12/17/22 “Go Fever” can be fatal. – Radically Rational

12/17/22 “Go Fever” can be fatal.

Nothing but pain on Friday for San Antonio area college and high school football fans. UTSA, UIW and Boerne High School all suffered heartbreaking losses in which early leads evaporated.

More than anything else, I want to express gratitude and admiration for all of those programs, who brought us so much pride and excitement this season.

I’m disinclined to get into detailed analysis of all or any of those games right now. Lotsa folks are hurting (including me) and I really don’t want to add to the pain. For now, I’ll just take an overview approach and leave it here. This contagious “Go Fever” epidemic that is sweeping through the sport apparently fries brain cells. No, you don’t have to go for it on every fourth down. Yes, there is a time to punt the football. Yes, field goals are good because points are good. Nothing crushes a team’s psyche more than getting zero points in the red zone.

Repeat after me. Points are good, even if they come in increments of three.

Football is not baseball. Rigid statistical “analytics” do not apply. Football strategy is as much art as it is science. Every game is different. Every opponent is different. Every in-game “flow” and situation is different. Every decision is guided by changing circumstances

One quick example and I’ll shut it down for now. UIW literally could have built up an early 30-point lead at North Dakota State. The Cardinal defense was strangling the Bison’s offense. Incarnate Word was in position to take NDSU out of what they do. But the Cards passed up easy points and allowed the Bison’s running game to get its “second wind,” which ultimately blew out the flame of UIW’s national championship hopes.

Repeat after me. Points are good. Even if they come in increments of three.

“Go Fever” can be fatal.

So how I am I going to treat my football pain?

With more football, of course.

Let’s go, Rice!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Paul's Bio

I clearly have the attention span of your median fruit fly.Look! Airplane!

Sorry. I’m back.

It’s both a curse and a blessing. I’ve never bought this stuff about, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But I do think that a wide range of life experiences helps us grow as people, and helps us better relate to other people. I’ve been fortunate. And I am beyond grateful.

I show up on time. I go like hell. I’m a good listener. I hold myself accountable. I own my mistakes. And I have a natural and an insatiable curiosity. I’m never afraid to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t. But then I try to find out.

The flip side is I’m a lousy ballroom dancer and my clothes sometimes fit me funny.

Stuff matters to me. I care. But while I take that stuff seriously, I try hard to never take myself seriously. As a result, I have sometimes been told, “Paul, it’s hard to tell when you’re serious and when you’re just having some fun. Which is it? Serious or fun?”

My answer is “yes.” But I think that is a legitimate criticism. I promise I’m going to work on that.

This has been the quickest and strangest half-century I’ve ever experienced. During that period, I’ve been afforded amazing opportunities in news and sports journalism across all platforms. I have taught wonderful students at the high school and collegiate level. Always, I learned more from them than they did from me. I’ve been a high school administrator. I spent ten seasons as a high school varsity football coach. I’ve been an advertising executive. I’ve hosted nationally syndicated television entertainment shows. In maybe the biggest honor I ever received, I was selected by NASA to be “Chet The Astronaut” for the “Land The Shuttle” simulator at Space Center Houston. (All I can say there, is “Do as I say, not as I do.” I put that thing in the Everglades more often than not.) Most recently, I just wrapped up a decade as a television news director, during which time our teams distinguished themselves in holding the powerful accountable, achieving both critical and ratings success.

What does all that mean? It means I am profoundly grateful. It also means I’m ready for “next.” So here we are. Radically Rational. It’s an idea I woke up with in 2017. I scribbled “Radically Rational” on a piece of notebook paper and used a magnet to stick it on our refrigerator. I saw it every day, and it just would not leave me alone.

I am second in charge at Radically Rational, LLC. My wife, Jo (also known as BB), is the president. Clearly, I have failed in my attempt to sleep my way to the top of this organization.

I hope you will learn that I’m loyal as a Labrador. But I will admit that this doggie can bite every now and then. My promise to you? I will show up on time. I will go like hell. I will listen to you earnestly and attentively. I will hold myself accountable. I will never be the least bit hesitant to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t.

But then I’ll try to find out. Let’s do it.