“It’s not always about winning.” That’s what Liberty quarterback Josh Woodrum said Saturday evening after the Flames’ heartbreaking loss to Coastal in double overtime.
“It’s not always about winning.” Is that the case though? Is it “not always about winning” at Liberty University? Should it be?
Why was Ken Karcher fired? Why did Danny Rocco leave for Richmond? Why was Turner Gill hired? Why does our athletic department constantly flaunt we are “FBS-ready”? Why do we spend over $8 million dollars a year on football? Is it to win? Or is it “not always about winning”?
This is a serious question that needs to be answered. At the majority, I would even say at all, other Division I universities it is all about winning. But Liberty is different. The University’s mantra is “training champions for Christ.” Does that carry over to athletics? I think everyone would say yes, but how far does that go? Do we train champions for Christ at the risk of losing? Can you train champions for Christ while winning at the same time?
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Note: Josh’s full quote (as linked in the article above) was: “In my opinion we should be 7-0 right now. It hurts losing these close games, but it’s not always about winning. More so than not, it’s about becoming a man, and learning from your mistakes, and learning to press on, and finish the job. “
You brought up a very good point in this article. For me personally, I really don’t like it when coaches and players say “It’s not all about winning.” What is the point of having a sports team if your main goal is not to win the game? Considering how much time, money, and effort the University puts into the team, they should most definitely perform better. Considering that the players are good enough to lead most of the game up until the final seconds of the game, I think this problem of collapsing at the end can mostly be attributed to the coaching staff- mainly Turner Gill. If you can’t lead your team to closing out the game after leading for most of it, your coaching abilities should definitely be in question. It’s just really a shame because this team definitely deserves to be 7-0. It was really quite disappointing for the players to collapse in the 4th quarter because the fans certainly were there for all 4 quarters, unlike the players.
I want to win every football game! …. But “I” joined the Flames Club and attend every game because of the “training champions for Christ” part. Took me years to understand the larger picture. I have a ton of respect for every player that puts on the LU uniform.
GO FLAMES!
It’s ALWAYS about winning. If it’s not, why keep score? Just train Champions for Christ, you don’t need football for that. I believe the two can coexist and be co-equal. Personally, I think it is an excuse or a “feel good” for losing. We can and should do both and equally emphasize both missions.
If It’s Christian, it ought to be better.
I attended the game and, as disappointed as I was with the outcome, I noted that 1) despite calls going out to the LU community to come out and help break the attendance record, we fell well short of the mark, and 2) thousands of students were gone before regulation play ended, and those that remained were pretty flat, an observation my son, also a student and a player in high school, noted. Chris Lang, who writes for the News and Advance, made the same observation:
“The great fan support at Liberty games is largely a myth, it seems. Sure, students show up for the social event at the beginning of the game. But when the stands on that side were half empty when the third quarter started, it just pounded home the point that some students are there to be seen, and they don’t give a lick about whether or not the football team succeeds. There are plenty of die-hard students, and they are to be commended. But when the team needed the crowd support the most at the end of the game, the stadium was pretty quiet. That’s the sort of culture the athletic department is fighting against. Student attendance is down across college football. It’s not just a problem at Liberty. I’m not a player, but if I saw the stands full and buzzing at the beginning of the game and came out after halftime to see half the stadium had bounced, I’d be a little deflated.”
It might be a chicken and egg conundrum – is the fan support lacking because the team isn’t doing as well as they’d like, or is the team floundering because the fans aren’t there to exhort them? If we can’t break an attendance record against our arch-rivals who come in undefeated and ranked higher nationally than any team in Big South history, and where a win would practically put us in the driver’s seat for sole possession of the Big South title and an automatic playoff bid – oh, and it’s Homecoming – what does that say about us?
Regarding Josh Woodrum’s statement, when read in context, I understand what he was trying to say. Certainly he wants to win every game, but he’s acknowledging that human character is tested in adversity, and when hard times come, the best response is not to lament them, but to learn and grow from them. I know the coaches emphasize character development and becoming strong young men for Christ first and foremost, and that is why I will be there to cheer them on, even though they’re only playing for pride now.
To be honest with you, I don’t think the players performance was really affected at all by few students leaving early. Just look at the end of the 4th quarter; the place was as loud as it was all season and the players still couldn’t feed off of it. I really think it’s a coaching problem with Turner Gill not getting the players’ in the right mindset for the game.
I understand winning in football is going to be the catalyst to take Liberty to FBS, but if the mission of the school is lost in trying to go FBS it’s a complete waste. I think that’s what this is about right now. Liberty’s first and foremost priority MUST be to honor Christ, if we lose because of that reason then so be it, but honoring Christ should really only help us win as we will do things better. Now, winning is important as it reflects our effort to represent our Lord Jesus Christ. We can’t use the saying “it must be God’s will that we lost” if we didn’t play with confidence or didn’t prepare, etc… There are not excuses for not honor the Lord with our efforts and there are no excuses for losing either.
We can do both, and we are so close to doing both. We have everything in place to be a very successful program, even going in to this year, and I don’t think our close losses have anything to do with the atmosphere of training champions for Christ.
First of all, the Lord’s Will comes first. In a distant second, Liberty should be focused on improving academics and providing the best resources for the students. After that, winning athletic competitions and championships should be the priority. None of these need to be done separately from each other; all can be accomplished at the same time.
It almost sounds like the team is okay with losing because there are more important things. It comes off as hollow and complacent. I don’t think winners came up with the saying, “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”
It has to be about winning. If it’s not, why strap on a helmet on Saturday. Why take the beating those players take week in and week out? It has to be about winning. Liberty can’t train Champions for Christ without the requirement that we do everything to the utmost for the glory of the Creator. Does that mean we will always be the best? Absolutely not. But when there is winning and losing, it has to be all about Winning. Do I think Josh was saying that winning doesn’t matter? No.
Watching the student section drain to half capacity in the second half was painful. I sat with some fellow alums on the other side and it was an instant topic of conversation. But it didn’t empty out because the game started to turn. The bleeding in the stands started before the bleeding on the scoreboard. I still didn’t see a team that looked resigned to losing because their fellow students bailed.
I don’t know if it’s coaching, conditioning, preparation, or any number of other things that has caused the repeated collapses and “could have beens”. But I do know that what I saw didn’t look like a team that couldn’t compete or was distracted by some empty bleachers. And it certainly didn’t look like a team that didn’t want to win. Whatever the cause, hopefully they can turn it around soon!