[Vision2020] Vandal football (grinch news)

[Carl Westberg]

Oops.  I didn't notice I cut the header off.  It's from the Oregonian.  I 
understand it's also been on the radio now.   Carl Westberg Jr.


>From: Tom Ivie <the_ivies3 at yahoo.com>
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Vandal football (grinch news)
>Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 10:16:51 -0800 (PST)
>
>where is this article from?
>
>Dan Carscallen <areaman at moscow.com> wrote: Say it ain't so!
>
>But, as the article says, Dennis is as Dennis does . . .
>
>I, too, sigh
>
>DC
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
>[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Carl Westberg
>Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 9:15 AM
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Vandal football (grinch news)
>
>
>Sigh....Carl Westberg Jr.
>Here's a shock, Erickson talks begin at ASU
>Tuesday, December 05, 2006
>M aybe they'll light candles. And skip class to pray that their football
>
>coach will stay. The hand-wringing officially will begin in Moscow,
>Idaho,
>today because Dennis Erickson is talking with Arizona State regarding
>their
>job opening, according to a source close to the process.
>
>If we're being authentic here, the combination of ASU and Erickson would
>be
>frightening for the rest of the Pacific-10 Conference. One slumping, but
>
>potentially cool, college football program with unbelievable upside
>hooks up
>with two-time national champion coach? Yeah. So maybe the Mikes --
>Bellotti
>and Riley -- should catch a shuttle to Moscow to light a candle
>themselves.
>
>Look. We'd expect some disappointment from boosters at Washington State
>today, and maybe, too, Oregon State. Erickson dumped them both, but some
>at
>those places always will hold out hope he'll take them back someday.
>Maybe,
>Miami feels the same way about the coach who brought them two national
>titles. The Hurricanes probably are dialing Erickson as you read this
>column.
>
>He deserves all of that, too. Because even if you're among those who
>view
>Erickson as a guy prone to taking shortcuts, or questionable characters,
>you
>can't ignore that he's a winner, and capable of taking the Sun Devils
>across
>town to a Bowl Championship Series game within five years.
>
>Now, come on, Idaho.
>
>Dust yourself off, and tell me you saw days like this one coming after
>Erickson accepted the job at a program that lost 47 games in the five
>previous seasons. Tell me you were just joshing when you raised a glass
>and
>toasted to such things as, "Dennis will stay here as long as the
>administration supports him."
>
>Because in the end, Forrest Gump could have got this one right -- Dennis
>is
>as Dennis does -- and I mean that in the most flattering way.
>
>When the coach arrived in Moscow, people kept walking around talking
>about
>the "Erickson Magic" as if there was some kind of wizard-like secret to
>his
>success. Really, it's a simple thing. Erickson loves to coach. And he
>understands what it takes to win -- fast. Playmakers love to play for a
>guy
>who can get them to the NFL.
>
>What we really have here is a case of ASU, and maybe, too, Miami,
>deciding
>for themselves if they're malleable enough to hand themselves to
>Erickson
>for a few seasons, knowing he's probably going to re-shape them, turn
>heads,
>win games, and then, dump them.
>
>It's not the worst trade for a football program.
>
>T he best predictor of future behavior, psychologists tell us, is past
>behavior. And this isn't a knock on Erickson, because at the very least,
>his
>resume comes at face value. He wins. He moves on. Even Idaho, which saw
>season-ticket sales jump 35 percent in the weeks preceeding a mediocre
>first
>season, knows that there's something in hiring Erickson for just about
>everyone.
>
>Even as he went 4-8 this season, all year, I thought about Erickson and
>his
>assistants as if they were a pack of gunslingers in some Western. You
>know,
>hiding out in Moscow, waiting for Erickson to saddle his horse, shout,
>"We
>ride!" causing his entire gang to mount up and bolt out of town toward a
>
>better opportunity.
>
>ASU should stop talking to Erickson and just hire him already. It makes
>perfect sense to hitch Erickson to a program that is an after-thought in
>a
>market dominated by professional sports. Erickson is as big-league as
>the
>Sun Devils could ever hope for, and if they saw what he did for Oregon
>State
>in helping build a stadium and success, they'd understand that the
>Erickson
>growth curve is steep.
>
>Whether he gets the job at ASU or ends up back in Moscow for another
>season
>before jumping somewhere else, don't feel sorry for Idaho.
>
>They got hope, didn't they?
>
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