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That's Okay, I'll Let Bruce Handle It
September 8, 1999 There are probably tougher jobs in life than being a head college football coach, but at the present time, to be honest, I can't think of many. After dealing with athletic administration, the alumni, the Arizona State faculty and staff, your assistant coaches, the media and, oh yeah, a hundred or so 17-22 year old guys and their parents, I can imagine Bruce Snyder enjoys going home to Linda and the daughters after a day at the ICA Building. Couple that with the fact that you have to go out for 11 weekends in the fall and win a football game and, well, let's just say that putting on a microphone headset and talking over the radio seems a lot easier. Which is why, after our first Sun Devil Sports Network call-in show, Sun Devil Shakedown (feel free to call 1-877-SPARKY0 after all Devil games), I'm more or less flabbergasted over some of the calls we received. There we were, in the press box following a convincing 31-13 victory over the Big 12's Texas Tech and "Heisman Trophy candidate" Ricky Williams, taking calls from fans who were actually accusing Bruce of not wanting to win and having a circumspect game plan. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast during our call-in show taking calls with Mark Asher, and I can't wait for more Sun Devil fans' opinions following games. It is great, after wins you can hear the enthusiasm of the fans, and after losses we know that fans have to vent and we welcome their criticism of the Devils as much as we enjoy the praise. But c'mon, accusing Bruce of not wanting to score and not trying to win, like a few callers did? You would think that a win would send everyone home happy and put the thought in the pollsters heads that you are a quality team. But it just doesn't work out that way anymore. Two Saturdays ago, you remember, No. 2 Penn State stomped UofA 41-7, in Happy Valley. The same day top ranked Florida State beat up on Louisiana Tech 41-7 in Tallahassee. Later that night, I heard two sportstalk guys saying that they could see no way that Florida State, after their so-called unimpressive victory over La. Tech, could be ranked ahead of Penn State, who manhandled the then-Top 5 'Cats. If Bobby Bowden heard that on the air driving home that night, I bet he almost drove his Durango into a ditch. It has got to be tough to be the coach when it appears the game is in hand. How long do I keep J.R. in? Should I pass? If so, do I go deep or do I keep hitting Todd Heap over the middle? Oh, geez, there is a fumble returned for a touchdown, do they have momentum now, should I open things up? Glad I'm up in the radio booth calling for Tim Healey to go to breaks as opposed to on the sidelines calling for Tariq to do a fly rout on second and six. In the end, I believe that Bruce played it just about perfectly. After all, how much more impressive would a 42-13 victory be to the pollsters? It isn't like the Sagarin Ratings would boost us ten spots if we punched in a couple of touchdowns. Not only that, but it wasn't as though offensive coordinator Dan Cozzetto and Snyder were equipped with the whole arsenal, with Kealy down and a wide receiving corps that is still inexperienced, sans Tariq and the Tight Ends (which sounds a little like a Motown Group). Run the ball. Keep wearing them down. If Gerald Green or Delvon Flowers breaks a long one, then great. If not, you still leave Sun Devil Stadium with a "W". Nevertheless, some people in "Sun Devil Shakedown" still had a beef with Bruce. If I was a coach, I'd have someone cross stitch "you can please some people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all of the time" and put it up on my wall. I'm not sure about you, but I was pumped about the win. National television … our Heisman guy beat their Heisman guy, badly …1998 demons are all but exorcised … I think it was a good Labor Day if you ask me. I'm just glad my job was in the press box, not on the gridiron. Robby Robinson is the Assistant Director of Broadcasting for the Sun Devil Sports Network. He is the host of "The Team Sparky Tailgate Show", ASU’s pregame football show and Sun Devil Shakedown, ASU’s Call-In Show. Robby can be reached at robby.robinson@asu.edu.
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