We are in a span of time in America when, if something does not go our way, the response is a string of blames, complaints and accusations.
Those words aptly describe the reaction from some quarters following the NCAA decision to move the lower division football championship game from Chattanooga to Frisco, Texas.
Sure, there is disappointment after birthing the championship series 13 years earlier, raising the infant through its formative years and hoping to retain a relationship.
The loss hurts.
But there are lessons to be learned that do not come from bitter words or a hope for failure. (Think Congress.)
To put context around the Frisco choice, go back several years when Chattanooga battled for and lost a Toyota assembly plant. Consultants were hired with Toyota connections in hopes of influencing the decision, which narrowed down to Enterprise South and a parcel of land in Mississippi. Through the use of federal funds available from the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, the former Republican leader of the U.S. Senate, Trent Lott, and the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, cobbled together incentives.
A ready-made manufacturing work force of thousands was in place in Mississippi, the people being remnants of a textile industry that had exited overseas. Decision -- Mississippi.
Officials in Chattanooga struggled with the rejection. There were suggestions that the massive industrial park here be broken into small parcels. Some county commissioners envisioned being able to portion out these land packages to a myriad of businesses. County Mayor Claude Ramsey resisted the pressures, encouraged additional infrastructure investment and patiently waited for the next opportunity.
Lessons were learned from the Toyota rejection, including improvements in presentations, better coordination among disparate parties and a plan for action. The focus was on moving ahead, not channeling blame on someone else for failure or rejection.
Many were the naysayers who tried to label the Toyota loss as one more in a string of failed opportunities. The Toyota lessons led to reacting swiftly and decisively when Volkswagen came courting. Decision -- Chattanooga.
Some of the same voices are returning after the NCAA choice of Frisco over Chattanooga for the championship football prize. But it may be worth putting facts on the table before wishing total failure on an event this city spawned.
When the NCAA raised sometime earlier the notion of moving the game from before Christmas to after the new year, more than a few sports enthusiasts here were critical of the decision.
There was consistent hand-wringing when a team besides Georgia Southern, Appalachian State or Montana earned a berth in the game. The angst was aimed not at the quality of the contest but at the fewer seats that would be sold to outsiders, relying on locals to fill the stands at Finley Stadium.
There was the year of bad turf, the less-than-adequate sound system, and the struggle for funds for basic upkeep at the public stadium, including the locker rooms for teams. Did the struggles to raise modest funds to supplement Finley management in some way work their way up the NCAA bureaucracy? The list does not include the multi-story, graffiti-enhanced, fenced-in Parkway Tower that stands as a monument to an unfinished redevelopment plan. We may pan the strip mall and IKEA that lead to the Pizza Hut field in Frisco, but that sounds more welcoming than the tallest structure that is part of the Finley footprint.
So rather than wishing the worst for Frisco, the NCAA and the championship game, perhaps the time would be better spent learning and moving -- ahead.
Would a cultural event that brings people to the area for more than a one-time football game be a better investment?
Thank you, NCAA, for allowing us to start, nurture and build a game in a football division that was an also-ran. We were the incubator, and at some point maybe you will recognize communities that help build a franchise. The championship game has a new name and a new date. Send us the gold watch. This community will evolve once more.
Setbacks are the building blocks of future successes. Enjoy your new home because we are moving on.
To reach Tom Griscom, call 423-757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.