. The Hawks had had exactly one player drafted in the first round in the previous 20 years (Dana Stubblefield, who went 26th to the 49ers in 1993). And the recruiting was abysmal, as there was little to no talent on the roster. And to add the "whiz on a man while he's down" element to the cesspool of crap that was the Terry Allen Jayhawks, the one stud recruit in the last decade who actually wanted to play at Kansas, was told that he wasn't wanted. That stud recruit? Darren Sproles. Who only helped lead Kansas State to two North titles and a Big XII championship. (Yeah, he wouldn't have helped at all.)
The facilities were a joke. There was no athletic complex. The practice field, if you could call it that, was a disgrace. Memorial Stadium itself was without question the worst stadium in the Big XII. The restrooms routinely lacked functioning plumbing. The turf was stretched thread-bare. There were no suites, no screens capable of playing television replay, and you feared for your life standing on the benches -- at least one every week would crack and break, which inevitably led to that row carrying the bench out of the stadium to its new home in a frat house somewhere. This was Hawk Football when Coach Mangino arrived. An embarrassment, to say the least.
2002 was every bit the disaster you'd expect. Winless in conference play, 2-10 overall. But 2003, you started to get a glimpse into what could be. KU upset a ranked Missouri team in late September, setting the table for a 6-6 season that landed us in the Tangerine Bowl against NC State. It was the Hawks first win over a ranked opponent since 1997. 2004 saw a step back in the record, but saw KU take a ranked Texas Tech team to the wire, saw KU nearly beat Texas, finally beat Kansas State for the first time in 12 years, and upset MU in Columbia to cost the Tigers a bowl bid. The Hawks were getting closer to being relevant.
2005 saw more baby steps -- a close loss to OU at Arrowhead, wins over Nebraska and Missouri, a bowl victory over Houston in the Fort Worth bowl. 2006 saw the Hawks beat a ranked non-conference opponent in South Florida. 2007 of course was the best year in Hawk Football history so far, a 12-1 record, an Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech, road wins at A&M (when they were still decent) and Oklahoma State, the "Don't Stop Believin'" moment to close out the home schedule after blasting Iowa State ... but KU lost the biggest game it played. And by "lost", I mean "wasn't even remotely competitive for 50 plus minutes". 2008 saw KU again hang tough with the good teams, again beat both hated rivals, and win a third bowl in four years.
There's no denying that Coach Mangino has built a solid foundation. KU Football is now established as a legitimate middle of the pack team. And there's nothing wrong with that. If you'd told me 5 years ago that KU would arrive at a Michigan State / Oregon State / Arkansas / NC State / Pitt level of competence, I'd have been thrilled. 7 wins and the Insight Bowl most years, with the occasional 9 wins and a Holiday / Cotton bowl berth, and if everything breaks right with the schedule (like in 2007), a 10-11 win BCS bowl berth? I'd take that in a heartbeat. So would any other KU fan.
But that just brings us to Saturday. To the defining moment of the Coach Mangino era.
To the one thing KU has yet to do.
Beat the big boy(s) on the block.
Yes, I know KU has won a BCS bowl in the last five years. But Virginia Tech, as good as they are, is not a national championship threat. And hasn't been since Michael Vick was under center. Yes, I know KU has won 3 bowls in four years, hasn't posted a losing season since 2004, has won 20 of 23 at home, and has beaten both of its hated rivals four of the last five times they've faced them.
Yes, the facilities are improved, there's a legitimate practice field, an athletic complex, the Ward Scholarship Suites on the west side of the stadium, and the Gridiron Club suites going up on the east. Brand new field turf, new uniforms, a kick ass video board, electronic signage in the north end zone, and KU has sold out virtually every home game going back to early 2007. I get all that.
But KU is still 0 for the Big Two in the Big XII.
As Ric Flair used to say, "to be the man ... WOOOOOO ... you gotta beat the man!"
Glen Mason accomplished a lot of good in his tenure as Jayhawks coach. A 10 win season, multiple bowls, a plus .500 record. And his defining moment arrived late in 1995, as the #10 ranked 8-1 Jayhawks hosted the #1 ranked and defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers. A win would validate KU's rise through the rankings. It would put a serious dent in Nebraska's drive to repeat as national champions. It would, in a word, "legitimize" Jayhawk Football.
Nebraska 41, Kansas 3. Within a year of getting routed in his defining moment game, Glen Mason left KU for a second time (he tried to flee to Georgia after the 1995 season, but decided to return instead ... only to then leave for Minnesota), the Hawks hired Terry Allen, and a decade of god-awful football was born.
Saturday, I believe, is THE defining moment of Coach Mangino's career. This is it. He is a solid head coach, a phenomenal offensive mind. His recruiting skills are rock solid. He hires smart, competent assistants and then lets them do their job. I cannot heap enough praise on Coach for all he has accomplished so far.
Saturday, however, we find out what the future holds for Jayhawk Football. Because if KU cannot win this game, in this spot, with all these circumstances and injuries and various other factors, if KU cannot win THIS game at THIS point in time, they NEVER will. Not under this coach, anyways.
Whether it be in life, or in sports, moments like this simply do not come along very much. Whatever happens Saturday, Kansas Football will permanently change. An OU win will simply confirm what many already believe. That KU is a nice story, and a competitive team, but they're not to be feared. An OU win Saturday reinforces the idea that KU is a junior partner in this league, that the North division is the ugly stepchild, that no matter how hard Coach Mangino or AD Perkins or the fans and the players try, KU simply will never attain the ultimate success in this sport.
With a win Saturday, however, every preconceived notion of Jayhawks Football gets tossed in the recycle bin. Because with a win Saturday, Jayhawk Football arrives as a legitimate national power, as a legitimate threat to win the Big XII. With a win Saturday, KU announces to the nation that we can beat anyone. Not just the teams we're supposed to beat, not just the teams on an even par with us. We can beat ANYONE.
Last Saturday was a tough, heartbreaking defeat. But it wasn't a defining moment. It wasn't a game that could change the perception of the program, it wasn't a game that people will look back on in five years and say "that's where it all started", or "that's where it all fell apart".
This week, this game, however, is.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk. Go KU!
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