Clent Stewart cannot remember the first time his mother spoke the quotation. He was very young. She probably whispered it to him in the crib, though of course he doesn’t remember that. Or maybe he does. The words are burned in his mind, more familiar than his favorite song. He says his mother’s quote out loud often, and he says it very fast, like a prayer at the end of a long day. The words crash into each other.
“Excuses are monuments to nothing they build bridges to nowhere those who use these tools of incompetence are fools and masters of nothing,” he says.
These were the words of Vanessa Stewart, the quote she gave him, the gift he clings to every day. There are no excuses. Sometimes we ask: What’s the real point of these big-time college sports? Do they offer anything more than entertainment for fans and pride for alumni? Do they really help these players grow up?
Take Clent Stewart. Has a college basketball career ever taken so many hairpin turns? Stewart came to Kansas State four years ago when he could have gone just about anywhere. Stanford sent him an invitation. Connecticut and Illinois came calling. He went instead to play for a coach, Jim Wooldridge, who was fighting a losing battle for his job. His phone rang off the hook. “You must be crazy,” his friends told him. He became a starter right away — first true freshman to start every game at Kansas State. His team still lost a lot of games.
Two years later, Wooldridge was fired, gone, and Clent saw on TV that his new coach would be Bob Huggins, college basketball’s Prince of Darkness. The phone started ringing again. Friends. All of them laughed, shouted in the phone, “Whoa man, how do you like your college choice now? Your new coach is CRAZY.” He was crazy, too — for a month Huggins didn’t even let his players practice offense. He didn’t care about offense. “Just throw it up on the boards and go get it,” he shouted. No, Hugs cared about toughness, meanness, intensity. He wrote off Clent Stewart early. Too soft. Too nice. By the end, though, Clent was Bob Huggins’ starter, too.
“I misjudged you,” Huggins said. Then he left for West Virginia.
Senior year, Clent Stewart got another new coach, Frank Martin, who had never coached a college team before. He also picked up a few new teammates — the most touted recruiting class in America. Suddenly, he found himself sharing the court with Michael Beasley, probably the No. 1 pick in whatever NBA draft he decides is right, and other guys who will probably be playing in the NBA someday. Kansas State basketball became big news. Clent Stewart moved into the background. “It’s about winning,” he said.
And then the final season began and his mother … well, she had been sick for a long time. In pain. She wouldn’t say anything about that, of course. She just said, “I got this.” Excuses are monuments to nothing. They build bridges to nowhere.
•••
Some think the quote is a poem.
Excuses are monuments to nothing.
They build bridges to nowhere.
Those who use these tools of incompetence
Are fools and masters of nothing.
