The Future of this Program

I'll be honest. (What's the point in blogging if you can't be honest in it?) I'm not going to jump on the Lynch bandwagon and be thrilled with the 4-year deal. That being said, I hope that Bill Lynch and his staff can build on the improvements this program saw this season, and really have some great seasons over the next 4 years.
I've said several times, on this and other forums, that a long-term contract would be granted as a result of emotion over a win in the Oaken Bucket game, and that such a decision should not be made based on emotion. My concerns with Lynch were, in fact, based on a lack of emotion. I've never really picked up a fire, a passion, from him. Maybe I've just missed it. Maybe, in the IU post-Knight era, we have a coach who has made it a personal mission to not display strong emotions. I guess that's ok, but I'm a fan of passionate leadership. I like to see it, to feel it. I like it to be tangible. (Maybe it comes down to being a female- who knows! I can see it now, like some cheap personal ad- Single, D-1 Big Ten school seeking man with fire and passion to take us to the end zone and maybe more. Call 555-IUIU.)
Anyway, all that being said, now the decision is made, and I will support this program. I will support Coach Lynch. Because I am a Hoosier Football Fan. I believe in this program. I know we are capable of recruiting solid players, and winning big games, and going to bowls. We have the ability to do all of that, and more. And you know what? Even if we don't, I'll still be a Hoosier Football Fan.
I've lived in Bloomington my entire life. I am biased, and I'm proud to admit it. I love Indiana University athletics. Football, basketball, soccer, swimming, whatever. I'm not personally an athletic person- physically I'm simply unable to do much where sports are concerned- but I've been nursed at the teet of IU Sports, and I love it. I've met teams at the Monroe County Airport in the middle of the night after a tough loss, smiling and clapping and telling them how proud we were of the efforts they made. That's not going to change.
So, we have our leadership in place for this program, let's see what they're going to do. Here in about a week, we'll know what our bowl situation will be. I, like many others, think we're going to Arizona. I like it, although as I mentioned in an earlier post, I think there would be a lot of benefit to us playing in the Motor City. I think from a recruiting standpoint, we'll get more from the Insight Bowl. I think the national viewership will be larger, and we will be better able to demonstrate some of the abilities of our players. (I can only pray that Kellen can hang on to the ball!) We have such a young team overall, potential recruits could literally be looking at teammates, not "former players". I think that that concept could have bearing, so long as we take the field with authority and play some solid ball in whatever bowl we get. A win would obviously be phenomenal, but I'll take some good, solid quality play. All 4 quarters would be great. I've not seen much of that this season, 4 solid quarters of play. I've seen lots of halves, but there's more than that to a game.
We'll just see. In the meantime, congratulations to Coach Bill Lynch, and his staff, and here's to four years of wins, bowls, and BCS bids!