Bruce Pearl = Icarus

#1

AmoebaVol

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
2,150
Likes
578
#1
I think what happened to Bruce parallels the Greek myth about Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with his wings of wax and fell to his death.

Bruce came to UT and lit a fire under Tennessee basketball. He took players with limited talent and found ways to win. He embraced abandoned traditions (orange blazer, pinstripe warmups), welcomed back former Vol heroes (King, Grunfeld), and endeared himself to fans and students by being bold, being accessible, being outwardly humble and giving of his time and money (Dane Bradshaw scholly), constantly promoting UT basketball and raising our profile, and by fielding teams that played extremely hard and relished the underdog role.

Then something changed.

Tennessee basketball was relevant again. You could often find Bruce on PTI or Jim Rome. We started getting looks from highly-rated recruits. Sure ... they weren't the cream of the crop, but highly-ranked, nonetheless. Even got a few McDonald's All-Americans to join up. Bruce was hitting the Big Time now. He bought a nice, big house in Gettysvue. He traded up for a new wife. The world was his oyster. The only problem is the players he was getting (while good) weren't elite -- they weren't quite good enough to take Tennessee where Big Time Bruce wanted to go -- where he needed to go. These players all had some fatal flaw (tweeners, too slow, no leadership skills, tendency to disappear, no defense, poor shooting, inconsistent effort, etc.). To get the elite players, Bruce decided bending the rules a little (or a lot) would be a means to the end he desired. He compromised his own ethics and the ethics of the University to take himself and UT basketball to a place it's never been.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Politicians, preachers, celebrities, executives -- their heads get swollen and they start thinking they are above reproach, then something triggers their downfall (John Edwards, Jimmy Swaggert, and a number of others come to mind).

It's disappointing for me. I like Bruce Pearl. I even have a picture of him and me on my desk ... taken at one of the countless fundraisers for charity he attended. I appreciate that he made UT basketball exciting again, and will always love him for that. But moving on is the absolute right decision for the University and the program. I wish him the best, but look forward to getting past this and moving to even greater heights ... the right way, this time.
 
#2
#2
Nice post. I'm also in the "disappointed but time to move on" crowd. Let's look forward, with hope, to a big-time hire. I think we can do it, and I think the program will be fine.
 
#3
#3
Cool comparison. It's tough to say goodbye to someone who's had such great success, and I love Bruce but he needs to go. I think the moral of the story is as long as you let your character guide your passion, and not your passion drive your character success is guaranteed (depending on how you determine success). I wish Bruce the best and hope that he learns from this experience and never forgets who he is in the future. Here's to hiring a new coach that stays true to his values.
 
#4
#4
There is probably some truth to that post. It happens a lot in all areas of life. (I would go with a different line about the wife thing, though. Sounds kinda shallow)
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#7
#7
I think what happened to Bruce parallels the Greek myth about Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with his wings of wax and fell to his death.

Bruce came to UT and lit a fire under Tennessee basketball. He took players with limited talent and found ways to win. He embraced abandoned traditions (orange blazer, pinstripe warmups), welcomed back former Vol heroes (King, Grunfeld), and endeared himself to fans and students by being bold, being accessible, being outwardly humble and giving of his time and money (Dane Bradshaw scholly), constantly promoting UT basketball and raising our profile, and by fielding teams that played extremely hard and relished the underdog role.

Then something changed.

Tennessee basketball was relevant again. You could often find Bruce on PTI or Jim Rome. We started getting looks from highly-rated recruits. Sure ... they weren't the cream of the crop, but highly-ranked, nonetheless. Even got a few McDonald's All-Americans to join up. Bruce was hitting the Big Time now. He bought a nice, big house in Gettysvue. He traded up for a new wife. The world was his oyster. The only problem is the players he was getting (while good) weren't elite -- they weren't quite good enough to take Tennessee where Big Time Bruce wanted to go -- where he needed to go. These players all had some fatal flaw (tweeners, too slow, no leadership skills, tendency to disappear, no defense, poor shooting, inconsistent effort, etc.). To get the elite players, Bruce decided bending the rules a little (or a lot) would be a means to the end he desired. He compromised his own ethics and the ethics of the University to take himself and UT basketball to a place it's never been.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Politicians, preachers, celebrities, executives -- their heads get swollen and they start thinking they are above reproach, then something triggers their downfall (John Edwards, Jimmy Swaggert, and a number of others come to mind).

It's disappointing for me. I like Bruce Pearl. I even have a picture of him and me on my desk ... taken at one of the countless fundraisers for charity he attended. I appreciate that he made UT basketball exciting again, and will always love him for that. But moving on is the absolute right decision for the University and the program. I wish him the best, but look forward to getting past this and moving to even greater heights ... the right way, this time.

great post, would love to see more like it on this board.
 
#8
#8
I think what happened to Bruce parallels the Greek myth about Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with his wings of wax and fell to his death.

Bruce came to UT and lit a fire under Tennessee basketball. He took players with limited talent and found ways to win. He embraced abandoned traditions (orange blazer, pinstripe warmups), welcomed back former Vol heroes (King, Grunfeld), and endeared himself to fans and students by being bold, being accessible, being outwardly humble and giving of his time and money (Dane Bradshaw scholly), constantly promoting UT basketball and raising our profile, and by fielding teams that played extremely hard and relished the underdog role.

Then something changed.

Tennessee basketball was relevant again. You could often find Bruce on PTI or Jim Rome. We started getting looks from highly-rated recruits. Sure ... they weren't the cream of the crop, but highly-ranked, nonetheless. Even got a few McDonald's All-Americans to join up. Bruce was hitting the Big Time now. He bought a nice, big house in Gettysvue. He traded up for a new wife. The world was his oyster. The only problem is the players he was getting (while good) weren't elite -- they weren't quite good enough to take Tennessee where Big Time Bruce wanted to go -- where he needed to go. These players all had some fatal flaw (tweeners, too slow, no leadership skills, tendency to disappear, no defense, poor shooting, inconsistent effort, etc.). To get the elite players, Bruce decided bending the rules a little (or a lot) would be a means to the end he desired. He compromised his own ethics and the ethics of the University to take himself and UT basketball to a place it's never been.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Politicians, preachers, celebrities, executives -- their heads get swollen and they start thinking they are above reproach, then something triggers their downfall (John Edwards, Jimmy Swaggert, and a number of others come to mind).

It's disappointing for me. I like Bruce Pearl. I even have a picture of him and me on my desk ... taken at one of the countless fundraisers for charity he attended. I appreciate that he made UT basketball exciting again, and will always love him for that. But moving on is the absolute right decision for the University and the program. I wish him the best, but look forward to getting past this and moving to even greater heights ... the right way, this time.
WOW with enough special effects, this would be a great movie.:popcorn::popcorn:
 
#9
#9
Nice post. I'm also in the "disappointed but time to move on" crowd. Let's look forward, with hope, to a big-time hire. I think we can do it, and I think the program will be fine.

Unfortunately, if Mr. Hammy is still the hiring man, it won't be a big time hire. His track record shows he likes to go for more affordable up and comers. He hit a homerun with Bruce (until BBQ-gate) and the jury is out on CDD, but to get your hopes up for a "big-time" hire must be based on Hammbone being gone. If he is gone, then I can see a big name, but if he is here, than he will be rolling the dice on someone, and chances are less than 50/50 that the new guy will be an upgrade from Bruce.
 
#10
#10
Unfortunately, if Mr. Hammy is still the hiring man, it won't be a big time hire. His track record shows he likes to go for more affordable up and comers. He hit a homerun with Bruce (until BBQ-gate) and the jury is out on CDD, but to get your hopes up for a "big-time" hire must be based on Hammbone being gone. If he is gone, then I can see a big name, but if he is here, than he will be rolling the dice on someone, and chances are less than 50/50 that the new guy will be an upgrade from Bruce.

I agree 100%. We will never get a big name coach with Hammy as AD.
 
#12
#12
Does this analogy make Mike Hamilton Daedalus?

As I remember the tale as told by one of my high school teachers long ago, Icarus' wings were not made of wax but of feathers held together by wax. But, as Myth Busters demonstrated on their show, the wax would not melt as Icarus flew higher because air temperature gets lower at higher altitudes, not higher. Myth Busted!
 
#14
#14
Nice post and respect how you feel, however when has Bruce ever been humble?
 
#15
#15
I think what happened to Bruce parallels the Greek myth about Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with his wings of wax and fell to his death.

Bruce came to UT and lit a fire under Tennessee basketball. He took players with limited talent and found ways to win. He embraced abandoned traditions (orange blazer, pinstripe warmups), welcomed back former Vol heroes (King, Grunfeld), and endeared himself to fans and students by being bold, being accessible, being outwardly humble and giving of his time and money (Dane Bradshaw scholly), constantly promoting UT basketball and raising our profile, and by fielding teams that played extremely hard and relished the underdog role.

Then something changed.

Tennessee basketball was relevant again. You could often find Bruce on PTI or Jim Rome. We started getting looks from highly-rated recruits. Sure ... they weren't the cream of the crop, but highly-ranked, nonetheless. Even got a few McDonald's All-Americans to join up. Bruce was hitting the Big Time now. He bought a nice, big house in Gettysvue. He traded up for a new wife. The world was his oyster. The only problem is the players he was getting (while good) weren't elite -- they weren't quite good enough to take Tennessee where Big Time Bruce wanted to go -- where he needed to go. These players all had some fatal flaw (tweeners, too slow, no leadership skills, tendency to disappear, no defense, poor shooting, inconsistent effort, etc.). To get the elite players, Bruce decided bending the rules a little (or a lot) would be a means to the end he desired. He compromised his own ethics and the ethics of the University to take himself and UT basketball to a place it's never been.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Politicians, preachers, celebrities, executives -- their heads get swollen and they start thinking they are above reproach, then something triggers their downfall (John Edwards, Jimmy Swaggert, and a number of others come to mind).

It's disappointing for me. I like Bruce Pearl. I even have a picture of him and me on my desk ... taken at one of the countless fundraisers for charity he attended. I appreciate that he made UT basketball exciting again, and will always love him for that. But moving on is the absolute right decision for the University and the program. I wish him the best, but look forward to getting past this and moving to even greater heights ... the right way, this time.

Nutshell
 
#16
#16
Nice post and respect how you feel, however when has Bruce ever been humble?

Thanks. I knew someone would say that, which is why I wrote "outwardly humble." I think Bruce did try to portray himself as a humble individual -- often giving credit to and thanking others (Ray Mears, Pat Summitt, Mike Hamilton, Chris Lofton, his staff, and the University).

That doesn't necessarily mean he's a humble person. It just means he's a good enough salesman/politician to know that "humble" sells -- especially around here.
 
#17
#17
Thanks. I knew someone would say that, which is why I wrote "outwardly humble." I think Bruce did try to portray himself as a humble individual -- often giving credit to and thanking others (Ray Mears, Pat Summitt, Mike Hamilton, Chris Lofton, his staff, and the University).

That doesn't necessarily mean he's a humble person. It just means he's a good enough salesman/politician to know that "humble" sells -- especially around here.

Fair enough, and agree 100%
 
#18
#18
Does this analogy make Mike Hamilton Daedalus?

I wasn't really trying to cast for the entire myth, but ... here's an excerpt from wikipedia on Daedalus:

“ ... the concept of humility is introduced to the legend of Daedalus by the great craftsman's mistakes. The Daedalean labyrinth was defeated by a simple ball of thread that its architect had failed to consider, just as he failed to foresee the melting of the wax in Icarus' wings. The legend of Daedalus further encourages others to consider the long-term consequences of their own inventions with great care, lest they do more harm than good

Kind of fits ...
 

VN Store



Back
Top