May

4

Coach WoodenEvery sport has those figures that are great performers but use the prestige and honor that comes with that distinction to degrade the sport and bring it down and trash it in a feeble attempt to prove that they are better than the sport. Some simply never learn how, as Coach Wooden teaches, "Team is greater than self."

Some are just cocky jerks that are great talents but troubled souls nobody can live near. Often these guys are publicly praised, but those who know the sport despise their cockiness. Their cockiness is an open secret. They are the OJs of their sport. Others are cheats, like Marion Jones, living a lie. While there is no doubt she was better than her competition, she took illegal short cuts to get that edge. They knowing how to remain one step ahead of the testing.

In many sports judges can be either outright bought or simple out spent or wined and dined. One of my fondest treats to my second tier national status in marathoning was being on the inside to learn what some of the stars of the sport were like. While most were wonderful people you would love your daughter to marry, the few who were jerks dominated the inside conversation and also often the press. To some this may appear to be idle gossip and petty jealousy, but to those of us that loved the sport like I did this was deeply troubling talk. These people were destroying something we loved… it was not idle chatter. To get ahead in the sport they no doubt paid a great sacrifice, but they ruin it for the rest of us. Many also paid a great price to try to get ahead but were not labeled "a winner." No doubt in my mind that the same applies to the sport of investing… however, it has many more ramifications than a simple game, and this needs to be vetted and discussed beyond the win/loss scores.


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