The Wrong Picture in My Head

Rob Manfred became the Commissioner of Major League Baseball in 2015. I don't follow baseball that much, so I never really see the guy. But occasionally his name will pop up in with new rule changes or labor disputes. When it does, here's who I picture is Rob Manfred:

To me, that's Rob Manfred. He looks like a baseball commissioner. Unfortunately, that's Rob Ford the Toronto mayor who passed away in 2016. 

The real Rob Manfred is a lot more underwhelming:

Talk about a dull person. No thanks.

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Another example. The Creighton basketball coach is Greg McDermott. I had a picture in my head who that is. But when I saw what he actually looks like, I was shook.

The picture is my head was a wimpy, snively man with glasses and slicked back black hair. This guy looks he could play linebacker. So I became slightly obsessed. If the basketball coach that I was thinking of wasn't this guy, who was it.

Not as easy as searching wimpy basketball coach or college basketball coach with glasses.

Maybe the guy I'm thinking of had coached at Creighton before. Or Marquette or Butler or Gonzaga. But nope. 

So then I thought, maybe he's in the Big Ten because I see those coaches more.

Fran McCaffrey at Iowa seemed like it might be him.

He's got the glasses and the punchable face but not the black hair. I started questioned my memories. Was this the guy I was thinking of? After staring at 100s of white college basketball coaches on google images they all start to look the same. 

Then I found Notre Dame's Mike Brey. 

Slicked back black hair. Check. Punchable face. Check. But no glasses.

Now I'm really feeling like an unreliable witness. Is this the guy?

I forgot about it moved on. Five days later, I bumped into a Creighton fan in the office. 

I was reminded of the whole Greg McDermott debacle. I thought about making a sketch and asking him for any insight, but didn't think my drawing abilities would make that a possibility. 

I went back to google images and for the first time searched mid major basketball coaches. And look who I found:

That's the guy! This who I thought Greg McDermott, coach of Creighton was in my head.

But it's not. It's Gregg Marshall, coach of Wichita State. 

Very interesting that for me, the name similarities play a big role on this whole wrong image thing. 

Rob Manfred/Rob Ford.

Greg McDermott/Gregg Marshall. 

Now I know. Would have been easier to find if I had just searched basketball coaches named Greg.