The Deamon Deacon's New Coach

On Wednesday, Wake Forest, named the late Skip Prosser's protégé', Dino Gaudio, as the head coach of its men's basketball team. Prosser, who passed away last month was just one degree separated from us here at Beers with Demo and as such he was our guy in the college coaching ranks (Please see post in July archives).

Gaudio was quoted in USA Today, "From this tragedy.... Is going to be one of the great success stories... We're going to have a storybook season... We're going to make this thing like a Shakespearean play, where they're writing books about what happens from the bad to the good."

Shakespearean? storybook? Whoa, Dino. Slow it down. Committing games, let alone entire seasons to the memory of the departed is always fraught with peril. Combine that with pre-ordaining the same a degree of specialness or exceptionalism is just setting one's self up for a fall. That emotion one tries to tap into is a double-edged sword: It can be uplifting and inspirational but "emotion" being what it is can turn and present that person with an overwhelming task in constantly trying to live up to that commitment over the long grind of the season.



Superior athleticism combined with superior execution is what wins basketball games. Regardless, we appreciate Gaudio wanting to honor the memory of his mentor and we will definitely be pulling for the Dekes this upcoming basketball season. Best of luck, Dino!