Ruffled Feathers

We’ve heard and read many times that Coach Larry Fedora is influenced by “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu, a (according to Wikipedia) purported Chinese military leader from the 6th century B.C.  Two questions are why, and what does that reveal?

A link to one translation that dates to 1910 of the work is here:  http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html 

There are thirteen chapters:

• Laying Plans
• Waging War
• Attack by Stratagem
• Tactical Dispositions
• Energy
• Weak Points and Strong
• Maneuvering
• Variation of Tactics
• The Army on the March
• Terrain
• The Nine Situations
• The Attack by Fire
• The Use of Spies

Essentially, Sun Tzu’s philosophy summed up in the introductory chapter about planning.  The successful general will know his troops.  He will plan in copius detail.  He will discipline his army.  He will tediously select and train his command staff.  He will seek to learn his own strengths and weaknesses.  He will seek to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his enemy.

Sun Tzu believed in rigorious planning, but he also believed that when the plans go into action, situations in actual battle dictate that the plan be immediately adapted to take advantage:

“All warfare is based on deception.  Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

“Hold out baits to entice the enemy.  Feign disorder, and crush him.  If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him.  If he is in superior strength, evade him.  If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.  Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”

“If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.  If his forces are united, separate them”

 Sun Tzu believed in (who’d have guessed) attacking, quick and hard.  The more times you attack an enemy with quick strikes aimed at his weaknesses, the better chance for success.  Also, you must learn from each of the strikes and adapt to the situation to give the next strike a better chance of succeeding.

Read through “The Art of War” at your leisure and you will see that Coach Fedora’s statements reveal that he borrows heavily from the philosophy of quick-strike warfare first written about by Sun Tzu.

After the snoozing ending the baseball team gave us sent me into summer stupor, it’s time to get back to blogging.  Stay tuned…

- State of the art facilities are in place

- Outstanding attendance, growing yearly

- Fan support- Dugout club raises tens of thousands of dollars yearly

- No BCS impediment to compete in championship

- CUSA is a strong baseball league

Draw your own conclusions.

THEN: Arkansas State 2007

NOW: Spring Game 2008

Thank you, Richard Giannini and Dr. Martha Saunders. Thank you very much.

It was a weekend where almost nothing went as planned for Southern Miss in the big weekend series vs. ECU:

• USM lost its edge for the conference title and a host bid.  Now the Eagles must rely on other teams for help in regaining the C-USA lead
• Trey Sutton was unavailable due to a back injury
• Barry Bowden came up lame with a shoulder strain
• David Clark continued to be ineffective
• The offense left 39 runners on base in the three-game series

With LSU coming to town Wednesday, the team cannot sit around thinking “what if”.  We’ll see what mettle this club has in the coming weeks.  Has the program stepped up a notch, or will it remain on the dreaded regional plateau?

We’ve all heard anecdotal tales of communities whose citizens band together to recruit new businesses.  Then when they actually land one of the businesses they seek, that business needs a place to locate.  If it’s a chemical plant, suddenly any citizen who may live near it starts to scream “not in my backyard!”  Everyone wants the benefits of such a business, but nobody wants any close proximity that may upset the rhythm and balance of the community.

For many, the former football coach (no, I won’t name him here, either) was a comfortable fit.  More wins than losses, a yearly visit to a (quickly forgettable) bowl, plus back pats and platitudes for the long-term veterans who were able to get close to the former staff members.

But for many more, the results of the football program revealed coasting and settling for a status quo which grew weary.  It grew tired.  It fostered apathy.  The results showed in the stands.  The new addition and suites were suddenly in jeopardy of not being anywhere close to being filled.  Change became necessary.

Suddenly, change occurred.  From nearly out of the blue, Richard Giannini sensed the restlessness of the program’s concerned supporters made a bold move to restore interest and passion in the program.  This passion came with a price.  Bold moves often do.

Now, however, comes those who are affected by the change.  Suddenly, the old familiar, back-slapping, coasting coach is replaced with a dynamo.  Hiring Fedora and his staff will require more money.  Prices will increase.  EC parking will change, going up.  The costs of the next level are higher.

But we hear the lamentations of those who were comfortable.  “I never had to pay to park there before.”  “I like the weekday football games because I got to watch without driving to Hattiesburg”.  “The old coaches are all good people, I really enjoyed being around them.”  “The suites are for an elite bunch who think they’re better than the rest of us.”

Well, do you want the next level, or not? Southern Miss fans have long demanded actions to move the program to the mythical and elusive “next level”, however individually defined. Everyone wants more- more wins, more money, more exposure, more championships. Not everyone wants to pay the price that is exacted for such largess. Not everyone wants to give up the cozy relationship with the old guard to boldly step forward toward that “next level” they so often professed to want to pursue in the past.

Not in my backyard, indeed. Some want all the benefits, but without the sacrifice. That is sad.

Thanks to Bald Eagle for giving me the opportunity to blog.  I actually did this once in the past (before it was called “blogging” back in 1999-2000 when Angry and Easy owned Eagle Talk.)

By way of introduction, I have been posting in one form or another about Southern Miss since 1995.  First it was on ESPN’s old college football forums.  A couple of guys I worked with set up a dialup internet connection, and we really didn’t know what we’d stumbled onto.

 Next came posting on Grampy Bush’s Eagle Mail list, which actually went through USM’s LISTSERV.  There were over 100 of us on there by the end of 1996.  I met a lot of current friends on that old list.

Then came Eagle Talk, then administered by Chuck Knight on the USM server.  As it grew, he decided it needed to be hosted on another site, which is when Angry and Easy took it over.  Angry asked me to do a column in 1999, about the time I was asked to serve on the search committee for finding a replacement for “Pecos” Bill McLellan.  I was also a moderator on ET.  Want the old message delete code?

 When Eagle Talk changed hands a few years later, I was dropped as a columnist and moderator, and my interest there waned as the tone of that board changed.  Luckily, there was Eagle Post.

 EP really is much like what the old ET was.  Free reign for free thought.  No agenda to suck up or talk down to anyone.  Committed, passionate fans who love Southern Miss, but aren’t afraid to make known when they’re concerned, upset, or even pissed off about an issue.  Not everything about Southern Miss is always positive.  But a lot is.

 Now my old classmate Baldy and Big Gold Nation’s Lanny Mixon have agreed there is room for two boards.  Good, because I respect what each is trying to accomplish.  Baldy has given us an open forum with limited oversight.  Lanny is producing very good and timely recruiting news, plus answering questions with the patience of Job on his message boards.

 I’m not sure where this blog will go, but I committed to Baldy to blog at least once per week.  If I can figure out the HTML, I will attempt to photoblog from the Roost during baseball season.  I expect that it will expand beyond Southern Miss and maybe even sports, given that this is an election year and politics is a blood sport on its own.

 Your comments are welcome and encouraged.  I look forward to expressing my thoughts once again in such a format.

SMTTT!