I still can’t get over
it. Kansas State
a contender. This is a story that has been told a million times over, but as a
Big 8/Big XII fan, I still have to shake my head to realize that it’s true. Kansas State is a good
team.
I remember the Kansas/Kansas State game, one that was
affectionately dubbed the "Toilet Bowl", where the Wildcats and Jayhawks battled
for the Big 8 cellar. It was always a spirited game, but the best part of the
whole contest was watching the blue and purple fans face-off in the stands just
to see who was the best out of the worst two teams in the conference.
While Kansas had their brief brush with greatness, standing tall
amongst the top ten in 1995, the Kansas State Wildcats under Bill Snyder proved
that their rise to prominence wasn’t a fluke, rather the precursor to glorious
beginnings.
Or, that’s what everyone thought.
What Snyder did was another story told ad nauseam, taking one of
the worst college football programs of all time, making them a consistent, if
not consistently respected winner. Big stats, lots of wins and almost a
sure-thing bowl appearance every year.
From where Kansas State came from, this wasn’t just success, it
was momentous beyond reason. In Kansas, you could have called it the "Miracle in
Manhattan".
And it was all Snyder’s doing. Through obvious intelligence,
Snyder coached well, but scheduled even better. Knowing that you don’t build a
team from nothing, he scheduled some of the biggest patsies you could find,
giving KSU an automatic undefeated team going into conference play. That usually
meant they were only three wins away from a bowl-bid, something that even KSU
could accomplish at the time.
Success came with victories, but respect came with victories
over teams that were used to beating up on the Wildcats year in and year out.
You can just about name them and the Wildcats have a lifetime of payback to
give.
KSU did that and has proven to be a thorn in the side of most
that play them. And of course, the fans of KSU are living the good-life, better
than some would have ever thought.
When Bill Snyder arrived at KSU, he was humble or at least, it
appeared that way. Actually, when you are taking over THE Kansas State Wildcats,
one of the greatest examples of futility in college football, you really don’t
have a choice but to be humble, because even if success is ahead, it’s not
instantly ahead. There’s a long road to get there.
The head coach got them there though and along the way, the KSU
fans have been rejoicing and continue to do so, Snyder’s ego seemingly growing
almost exponentially.
You can’t blame the fans. After what most of the older ones have
been through, their cheers should be loud, they should be boisterous, if only to
be a release of an eternity of humiliations. The gridiron faithful finally had
something to cheer about, so they did.
As the wins progressed, the status of one Bill Snyder grew.
First, he was a person that brought a winning attitude to Manhattan. Next, he
was a great coach who knew how to get it done consistently and was capable of
building something out of nothing. After that, he was a savior, lofting the
program to heights never dreamt of before. And now, he’s right up there with any
other deity of choice.
Snyder the invincible, Snyder the great and Bill, the God of
modern Wildcat football.
All the while these accolades are coming in a deluge, the ego of
Snyder has found itself ballooning to Zeppelin-like volume, this year being the
latest, but best example.
He thinks he’s special? Snyder must think that he is above the
game.
Certainly, he must think he’s above the conference after the lame
excuse he gave as his reason for not attending this year’s Big XII media day.
Citing classes and practice as the reason he and his two players couldn’t attend
the event, Snyder once again proved that his attitude has grown beyond even the
fans that have made him what he is.
No, they didn’t make him a great coach. They made him a prima
donna.
After all, I’m sure Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Nebraska, Baylor, Kansas and the rest of the Big XII teams somewhere on their campus have
class, just like Kansas State. And, I am sure that though the KSU fans might not
think that the fans of the other schools within the league have as much to win
or lose as their Wildcats do, in there, I am positive that those other teams
practice as well.
However, the time of Bill Snyder proved to be too significant
for him to make his presence felt, rather he and his players showing up on TV, a
broadcast by the way that was partially paid for by the very conference that
Snyder just snubbed.
Really though, can you blame the head coach for being this vain?
Can’t you understand just why he is the way he is?
Kansas State went from the dredges to a team competing for a
national title and it was mostly because of him. From the abyss to almost the
brink of the peak on the mountain, Snyder did what some would have considered
impossible had they not seen it for themselves.
The fans are crazy about him and rightly so.
I find the greatest irony though in that as much success as the
program has had over the last 10+ years, evidently the fans’ expectations
haven’t gotten significantly higher.
In Lincoln, fans are
ready to hang Frank Solich, because in his
last five years, Nebraska has won "just" one conference title and been to "only"
on national title game. In Manhattan, KSU has no conference titles and hasn’t
played in single national title game during the tenure of Snyder, but he’s still
the next best thing to meat and potatoes.
While Oklahoma fans actually bristled from losses following a
national title campaign, the Wildcat-faithful loom as prideful, lauding their
plethora of moral victories.
I do say moral victories, because when it comes down to it, you
would have an easier time trying to do a mammogram on Grace Jones than you would
of finding a trophy that really meant anything in the "Mother Hubbard"-like
trophy case, in tribute to Wildcat football.
Moral Victories seem to be the staple of Wildcats, but again,
that’s enough.
It’s enough that the fan base for the Cats laud Snyder every
chance they get. They worship good old "Bill" with accolades and are willing to
back him with one excuse after another after one loss after another that kept
KSU from the games most other teams think really matter.
Even this year where Kansas State is ranked in the pre-season
top 5 and expectations upon the Wildcat team are once again very high, you know
as well as I do that if KSU doesn’t even win the North, Snyder is still the
best, he’s still the greatest and nothing and nobody can say different. All he
has to do is win one meaningful game throughout the entire season and the
Snyder-worshipers will be forever at his feet, wallowing in his perceived
greatness.
That’s why Bill is.........well, Bill.
He’s simply a product, but not of his own success, or at least
not what I would judge "real" success to be. Yes, Snyder did the impossible in
his achievements, bringing KSU to national prominence after a century of
national embarrassment. This is the sports world though, where it isn’t about
what tradition says you have done, but what have you "really" done. Take out the
fluff, the moral victories and this "comeback" that was a stale story years ago
and on paper, Snyder and his team qualify as an "also-ran".
Because of a fan base though that seems to still cling to the
lowered expectations, a thought process ingrained by years of suffering, what
Bill is, is the respite from anonymity. He is the difference between being
pretty darn good and so bad that to even mention the team makes you
grimace.
Arrogance should be considered almost inevitable when taking
into account all these circumstances. Snyder’s snubbing of media day and the
obvious disrespect it shows for every other coach in the conference, heck,
that’s just fine with the Kansas State faithful.
So blinded by what success they have had, Snyder’s presence has
been elevated to autonomous, the University acknowledging that with every recent
occurrence at Kansas State that’s quickly brushed aside with statements like,
"we are taking care of this matter internally".
And it will probably just get worse. I mean, he’s already God
down there, so where else can he go in this apparent adventure into egotism?
I’ll tell you what. There’s only two directions here. It’s either way up or way
down, because when it comes to something like this, there is no other
way.
Snyder will either win the national title or at least a
conference title, once again justifying to everyone in purple that he actually
IS the second-coming or his team will take an incredible nose-dive one day,
close to, but probably not quite paralleling the depths of futility from days
gone by.
Either one would be the worst thing that could ever happen to
the head coach. Right now, he’s worshiped. Win real big or lose real big and all
of a sudden, everything changes.
If you win it all, now everyone expects it, KSU fans finally
realizing what substance over style really means. They will actually be able to
empathize with Husker fans, that are so used to winning, one conference title
and a national title appearance in the last five years is deemed a failure.
Snyder wouldn’t have it so easy anymore.
If they lose and lose big, the honeymoon will also be over,
because his luster will have wore off, his "magic" will have wasted away,
nothing left for fans but reminiscing.
The best thing for Snyder and his ego are that KSU continues to
win, but win just enough to placate the easily-placated fan base. A moral
victory here and there and all is good in Manhattan and Bill can keep his
chapel, stay on his soap box and make excuses for why he doesn’t have to
participate with others, because he’s just that special.
In a world of sports where "Win just enough" shouldn’t even be a
possibility, it seems to be a by-line down in Kansas. That’s what will keep head
coach Bill Snyder right where he is.
He’s Bill Snyder, the savior, the "Man in Manhattan", the Wizard
of Oz even. He is the game? He’s above the game.
Long Live Bill!
Steve Ryan can be reached at huskerconnection@neb.rr.com or
402-730-5619