As I solemnly sit trying to process the events regarding Coach Huggins that have unfolded over the past 48 hours, I question my own internal bias and I am curious as to how strongly my own cognitive dissonance is impacting my ability to see this situation clearly. Sure, a sarcastic could say that the thought of doing a state wide LGBTQ tour was just too much and drove Coach Huggins to drinking. A conspiracy theorist might forward that this was a set up. No way a rational adult of stature and respect has trash bags of alcoholic beverage containers strewn throughout his vehicle, his work vehicle at that. Clearly he was drugged and set up? Of course with his recent failings on the public stage and razor thin margin for error, there's is no way he makes this mistake, right? Those decisions are illogical, irrational and my medical mind made me wonder had this man had a stroke? Was there some medical explanation for such a disastrous set of decision making? I have seen first hand medical conditions cause implausible behavior. Of course, I like many others have been searching for some explanation as to how a situation so bizarre could have materialized. However, as the facts unfold, I'm left with Occom's Razor, where the most simple explanation, the one with the least number of variables, is the most likely. Bob Huggins is an alcoholic. And like many alcoholics before him, a quite beloved one.
To those that that have only ever known Bob Huggins as the West Virginia basketball coach, relish those memories, that is a good place to be. The success that he brought to the WVU basketball program is factually unprecedented.
To those that say Bob Huggins has been past his time for a while and good riddance, I posit that that now, is perhaps a time of reflection rather than redundancy. A time to remember that that fabric which makes us all unique in our own way, is woven from the same thread that connects us all, our humanity. Father time will choose us all unselectively, of that certainty is guaranteed.
To the rest of us, I share in the collective sadness that this moment has unveiled. A fairytale ending unlike the expected yet maybe one befitting of the Brothers Grimm. Conceivably more so the makings of a 30 for 30, where reality is not quite believable, feels almost a concocted twist of a perverted mind, yet is in fact, real.
Addiction is a very difficult disease with profound consequences layered upon ones life. I see addiction every day in my profession, people who have hit rock bottom. People who keep putting themselves and others in harms way. People who continue to make the same decisions despite the known recurrent and exponential gravity of that cycle. These same people drain my energy, drain the energy of all those trying to help them. They steal our empathy one minuscule fragment at a time until the well is nearly dry. That is exhausting. I have also learned in my short 47 years how to refill my empathy bucket, measure judgments carefully and record observations objectively, skills I continue to hone. I too struggle with addictive personality traits, although I am aware and awareness is the enemy of struggle. Feasibly, this may be why Bob Huggins is so beloved, relatable and garnered the support he has over the course of his career.
Free will versus Determinism is one of my favorite philosophical debates of all time. A determinist may say Bob Huggins had no choice secondary to his particular arrangement of carbon atoms, the circumstances of his life. A free will proponent would say coach Huggins made his choice and must reap the consequences. My short time has also taught may the answer is likely somewhere in the middle. With way more unknown than known in so many situations. I can say at this point I appreciate coach Huggins for his candor and unfailing dedication to West Virginia University. I will continue to support he and his family on this difficult journey to wellness. I also have a tremendous amount of empathy for the young men whos lives have faced Immediate upheaval and uncertainty at a time where joy permeated and dreams proliferated throughout mountaineer nation. I can not imagine the myriad of emotions in all of their minds at this time.
With profound sadness, renewed empathy and perpetual optimism,
Always a Mountaineer.
Montani Semper Liberi
To those that that have only ever known Bob Huggins as the West Virginia basketball coach, relish those memories, that is a good place to be. The success that he brought to the WVU basketball program is factually unprecedented.
To those that say Bob Huggins has been past his time for a while and good riddance, I posit that that now, is perhaps a time of reflection rather than redundancy. A time to remember that that fabric which makes us all unique in our own way, is woven from the same thread that connects us all, our humanity. Father time will choose us all unselectively, of that certainty is guaranteed.
To the rest of us, I share in the collective sadness that this moment has unveiled. A fairytale ending unlike the expected yet maybe one befitting of the Brothers Grimm. Conceivably more so the makings of a 30 for 30, where reality is not quite believable, feels almost a concocted twist of a perverted mind, yet is in fact, real.
Addiction is a very difficult disease with profound consequences layered upon ones life. I see addiction every day in my profession, people who have hit rock bottom. People who keep putting themselves and others in harms way. People who continue to make the same decisions despite the known recurrent and exponential gravity of that cycle. These same people drain my energy, drain the energy of all those trying to help them. They steal our empathy one minuscule fragment at a time until the well is nearly dry. That is exhausting. I have also learned in my short 47 years how to refill my empathy bucket, measure judgments carefully and record observations objectively, skills I continue to hone. I too struggle with addictive personality traits, although I am aware and awareness is the enemy of struggle. Feasibly, this may be why Bob Huggins is so beloved, relatable and garnered the support he has over the course of his career.
Free will versus Determinism is one of my favorite philosophical debates of all time. A determinist may say Bob Huggins had no choice secondary to his particular arrangement of carbon atoms, the circumstances of his life. A free will proponent would say coach Huggins made his choice and must reap the consequences. My short time has also taught may the answer is likely somewhere in the middle. With way more unknown than known in so many situations. I can say at this point I appreciate coach Huggins for his candor and unfailing dedication to West Virginia University. I will continue to support he and his family on this difficult journey to wellness. I also have a tremendous amount of empathy for the young men whos lives have faced Immediate upheaval and uncertainty at a time where joy permeated and dreams proliferated throughout mountaineer nation. I can not imagine the myriad of emotions in all of their minds at this time.
With profound sadness, renewed empathy and perpetual optimism,
Always a Mountaineer.
Montani Semper Liberi
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