Clutch

Submitted by joeyb on

I recently learned how to drive a clutch and I thought that it was a really good analogy for how our season has been going and a much better one that fitting a square peg into a round hole.

What I am thinking is that when you are learning to drive a clutch, in the beginning you make LOTS of mistakes. Eventually you keep the car from stalling once, you really get going, and you start thinking you have it. Then you stop to try it again and you stall. Eventually, you get to the point where you are still making mistakes but you understand what you are supposed to do and you can keep yourself from stalling. As you keep driving, eventually you get really good with the occasional stall, but you have it down.

That is exactly what I see happenning this season. Utah was a stall. Miami (NTM) we got it running but still didn't sound good. ND we had lots of mistakes, we started to get close to keeping it from stalling but just as we think we are getting it to stick, we let off the clutch and...stall. Wisconsin was where we had a few starts in a row without stalling and we thought we were getting the hang of it. This continued into Illinois and then we started stalling again. We continue stalling through Toledo. At this point we are completely frustrated and we are ready to throw in the towl and go back to automatic transmission. Just before that happens, you start to get the hang of it again and you really get going.

Don't give up on this season or RR yet. Our last 5 games are winnable. It's not that you are a bad driver or that the person teaching you is a bad teacher, you are just making some mistakes on your way to getting it done. It doesn't help to go back to an automatic transmission because it will just prolong the inevitable. Give it some time and I am sure that the spread will start kicking in and we will have one hell of a team.

ShockFX

October 13th, 2008 at 10:01 AM ^

And then once you get the hang of it, you drop in a short throw shifter, new intake, maybe a turbo.  Upgrade the spark plugs and coils, new underdrive pulley.  Add in some springs and upgraded sway bars and suddenly you have a killer ride.

mvp

October 13th, 2008 at 10:43 AM ^

...you find yourself at a stoplight, going up a steep hill, with a beater pickup truck 1 foot behind you (this would be the Toledo game).

We're still going to keep finding situations we're unprepared for.  Give it time.

Good post.