But easily my favorite job title I've ever had is beat writer. Because there's nothing like getting plugged into a team, finding what makes the players, coaches and staff involved tick, and getting to share that with your readers across the region, the country, and in some cases, the world. Sharing a team's stories is what makes the job memorable, but what makes it the best job in the world is the people behind those stories.
I don't have a lot to add to what I've already written on Middle Tennessee's big Bahamas Bowl win on Friday. You can catch the rapid fire recap here and the Saturday Sidebar here to get my take on the X's and O's, & the Jimmys and Joes of the day down in Nassau. Safe to say, it was the perfect end cap to a year that's seen this Blue Raider team overcome a lot of adversity, from getting down to their fourth string quarterback during the season to losing three starters just the night before the bowl game and everything else in between.
But given one last chance to talk about the 2021 Blue Raiders before putting a final bow on the season, I want to talk about them as people. Because as Blue Raider fans have learned this season through their play, and as Coach Stockstill will tell anyone who will listen, "they're made of the right stuff."
The on-the-field right stuff is evident, particularly in the two must-win games Middle closed out to end the season, coming from behind against both FAU and Toledo to pull out the win each time. This team never quit, when a lot of other folks might have rolled over. Perhaps even more importantly, the egos, to the extent that they always exist on some level with athletes of this caliber, never were a factor in the team's success. They played for each other far more than they ever played for themselves.
It was the topic Stockstill kept coming back to in the post-game presser after the Bahamas Bowl. Even when asked about how exciting it was for MTSU's President, Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, who's from the Bahamas, to be able to celebrate this win with his team and university.
"I was happy for him," Stockstill said. "Dr. McPhee can come home this Christmas or summer and stick his chest out. He's a bowl champion too. But I'm more proud of these guys here. The blood and guts that they put into this season, and the never give up, never quit attitude. A lot of times people want to give up on you, but they never gave up."
From a staff writer's perspective, I could not have been more impacted by a team this season than by this football team in Murfreesboro. Any question I had, they answered, even down to giving away the whole scouting report against UConn in the team's weekly presser (Thanks, Chase Cunningham! Sorry, Coach Dearmon!). They were always generous with their time, but even more generous with their openness, their willingness to share not only who they were as football players and coaches, but who they were as people.
From Jimmy Marshall's transition to tight end after a football life at wide receiver, to how an offseason practice circuit led the team to leading the countries in turnovers, to Jordan Ferguson's emergence as a leader, to the creation of the "Heavy D" package to give a team a critical goalline advantage, all of those stories would not be possible without the players and coaches vulnerability and their willingness to share so much of who they are not just with me, but with all of you.
Of course, that openness is much easier to receive when I'm working with the team day-to-day in the Murphy Center, at Floyd Stadium, and even on the road from time to time. But that doesn't make it easy to earn, and I'm extremely thankful this team trusted me enough to tell so many of their stories this year. It says a lot about their maturity, their heart, and their character to be willing to listen, and be so open to answer questions from someone who was an outsider just a few months ago.
What perhaps I'm most excited about this team is that there are countless stories yet to be told about the 2022 Blue Raider football team. What offseason focus might prove fruitful this year, like the turnover circuit did this season? How can the staff use the Bahamas Bowl win to continue to build into the future? A Q&A with Stockstill, looking back at 2021 and ahead at some of those questions for 2022, will be out before Christmas.
For now, however, I do have a plane to catch back to my first home. Though I'm especially glad my latest home in the mid-state will be waiting for me when the Blue Raiders tip off at home against UTSA on December 30.
On behalf of all of us here in the Middle Tennessee athletic communications office, thanks for following along this football season. And a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours this season.
"right" - Google News
December 20, 2021 at 06:09AM
https://ift.tt/3EbWdXE
COLUMN - A team made of the “right stuff” - GoBlueRaiders.com
"right" - Google News
https://ift.tt/32Okh02
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "COLUMN - A team made of the “right stuff” - GoBlueRaiders.com"
Post a Comment