While browsing espn.com the other day, I was looking at a polling section of ESPN’s Sports Nation. On the left side of my computer screen, there was a link that said view the approval rating of your coach. Interested to see what Eric Mangini had received for trying to rebuild my team (the Browns), I followed the link and scrolled down the page to find him. Mangini, unfortunately, is at the bottom of the list, where only 6 percent of the nation believes that he is doing his job correctly. I’d like to note that he has had this job for less than a year.

A little while later, while scrolling through CNN’s Web site, I saw an article regarding President Barack Obama’s “slow start.” In the article, written by Candy Crowley, it talks about how President Obama’s plans are taking too long, and that his claims of fixing the economy are immeasurable. She then goes on to say, “If 10 months is too short a time to keep promises, it’s been plenty of time to break them, starting with transparency.”

Have we really become that impatient? Does anybody realize sometimes the “all-nighter” doesn’t really apply to some professions?

It may be kind of a stretch to compare Mangini and Obama. They are in two completely different professions and will probably never meet unless the Browns win a Super Bowl, which may take more than one presidential term. But these two do share one piece of common ground: They both need more time to fix the problems going on.

Granted, I couldn’t tell you what President Obama did in his first 100 days as president. I can’t tell you if he is doing a good job or bad job. What I can say though, is that with issues like the economy, the war and healthcare, it will take more than the first 10 months of his presidency to settle those problems. The presidential term is four years, so if anybody is going to complain, do it in three years if he still hasn’t done his job. And besides, this is politics, and politicians make promises and break promises every day to get what they want, so should anybody really be surprised?

As for the brave fans of the Cleveland Browns who are enduring the 1-7 season, you can’t expect Mangini to flip the organization over in the course of one night. This will take at least a year or two to draft guys and find free agents that can be contributors – not to mention the players he picked up need to do their jobs. It also doesn’t help that you have a rookie offensive coordinator that sucks and an owner who really has destroyed the reputation of the Browns since 1999. There are more problems on this team than a math test, and I can assure you Mangini is not one of those problems.

So what is the moral of these sad stories? Whether you are a political analyst or a college student walking to class, we need to rediscover the meaning of patience. Our country is in a tight spot now, and nobody can help the situation if we complain that we’re moving “too slow.” We’d all like to get work done quick so we can move on, but in some cases, we have to take the longer, harder road to get the best results.

Eddie Kilroy is a sophomore communication studies major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].