By Mike Gibson
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
A very wise man, conservative philosopher George Santayana, coined that phrase.
Today's biggest misconception is that the "college football landscape" is so different than it was "20, 30 years ago" and "ignoring that is a sign of being out of touch with reality."
Here's the biggest dose of reality: College football's landscape has changed so that the mid-majors are allowed to experience the kind of success they never had back 20, 30 years ago.
The landscape the very Bobby Wallace apologists cited as a reason why Temple football can't succeed is the very reason Temple football can succeed.
Let's see.
What did Temple have in the 1970s and 1980s?
Surely not a $521 million stadium to play all of its games in, not a stadium that is widely hailed as the best from a fan's standpoint in all of football, pro and college.
Maybe Temple could play in Temple Stadium, later maybe it could get dates at Franklin Field and Veterans Stadium _ two places with major drawbacks for Owl fans. No creature comforts at Franklin Field, no sightlines at the Vet.
Temple University athletic director Bill Bradshaw is right about a lot of things, but none more than this quote.
"None of our opponents can say they play in a stadium as nice as ours," Bradshaw said.
And none of them can.
That wasn't the case 20, 30 years ago when every single one of them could.
Those who cite "landscape" as the reason Temple can't succeed in football usually weren't even around 20, 30 years ago to see what the landscape really was.
I was there, covering the team, making the road trips when every team the Owls played had a nicer stadium.
Facilities?
Every other team had an Edberg-Olson equivalent or better way back when that landscape was supposed to be so different.
Temple had a dingy weight room in the McGonigle Hall basement and a rock-strewn grass practice field (now the Student Pavilion) adjacent to it.
Bruce Arians would pass out if he saw the facilities Temple has now compared to what it had then.
Somehow, he got players who could compete.
That's the reality of the landscape then and now.
It changed for Temple's benefit, not its demise.
The landscape also included a blantantly unfair distribution of scholarships, something that doesn't exist now. Pitt gave out hundreds of scholarships in those days, as did Penn State. Temple could never even afford half that. That's a handicap that dwarfs facilities. Temple's problems stem from Jerry Berndt, Ron Dickerson and Bobby Wallace (and David Adamany).
Al Golden is a dedicated, committed coach who has a clue and can turn things around here in no more than 3-4 years.
Yes, the college football landscape was completely different 20, 30 years ago. What Wayne Hardin and Bruce Arians did against that brutal backdrop can be considered nothing short of a miracle.
Comparatively speaking, the landscape Golden has to work with is a Garden of Eden.
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