I appreciate a nice luxury car. I'll be the first one to stare at the Lamborghini blazing down the highway. I'll dream that someday I'll be the one behind the wheel. But I would never drive a Lamborghini in a New England winter. Nor would I risk taking it out in a rainstorm during the summer.
I wouldn't always take it out to places I thought someone might go out of their way to mar it. In short, it's an elegant and exhilarating vehicle, but it's not the car I want to be driving every day of the year.
Many of the same things can be said about professional athletes. I want the player with sustained performance, not the one who can pick and choose the spots he shines in.
As obvious as this statement might seem on the surface, the principle has not been extended to teams and the media as a whole. For instance, Robert Griffin III did not deserve to receive the Heisman Trophy over Andrew Luck nor the Rookie of the Year award. Yet, he was a story that the media could get behind and this clouded their perception of reality. Another example of buying the hype is the beloved Tim Tebow, who should not have been drafted in the first round nor have been a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Consistency gets overlooked because it isn't flashy. It doesn't get in the headlines or create a buzz. Alabama football doesn't get nearly the attention they deserve because they don't do anything worth mentioning other than win. They have a disciplined head coach who has a firm grasp on the program. This leaves no room for reporters to get an attention-grabbing story, and because of that they move on to someone who will give this to them.
Andrew Luck is the complete package at the quarterback position. Ever since his years at Stanford, he's become one of the best in the league. Yet, the talk last year was about the electricity of Colin Kaepernick and Griffin III. RGIII had his different sock combinations each time he showed up to a big function. Kaepernick had his trademark celebration, coined "Kaepernicking," after big plays.
Then there was Luck, quietly leading his team to victory. He took what was, with many of the same players, the worst team in the league and transformed them into a playoff team. This point gets brushed off much more than it should. Many people don't remember how bad the Colts were the year before he came. He was given the trust to lead the team that just a year prior looked like they might not win a single game and guided them to an 11-5 record, topped off by the playoff berth.
It's rare that a whole group of knowledgeable people would be wrong. Scouts said that Tebow could not be an NFL quarterback. After a six-game winning streak with Denver - aided mightily by defense and a strong kicking game - Tebow supporters were clamoring for the heads of all who doubted him. Many quieted down the next year when he found himself as a backup, and at times third string quarterback, on the dysfunctional Jets.
They said Griffin was too fragile to be a long-term viable option. People didn't want to believe it because of the persona he created. He capped off his first year by tearing his ACL and spending the offseason rehabbing.
Don't overlook consistency. While it may not get the headlines, it gets the championships. In the results-based world we live in, I'll take the reliable car over the Lamborghini any day of the week. Enjoy the hype, but don't buy into it until it becomes real and maintainable. If you do, well then - you're sacked!
Jordan Bean is a sophomore who has yet to declare a major. He can be reached at Jordan.Bean@tufts.edu.
