American author Greg Anderson is credited with saying, “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

Actually, I think Greg may have borrowed that quote from Buddha. It sounds like something Buddha would say. In any case, both are idiots.

To prove my point, let me tell you about an old Dodge pickup I used to own. Man, it was a pile of junk. The clutch slipped regularly, usually as you were shifting the old “three on the column” transmission. The original pea green color barely peeked through the rust, body putty and pop rivets that held it together.

Needless to say, I hated that truck. The only good thing about it was that you could eat a greasy double cheeseburger and fries in the cab, wipe your fingers on the dashboard, throw the wrapper on the floorboard and not really harm its appearance.

As I was driving to Omaha to cover a college football game, the old Dodge threw a rod at 70 mph on Interstate 29, near Rock Port, Mo. The engine seized up and it was done for. Leaving a trail of Styrofoam burger boxes, I pushed it onto the shoulder, then left it for a few days along the highway.

Needing to get to the game, I hitch-hiked the rest of the way to Omaha and grabbed a taxi to take me to the stadium. I covered the game, filed my story and managed to beg a ride back to Joetown.

Anyway, my point is that, sometimes, it is about the destination, not the journey. There’s nothing magical about a journey where you’re sitting in a car with an annoying driver who talks your ear off for an hour just because you need a ride and he owns a vehicle that runs.

Missouri Western State University also proved my point this week when it hired David Williams as its new athletic director.

Mr. Williams seems to be a great choice to lead the Griffon athletic department. He’s intelligent, realistic and professional. He seems to have a grasp on what needs to be done to improve the school’s teams, reputation and facilities. With his announcement last week, Western finished its journey in the right place.

And, that’s good because — much like certain trips to Omaha — this journey was not a smooth one.

Former Griffon athletic director Mark Linder resigned in late summer after accepting the same job at North Alabama. It was a great move for Mark, but not the best time for Western to be shopping for an athletic director.

The school was already involved in a search for a new president after Dr. Jim Scanlon had announced his retirement a few months earlier.

But Western took a stab at it, and immediately struggled.

The administration formed a search committee. But some people’s feelings were hurt when they were omitted from the group.

Dr. Scanlon himself took over as athletic director, which was not exactly popular with some athletic boosters. They wondered how one person with no experience could run an athletic department, an entire university and conduct two national searches at the same time.

Dr. Scanlon set an October deadline to have a new athletic director in place, a goal that seemed overly ambitious and in fact proved impossible.

Then there was the school’s first search, which ended when the committee didn’t like any of the applicants.

One of the candidates who surfaced was Bob Sundvold, a former Mizzou assistant under Norm Stewart. Mr. Sundvold was familiar with the MIAA, having coached at Central Missouri State and familiar with Kansas City, having coached at UMKC. He was a popular choice with some coaches and boosters.

But the search group, for whatever reason, passed on Mr. Sundvold, creating even more frustration in some circles.

Then Western athletics began to struggle.

The Griffon football team seemed poised to host its first Division II playoff game, but was upset by Truman State in the season finale and had to settle for another berth in the Mineral Water Bowl.

The Griffon women’s basketball team under first-year coach Lynn Pleth showed promise early in the season, but suffered a plague of injuries and barely made the MIAA tournament, where they were promptly dispatched by top-seeded Washburn.

Players began leaving the Western men’s basketball team before the season even began. Though the Griffons did show flashes of being competitive, the season turned sour in January. Western finished dead last in the conference standings and didn’t even make the post-season conference tournament.

Fans left games early and eventually didn’t show up at all.

Joy in the journey? It’s obvious that neither Greg Anderson nor Buddha have been asked to hire an athletic director at Missouri Western.

Fortunately, the odyssey ended last week when Mr. Williams walked to the podium and said most of the right things. He talked about excellence in the arena and in the classroom for Western athletes. He promised to raise money for badly-needed facilities. He said he wants to retain the department’s good coaches and attract excellent candidates for any future vacancies.

After a long winter, it appears that Western athletics has reached its destination.

Let’s hope it’s good one.

Steve Booher’s column runs on Mondays.