Saints Compete

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I’m down to my last underdog everybody. The New Orleans Saints narrowly escaped vacation yesterday and the metaphors for the essence of competition are too numerous to cite. From Brett Favre to Jeremy Shockey to probably every player on both sides, it’s likely that a stadium sized x-ray machine would reveal injuries for which the average man is hospitalized. Broken toes, torn ligaments and possibly mild concussions are among the maladies American football players ignore in the spirit of competition. And lest I sound too reverential, be advised that many of these men have millions of reasons to stay on that field until the last whistle sounds.

Nevertheless, in retrospect, I’m inspired by the effort of all four teams that played this weekend because when we think about it, is there ever a day you don’t feel hampered by some injury, some frustration, some inconvenience? If you answered yes that’s fine because I have those days too but they’re few. And as I got in the car to leave my home last night just before the Saints and Vikings entered OT, I was thinking about my basketball league game that was to start in about an hour. I was superficially excited to play meaning I was thinking of just “gettin’ a run in”. I did just that too, playing nearly the whole game but failing to compete for the 40 minutes we play in said league. What I mean is that I did not leave it all out there as they say. I missed shots I normally make and passed on certain rebounds because of fatigue. And there’s any number of average citizens who would have let me off the hook in a post game conference if they did those for weekend warrior leagues. “You played yesterday, remember? You’re 34 years old. Hey, they don’t pay you to do this. At least you got a sweat in,” others would say. But imagine that same set of rationalizations applied outside of sports. “Hey you had a conversation with your kid yesterday, you can’t be expected to do that everyday. Your students could do without the encouragement this time. It’s Monday for crying out loud.”

Enough with the getting off the hook already. This is self-preaching but if it fits… In Christianity, those who ascribe to faith in Jesus Christ are called Saints. It’s a term many shun because of connotations the word has of being perfect. But be advised as I am. Those Saints weren’t perfect yesterday. They just competed.

Underdog Understanding

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I’ve never been to New York, not once, and I’m ashamed of that fact given that my sister lives in Brooklyn. But I was legitimately rooting for the New York Jets to beat Indianapolis today and it had nothing to do with Peyton Manning. That guy is a future Hall-of-Famer without question. And his Sony commercials with Justin Timberlake are comedic genius. So why would I, a person who’s professional sports loyalty is 100 percent LA pick today to show turncoat colors? It’s the Underdog in a brotha and the USC in Mark Sanchez.

What we had today was an LA guy who I followed in college playing for a team no one expected to even make the playoffs with two games left in the season. I didn’t want to root for a New York team that wears green and white and having done it today may cost me my LA fan card but there’s something universally appealing about the underdog. He/she works harder than anyone opposite him/her, he’s/ she’s always on the wrong end of a point spread and he’s/she’s relaxed because when you’re outmatched, ain’t nothin’ to lose.

You don’t have to stand up in a room and wonder how many underdogs there are. There’s one in the mirror and one flanking you. There’s one pulled up at the stop light next to you and another working as a receptionist at your credit union. Of course you’re going to cheer the dude that looks like you. Most of us are out there working hard for family, doing the drill but dreaming of more.  And every now and again, the underdog winds up on a world stage poised to upset the Goliath. We all know how rare the underdog’s shot is so, against all conventional loyalty, we cheer the mirror image. If he can do it, I can do it because in a way, we see ourselves as the poised rookie competing like a champion with the mettle that says, “Man, you breathe oxygen just like I do. I’m out here, let’s make it a game.” I like that, especially when I have little vested in the two teams on the field.  Now that the Jets are on vacation, Go Saints!

More than Money Where Your Mouth Is

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turbo chickMy old high school buddy Kathy Nguyen called me with a creatively genius notion for helping the people of Haiti. She decided to do a Yele Haiti Run/Walk-a-thon fundraiser despite not exactly being a social networking geek. She had questions about Twitter, how to create a group/event on Facebook, how to contact Wyclef Jean himself, etc. In less than a week’s time she put it together, drafted a donation form that looks professional, contacted a local radio station and spread the word to 135 Facebook friends who have untold numbers of friends themselves. One week! Are you serious?

What’s most impressive is not just the determination of Kathy and her friends to contribute on a larger scale to easing the horrifying reality Haitians face in the wake of last week’s earthquake. But the simple fact that she was able to mobilize this effort via technology unavailable 10 years earlier is enough to make one marvel. The mom, working professional, the impoverished junior high school student all have in common the world of online connectivity. From the time news occurs in the world, notifications are immediately exchanged, discussed on profile pages like an impromptu blog. Somewhere between status updates and the upper echelon Tweets of public figures like professional athletes, entertainers and politicians, the ability to link arms for worthy causes has never been easier.

Even more amazing is that the sophisticated world of online networking continues to prove user friendly. No manual needed and what can’t be figured out from a help link can probably be resolved by the very network you’re attempting to inform. If you don’t know how to get the word out about your run/walk-athon scheduled for 7 days in the future, there’s probably a friend three thousand miles away who is available as soon as you write on the wall, “Doin’ this big event…lost…hit me back like yesterday.” It’s done and you can look for the photo album of the successful event the following Monday. More importantly, you’ve pressed past the limitations of geography to extend love to those who need a tangible version of it.

I guess the moral of the story is that for all the horror we see,  excuses for non-participation in combating the ills of the world are farther away and fewer in number thanks to technology. Kip loved it because of LaFonda. I dig the efficiency. The planet is a much cooler place to reside when you feel like you can impact what happens on it.

Sold on Self, Buyer Beware

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If I could write one more chapter in my yet to be published book…wait I could…it would be called something like 1-on-1 = Embarrassment or maybe Real Elites Play Golf. The title needs work but the idea is that Sportscenter and the radio hosts play up marquee match-ups like tonight’s including pedagogue and protege, Kobe and Lebron. And yes they are playing against each other and may even check one another briefly. But we all know they don’t really do the same thing or have the same build. After all, Kobe is hardly 260 pounds and the last thing Lebron wants to do is foul out trying to guard the multiple head-faking legend who is due for a big night at the charity stripe.

Marquee is a word for the display that draws you and your family to the theater. It’s the feature board with lights and letters practically demanding that you drop everything and spend your time and money on this entertainment. As spectators, we’re a the mercy of the advertisement. Advantage NBA. Why? Because the marquee has one caveat that works every time – ONE NIGHT ONLY! The Cavaliers and Lakers don’t play tomorrow. Ladies and gentlemen they play tonight and if you’re not tuning in for live broadcasting, you’re programming the DVR (Digital Video Recorder). I’m as guilty as any and I suppose I willfully yield to the prowess of the all-star casting and its irresistibility. Actually, I was gonna watch this one anyway because Laker fans always watch the big games.

But you know what I wouldn’t watch? I’d never sit down on my couch to watch two hours of a one-on-one game between Kobe and Lebron. Have  you ever played one-on-one for two hours? It’s as boring to play as it is to watch. Basketball was invented to be an orchestration of skill, team chemistry and athleticism. When the sports casters bill it as The Black Mamba vs. The King, it’s the spirit of Neon baiting you into something we’ve learned to cater to, sports governed by selfishness. We’ve acquired a taste for forgetting about the role players, the clutch defenders and the bench play. When teams win we’re interested in the PPG of the MVP and nothing more.

Players say they don’t get caught up in the expectations of some trumped up fantasy bout starring them and another industry icon  but I’ve learned from playing basketball that it’s a constant struggle to ward off individualism in a team sport. Kobe is one of the game’s most prolific scorers of all time but he’s lost 3 of the last four to the Cavaliers. I’m pretty sure he’d trade his individual statistics for victories instead. Whatever game we’re in, it’s vital to understand that there are more team activities in this world than there are individual. Don’t ever let the marquee fool you when the match-up is really closer to 12 on 12 rather than one-on-one.

Not Generous Enough?

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Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade and former teammate Alonzo Mourning have worked to raise $800,000 for Haitian earthquake relief. But I’ve already seen one blogger take a shot at these guys who have attracted donations from Michael Vick, Gilbert Arenas and Terrell Owens, all controversial African-American athletic personalities. I’m not sure what that commonality has to do with anything. Maybe it’s an irresistible digression. On topic, I don’t necessarily have a qualm with the blogger because he is citing something I’ve thought about – that $800,000 isn’t much money relative to the bank bustin’ salaries these men earn.

In the last three years combined I’ve made less than $150,000. I can’t fathom donating even 50 percent of that amount. But should we be critical of men who, we think, could afford to give $800,000 of their own money as opposed to that amount being pooled from a hat passed  among some of the NFL and NBA’s most heralded personalities? After all, at the Golden Globes last weekend, Sandra Bullock confirmed reports that she donated $1 million of her own money to the relief effort.

It’s strange territory to take aim at people who are doing good but seemingly not enough of it. So many things come to mind when discussing the generosity of professional athletes. Are they currently giving money to dozens of charities? Do they have family and friends on payroll? Do they have gambling debt? Are they simply living so far above their means that they don’t have $1 million to give?  Do they have a history of being poor and thus a fear of being generous? What about child support and/or legal fees to overpaid lawyers handling, in Gilbert Arenas’ case, the very future of an NBA player in trouble with the Feds over gun possession?

I don’t know if Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade have appealed to the wealthiest athletes and been denied. I don’t know if the ones who have joined their effort are underachieving. What I do know is that sometimes I tip 20 percent at the restaurants and sometimes 15 or less. At the off ramps I hand the guy with the sign a water bottle because I didn’t think of being generous until that very instance. I make enough money to prepare myself for those impromptu moments when you want to give and help. But I’m slack in that for sure, perpetually and grossly unprepared to help in a way that matches my sense of guilt.  And aren’t many of us the same way? Emergencies are aptly dubbed because you never know when they’re going to occur. Most of us probably do live somewhat of a selfish existence and then the Tsunami, the Richter rocking quake, the Hurricane, etc. reveals how we’ve been living as our hearts and shallow pockets attempt to pour out in compassion. If generosity is a heart condition, a paradigm and a worldview we are likely all in desperate need of medical attention. That seems fair. But I’m not about to point the fingerat the rich guys unless I point at myself first. You can be as poor as Aladdin or as affluent as Scrooge McDuck and suffer from the same illness. The good news is that giving has a way of healing the heart as opposed to merely increasing the donation.

Man Law in Flux

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Remember those commercials from a few years ago where guys like Burt Reynolds, Eddie Griffin, Ty Murray, Jimmy Johnson and Oscar De La Hoya pontificated over all things manly? They were hilarious as they debated dilemmas over what kinds of behavior flat out violate the unspoken truths of Man Law. The men of the “square table” were venerated members of pop culture; you can even join them on Facebook, which I’ll be doing right after this post.

But up for discussion today is, “What makes a man, a man?” The question is inspired by frequent 6ixth Man commentator (one of the only friends sympathetic enough to post), Brian Smith. Hope he didn’t mind me putting him on blast nationally. At any rate, that is the question and I’ve thought about the ingredients of manhood, especially since about 2 p.m. this afternoon when I read an opinionated article by American syndicated talk show host, Dennis Praeger titled Is America Still Making Men? Read the article yourself for a charged persuasive piece on the importance of a certain approach to making men of boys.

Let’s get the conversation crackin’ with two minor presumptions in tact: #1 We know that America is a nation filled with personality flaws. Some of us are patriots while others of us stroll the boulevards with shoulder chip in tow. Racism, Classicism, Avarice, etc. is all here but I reiterate, “What Makes a Man a Man?” Can we start there? So parameter one is simply the acknowledgment that the United States is a far cry from Eden. #2 The second and last parameter is as simple as the first. You Christians need to behave and welcome the opinions of non-Christians in this discourse. No one is going to take your Faith from you so you can relax and enjoy the dialogue. The same rules apply to you skeptics and unconventional Christians who brandish your enlightened perspectives through biting quips of wit.

This subject is important enough that we must ask members of this world what they consider MANHOOD. I’m interested because the ambiguity of what makes a man a man could mean the end of civilization. So as my man the Joker (Heath Ledger) said it so succinctly, “Here………We…….Go!” Keep it clean and we’ll do this again people. Peace.

A Completed Intelligence

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The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

civil_rights_movementI had never read this quotation by Martin Luther King, Jr. until this morning and as in any statement, there are key words that jump out as if in 3-D. Education, Intensively, Critically, Intelligence plus Character and True Education stood out. On my quest to discover how character is formed and why it is relevant, I found King’s words haunting and confrontational. The words True Education resonate and suggest that there is a false education otherwise why would it be necessary to identify the true version. The compound of intelligence and character are as loaded a combination as you will find in our marketplace of social ideologies today.  Sounds simple enough because we all pretend to be fans of both intelligence and character until it comes time to make a choice between exercising a character driven intelligence or merely exploiting intelligence for personal advancement.

A ready example of how King’s words embattle life in 2010 is related to people’s greatest fear – LACK. The poor and the rich have this in common – NEITHER WANTS TO BE POOR. So much of education and much of the talk surrounding intelligence pertains to the acquiring of skills that will net monetary profit. In other words, intelligence should equal riches. And intelligence comes in many forms. Some are Visual-Spatial smart (artists), Bodily-Kinesthetic smart (athletic), Linguistic smart (writers/journalists), etc. but the purpose of the intelligence seems muted in 2010 and far from bearing any congruity with the words of King. Now, smart just means you have something that will allow you to make a “grip”($) in this world. That’s the way the ball bounces, we say. Run up the score on the opposing team because it might bode well for us financially. Or, create video games that are lewd and excessively violent but have a “rating” then you’ve done your job. Intelligence is at work in the modern rendering of the word.

But Ahhhhhhhh the character piece in the function. How does that work? It seems there’s always a “but” when it comes to character. Case-in-point, Charles Barkley used to say of his gambling addiction that he knew he had a problem BUT “it’s my money” so what’s it to you? Good question Chuck.  Or how about this one you may have said yourself or heard. “I don’t like my job or agree with what we do at my job  BUT that’s just the way it is. I make good money and I don’t want my kids to grow up poor the way I did.”

“…Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” If this is true, it has to have been linked to an outcome that civil rights leaders like King, Rosa Parks, Fred Shuttlesworth, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bob Moses, etc.  felt was worthwhile. When intelligence and character join forces, it just seems like the benefits of our “smarts” extend beyond the confines of the universal fear that I’LL NOT HAVE ENOUGH FOR ME.