Northwestern University Athletics
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The Skip Report: The Man in the Glass
9/14/2015 5:30:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The poem is titled The Man In The Glass and it opens with these lines: "When you get what you want in your struggle for self/ And the world makes you king for a day/ Just go to the mirror and look at yourself/ And see what that man has to say."
Then it closes with this: "You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years/ And get pats on the back as you pass/ But your final reward will be heartache and tears/ If you've cheated the man in the glass."
This poem was first published in 1934. But its message, its theme, is relevant on this Monday that the Wildcats popped up at No. 23 in the national rankings.
Monday morning, in their first full-team meeting since the 'Cats ran their record to 2-0, Fitzgerald talked to them about their appearance in the rankings. "Three weeks ago, I think the only thing written (about them) was negative," he would say hours later. "I asked them (then) not to focus on those distractions. I'd ask them to do the same thing (now). The only thing that matters ranking-wise is how you rank against your own best self. I read them a great poem every year in camp, The Man In The Glass. That's the only thing that matters. What are you doing compared to yourself? Quite frankly, I expect to be ranked. I expect our team to compete for championships. So it's not a surprise to me. But you've got to earn that every second of every day. It's just a distraction if you focus on it."
"The rankings, they don't really mean anything," linebacker Anthony Walker would add minutes later. "Like Coach Fitz said, the man in the mirror. Just worry about yourself."
"We just want to go out and play football. It doesn't really matter where we're ranked," running back Justin Jackson would conclude. "Honestly, I don't think anyone on this team pays attention to that. We just want to go out and win football games. Before the season, no one was saying anything about us. Now everyone's saying we're good. But it comes down to how we feel about us. It doesn't matter what the media feels about us."
And how do they feel about themselves?
"We feel we can be a really good football team," said Jackson. "If we bring it everyday in practice and translate that to the game, we feel we can be a really good football team."
Last Saturday, coming off their win over then-No. 21 Stanford, the 'Cats faced an FCS opponent, Eastern Illinois. This potential trap game was a test of their maturity and, Fitzgerald said Monday, "I think we passed it with an 'A.'" Now Saturday, in their first road test of the season, they must play at Duke, which will test their maturity anew. "No doubt. We're playing a great team," agreed Fitzgerald.
"But the maturity has more to do with, again, are we a team that's going to let distractions impact us? Or are we-- I talked to them about it today. Immature guys have a focus like this"-- and here he spread his hands out beyond his shoulders. "But great players, great teams, are able to focus right here"-- and now his hands were in front of his eyes. "That's where we need to go."
And how is that managed?
"It's a lot of things," said Jackson. "It comes from the top down, the leadership. But it's also what we want and how we see ourselves as a football team. We have very-high goals, very-high aspirations for this team. So in that way, every single day in practice and every single game we come upon, that keeps our focus where it needs to be-- knowing that's where we want to be and this is where we are. So we know we have a lot of work to do to get there."
Here are two other messages Fitzgerald has delivered to his team through this season's first two weeks. He is tired of being average, and he is tired of potential. "Oh, yeah. Everyday. Everyday (he tells us that)," the junior running back Warren Long confirmed on Monday.
And how do they respond to that?
"Tired of being average. Tired of not going to a bowl," he said softly. "But what's exciting is, since I've been here, there is something different among the team. The camaraderie in the locker room, it just feels different."
How is it different?
"I can't put my finger on it, honestly."
Is it also different for Jackson, a true sophomore?
"Yeah. This year we're really close, we're a close-knit group," he said. "I think we have a lot of fun with each other, and during the summer we did a lot more things together than we did last year. That just helps us on the field. We get excited for each other and we're playing for each other, and that allows us to player harder and to play with more passion."
Is feeling that you can be special part of that atmosphere too?
"This year our confidence is sky high and I think that's driving us as a team, yeah," Jackson said.
QUICKLY NOTED: Adam DePietro, who started at right tackle last Saturday in place of the injured Eric Olson, will miss the Duke game after himself getting injured in the first quarter against Eastern. . . . The O line, which is beat up, is still in flux. Olson is listed at the starter for this week's game. But Ian Park, who opened at left guard against Stanford, is here the starting center instead of Brad North, who handled that chore against the Cardinal and was available only on an emergency basis against Eastern. In Park's place is Connor Mahoney, who switched over to the O line last spring after playing defensive tackle. When asked if North, who's listed as the backup center on the depth chart, would start if fully healthy, Fitzgerald said, "We'll see how the week goes. And I talked to you guys about it (last Monday). He didn't snap the ball well enough two weeks ago, obviously. He's got to get better, he's got to be more consistent.". . . Asked how Mahoney was doing after less-than-a-year on the O line, he said, "It's an evolution. He's not there yet. I'd say that about our whole O line. We're far from where we need to be. But I think those guys are working. They had a much better week last week in practice than they did before Stanford. Then I think there were some good things on Saturday, and some areas that weren't. The good news for them is they have three backs behind them that are pretty good. When we're blocking it for one yard, our backs are getting three. I'd like to start blocking for four yards and see what we could do then. That would be encouraging."
AND FINALLY, Fitzgerald, on his banged-up offensive linemen: "They all ran around this morning. We'll see how the week progresses. But they're a lot better than they were a week ago."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The poem is titled The Man In The Glass and it opens with these lines: "When you get what you want in your struggle for self/ And the world makes you king for a day/ Just go to the mirror and look at yourself/ And see what that man has to say."
Then it closes with this: "You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years/ And get pats on the back as you pass/ But your final reward will be heartache and tears/ If you've cheated the man in the glass."
This poem was first published in 1934. But its message, its theme, is relevant on this Monday that the Wildcats popped up at No. 23 in the national rankings.
Monday morning, in their first full-team meeting since the 'Cats ran their record to 2-0, Fitzgerald talked to them about their appearance in the rankings. "Three weeks ago, I think the only thing written (about them) was negative," he would say hours later. "I asked them (then) not to focus on those distractions. I'd ask them to do the same thing (now). The only thing that matters ranking-wise is how you rank against your own best self. I read them a great poem every year in camp, The Man In The Glass. That's the only thing that matters. What are you doing compared to yourself? Quite frankly, I expect to be ranked. I expect our team to compete for championships. So it's not a surprise to me. But you've got to earn that every second of every day. It's just a distraction if you focus on it."
"The rankings, they don't really mean anything," linebacker Anthony Walker would add minutes later. "Like Coach Fitz said, the man in the mirror. Just worry about yourself."
"We just want to go out and play football. It doesn't really matter where we're ranked," running back Justin Jackson would conclude. "Honestly, I don't think anyone on this team pays attention to that. We just want to go out and win football games. Before the season, no one was saying anything about us. Now everyone's saying we're good. But it comes down to how we feel about us. It doesn't matter what the media feels about us."
And how do they feel about themselves?
"We feel we can be a really good football team," said Jackson. "If we bring it everyday in practice and translate that to the game, we feel we can be a really good football team."
Last Saturday, coming off their win over then-No. 21 Stanford, the 'Cats faced an FCS opponent, Eastern Illinois. This potential trap game was a test of their maturity and, Fitzgerald said Monday, "I think we passed it with an 'A.'" Now Saturday, in their first road test of the season, they must play at Duke, which will test their maturity anew. "No doubt. We're playing a great team," agreed Fitzgerald.
"But the maturity has more to do with, again, are we a team that's going to let distractions impact us? Or are we-- I talked to them about it today. Immature guys have a focus like this"-- and here he spread his hands out beyond his shoulders. "But great players, great teams, are able to focus right here"-- and now his hands were in front of his eyes. "That's where we need to go."
And how is that managed?
"It's a lot of things," said Jackson. "It comes from the top down, the leadership. But it's also what we want and how we see ourselves as a football team. We have very-high goals, very-high aspirations for this team. So in that way, every single day in practice and every single game we come upon, that keeps our focus where it needs to be-- knowing that's where we want to be and this is where we are. So we know we have a lot of work to do to get there."
Here are two other messages Fitzgerald has delivered to his team through this season's first two weeks. He is tired of being average, and he is tired of potential. "Oh, yeah. Everyday. Everyday (he tells us that)," the junior running back Warren Long confirmed on Monday.
And how do they respond to that?
"Tired of being average. Tired of not going to a bowl," he said softly. "But what's exciting is, since I've been here, there is something different among the team. The camaraderie in the locker room, it just feels different."
How is it different?
"I can't put my finger on it, honestly."
Is it also different for Jackson, a true sophomore?
"Yeah. This year we're really close, we're a close-knit group," he said. "I think we have a lot of fun with each other, and during the summer we did a lot more things together than we did last year. That just helps us on the field. We get excited for each other and we're playing for each other, and that allows us to player harder and to play with more passion."
Is feeling that you can be special part of that atmosphere too?
"This year our confidence is sky high and I think that's driving us as a team, yeah," Jackson said.
QUICKLY NOTED: Adam DePietro, who started at right tackle last Saturday in place of the injured Eric Olson, will miss the Duke game after himself getting injured in the first quarter against Eastern. . . . The O line, which is beat up, is still in flux. Olson is listed at the starter for this week's game. But Ian Park, who opened at left guard against Stanford, is here the starting center instead of Brad North, who handled that chore against the Cardinal and was available only on an emergency basis against Eastern. In Park's place is Connor Mahoney, who switched over to the O line last spring after playing defensive tackle. When asked if North, who's listed as the backup center on the depth chart, would start if fully healthy, Fitzgerald said, "We'll see how the week goes. And I talked to you guys about it (last Monday). He didn't snap the ball well enough two weeks ago, obviously. He's got to get better, he's got to be more consistent.". . . Asked how Mahoney was doing after less-than-a-year on the O line, he said, "It's an evolution. He's not there yet. I'd say that about our whole O line. We're far from where we need to be. But I think those guys are working. They had a much better week last week in practice than they did before Stanford. Then I think there were some good things on Saturday, and some areas that weren't. The good news for them is they have three backs behind them that are pretty good. When we're blocking it for one yard, our backs are getting three. I'd like to start blocking for four yards and see what we could do then. That would be encouraging."
AND FINALLY, Fitzgerald, on his banged-up offensive linemen: "They all ran around this morning. We'll see how the week progresses. But they're a lot better than they were a week ago."
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