Tony's Take: Team Chemistry
August 03, 2005 09:21 AM | General
I’m not exactly sure what it was but 26 years later I remain convinced that my high school chemistry teacher didn’t like me.
He liked the smart kids who could rattle off members of the periodic table like an auctioneer on steroids, but he had little time for kids like me who could rattle off the starting lineup of the Buffalo Bills, the almost-defunct Buffalo Sabres, and the very defunct Buffalo Braves.
However, now, after more than a quarter of a century of disdain and indifference toward the study of chemistry I have made a startling revelation.
I WAS WRONG.
I really missed the boat, man. The egghead kids were right all along. Chemistry is a big thing, a huge thing, the biggest of big things -- it’s Rueben Stoddard and Queen Latifah big.
Before you think I’ve fallen into a vat of C2H6O -- that’s alcohol, for those of you that paid as much attention as I did in school -- allow me to explain.
The more I think back to a team’s success and/or failure, the more I think back to its overall chemistry. The conclusion of that inspection is pretty simple stuff. Show me a team that got along and truly respected each other and I’ll show you a team that won much more than it lost.
However, that’s not to say that teams with winning records have great chemistry. The 1989 Mountaineer team that played in the Gator Bowl had an impressive record but its chemistry couldn’t touch that of the 1988 squad that finished the season undefeated.
Why?
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| West Virginia's 1988 undefeated team, led by Coach Don Nehlen and quarterback Major Harris, was the personification of team chemistry.
WVU Sports Communications |
Because the heart and soul of the 1988 squad was a blue-collar offensive line that didn’t have one starter stick in the NFL but had a chemistry that empowered the entire team to the brink of a national championship. The 1993 Sugar Bowl squad fits into that same category. Yes, there were some very good players on the roster, but the team’s chemistry was more important than its star quotient. If Jake Kelchner and Darren Studstill didn’t accept their role as part-time quarterbacks it could easily have been 6-5 season filled with in-fighting. Instead, each player did what he was asked to do and the Mountaineers won the school’s first-ever Big East Championship knocking off a more talented Miami team along the way.
So by now you’re asking yourself what in the heck does this have to do with this season? Well, it has everything to do with the success or failure of Rich Rodriguez’s fifth Mountaineer team. It may come as a surprise, but the biggest question facing this team is not who will start at quarterback on September 4th in Syracuse or who will get the first carry? It’s much bigger than who lines up at the receiver spot or if the new kickers are as good as needed.
The biggest question is how this team -- to use a chemistry word -- will jell? How will this invisible process that is the by-product of respect for each other and dedication to a single goal take place?
A year ago, a great deal of focus was placed on Kay-Jay Harris, Chris Henry and Pacman Jones. There was always something going on. Was Kay-Jay going to play this week? Was Chris Henry going to fold his arms? Was Pacman going pro? The unintended consequence was that the team’s chemistry became disjointed and never reached its potential.
It is obvious that Rich Rodriguez hasn’t forgotten last year. Have you seen the cover of this season’s media guide? There are no players to be found -- just the picture of a football. Same deal with the schedule card in your wallet … just a generic Mountaineer. His decision to close practices this fall is also an attempt to keep the focus on the team rather than creating media darlings.
Whether it works remains to be seen.
Any chemist will tell you that when you start mixing various substances together sometimes your not exactly sure what the end product will be. Same goes for this year’s football team, but all indications are the formula for success is in place.
We’ll all find out together in the weeks to come exactly what this little chemical experiment will produce.
