ding ding ding. When this whole recruitment was taking place, and even with the djk thing. It really forced me to take a look in the mirror, but to share with hundreds of thousands of hawkeye fans = big balls.
In a way... his piece is not only supportive of Hubbard, but everybody out there who has gotten or is still waiting for their second chance.
While I appreciate the sentiment from you and spank, it doesn't take big anythings.
I write and talk, in the genres I work in, 'anecdotally'. That's mostly my style. Each of us has a past, each of us has things in our past we are not proud of.
I don't have a problem relating my past to things like this, because it helps me with the evaluation process and be as fair as I can be..and maybe for some, it helps them to look at me and see 'This guy seems mostly adjusted and somewhat normal, and he was given a second chance' etc. As you put it, it forced you to look in the mirror...which was exactly the intent of the item.
I don't go out of my way to talk about my past, but I don't shy away from it when asked or if the storytelling opportunity comes along, like in this instance. Some folks elsewhere say I am always talking about it...When the situation and circumstance arises, I do. IMO this was one of those times where my life experiences helped relay or relate a story related to a Hawkeye story.
The reason I have no problem openly talking about my past in that area is I am not that person anymore..and I am hardly the only individual to have made bad choices that got him in a bad place (yes, it was my own doing, not the fault of another nor was I any victim), but am an example of the power of grace, which has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the heart of others and strength from above.
Anthony Hubbard's story could turn out to be pretty cool and the evidence we have before us from the last several years suggests he is on that redemptive road.
As for the folks that don't care for how I write or the devices I sometimes use, that's OK. I go into these items with my eyes wide open knowing that some are not going to care for it. No one is universally liked or loathed. However the OP in this particular thread missed the intent by a mile so much so that I highly doubt they read the item in its entirety, and certainly missed these sentences in the item:
"Until he actually does something to change that, I am choosing to give him and the Iowa coaching staff that brought him to Iowa, the benefit of the doubt, based upon his actions the past four years."