Billy Donovan will certainly tell you as much, after a week that saw him two-step from Gainesville to Orlando and back again. Billy D's detractors spilled plenty of ink lampooning the once and former Florida coach as he limped his way home, but lost in the hubbub was one thoroughly incontrovertible fact:
Billy Donovan has a home to limp to.
And home, Bubba: Home is where they never quit believing in you.
Say what you will about Gators fans—they certainly do have this loyalty trip wired. One day, Billy Donovan was skipping town for greener pastures. The next, he was strolling down Main Street like nothing'd happened...and being embraced for it.
So it goes, I guess:
We've all got our idols.
Some of us just spend a little more time on our knees than we'd like.
Faith is a funny thing. It's redemptive, to be sure—but it's perditious too: perditious in a way that will leave you clinging to fidelity long after it's ceased to be warranted.
So it goes, I guess:
We've all got our idols.
Some of us just spend a little more time on our knees than we'd like.
Faith is a funny thing. It's redemptive, to be sure—but it's perditious too: perditious in a way that will leave you clinging to fidelity long after it's ceased to be warranted.
By signing with the Orlando Magic, Billy Donovan showed exactly how little the last 11 years had meant to him. By changing his mind, he asked Gator Nationals to pretend he hadn't just broken their hearts. And so they did.
Because honestly Bubba—what other choice did they have?
He works in mysterious ways. Maybe that's the rub here, when you really get down to it: If you're going to pledge allegiance to any godhead, you don't get to question His motives. You can't, actually, because faith is a virtue best practiced in the dark, and he who stares too hard at his own convictions is bound to wind up, you know—
Lonely.
And angsty.
And praying for someone—anyone—to come along and save him from himself.
I don't doubt that Billy Donovan will continue to do great things for Florida basketball. Nor do I doubt that Florida fans will continue to exalt him for it. There really is no forsaking those ties that bind, after all, and anyone who tells you otherwise, well—
You'd damn well better believe he's only just saying, is all...
Because honestly Bubba—what other choice did they have?
He works in mysterious ways. Maybe that's the rub here, when you really get down to it: If you're going to pledge allegiance to any godhead, you don't get to question His motives. You can't, actually, because faith is a virtue best practiced in the dark, and he who stares too hard at his own convictions is bound to wind up, you know—
Lonely.
And angsty.
And praying for someone—anyone—to come along and save him from himself.
I don't doubt that Billy Donovan will continue to do great things for Florida basketball. Nor do I doubt that Florida fans will continue to exalt him for it. There really is no forsaking those ties that bind, after all, and anyone who tells you otherwise, well—
You'd damn well better believe he's only just saying, is all...
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about 1 year ago
For how many people in this country do sports and its privileged idols serve a purpose once reserved for religion. Strangely similar these two things, both connected under a banner of faith and worship.
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