Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Something to Look Forward To

At one point in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda says about Luke "Always he looked to the future. Never his mind on where he was! What he was doing!" (In my defense, it's been on HBO a lot recently.) I certainly have this problem, particularly with my teams mentioned above. For instance, this past football season I made an argument that it would be in the Packers' best long term interests to do poorly in order to get a better pick in what looks like a strong draft. And I've already started thinking about next basketball season, whether Nankvil or Leuer will be able to contribute, how much Hughes and Bohannon might improve, and how likely it is that Butch will be our leading scorer and rebounder (I'd say it's quite strong).

But I agree with Yoda; you generally shouldn't focus too much on what might happen, because it may very well distract you from taking care of the present. Headlined by Bo and his refusal to look beyond the next game, and Bielema, with his "1-0" mentality, Wisconsin athletics does a fine job of focusing on the immediate task at hand. But sometimes it's fun to look forward, like with the NFL Draft (which I'll discuss at some later date), and or with UW spring football. I know in reality, it's a chance for the coaching staff to figure out what the hell they're going to do next season, but for fans, it's a fun opportunity to see the new faces.

It also allows you to ponder what might have been, in addition to what might be, as in the case of Chris Pressley, the New Jersey derived fullback, and currently the strongest player on the team. Chris broke his ankle in preseason practice last August, and sat out the entire season. The injury apparently occured after doing this at some point last year. Whoo wah! Beaver Dam's Bill Rentmeester did a good job in his stead, I thought, but he suffered through some injury problems himself, which led to Crooks lining up in the offensive backfield on occasion. With Pressley clearing the hole, and being ably backed up by a less-taxed and healthier Rentmeester, you grow a little wistful about how much more P.J. Hill might have accomplished last season. (1600 yards?) And now, starting in April, we'll get to see what Pressley can do in practice, and then come fall, what he'll can do (hopefully) in the regular season. He certainly sounds like a guy that's got his head on straight. Bully for him. Best wishes to Chris and the rest of the Badger football folks in Spring practice. (If it's not clear, this post was basically an excuse to link to the video above.)

No comments: