Being that we are in the midst of a booming “media age”, where today’s newspaper is yesterday’s news, and the cliche that compares hind parts to opinions, (you know how it goes; everybody has one and they all stink), the expectations for coaches and athletes to perform at an unreasonable level is at an all time high. It will probably continue to get worse, maybe never easier, but the fact that so many columnists write about the same thing, it becomes excruciatingly painful to ignore the tidal wave of those opinions when all the ants are marching to the same beat.

As it is, this week, and for that matter, the last 5 years, have brought the zombie writers out of the woodwork, talking about how Kansas Head Coach, Bill Self has the weight of the college basketball world thrust on his shoulders. Writers claim they need something to talk about, and bad news for us is good news for them. Writers that seldomly form their own opinion, no matter how good it can be, will piggyback others who negatively write an article about the shortcomings of someone, this time, Bill Self.

Here we are, Coach Self making his first Final Four after 15 years as a head coach and 5 trips to the Elite Eight before breaking through to the promise land. I’ve read articles this week, prior to Coach Self winning against Davidson to get to the last weekend, that wanted to completely destroy what he’s previously accomplished. Pat Forde (one who tends to have a very difficult time forming his own opinion), a Kansas-rival alumni, posted his thoughts on the pressures facing Self if he failed to win this time around. That article came a day after Kansas City Star columnist, Jason Whitlock, wrote his version of the same, overly-used story. Whitlock then chimed in after Kansas’ victory to say that the game failed to live up to his expectations.

What these writers fail to acknowledge, what many more fall in line in doing, is they fail to see the good in people. They do not want to expose the achievements of most. Writing about the good does not sell papers, I know, but simply jumping on the tidal wave of negativity only fuels an impossible-to-stop wall of focus that limits the ability of the writer who spent an entire career trying be as objective as possible.

Think about this; Bill Self has been to 5 Elite Eights in 15 seasons. Of those 15 seasons, he spent 8 learning the ropes in the Division 1 level at institutions that regularly won’t allow a coach to even reach the tournament, and he didn’t until his 6th overall season. After tutelage under legendary coaches, Larry Brown and Eddie Sutton, Self started out his career at Oral Roberts. He went from winning 6 games in his 1st season to 10 in his second, 18 in his 3rd and 21 in his 4th and final season at the school. From there, he stepped up the ladder to Tulsa, a jump-off school for many great coaches. At Tulsa, Self went from 19 wins to 23 wins to 32 wins, winning the conference title twice and gaining two NCAA invitations in his three seasons, winning four NCAA games and advancing to his first Elite Eight. Not many coaches can do that at Tulsa, but he did. Following his biggest season as a head coach, Self took another step up the ladder to Illinois. In 3 seasons at Illinois, he averaged 26 wins and won 2 conference titles, advancing to the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite 8 once.

Then in 2003, Self reached the top of the coaching ladder, with, seemingly, no place to go but down. Kansas was coming off of 2 Final Fours when they were left feeling used after their beloved Roy Williams left. Nobody could replace Williams, no matter how golden a touch. Coach Self was the carefully selected candidate and he would not look back. What many in Jayhawk country thought would be a dramatic drop in productivity and dullness on the shiny grail, Bill Self has proven that his way is better. How could it be better? Because he created a strong foundation with alumni, recruiting, past players, the athletic department and all the fans. In his 5 years as the leader of the Kansas program, the Jayhawks finished 2nd in the conference, then 1st, 1st, 1st, and 1st. They’ve also captured 3 conference tournament titles and have gone to three Elite Eights and now 1 Final Four. Nobody could have taken what Mighty Roy Williams had established and actually made it better. Nobody, but Bill Self.

And there he was, in Detroit, in a huge stadium, on a stage perched above everybody else, left to coach all alone on a stage built to hoist him above all of his assistants, all of his substitutes, all of the media and fans that were frothing at the mouth to tear him down if he couldn’t win this one. Suffice it to say that all of the previously-listed accomplishments meant nothing to anyone who only wanted KU to play in the Final Four. That they joined each other, hand in hand, on that wave of negativity. Such short term memory we have and more & bigger that we want. It is drilled into our consciousness that there is only one goal in college basketball, not numerous goals. To think that because the opposition had a 10 next to its name meant catastrophe if KU lost, no matter how good that 10 really was, because somebody labeled them a 10, which meant they were not worthy of competition. Just as the team that was labeled a 14, three years ago or the other that was labeled a 13, two years ago. You see, we didn’t climb the ladder that Bill Self climbed. We were only carried halfway up, then dropped all the way down, then carried three quarters the way up, then dropped again. It was the foundation that was the not poured correctly, the same one that began crumbling before the renovations Bill Self learned along the way, then brought to Kansas.

So join me in being the first in line in noticing the good in someone. Take note of his achievements and learn that hard work and one step at a time will create a necessary foundation, vital for upward mobility. In a time when we are instilled with quick anger, jumping ship, and snap decisions, we should learn from Bill Self that methodically doing things right, and right away, is the way to accomplish goals. Maybe, if Kansas fans are lucky, he’ll notice the good in their world, and decide not to search for new pastures.