Enlightened Conflict

no mas

November 28th, 2012

“No mas, no mas …no more box.” – Roberto Duran 1980

So.

This is about winning … and deciding how important … ‘how you win’ is to you … versus ‘the win’ itself.

Well.

The quote. Nothing much was happening in the eighth round of the Roberto Duran – Sugar Ray Leonard boxing match on November 25^th in 1980 when Roberto Duran turned away from Sugar Ray Leonard and waved a glove at the referee in a signal he wanted to stop.

Interestingly … Leonard, only aware that the current champ wasn’t defending himself, hit Duran … and Duran did not respond.

“No mas, no mas,” Roberto told the referee.

“No more box.”

And he walked to his corner,

Now.

As a boxer Roberto Duran was known as the most dedicated, intense warrior in the ring. His nickname was Hands of Stone <Manos de Piedra>. He was the lightweight champ and had lost only one decision in 72 bouts <or something close to that>.

It was said that he never thought he could ever lose.

And, yet, he walked away … and in the win/loss column he lost.

But.

Here is the deal.

“No mas” didn’t mean ‘I quit.’ It just meant ‘fuck this.’

It was purely a comment made in disgust.

Yup.

Duran wasn’t hurt … he was just disgusted.

Once Duran realized Leonard wouldn’t play ‘quien es mas macho’ he just walked away.

Winning … if he couldn’t fight the way he thought a fight should be fought … well … it just wasn’t a fight to him.

Was he right or wrong? In his head … right.

In may other people’s heads? Wrong decision … it made him a quitter in their eyes.

But this is all about winning the way you want to win.

His way of fighting? …

“Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches.”- Roberto Duran

Duran was the champ. He probably was smart enough to figure out a way to win the way Sugar Ray was fighting the fight <which wasn’t fighting it was avoiding> but that wasn’t the win he wanted. He wanted to know who the best fighter was. He wanted to be hit and see if he could take it. He wanted to see if Sugar Ray could take his best hits. When Sugar Ray decided he wasn’t going to allow that to happen Duran just said … not only do I not want to play this game but I don’t want to win this way … “no mas.”

Now.

To us <because most of us are not world class boxers> we will all at some point have to make this same type of decision … in sports, in Life, in relationships, in business. We all have to decide how important how we win is to us.

Look. How you win, or play the game, is a very personal decision.

It really ends up being your choice with regard to your attitude <which ultimately influences your own behavior … even when that behavior is within a group or business organization>.

Oh. And when it isn’t your choice how to play <i.e., someone else is dictating how you play> … and you really do not want to play that way … well … there is trouble <in River City my friends>.

Ok.

Please note I am going to make some generalizations soon to make some points and I fully understand there are degrees within each generalization.

Regardless. Let’s say there are three types of wins and winners:

- A ‘whatever it takes to win’ win

- An intellectual win

- An ability win

And while this is probably relevant to Life, in general, as well as sports <obviously> and personal … I am going to discuss this idea in a business environment.

Why?

Because I tend to believe this is one of the most difficult attitude & behavior decisions someone has to make in business.

Organizations ask, and demand, many things of you … and you have to reconcile all of it with your own attitude … and inevitably your actions <behavior>. As a junior person this is very difficult to manage but my suggestion is that you get things set <with the best knowledge you have> in your own head … and then look to the leaders behavior. Watch the senior people and how they treat going after a win, the process in win decision making and then how they define & evaluate the win. Make sure it matches up with what you have decided attitudinally. If you do not, you run the risk of being constantly put in positions where you do not like what you are not only being asked to do … but what you are doing.

Senior people have no excuses. No if, ands or buts. How they win defines them as a business person. All I can say to them is … well … accept it <whichever type you are>. I know what I like in my head but that doesn’t make it the only right. The only point I have to really make to leaders is that once you accept how you go after a win … then begin recruiting people who think as you do. If you do not then you will be forcing your attitudes & behavior upon others who probably do not want to, let alone like to, do it that way. And I can also promise you when it comes to evaluation time , as a leader, you will be continuously disappointed in their performance.

Anyway.

The three wins <my perspective> and how they are different aspects of ‘adept, adapt & adopt.”

A whatever it takes to win.

I actually refer to this as an empty win.

This is typically the type of win done by someone who says afterwards … “all that matters is the result” … or … “it’s not the journey it is the destination” … or “winning is everything.”

It is empty because the person runs a very large risk that how you actually got to the win is ignored and everything gets measured <in their personal character measurement> on a scorecard.

I admit. I don’t like these types of wins.

But there is a personality type out there, and some very successful people, who take pride in how many checks are in the win column and could care less how they got to them. To these people … all wins are quality wins because … well … it is a win.

Typically really competitive people fall into this group.

I call this “adept” winning. You compete because you are adept at reading what it takes to win … and doing it.

This person isn’t adapting because they understand winning is about lining up the necessary variables … each time. So they aren’t adapting but rather simply building each time to win.

And they aren’t adopting anything because while some things can be reused it is mostly one time usage winning.

These types of winners are very difficult to replicate through training. and these types of winners have to be very careful in how far they will go to win. They have bigger boundaries of accepted behavior because of the adept attitude … and because of that they can stray to the boundary margins of character.

But it is the win numbers in this group that is most satisfying. Out of all three groups I have listed this one probably will chalk up the most quantity of wins in the end.

An intellectual win.

You truly outsmart someone. You outthink or tear apart the challenge in such an innovative way that your competition can just look afterwards and say … “wow … that was smart.”

This is as good as a physical <ability> win … but unfortunately many people do not evaluate it that way. In fact many of the intellectual winners kind of wish they had some other tangible contribution because thinking is … well … intangible.

This type of winning is ‘adapt & adopt” winning. You compete by adapting your thinking to the situation and adopting new ideas/thinking.

These types of winners I tend to believe are just born this way. Yes. Some aspects can be trained but these types of winners just seem to have an innate ability to see things … assess what matters versus what doesn’t matter … and assimilate the “what matters” information into either unique, or refreshingly different, ideas and thoughts.

This is a very satisfying win because you out thought someone.

An ability win.

This is ‘mano y mano.’ You bring your best and I will bring my best and let the best win.

Here is the deal.

Sometimes your best isn’t the better. And you lose. Oh. But what a loss.

This one is near & dear to my heart.

And I admit that I got really really lucky early in my career in that I was encouraged to go for this kind of ‘no frills’ winning and use losses to make my best better … so that each consecutive ‘game’ I was able to stay true to what I was good at … and it got better and better. Maybe it was partially I was stubborn on my definition of best or maybe I figured out what I was good at <even if it wasn’t the best of the best … just good while still being my personal best> early on and figured that if this was what I was good at … well … then I would only rise as high as my ‘best’ would take me.

This type of continuous winning is “adopt & adapt” winning. You compete … learn … adopt some new skills <skill level or new skill> and then adapt within your existing skill set to the next challenge. This means your muscle group gets stronger and stronger <albeit it is just one muscle group>.

This type of win is extremely satisfying. I also envision this group has the lowest actual total wins. They are the highest quality wins just not a shitload of them.

Well.

That is, of course, unless you are as good a fighter as Roberto Duran.

And that is the real differentiator in quality wins … how good you really are.

And I guess that is going to be my point having used one of the best boxers of all time.

He was one of the best.

“Manos de Piedra”, is true, Hands of Stone. Every punch, and I’m not exaggerating, every punch that he hit me with, from the body to the head, felt like bricks, stone, rocks”. – Sugar Ray Leonard

And not all of us are of that level of ‘best.’ In fact … not many people are.

So you have to figure what is most important to you in the win. The numbers? The intellectual win? The ability win? And embrace that is what makes you … well … you … in the business world.

And know when to say “no mas.”

Know when to say ‘fuck this.’

Look.

Do I give Sugar Ray credit for figuring out how to win by avoiding the Hands of Stone?

Sure.

Would I have done it that way?

Nope <and I probably would have lost>.

Do I give Duran credit for just saying ‘no mas’ after 8 frustrating rounds?

Yup.

He was the champ. He cared more about how he won the championship than the championship itself.

Now that, my friends, is a lesson that many of us should take to heart in business.

Figure out what you want … and how you want to do it … and find your place in the business world doing it.

summer Olympic update

August 4th, 2012

So. We are well into the summer Olympics and rather than have me run through the medal count let me spend a couple minutes letting me recount what I think has been notable <so far>.

watching men versus women

It’s odd. I didn’t even think about this until I watched a women’s volleyball match. This one had Japan. I think they may have one player over 6 feet. They have a 5’3” player. And. They. Get. Everything. Back.

Everything.

Regardless. The women’s matches are physical, athletic and … well … multi-faceted. Addictive to watch. Switch over to the men and … well … they hit the crap out of the ball but it almost seems raw and less skilled <although I know that is not so> but in the end … not as pleasing to watch as the women. Oh. And it is insane how the women volleyball players tape their fingers. They could go straight from a match to a costume party as a mummy.

To be fair. I flip this thought in basketball. After watching men play basketball I just cannot understand how someone can watch women’s basketball. I am not sure this thought is relevant in something like weightlifting or equestrian <which men and women compete against each other … which I like> and maybe it is just personal taste but all I do know is that if you watch the women’s volleyball you will understand.

Ok.

Now that I have probably pissed off men & women both let me move on to another male/female comparison.

the sloth & the missile

The sloth is a guy. A gardener from the land-locked African nation of Niger. He will certainly be crowned the worst Olympian athlete of the 2012 Games. Just to be clear … he is not complaining and neither am I. it’s awesome. Hamadou Djibo Issaka has earned himself the nickname “the sculling sloth” after finishing consistently last in his three rowing events. Even more funny is he got slower each time he competed. But what he lacks in skill he makes up for in enthusiasm.

“I have no technique,” the 35-year-old confessed with a laugh after a recent race. “I’ve done only three months (of training) so I will get more technique.” Issaka is the first person from Niger ever to ever compete in the Olympic Games. He is an example of what makes the Olympics great.

The missile is a woman. Missy Franklin. Yeah. We are all tired of the story but … here is the winner part of the story.

Her hands and feet.

She is singlehandedly reminding young women that being gawky or being perfect physically in some ways is … well … really unimportant. She talks about her size 13 feet like it they are just feet <which they are>. She talks about being in high school and not wanting to miss a day of it.

Does she feel self-conscious about the size of her feet & hands? Sure. She is a teenage girl for god’s sake.

Has she learned to laugh about it enough that it is almost irrelevant? Yup. She smiles. She is charming.

If I were going to create a campaign discussing self-esteem for young girls I would be camped out in front of The Missile’s house begging her to help me out.

beyond the sloth & the missile there are a couple other notable characters …

a Tunisian bball player. Tunisia Forward Mohamed Hadidane approached Kobe Bryant the same way thousands of fans do. Hadidane took off his right shoe and somehow had a black marker in hand to get Bryant’s autograph. Bryant graciously signed the shoe and then patted Hadidane on his chest. Yeah, it looked kind of strange, but I have to imagine Mohamed Hadidane doesn’t care about that at all. I am not sure Hadidane plays professionally (I thought maybe the Turkish league but I couldn’t find him on any roster). Suffice it to say this may be the only time the dude gets on a basketball court with Kobe … let alone in the same arena. Yeah, it looked kind of strange, but I KNOW that I don’t care. It reminded me of what makes the Olympics unique … and great.

A Venezuelan fencer. Everybody will have their own ‘moment’ of the Olympics. Me? Venezuelan épée fencer Ruben Limardo. I had never heard of Limardo. And I am fairly sure no one had excepting the maybe two dozen Venezuelan fans who were cheering wildly for their fencer <yeah … I just typed ‘cheering wildly’ and ‘fencer’ in the same sentence>.

In the end? Victory.

The moment? Limardo celebrates by sprinting dementedly around the arena before dropping to his knees in front of the Venezuelan fans.

It is only the second Olympic medal Venezuela has ever won. It reminds you why we have the Olympics.

Speaking of fencing.

Nike needs to get focused

Olympic fencing mixes the ancient and the modern, combining rules laid down more than 500 years ago with electronic scoring systems and Kevlar jackets. The delicate balance of old and new has sustained the sport since its debut at the first modern Olympics in 1896. The sport’s three disciplines — sabre, foil and epee — require weapons of differing sizes and styles, but they share one thing in common … the uniforms are the most unflattering outfits of any sport.

The competition looks like it takes place in space suits from the old show “lost in space.” C’mon. Nike designs uniforms <albeit the women’s soccer Pablo Picasso meets Where’s Waldo is kinda nuts> all over the world in every sport and then they miss out on the opportunity to design some swashbuckling style that matches the overall style of the sport. Regardless. I hope you saw the american saber competitor. Cannot remember her name. She was favored but didn’t win. Doesn’t matter. If all fencers fenced like she does we would be watching fencing on tv rather than poker.

horses & crashes

If you didn’t see the equestrian cross country event you missed out. The course and the riders was stunning. The setting was breathtaking. Green grass, colorful flowers, big trees, friendly squirrels, birds singing <someone may have actually had a bluebird on their shoulder>, historic buildings and an awesome view of the London skyline across the Thames. Beyond that? As The Guardian said Equestrian cross country can best be described as the Olympics’ profuse apology for dressage …”Sorry for that horse ballet the other day; now watch’em jump off a grassy cliff.”

It is a beautifully tortuous obstacle course.

28 different obstacles. Each one was tailored to a different landmark, the majority of them in London. Some are large hedges. Some involve running and jumping into water.

While the course was beautifully decorated it was the obstacles that really made the event worth watching. The Cricket Ball Basket (#23), the Rose Garden (#24), the Saxon Village (#27), the Royal Herb Garden (#4), the Diamond Jubilee Hedge (#1) and the Tower of London (#s 15 & 16). And because the prime meridian runs through Greenwich Park which creates Greenwich Mean Time and because of the Royal Observatory being there as well, several more obstacles reflected that in their themes (# 6 The Planet, # 7 The Moon, # 25 The Timeline Clocks, #26 The Observatory Turn and #14 The Sundials).

But. It was Obstacle 20 (“The Royal Greenwich Borough”) one which made all the other obstacles look like a speed bump, that was amazing.

The horse runs up to the edge of a cliff, with a steep decline right into another jump. The obstacle takes extraordinary balance from both horse and rider; keep in mind, this is well into the long tiring course.

Oh.

I do have an idea for a new Olympic sport. Along the lines of the crazy biathlon in winter olympics <insane cross country skiing combined with shooting squirrels along the way> maybe we can have horse drawn skiing (see picture to left). Crazy? Well. It would give the horses something to do in the winter and combining the ever popular skiing. Just a thought.

fans

yup. There is always one nutso fan at every event. So instead I will just focus on the obnoxious.

It’s that damn vuvuzela also known as lepatata Mambu (its Tswana name). That plastic horn, about 2 feet long which produces a loud obnoxiously aggravating monotone note. Traditionally made and inspired from a kudu horn, the vuvuzela was used to summon distant villagers to attend community gatherings. In this case the vuvuzela is most used at Brazil matches. Its high sound pressure levels at close range can lead to permanent hearing loss for unprotected ears after exposure.

It just makes me not want to watch.

So far?

A good Olympics to watch.

the unseen olympics

July 26th, 2012

Amazingly the Olympics are made up of more than Americans and the 100 yard dash and swimming. In fact it includes the pommel horse <which does not participate in the Grand National Steeplechase>, the shuttle cock <not a farm animal>, foot & hand ball <which is actually adult versions of kick ball and dodgeball> and butterflies <albeit they are the odd breed that actually swim>.

Ok.

There are going to be some sports you won’t see a whole shitload of unless you have the full sports package on cable and get ESPN 5 thru 12 channels. Although … the non-scored event of “what is the most inappropriate flag to be displayed when a country is introduced” will be covered by every news network ad nausea <by the way … my two votes are for displaying the Israeli flag when Iranians are introduced and showing the Russian flag every time one of the past Soviet countries are introduced – Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, etc. – although the South Korea for North Korea was an excellent initial play>. Anyway.

Therefore it has become my responsibility to make you aware of some f the more random Olympic events.

The “who is wackiest country fan base” competition

You won’t see it on tv because it happens in living rooms globally. We will all tune in to watch some extraordinary athlete do something unhuman and inevitably the camera will scan the crowd for the one nutjob who is cheering on their only country’s athlete dressed as Chewbacca (in that country’s colors), McLovin (in that country’s colors) or some medieval costumed character (in that country’s colors).

The star? The dutch are consistently featured.

Please don’t hit my shuttle cock.

Answer: What is Badminton.

86 men and 86 women compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Matches are the best of three, players trying to reach 21 points and win by two. Surprisingly it is an awful like volleyball in that competitors often aim at the ground or at each other’s heads … all at a frantic pace and the shuttlecock can actually reach 200mph. yes. I just typed 200mph. ouch. That would sting.

Just to be clear. This is not the game we play while drinking frou frou cocktails in some posh well-manicured backyard.

The star? China dominates.

No. This is not a 3 Musketeers marathon.

It is Fencing

Swashbucklers in 10 medal events smack each other around with foils, épées and sabres.

Individual bouts involve three periods of three minutes each – or until one fencer scores 15 hits.

Full of swagger. What it is not Playground sword fighting. Fencing is crammed full of rules, infringements and jargon. Best to know your piste from your riposte before setting off.

The star? Errol Flynn. Oh. He is dead. South Korea and Italy.

Soccer using hands instead of feet.

Hence there is an Olympic event called Handball. It is angry lacrosse without the sticks. Okay. It is actually water polo without the water.

168 men and 168 women will compete. Teams of seven pass, bounce and throw the ball at goal using any body part above the knee. Players can hold the ball for up to three seconds and take up to three steps. Matches consist of two 30-minute halves. The game is fast, relatively easy to follow <as with any of these sports … soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse … there are some random rules that seemingly stop the match for only a reason the referee knows> and it is surprisingly physically confrontational.

The star? Norway for women. France for men.

What are those things that float with sails <and no kegs in the back>?

The event is called “sailing.”

There are 10 medal events, six for men and four for women, with 380 competitors and a range of vessels including the Minnow. Points are awarded based on where you finish not on your sailing skill <therefore Gilligan has a chance>.

Don’t even try and understand the rules. Basically there is some shit you can do with the sails and some you cannot.

Britain has finished first in the last three Olympics.

The star? Someone called “The Skipper.”

Wow. That looks like a beach outside that pub!

Yes. Beach volleyball is still an Olympic sport. Yeah, yeah, yeah … I know it is a serious sport <played in bikinis> but I still struggle to see it as an Olympics sport. Regardless. The big news is the wild card team is Ginger & Mary Ann who get to play because Skipper brought them along as part of the crew of the mighty Minnow <they are longshots>.

There are 48 teams playing on wet London sand. The aim is to land the ball in the opponents’ half in that very wet sand. Oh. And drink beach-like cocktails.

The star? USA and Brazil.

Wow. That looks like a dirt pit outside that pub!

Yes. BMX cycling is an Olympics sport. Yes. I still struggle to understand why. Regardless. This is not your neighborhood kids pulling wheelies on their Big Wheels.

On a purpose-built 400m course in the north of the park 32 men and 16 women will do limb-snapping, gymnastic moves on bikes floor exercise agility maneuvers all over steep dirt mountains. This will also be the only location on the Olympic grounds where you can buy some quality weed.

The star? Latvian Maris Stromberg, Frenchman Joris Daudet and Australia’s Sam Willoughby.

I thought they didn’t allow people to have guns in Britain?

Well. They do because there is an event called “Shooting.”

Now. This ain’t like the winter Olympics biathlon <crazy people skiing and then stopping to try and not shoot anyone in the crowd as they gasp for breath> but rather targets are stationary in the pistol and rifle events, but are on the move in the shotgun so it is a little easier. Ok. Even as I type that I cannot see how this is a real sport. A competition amongst Soprano fans? Sure. Olympic event? Not so sure.

Anyway. Basically this is nap time. It moves at a pachyderm like pace although takes a steel like mind that can calculate more angles than Pythagoras. Oh. It involves a lot of lying down … just not with anyone and not in a bed.

The star? A Brit. World No1 Peter Wilson.

Hey! Those guys are kickin each other!

Yup. Taekwondo is an Olympic event.

eight medal events – four weight categories for men, four for women. Points come from kicking and punching your opponent <apparently the body gets broken into ‘scoring zones’ … for example … smacking someone with a turning head-kick is worth four points … smacking someone on the ass in warm-ups gets you nothing but some funny looks>.

Contests are in three two-minute rounds. There are lots of rules and rules are really strict <please do not ask me for examples>.

Trivia? A serious mistake gets what is called a Gam-Jeom <one-point penalty>.

The sport is not for anyone who should be in anger management because while you do get to literally, and figuratively, kick the shit out of someone you only get points for controlled aggression.

The star? Anyone from South Korea. They got half the medals in last Olympics.

Yup. That is a trampoline. Nope. That is not your backyard.

Yup. There is a Trampoline Olympic event.

32 gymnasts will bounce it out in an event which has been in the Games only since 2000. There are 10 skill routines, with 11 judges marking them on difficulty, timing and execution. All judges are under the age of 15 and also excel at swing set swinging and monkey bar monkeying.

Scoring will end up being even more random than a eastern European ice dancing event and it is full of some more-than-excellent jargon. watch out for a graceful fliffus (a double somersault with at least a half-twist). A triffus is a triple <awesome>.

Be aware. You will never be able to spot the faults/demerit activity unless someone completely falls off the trampoline.

The star? Apparently Canada has some trampoline A-listers, eh?

Whoa. Those men are covered in olive oil.

Ok. It is Greco-Roman Wrestling.

There are 18 Greco-Roman events for men only in seven weight categories, and in the freestyle seven categories for men and four for women.

Be forewarned. Lots of sweaty spandex. But at least they aren’t rolling around sweating on each other a lot because Greco-Roman wrestling involves using only upper bodies and arms. The aim is to force the back of the opponent’s shoulders on to the mat, with points awarded for throws and holds. It is not pretty by any definition nor artistic but let’s hope these dudes don’t mistakenly walk in at the Badminton after party.

The star? Anyone with a Russian name. Russians won 21 golds in the last four Games.

Ok.

Hope that helps.

Enjoy this year’s Olympics.

the lost art of sportsmanship

April 1st, 2012

“The grace of the gesture is as important as the victories” – Rene Lacoste

Well.

The Guardian, as part of their spectacular “Joy of Six” series, recently wrote one on sportsmanship. And it made me think about the lost art of sportsmanship.

Why?

First. Take a look at the 6 ‘sportsmanship’ moments. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/feb/10/joy-of-six-sportsmanship?INTCMP=SRCH

Second.

Try and imagine any of the happening today (because the most recent highlighted is almost 40 years ago).

You can’t. Well. If you can you have been smoking too much weed.

Anyway.

Beyond the weed comment … I will admit upfront that despite playing competitive sports at some good levels I have never had that killer instinct competitive muscle. It’s there … but it wasn’t there all the time … it needed to be triggered (and, maddeningly on occasion, it was difficult to uncover the trigger). I say that to put what I am going to write into some perspective.

Because winning has never meant everything to me. I loved the game. And I loved playing the game well. And a good outcome was just the icing on the cake.

Regardless of my personal attitude … there is a weird dichotomy taking place in the sports world today.

At the youngest youth level it all begins with a “no one wins or loses” perspective.

And then, oddly, young people are encouraged to specialize (in my youth we played every sport any season and just shifted). Today? Find what you have an aptitude for and then excel (max out) on that one.

And then when you specialize there seems to be an overall “win at all cost” mentality built into the competitiveness. So it isn’t just being competitive … it is win at all costs.

I could find a story every day showcasing incidents displaying the loss of sportsmanship and respect for authority and opponents.

Refs, umpires and coaches are verbally and physically assaulted.

Parents are sometimes excessive in the way they push their kids to be the best.

Coaches are demanding perfection from their players and punish them when they give anything less.

In addition.

Children learn by example.

So what examples do they find when it comes to sports?

Turn on any college basketball game to discover how easy it is to read the lips some irate college coach dropping an F-bomb while screaming at the refs and players.

Or a tennis tournament where players are yelling at umpires and line judges.

The list goes on and on.

It is kind of sad.

The one place we don’t really see this? The Olympics.

The Olympic motto: “The important thing in the Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing is not conquering but fighting well.”

We need more of that attitude … everywhere in sports. Not just the Olympics.

Maybe athletes just need to remember while they are getting paid … it is a game (for god’s sake).

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” -Mike Singletary

Some remember.

And what Mike said? That is why we play sports–or at least why we’re supposed to.

That is what we need to remember ourselves and teach our children.

Being the best hitter, running back, three-point shooter or goalie is nice … but it’s not what it’s all about.

Sports are supposed to be about being the best we are capable of.

And respecting our own abilities as well as respecting others … regardless of whether their best is better than our best.

Oh.

And respecting everyone … teammates, opponents, coaches, refs and spectators.

Yes.

Sports are inherently competitive (hence the reason there is a winner and a loser).

And competition brings out the best … and worst … in everyone.

Competition, and sportsmanship, inevitably is about character.

competition makes a person’s real character come out.

And, I hate to break the news to everyone, it takes work and training and shaping and thoughtfulness.

Sportsmanship SHOULD be simple. But its not.

Kids get mixed messages from mentors and role models.

You can teach principles of good sportsmanship to anyone but, in the end, it’s about each person.

Cheating, lying, badmouthing, complaining to officials are all reflections of someone’s character.

More people need to take responsibility (and not blame “the game” or “the moment”).

Look.

I am not using this following as an example to pick on Serena … because I just think it is indicative of an overarching sportsmanship thing.

So. In 2009 Serena Williams threatened to shove a racket down a referee’s throat during a semifinal. Here is the deal.

With higher salaries and more on the line, it’s not surprising that more and more athletes are making headlines for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“I think there’s so much pressure on players today. The average player makes close to three million — they’re making so much money that they have a lot self-imposed pressure and they need a scapegoat. Sometimes that becomes the umpire.” – Jim Evans (Academy of Professional Umpiring)

But.

And this is a big but.

I don’t think it is an excuse.

Sportsmanship isn’t really about sportsmanship … it’s about personal character.

“Sportsmanship for me is when a guy walks off the court and you really can’t tell whether he won or lost, when he carries himself with pride either way.” – Jim Courier

But.

Here is the hard part to some people.

Cheaters do win. Maybe not philosophically but in the win/loss column.

And that is where I like to point out to people … that is why this is about winning or losing from a character standpoint.

There are a couple of scoreboards for people who play sports.

One is the win loss record.

And one is a life scoreboard.

Sportsmanship shows up on the life scoreboard.

And I wish more people playing sports would pay attention to that scoreboard.

How do I now they don’t?

Go back to the Joy of Six article.

How often do you believe that would happen today?

We are losing the art of sportsmanship.

Olympics Recap Part 2: Last Random Thoughts

March 5th, 2010

The National Anthems

How awesome is it to hear all the different national anthems? While just like hearing a song on the radio, too often some anthems wear down their appeal after awhile, but I admit that after a special event the American national anthem can still send a chill up my spine. I continue to believe the Canada anthem is one of the nicest and most listenable. Several like Austria and Czech Republic and Swiss are nice orchestral pieces. And then Finland and Estonia and Belarus have more ‘power’ orchestral things. Anyway. It makes the medal podium thing a little more interesting particularly when some country you just don’t hear of that often gets there. Oh. And I guess I was surprised by China and South Korea anthems. (I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t what they had. It’s like there is a Chinese Mozart hovering somewhere in the Ming dynasty who wrote some crap for them).

And how would you like the music guy’s job? I am sure nowadays they have everything on computer (but could you imagine when some guy in a booth was scrambling with some plastic LP or even a cassette tape to get it right?).

Bobsled

What’s up with all the crashes? Ok. It is a 4,800 foot track with a 500 foot vertical drop and they get to just above 90 miles per hour but, c’mon dudes, you train all year round for one of the most random events in the world so you won’t crash the only time every 4 years anyone even watches this stupid event. After four-man bobsleds from Croatia and Latvia crashed during training on Monday, officials from the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (I just wanted to type that out because I am awestruck there is a “Bobsleigh & Skeleton” Federation) postponed the remainder of the practice sessions and now they plan to shave an inch or more of ice from that curve and in a few other areas. (on a separate note Gillette Fusion has negotiated the rights to shave the ice). Coaches say the changes are relatively minor and will make the track more navigable. WTF. It is supposed to be the world’s most difficult isn’t it?

And just as I was starting to think these guys were tough because after some crashes and they stood around comparing rug burns (oops. ice burns), where most of them look like they could give The Rock a run for his money (some of these dudes are big slabs of guys), their tough guy image took a huge fucking hit today when The Netherlands’ four-man bobsled team withdrew from the event because pilot Edwin van Calker is not confident driving his sled on the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Say what? Not confident? WTF. He is fucking scared. Once again. You train nonstop for this one event and you get scared?

“This is a personal decision on Edwin’s part,” bobsled coach Tom de la Hunty said. “From a buildup of numerous factors, including his crash in two-man bobsleigh, the tragic accident in men’s luge and external family pressures, all of which resulted in Edwin not having confidence in piloting.”

So. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall with the other three guys who just got screwed in participating in the Olympics? (While I assume there were massive amounts of Heineken involved, I am hoping for Edwin’s sake the biathlon guns reside in a different wing of the complex).

Logos & Mascots

Probably because I haven’t figured out what the mascot of the Vancouver Olympics is (which is probably good seeing as I personally had to live through Izzy – the idiot – logo mascot for the Atlanta Olympics so I am scarred) I think I will write something about the Olympic rings (just because I was curious and looked some information up).

It was after the 1912 Stockholm Games (the first Games featuring athletes from all five inhabited parts of the world) a design of five interlocked rings, drawn and colored by hand, appeared at the top of a letter. The ring design was used as the emblem of the IOC’s 20th anniversary celebration in 1914 and a year later, it became the official Olympic symbol.

The rings have been explained as “A white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red…is symbolic; it represents the five inhabited continents of the world, united by Olympics, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time.” The original designer used a loose interpretation of “continent” that included Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. No specific ring represents a specific continent.

Olympics Recap Part 1: Some final random thoughts

March 2nd, 2010

Men’s Ice Hockey

I really really wanted to get excited about this USA ice hockey team thing. And I know NBC and ESPN wanted me to be really really excited (if I had seen one more “miracle on ice” clip I think I would have thrown out all my ice cubes and swear off any ice). But. This isn’t Olympics hockey anymore. This is NHL exhibition. Sorry. Just don’t think this is what the Olympics were created for. This is why we have the NHL.

Women’s Ice Hockey

Ok. I admit. Up until the gold medal game I bet I hadn’t seen more than 5 minutes total of women’s ice hockey. So the game and award ceremony was pretty enlightening.

First. The Canadian women are good. Really good. They skated circles around the USA women and should have scored at least three more goals on top of the two they got.

Second. I admit I also don’t watch many of the actual award ceremonies. But I got hooked watching this one (no. not because it was women.) So. Finland who took the bronze. Every single one of them looked so frickin’ happy and proud it reminds you that winning a bronze at the Olympics is really really special. There is this kind of lightly dazed look on some faces as they look down at that Olympics medal hanging around their neck. I think we forget in all the “who is winning the Gold” discussion how special the entire event is for each of the athletes and going home with a medal, any medal, represents a feat that 99.99% of the world will never truly understand.

Third. This is what the Olympics should be about. As they panned the faces these were girls, okay, young women. They were mostly not professional hockey players (I think there is pro women’s hockey in Europe). Regardless. Lots of young faces beaming with pride, some sadness with the losing team and that kind of young disbelief of “is this is truly happening to me.” Awesome. They should bottle this up.

Celebration controversy

Ok. I will ‘fess up here at the onset in the interest of full disclosure. This lil write up is coming from a guy who celebrated the completion of finals in his junior year of high school by going to happy hour at Hannibal’s in downtown Burlington with a bunch of friends for 5 for a dollar drafts. I was 16 (but I turned 17 in July). That said. C’mon. So the Canadian women drank some beer and champagne and smoked some stogies. And you don’t think the USA women didn’t? or the Swedish cross country team … or … well … any team.

So. How wild would you celebrate? Let me put winning (or getting a medal) in perspective.

There are 6,800,000,000 people in the world.

Ok. Only 82 countries send athletes to the Winter Olympics so let’s say for argument sake that represents 86% of total world population.

So that makes the Olympics countries represent 5,848,000,000 in population.

Approximately 2,600 athletes attend and participate.

That represents .0000004 % of population.

A pretty small and special group.

Then there are 86 events in seven sports at this Winter Olympics.

Let’s call it 258 medals. Maybe 10% of athletes participating win a medal.

So. 10% of .0000004% of total world population receives a medal.

Go fucking celebrate. Get shitfaced if you want.

The fact you won a medal puts you in such a special minority I think we can safely say you deserve a cocktail if you want one.

Cacophony at Curling

Yelling. Lots of yelling. I am unclear whether they yell at each other, the competition or the stone (who seems relatively indifferent to everything). If I had a gold medal on the line and I am sweeping crap out of the way of the stone and someone in a shrill voice is screaming at me I would be quite tempted to shove the broom up their ass. Ok. maybe I would pull them off to the side and say “hey, listen, there are maybe 75 people in this whole frickin’ stadium and they probably got the tickets for free and don’t really care what is going on so I think I could hear what you have to tell me without screaming, ok?”

Next. The announcers.

“How exciting, they have two stones in the house!” (and this is women curling just to be clear).

“Time to skip stones” (and the water is frozen)

“This is double peel territory” (and I think the kitchen is in another section of the building)

And they say all these things not only without laughing but also with true enthusiasm. Awesome. They don’t get paid enough.

Speed Skating

So. Finally they do something in this speed skating thing that I not only understand but also kind of enjoyed watching. This team race thing. And I give huge props to the German team who utilized a baseball tactic to win one race. Coming down to the finish the third (the slowest) gal on the team dives for first base to beat the throw … and wins. Awesome. You would think staying on the skates would be faster but she pulled a Pete Rose (without the gambling) and squeaked out a win for the Germans.

And then there was the coaching error that caused maybe one of the biggest dudes in the entre Olympics a gold medal. Hagar the Horrible from the Netherlands was really really pissed when he won but didn’t win.

All because his coach told him to do something (once again the whole lane thing kinda confuses me) that
he shouldn’t have done. Some reporters took Hagar to task for how he responded after realizing he was disqualified. Ok. Look. The dude didn’t lose he was DQ’ed (and no that doesn’t mean he got a free blizzard at Dairy Queen). They could have penalized him seconds, minutes, a lap, whatever and he would still have crushed all the others. But no. No gold. Shit. No medal. No sponsor money (oops. that’s right. that doesn’t matter). Thank god these Netherlanders are passive and high on pot all the time or he may have gone really ballistic. Could you imagine if it had been a Russian (notice I am not picking on some American here)? Yikes. Igor would have obliterated the coach before our eyes. Give Hagar a break. I would have been pissed too.

Olympic Update Part 1

February 16th, 2010

This whole Biathlon thing.

Biathlon

I love writing about the biathlon because no one else does (and I am slightly fascinated by this whole skiing and shooting thing).

So. In the Women’s Biathlon Sprint event Slovakia’s Anastazia Kuzmina won with a score of “19:55.6”. Once again the scoring is one of those things that take a guidebook. Speed of skiing and penalties for misses. Anyway. It’s like 7 kilometers of skiing or something like that. And then they shoot at this miniature target of Osama bin Laden all with a heart rate of over 170 or something like that (apparently it is an incorrect belief that these shooters slow their heart rate to level the sighting). Just to give you some perspective it’s like maybe jumping rope for 15 straight minutes or doing a hundred straight jumping jacks a fast as you can and then sitting down with a pencil and writing all your valentine’s day cards (in a way someone can actually read them). Amazing stuff.

The guns are wacky looking but they do seem kind of lethal (so you don’t see a lot of spectators hanging out behind the targets).

And in the Men’s Biathlon Sprint event. (And I am still a little unclear how this merits a “sprint” heading .. see Summer Olympics hundred yard dash as example of confusion). Anyway. The top three were:

France. Vincent Jay

Norway. Emil Hegle Svendsen

Croatia. Jakov Fak

Never heard of them (but have heard of the countries). I just wanted to note the winners. I figured this may be the only time their names appear on our radar. Oh. Yeah, their fans (who I assume are mostly relatives or people who subscribe to Guns & Ammo), they are nuts. Think cowbells and big funny hats and horns. I am just not sure guys who ski and shoot rifles for a living are funny hat/cowbell spanking type of guys but, hey, whatever floats your boat. Maybe the tickets were for free. I went to a fencing event at the Atlanta Olympics because I had free tickets (but I left my cowbell at home … just blew a dog whistle every time someone did something great).

This whole mogul downhill (going downhill with lots of bumps and a couple of jumps) skiing thing.

Women’s version. Ok. Men’s version. I don’t care. My knees and lower back just start hurting every time I watch these contestants bounce their way down the hill. Their knees pump furiously as they pound down the course. Their runs are a brilliant mix of speed and technical skiing with daring back flips and “helicopter spins” and other amazing feats that seem to defy gravity. Who thought this crap up? Awesome.

Women’s ice hockey

"Good game? You beat us 18-0!"

The Canadian women’s hockey team, a two-time defending Olympic gold medalist, didn’t disappoint. The Canadians cranked out an 18-0 rout of Slovakia (exciting the 16,000 Canadian fans eager cheer to keep warm and disappointing the 496 Slovakian fans – who cheered anyway to keep warm). C’mon. 18 to zilch? And I thought Slovakia had ice rinks. Oh well. They would beat the crap out of Canada in a “bryndzove halusky” (small dumplings made of potato dough with sheep cheese and topped with scrambled bacon) cooking contest. I know that for sure.

This speed skating thing.

Olympic speed skaters

Yikes. First the solo stuff. Who decided to put that on television exclusively? 20 some laps of two guys skating around a really small rink with one hand tied behind their back (ok. that’s what it looked like). And then there is the group speed skating thing. In the huge wipeout fortunately the Koreans weren’t injured with those razor sharp blades flying in their pileup (thank god they weren’t North Koreans or some nukes may have been dropped). Anyway. This group speed skating is kind of like Indy car racing where the cars are inches apart and you cannot really fathom how they can stay so close to each other without hitting each other. But, it was kind of amazing to see the skaters in that one race self destruct at what would have been a 1-2-3 finish for them and allow the Americans to take the 2-3 positions in the race. These races often have a little bit of roller derby flavor. But on really big skates. And with funky colored outfits. I still admit I don’t really get it and it seems a little boring to me.

Cross country skiing.

Charlotte Kalla Awesome. Today a really cute 22 year old Swede girl unexpectedly won her cross country event and puked after crossing the finish line (she still had a Crest bright big smile afterwards). The Polish woman, the favorite, collapses in fatigue maybe a minute from the finish (so that’s collapsing after maybe 23 minutes of cross country skiing). I need to watch more of this. Put it on prime time I say.

Oh. And how cool is it your coach (or I assume it is a coach and not some random spectator hovering at the side of the track) is screaming at the top of their lungs (and because it is in Swedish or Russian or Croatian I have no clue what they are saying) at the skier as they ski by. I assume they are saying something like “you are a lardass and an embarrassment to the queen (or whatever monarch is appropriate) and may your ancestors be hamsters if you don’t win a medal.” But the screaming person sludging their way through the snow beside the track is awesome. I would go if I could do that.