Optimism Creep

Minnesota head football coach Jerry Kill

Minnesota Gophers' new coach, Jerry Kill, has taken Minnesota by storm.  Formerly at Northern Illinois and other smaller schools, his appointment as the next head coach at the U of M was initially received with something amounting to derision.  But Coach Kill is a down-to-earth, straight shooter who talks a good line by not talking a good line.  The Gophers haven't been much to talk about for five decades, and now everybody and their brother is expecting that to change—maybe not this year, but surely by next year.  The sports media in Minnesota is rife with optimism.  People are excited about the Gophers.  OK.

But, hold on—there's this thing called "optimism creep,"  a term I recently came across in an article (here).   The article describes how every year Washington Redskins fans get pumped up with what turns out to be an unwarranted, false optimism. The closer they get to opening day the more the optimism grows—of its own volition.  Then comes the actual season and, wham, reality returns.  That's optimism creep.


They know about optimism creep all too well in my home state of Minnesota.  Every April the Twins are going to win the World Series "this year."  Every September the Vikings are headed to the Super Bowl "this year."  Last fall, 2010, the men's basketball Gophers were sure to make it deep into the Big Dance "this year."  Optimism was in the air, as it often is in Minnesota before each season starts.  The results are invariably anything from mildly disappointing to disastrous—year in, year out, decade following decade.

So, now it's Saturday, Sept. 3rd, 2011.  The new season begins with a coach who has a record for transforming poor teams into good ones.  The Gophers' opponent, USC, is ranked 25th in the nation.  Minnesota is abuzz.  Everyone knows this year will be a tough one, but still they hope and now believe that Gophers' football has "entered a new era."  Well, maybe.  Or is it just our old friend optimism creep?  The hope that springs eternal says, 'no, but didn't I read somewhere that they're working on a new breed of pigs that fly?  Oh well, Go Gophers!