My experience with Jim Harbaugh is a somewhat humorous warning about how to handle professional relationships, because you never know how the future will unfold.
Harbaugh was named head coach of the USD football team after the 2003 rather shameful firing of predecessor Kevin McGarry -- the way they did it, though they were well within their rights to do it -- and the school held a lavish news conference to announce the appointment. The hiring brought immediate excitement and attention to a school with a non-scholarship program, so there were far more media in attendance than USD football normally attracted.
At the time, I was well into my fourth year of operating Sandiegosportstown.com and one of the niches I had developed was thorough coverage of Toreros sports.
Therefore, I waited until the end of the news conference and past the informal part where television news crews did their one-on-ones, then I stepped forward and introduced myself. I told him who I was, about my Web site and then injected a slight dose of reality: when all the excitement died down, I'd be practically the only media person he'd be dealing with on a regular basis. It would be me and a freelance writer who sent game stories to the San Diego Union-Tribune. I was the man as far as he would be concerned -- or so I thought.
I got my own reality check in early 2004 as my personal and professional responsibilities continued to grow in relationship to the financial status of the Web site and I realized unless things changed soon, I was going to have to make some hard decisions. USD held spring practice several months later and I, the man as far as Harbaugh was concerned, made it out their ONCE to interview Harbaugh. I was never one to make a big deal out of spring football practice, but I would have tried to get out there more than ONCE to both USD and San Diego State.
As spring wound down, a particular measure I used to decide whether to continue Sandiegosportstown.com failed miserably and I decided to close up shop. Harbaugh never saw me again, and I never saw him. I was the man alright. Yup. That'll teach you to open your mouth wide.
Harbaugh, of course, went on to fabulous success with USD, fueled mostly by bringing in Josh Johnson to play quarterback. I went on to spend more time doing what was actually putting food in my children's mouths, which was covering the local courts. Harbaugh's DUI fell into my bailiwick, and I wrote a couple stories about the case. As a misdemeanor, he was never required to actually appear in court and he didn't. I still never saw him. Amazing.
Jim Harbaugh is now, as you no doubt know, the third-year head coach at Stanford and this time has hitched his horse to running back Toby Gerhart, who has received some Heisman talk. He has improved the Cardinal each season, has brought in a terrific freshman QB in Andrew Luck and a solid offensive line. Stanford is now 4-2 and has a strong shot at its first bowl since 2001. He is also lining up a second-straight highly regarded recruiting class. The man can coach, no doubt about it. I'd have enjoyed actually spending some time with him.
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This blog remains an island of tranquility in the sea of despair over the Chargers bad loss at Pittsburgh a week ago. No doubt that the Broncos 5-0 start, including Sunday's overtime win against New England, has thrown a monkey wrench into preseason prognostications, but Denver has a tougher row to hoe over the next few weeks. We'll know by the end of the month whether we need to panic.
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Scripps Ranch's Tate Forcier came out of Michigan's loss at Iowa not because of ineffective play but because of a concussion. The freshman quarterback had his first dose of reality last Saturday, but there's no question that he's had a great start to his college career. Coach Rich Rodriguez said Forcier will play this week if healthy, but since the opponent is only Delaware State (the Big Ten sucks, by the way), here's to hoping he gets a couple weeks off to recover. It's bigger than football, ya' know?
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