Passion, Perception; Virginia Tech Football, Basketball

What causes passion to come and go is part of the human condition I haven't figured out and probably never will. What I have figured out about passion is that it's too fickle to be trusted. Like anything else, perception is rarely reality.

The guy who cut you off in traffic might actually spend all of his available energy and money helping the disadvantaged. The couple that appears to have the perfect marriage may barely speak in the confines of their own home.

For four years I ran a sports blog. It started because writing was cheaper than therapy and grew into something that superseded all other hobbies, relationships or responsibilities. For about a year, it was all I cared about.

That's probably the number one reason why I got burned out on it. Following right behind were the new hobbies and life changes that finally gave me a better idea of what was important and what wasn't. Toward the end, the perception that I even remotely enjoyed writing couldn't have been further from the truth.

That brings us to Virginia Tech athletics. It's the one thing I have stayed passionate about the longest and strongest no matter where life has taken me. It's also what I wrote about for four years on my cliche-y, niche-y corner of the Internet.

The Hokie football team has lost 17 games over the last three seasons following eight consecutive campaigns in which they won at least 10 games and lost a total of 24. Outsiders can watch Frank Beamer's media sessions from the tail end of last year and come away with the notion that his competitive fire might be close to flickering out.

But if you watch footage of him dancing with his players following the Duke game or listen to Bud Foster get choked up while talking about him after the bowl you get the idea that what those truly in tune with the program see and what we see are two different things. Frank's always been one who never gets too high or too low following games. When you're winning, being even-keeled is perceived as leadership. When you're losing, it's perceived as complacency.

Hokie basketball hasn't been to consecutive NCAA tournaments since Reagan was in office. Since then, any success has either been in flashes or involved deep runs in the NIT. However, a new stark-raving mad leader has emerged and seems poised to lead Tech to success by any means, including sheer force of will.

Buzz Williams, at least throughout the course of an ACC game, drinks in the highs and lows and then sweats them out into fine merino wool. His zeal for the game and his team is always on full display.

Others have breathed life into the program with letters to the student paper and Selection Sunday conspiracy theories. But their passion for themselves sometimes seemed more genuine than theirs for Virginia Tech.

It's easy to watch Buzz courtside and envision a bright future for the men's basketball program with him on the bench for the next 10 years. But ask a Marquette fan and they might warn you against getting too attached to him. For whatever reason, Buzz's affection for Marquette waned and Virginia Tech benefited from a relationship gone sour.

Still, it's amazing what a leader with visceral passion can do for program that bordered on moribund. It's what many view as the missing ingredient from the football team.

You probably won't see Frank tweeting out inspirational quotes that sound like a mixture of Confucius and @tkp_ebooks. And you probably won't see him scissor kick through the air at the sight of a game-winning score.

#Hokies coach Buzz Williams has serious hops. AP photo from today's game against #UVa. pic.twitter.com/3TV3cEJDne— John Shifflett (@John_Shifflett) January 25, 2015

But it doesn't mean he's disconnected from his program. Just like those things don't mean Buzz will lead his program to sustained success.

I'm optimistic about both situations. On the football side, I'm not delusional enough to think a national championship is in the Hokies' immediate future, but I believe this year's group can at least avoid being the first senior class to never play in an ACC Championship Game. On the basketball side, I've enjoyed watching this group play a lot more than any of those teams from the last 2000s that actually won games. I think winning (and winning with Buzz) is in their future.

But I'm definitely at least prepared for things to not work out.

In the case of football, it's possible the air of calm hides someone who doesn't know how things got so bad or is too tired to try and fix it. For Buzzketball, our situation may not line up with what happened to Williams at Marquette, but if you put that much passion into something, it can leave you pretty low and looking for answers if it doesn't get results or, even worse, isn't appreciated or reciprocated.

The perception surrounding the final chapters of Frank's time roaming Lane's sidelines and the beginning of Buzz's tenure are polar opposites, but equally interesting. One program is supposedly on its way down with a head coach who has mentally checked out while the other is on the rise thanks to coach with endless enthusiasm. The reality will be revealed only by time.