Hit the Reset Button

A Eulogy for the Past

Futility is defined as the quality of being futile; ineffectiveness; uselessness.

That has been how DePaul Basketball has been described over the course of the past 20 years since DePaul has made it to an NCAA Tournament. One coaching change after another, trying to exorcise the Demons of the past coaching regime to get the Blue Demons back to The Promised Land of March. The tune has always been the same; This Coach has built programs, That Coach has revived programs, This guy has a Pedigree but never got His shot. Every cliche about a Coach’s promise has been used on DePaul Fans, all ending up in the same futile state.

This offseason, we’re at it again. After a dismal end to the Tony Stubblefield Era, where DePaul finished 3-29 overall and winless in the Big East, the decision was made to hit the reset button…again.

It’s time to hit the reset button as fans too. That could also be the hardest part. As fans of sports, and mostly Chicago Fans at that, we LOVE to hold on to the past; We’re all still doing the Super Bowl Shuffle for the 1985 Chicago Bears for crying out loud. Cubs fans held on to the past so much so that losing became part of our identity being both endeared and mocked by the “Lovable Losers” moniker. Remember the Jordan years? Those were great times. It’s what we do, it is part of the fabric of our identity as Chicago Sports fans.

But as a fan base, as DePaul Fans, to quote the Great Philosopher of our time Yoda, “You must unlearn, what you have learned.”

We have to close the book on the past 20 years and embrace this rebuild as something completely different. Separate it from the futile failures of the past.

I can hear it now, “Why John, how is this different from before,” or my favorite, “You’re just being a homer.” My gut is to say, “This time, it’s just different,” and leave it at that.

Previously, there would just be a reset at the top keeping the same facilities, processes, gameday setup, and yes, even players. It would be the same bones, just with a shiny new face, echoing the same cliches of change and parroting whatever leadership principle was the flavor of the week at the time. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And that’s where we are were.

Today, not only is there a new Coach at the helm, but that new coach was given the resources to build, by all accounts a murderer’s row of a coaching staff. They’ve put together an entirely new team, twelve new faces for fans to learn and root for. They hit the portal hard and found guys that in many cases they had recruited before and that WANTED to play for them. That, IS different, not just mercenaries looking for a fresh start, or another chance. A good mix of experience, success, and freshmen to build an actual culture for this program. Closing the entire book on the past and starting a completely new one.

There is a new facility on the horizon, an updated Sullivan Athletic Center and McGrath-Phillips Arena, and one of the best modern stadiums in College Basketball in WinTrust Arena (Yes, I said it). Giving the current and prospective student athletes places to thrive and succeed on the court. Something that previously would’ve just been glazed over and left to fester and become cantankerous.

There is University support unlike there has ever been. The President and the Board of Trustees as invested in the success of the one revenue generating sport we have as they have ever been. There has finally been a realization that the success of Men’s Basketball can positively affect the overall success of the University. That is exciting in and of itself, because that engages Alumni, students, and faculty to gather underneath one banner for the success of the University as a whole, casting aside differences in World-view, ideas, and desires. Creating a culture of winning not just on the court.

This time IT IS ‘just different.’

So now, we as fans have to symbolically, or if you really want to actually bury the past. Take your past season tickets, build a funeral pyre, set it a blaze (responsibly) and use this as a eulogy for the futile last 20 years. Finally letting go of what was, and allowing for good, new things to happen.

"From the ashes, a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring…"