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View Full Version : The journey v. the destination



throatybeard
10-09-2007, 04:54 PM
I usually balk at Ozzie's "we [Duke] are the Yankees" meme, but I think this ESPN page 2 about NYY's fans might be instructive in our camp.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/071009&sportCat=mlb


When did a baseball season in New York become solely about the finish line, and not about the journey? How can a team that clawed its way out of a 14½-game hole be deemed a failure for falling to a team -- the Cleveland Indians -- that features two of the league's top five starting pitchers? Do the memories of Alex Rodriguez's 54 home runs and Chien-Ming Wang's 19 wins and Derek Jeter's steely determination and Joba Chamberlain's meteoric rise fade to ashes without a diamond-studded ring?

Bob Green
10-09-2007, 10:52 PM
Thanks for a great post. All sports fans, but most especially fans of successful teams, need to maintain their perspective. No team is going to win every game. The NYY have much to be proud about this year.

Cameron
10-09-2007, 11:24 PM
I agree as well.

As sad (and mad) as I was after last season's loss to VCU in the First Round of the NCAAs, I was also smart enough to realize that we just weren't that good. Plain and simple. Our four game losing streak late in the year should have been evidence of our slim chances once March Madness arrived, anyway.

However, with that said, I enjoyed last year's "journey" very, very much. Along the way, we were able to see freshman talents Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson blossom into stars, Greg Paulus turn into one of the best outside threats in the ACC, and Duke fans everywhere unite together as the rest of the world spit at our feet. Now, obviously the season could have been a little better than that (lol), but it's a season I will never forget. It was certainly trying and, at times, incredibly frustrating, but it was also fun in an odd way. Like the Yankee fan in the article states, sometimes going into a season not knowing what you're going to get is refreshing. And that is exactly how last season was.

I am looking forward to the up and coming season just as much as I was a year ago, because, quite frankly, I have no idea what to expect. All I know is that it should be another fun year cheering on our beloved Devils.

Go Duke!!!

OZZIE4DUKE
10-10-2007, 09:02 AM
I usually balk at Ozzie's "we [Duke] are the Yankees" meme, but I think this ESPN page 2 about NYY's fans might be instructive in our camp.



To say that I am despondent over the baseball season ending on Monday night is an understatement, much like I was last March after the VCU loss. What's that you say? The baseball season isn't over - there are more games to be played? Are you sure? I don't believe you.

But I certainly do appreciate the journey as it was a wonderful final 2/3 season by all measures but the end. Perhaps also why I am so positive about our football team.

duke74
10-10-2007, 10:11 AM
To say that I am despondent over the baseball season ending on Monday night is an understatement, much like I was last March after the VCU loss. What's that you say? The baseball season isn't over - there are more games to be played? Are you sure? I don't believe you.

But I certainly do appreciate the journey as it was a wonderful final 2/3 season by all measures but the end. Perhaps also why I am so positive about our football team.

My season, on the other hand, ended about a week ago. And, the journey was not fun..more of a 6 month dentist visit filled with underachievement. At least the Yankees turned their season around and had bright spots.

Maybe we can trade Willie BACK to his true team for another mediocre middle reliever.

jimsumner
10-10-2007, 12:47 PM
As enlightened as this may be, I rather suspect that Mr. Steinbrenner is not so zen-like. More something along the lines of "I'm paying too *** muich money for first-round losses. Journey-smourney. How long has it been since we've won a World Series?"

Patrick Yates
10-10-2007, 01:06 PM
One could argue that a season's journey actually ends when the team returns home for the final time, beit returning to joyous crowd assembled in the home arena, eagerly gathered to welcome the conquering heroes, or when the team slinks home in dead of night to avoid the shame that they have brought on the etire school (not Duke-VCU, think Weber State).

If the return to campus is the actual end, or destination, then ALL preceding games constitute the "journey." As a group of fans that professes to enjoy the journey, moreso than the destination, we naturally want the journey to last as long as possible. Indeed, we are understandably distraught when the journey ends before it absolultely must. As a result of this disquiet, we naturally look at decisions made during the journey, wrong turns, poor rest stop mangagement, maybe taking the wrong people in the car with us, whatever may have contributed to the premature end of the journey. We enjoy the journey so much that we can then endlessley debate what is necessary for the trip to last even longer next year.

I too enjoy the journey, so long as that journey includes the Final Four so that my I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.hat co-workers get off my freaking case.

Patrick Yates

OldPhiKap
10-10-2007, 01:12 PM
Yeah, but.

I agree that you have to enjoy the journey, and that the end result is not all that counts. However, it seems to me that the journey is less than fulfilling if it does not maximize its growth and potential.

Not every team is a FF contender. I am happy if the team gets as far as it could reasonably expect, and am thrilled if they get past that point. But I can't buy into the notion that "great year, poor ending" is somehow satisfying.

Patrick Yates
10-10-2007, 04:56 PM
Yeah, but.

I agree that you have to enjoy the journey, and that the end result is not all that counts. However, it seems to me that the journey is less than fulfilling if it does not maximize its growth and potential.

Not every team is a FF contender. I am happy if the team gets as far as it could reasonably expect, and am thrilled if they get past that point. But I can't buy into the notion that "great year, poor ending" is somehow satisfying.

Good point about the great year poor ending. I think this is the crux of the argument. The Yankees had a dissappointing ending certainly. They faught hard, and had a bad series. Still, they made a run, at least over the 2nd half of the season.

This is different than what happened to Duke last year. 4-8 down the stretch is not "dissappointing." The 99, 02 and 04 years had "dissappointing" endings. We went to the very cusp of the NC (or at least the FF) and were competitive in our final games, all lost against worthy (if despicable) foes.

Last year was a poor ending. A bad ending. A disasterous ending. VCU beats us, not after playing out of their heads either. They played well, but not great. Duke did not play well. We were not really competitive at UNC, NCSU, to end the year. We flamed out in the first round of the NCAAs (seeding be darned, that was a bad loss).

It is one thing to harp about a disappointing year (I am very guilty of this. I should appreciate those years of greatness even if they do not culminate in the NC. I won't do this, but I should.) But last year was a poor ending, and the journey was not all that satisfying either. We do not have to appreciate every year just becuse Duke fielded a team. We, as fans, are not required to glory in a year where the results fell well below merely "disappointing."

Patrick Yates

mgtr
10-10-2007, 08:21 PM
I, too, enjoyed the journey last year, and was ever hopeful. Realistically, however, we were never a final four team (although VCU should not have knocked us out so early). Now, the year before, I truly believed we were a final four team, and was massively disappointed. But, I look forward to this year with the same optimism as most years.

throatybeard
10-10-2007, 08:48 PM
In making the analogy, I was thinking more along the lines of "we don't need to act like a Hydrogen bomb got dropped on us every time we don't win the national championship." But that's just me.

I'm well aware that 2002 (men not women) was disappointing.

4decadedukie
10-10-2007, 09:36 PM
For many decades, I have been a BIG believer in the journey, rather than the destination alone, and I suggest this philosophy applies -- and is far more significant -- in life, than only in athletics. If one is unable to attain true satisfaction from days spent in his chosen professional and personal life, what rewards can he accrue on a continuing basis?