Professor Elam

Sunday Nov 14, 2010

 On October 24, 2010 I made the socionomic observation that UT Football Coach Mack Brown had thrown a temper tantrum. He said his team make that the UT team, 'stunk.'  What happened is that the team and then the coach, (or was it the other way round?) experienced a downturn in social mood. I was not there so I cannot say which happened first. But the result is clear. Each party has turned more negative since. The result has been four straight losses to Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas State, and now Oklahoma State. The result of course of the negative mood at UT is reflected in the 'we can do this' mood of their opponents. the negative social mood of UT has offered a positive opportunity for the other team. Indeed news reports have at least two teams commenting, no one in our ( the team playing UT) locker room thought we would lose. 

For some reason the social mood at the Dallas Cowboys has likewise turned down. For the first time, the owner fired the coach, Wade Phillips, in the middle of the season. Jones' first inclination was probably correct, a change would be worse than no change, but  reflecting his ambivalence and indecision, Jones fired him anyway. Hmm, now that I think about it social mood at Dallas probably peaked with the completion of the new $1 B +stadium coupled with snagging the next Super  Bowl. The fact is that nothing could top those two events and sure enough that is what has happened. No doubt many will cite the overbearing nature of Jones and his dominance of all that happens with the team. Yet even that dominance waxes and wanes, the team still swings from success to disappointment to success again to disappointment again. Jones can change all the coaches he wants, until the social mood of the team changes, things won't improve.