Origin Story on "Who's got it better than us?"

Submitted by mgokev on

I stumbled across this quote from Coach Harbaugh from Oct. 3, 2011 and thought the board would find it interesting. I had never heard the origin story of "who's got it better than us?"

"There’s just a little saying around the house that my dad would always use that was, ‘Who’s got it better than us?’ and we’d all respond ‘No-body’. We could be driving in the car or whatever we were doing; he’d say it and we’d respond, ‘No-body,’ and we really thought that. We didn’t think there was anybody else that could possibly have it better than us.

"Then as you get older you realize that other people do have it better than you do. Like, in the case of our house on Talwrn Court in Iowa City, it was a really small house. I had a chance to go back there and look at it when I was scouting players at the University of Iowa, and it’s like two bedrooms, three kids, mom and a dad, living room, kitchen, all was the same. I don’t know how many square feet it was, but I just looked at it and thought, ‘This is the smallest house I think I’ve ever seen.’

"But we didn’t think so as kids. My dad would say, ‘Isn’t this great, you and your brother get to share the room. You can talk philosophy, you can share each other’s dreams. Who could possibly have it better than you two guys?’ So we thought, ‘No-body!’ That was kind of the idea. Sometimes you’d walk out of the house and there’d be a car there and sometimes there wouldn’t. When there wasn’t, ‘Hey, we’re walking today. Get the basketball and start dribbling it.’

"As you look back on it, I think the message there was that not having things handed to you, things that don’t come easy are really the blessing because you have to overcome some things. And, if it’s harder, then it makes you better in the long run. I told them that I really wanted to be a Major League shortstop growing up. I had a glove. I had baseball diamonds to play on. Kids down in the Dominican Republic were making gloves out of milk cartons. I didn’t stand a chance to be a Major League shortstop. Those guys had to overcome so much more that made them better players in the long run.

"So we just try to find ways to make it harder on ourselves. How can we make things suck more?"

 

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King Douche Ornery

December 9th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^

To say who's got it better--but several places come to mind. Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan State to namea few.

Joined: 01/03/2011

MGoPoints: 106

PopeLando

December 9th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^

Never say no to this. Less expensive. Larger space (she may be thinking kids if you don't already have them). Peace and quiet. This worked out well for my friend. Him and his wife bought a house that they could afford in the middle of nowhere. They have neighbors they only see if they want to, incredible privacy, and a large yard. Turns out she absolutely loves mowing the lawn with a riding mower. He married a keeper.

Joined: 08/01/2015

MGoPoints: 68694

Everyone Murders

December 9th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^

Out of context, the last quote sounds like a Dave Brandon mission statement:

So we just find ways to make it harder on ourselves.  How can we make things suck more?

Great article.  I knew the "who's got it better than us" rap was a Jack Harbaugh mantra, but not at this level of detail. 

At my kids' elementary school they used to end the morning announcements with "choose to make this a great day".  There's a lot of wisdom in that, too.  Attitude matters - tremendously.

Joined: 12/14/2010

MGoPoints: 65552

Cleveland Wolverine

December 9th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^

My 7 year old and I have adopted this saying- it's a great reminder to have "an attitude of gratitude". 

It is very memorable and personal to people. My son and I ran into a group of player's dads who were having a fun night on the town here in Cleveland last fall. No hesitation when I asked this question- a bellowing "Nooooooo-body" from the whole group. One of the guys played at (? CMU) for Jack, and he remembered this saying from his college days.

Happy holidays & Go Blue!

Joined: 11/11/2011

MGoPoints: 43

Ezeh-E

December 9th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^

I'm not going to bag on the millenials. How many of Jim's neighbors complained about whatever? Probably quite a few. Comparing the Harbaughs to the worst of the selfie generation is one big exercise in selection bias.  

My millenial brothers had a pretty similar attitude towards life: so long as I've got some form of a ball and some free time, life is just fine.

Joined: 07/22/2009

MGoPoints: 6211

Ezeh-E

December 9th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^

Nice info to add more context to the story.

Reminds me a bit of growing up with my millenial brothers. We had a big house, pool, video games, etc., and were plenty spoiled, but at least we spent time making up ridiculous competitions and games to play outside that helped us get creative. Roller basketball was the best.

I knew plenty of other families where the kids were bored. Give us a ball or a frisbee and we made up a new game to play. Not quite the same as what Jim was saying, but a similar attitude in terms of family approach. Ours was "what can we come up with with what we got on hand, because we're going to have some fun now"

Joined: 07/22/2009

MGoPoints: 6211

charblue.

December 9th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^

you really don't pay attention to your family's living situation if everything is going well. If everyone is happy, then literally who could have it better than you and your family. But, of course, as you get older and providing for your own family becomes a primary goal, you do notice.

In John Bacon's Bo's Lasting Lessons, Bo tells a story about working for Woody Hayes in Columbus at a time when coaching salaries were meager at best. This was in the 60's and Bo was just starting out but was working at Ohio State and coaches would oftern work two jobs.  Bo did. And one time he got a job offer for real estate evaluation that he decided not to accept but passed along to a coach on his staff who took the job and eventualy became a millionaire doing it, leaving coaching in the process.

Back in the day, (and this is still largely true, except the circumstances have changed dramatically) local boosters used to hire players for summer jobs. But after a losing season, Woody got word that the boosters were angry and were cutting off those summer jobs and he was pissed. He decided he would pay the players himself, taking out a second mortgage if necessary to do it.

Woody was notoriously not interested in money. He didn't really care if he was highly paid or not. Now this seems absurd, but Woody had to be prevailed upon to accept raises. The man was about his job and history and working all the time. But he did look out for the people who worked under him, one of the big reasons Bo had such great admiration for the guy, even if they were always plotting against each other during the 10-year war.

When I was in Ann Arbor and looking to buy a bigger house, one of the properties we made an offer on was owned by Greg Mattison and his wife. It was a very nice home, somewhat spacious but not outlandish. And Greg had worked on the basement himself, giving it a fresh paint job. Well done, too. In his son's room, were helmets from some of the schools that he'd worked including one from Texas A &M, I recall in particular.  Now, this is before Greg left for ND where his daughter went to school and played softball.

And at the time, Ann Arbor usually a hot real estate market, was on fire. And the day we made our offer, the Mattisons received at least 6 or 7 other offers and ours was rejected. That was disappointing because it really was a nice house and not far from campus either. Today, Greg could buy that house and five more just like it with the salary he's making.

Curiously, he worked for Jack Harbaugh, John Harbaugh and now Jim, and will have been a defensive coordinator for all three. I guess you could say he would likely subscribe to that Harbaugh mantra, and knows the origin of it better than most.

 

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 11420

RagingBean

December 9th, 2015 at 10:06 PM ^

Supposedly, Jack Harbaugh first picked that call and response up from a friend in Bowling Green, when he cocached there. Said friend is the grandfather of my friend, hence me knowing that. Not really sure that it's 100% true, but I love the connection anyway.

Joined: 10/29/2008

MGoPoints: 1757