Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Public Enemy #1: Dan Hawkins' case

OBNUG is in the process of deciding who should be this website's most hated villain. We'll be presenting the cases for all of the candidates over the next few weeks. Enjoy.

Dan Hawkins

Dan Hawkins' crimes against Bronco Nation are almost too numerous to count. Nevertheless, we compiled a short list:
  1. Lying
  2. Breaking promises
  3. Deceit
  4. Being a Judas
  5. Cody Hawkins
  6. Poor coaching
  7. Sunglasses
But perhaps the greatest crime that Dan Hawkins committed was his assault on our trust. When he left to coach the Colorado Buffaloes, he did so in a way that forever scarred how a BSU fan will look at the team. He left after promising he would stay. Who's to say the next coach won't do the same?

Bronco fans had seen it all before. Houston Nutt left for a bigger program; Dirk Koetter left for a bigger program. We shouldn't have expected any less from Hawkins based on the past history of Bronco coaches leaving for greener pastures. The difference was that Hawkins made us believe.

He was adamant about staying with BSU and continuing to build on its winning tradition. He suckered an entire fanbase into thinking that he would not bolt with the first chance he got. We thought he would be around forever, and we wanted him around forever.

That is why his departure hurt so bad. When he left for a better opportunity, he left behind people who honestly trusted him, and we still feel the repercussions of his deceit. For instance, we want to believe Chris Peterson's intentions to stay here, but a small part of us will always wonder if we are about to be taken for a ride. In a sense, we will never be able to look at a Boise State coach the same way again, and we have Dan Hawkins to thank for that.

6 comments:

  1. Couldn't you condense 1-4 into "Lying". Also, poor coaching? Maybe in the Boston College game...and the Georgia game wasn't his doing.

    How about:
    1. Lying
    2. Sunglasses
    3. Cody Hawkins
    4. Using WAY too many cliches.

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  2. Hawkins was a good strategist, but not as good at managing games.

    And it takes four synonyms for lying to describe what he did to us.

    We might have added: being too Zen for his own good.

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  3. Fair enough. Telling you know though...if you don't include Hal Mumme on this little list—I simply cannot forgive you.

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  4. Come on OBNUG...

    He was a good coach for you guys and did the program well. It's not his fault. I mean It's the Big XII.

    Go play intramurals brotha.

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  5. Doug Flutie
    Any announcer who still uses the cliche
    1." Folks, don't adjust your t.v. set, the field is really blue"
    2. or the myth about ducks crashing into the turf when it was first installed, instead of landing on the nearby Boise River
    3. Stating that BSU is only compiled of trick plays or a gimmick-fueled offense

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  6. packfan, we burn bridges pretty easily here at OBNUG, and what Hawkins did to us easily made us forget all the good things he did. I think you'll like next week's installment of Public Enemy: Kaepernick!

    Mumme, Flutie, who else do you guys think we should add? We're open to ideas.

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