After Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon twisted her knee and went down as she rounded the bases following her first career home run against Central Washington in college softball, it would have counted as only a single. Rules prohibited her teammates from helping her. Then Central Washington players Liz Wallace and Mallory Holtman picked her up and carried her to second, third and home in the greatest show of sportsmanship in years.
This is what sports are all about. I used to think the unsportsmanlike conduct call was total BS, but as I get older, I think sportsmanship is far more important than winning and losing. It is not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. I don't want to play dirty and win. I feel it cheapens the victory. That's why I always try to get comparable subs when I have players out. We were the top seed going into the playoffs, but were put out by a team with a sub that I am not convinced was entirely legal. I protested, but didn't press it since I didn't want to advance on a technicality (in their defense, the sub wasn't much of a help; their goalie caught fire- we peppered him relentlessly, but couldn't get anything by him). Anyway, I played football growing up, and my high school coach had very few rules - Play hard until the whistle, don't give up, do right, and whether you win or lose, you do it with class. You follow those principles, and the rest will take care of itself.
As I get older, I see the wisdom in these simple principles and that the point of education is not to teach you the crap in books; if you can read, you can get that anytime. The point of education is to stretch people and force them outside of their comfort zones to turn them into mature responsible people that can handle adversity. It is sad that so few of us remain calm and composed when faced with adversity. That is mainly why I have a job; I have to referee overgrown children and help them understand alternative points of view.
Anyway, it makes me think of much of the poor sportsmanship I see in the SOL. I am surprised the captains have not instituted a "no asshole policy" and "encourage" players that are poor sports to get the hell out of DII. DII is comprised mainly of middle aged players out there to have a good time that all have to go to work the next day. All it takes is one negative loud mouth to ruin it for everyone. If you want to play with a poor attitude, go to DI and get an attitude adjustment (I say this cause most of the players I refer to are also among the weakest players in the league and need some humbling). They had all better be thankful that I was not available to be the league director (I have been asked to do it the last few seasons, but due to work travel have declined). My first act would to make unsportsmanlike conduct toward the officials a game misconduct penalty that carries a game suspension. It is one thing to disagree with a call, but the profanity and yelling is uncalled for. Bad calls tend to be equal long term biting everybody eventually. But I tire of the overgrown babies in the league yelling and abusing the officials. It is no wonder we have questionable calls and less than the best officiating. No one wants to do (not to take away from those that do the job; but the abuse dished out by players and coaches has shrank the pool of people willing to officiate). I wouldn't do it simply because of the abuse the officials have to endure. It is even worse at the kids games. Just think of the example we all set for the kids. This win at all costs mentality is how we end up with Enrons. Instead of adding the stupid trapezoid and the new interpretation of old rules, USA Hockey should be suspending players that demonstrate poor sportsmanship. Off my soap box.
In 1986, Dan Harrison(see picture above)was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University .
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Dan approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Dan worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.
The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.
Dan stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Dan never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Dan was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenage son.
As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Dan and his son Dan Jr. were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Dan, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Dan couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.
Dan summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Dan's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Welcome to the 3 Minute Management Course training
for 2008 in 5 easy lessons:
Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower as his wife is
getting out, when the doorbell rings. She quickly
wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. She
opens the door to Bob, the next door neighbor. Before
she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you 0 to
drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, she
drops it and stands naked in front of Bob. After a
few seconds, Bob hands her 0 and leaves. Wrapping
herself in the towel, as she gets to the bathroom,
her husband asks: "Who was that?" "It was Bob the
next door neighbor" she replies. "Great!" the husband
says, "did he say anything about the 0 he owes
me?"
Moral of the story: If you share critical information
pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders,
in time, you may be in a position to prevent
avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2
A priest offered a Nun a lift. As she sat in the car,
she could not help but reveal a leg. The priest
nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he
stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said,
"Father, remember Psalm 129?" He removed his hand.
But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg
again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember
Psalm 129?" The priest apologized "Sorry sister but
the flesh is weak". Arriving at the convent, the nun
went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to
look up Psalm 129 It said, "Go forth and seek,
further up, you will find glory."
Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in
your job, you might miss a great opportunity.
Lesson 3
A sales rep, an administration clerk and their
manager are walking to lunch when they find an
antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie pops out.
The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one
wish".
"Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want
to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a
care in the world". Puff! She's gone.
"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to
be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal
masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the
love of my life". Puff! He's gone.
"OK, you're up", the Genie says to the manager. The
manager says, "I want those two back in the office
after lunch".
Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the
first say.
Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing
nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him,
"Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle
answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the
ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a
fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing,
you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to
be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the
turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." Well, why
don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied
the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey
pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave
him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the
tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he
reached the second
branch. Finally, after a fourth night, the turkey was
proudly perched at the top of the tree He was
promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the
tree.
Moral of the story: Bullshit might get you to the
top, but it won't keep you there.
This ends the 3 minute management course, now get
back to work.
JOU HAVE YUST RECEIBED A MEHICAN BYRUS. SIN WE HABE NO GOOD TECHNIOLOGICALLY ADBANCE IN MEHICO, DEES IS A MANUAL BYRUS. PLEESE DELETE ALL JOUR FILES ON JOUR HARDT-DRIBE JOURSELF AND SEND THEES EMAIL TO EBERYONE JOU KNOW. TANKJOU FOR HALPING ME.
JULIO MANUEL JOSE FELIPE GONZALO JORGE RODRIGUEZ JONES
(MEHCIAN HACKER)
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Opie up high Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 08:09 p.m.
I could show you the view, but I don't think homeland insecurity would like it (not that you can't see it all on google maps anyway), but it was breathtaking (or maybe it was the swaying of the crane as it demonstrated elastic deformation in the wind)...
Because it's the election season, let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to 0. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay .
The sixth would pay .
The seventh would pay .
The eighth would pay .
The ninth would pay .
The tenth man (the richest) would pay .
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until one day the owner threw them a curved ball (or is that a curved beer!). "Because you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by ."
Drinks for the ten now cost just .
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that divided by six is .33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid instead of (33% savings).
The seventh now paid instead of (28% savings).
The eighth now paid instead of (25% savings).
The ninth now paid instead of (22% savings).
The tenth now paid instead of (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the ," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got !"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth man and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our Tax System works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Five surgeons from big cities are discussing who makes the Best patients to operate on.
The first surgeon, from New York , says, "I like to see accountants on my operating table because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered."
The second, from Chicago , responds, "Yeah, but you should try electricians! Everything inside them is color coded."
The third surgeon, from Dallas , says, "No, I really think librarians are the best, everything inside them is in alphabetical order"
The fourth surgeon, from Los Angeles chimes in: "You know, I like construction workers... Those guys always understand when you have a few parts left over."
But the fifth surgeon, from Washington , DC shut them all up when he observed: "You're all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There's no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains and no spine, and the head and the ass are interchangeable.
Monday, I was the sickest I have been in some. I was so weak that I could barely make it from the bed to the bathroom to hurl. But alas, 32 hours of sleep later, and I am nearly good as new. Still have a mild headache, a sore throat, and my abs feel like I did 1000 crunches after taking a year off from exercising, but I am out and aboot. Doh, no green beer for 3 years in a row. In other news, Heather and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary today. I must say I have a wonderful wife. She takes great care of me. Not only is she willing to hold my head when I puke, she makes my crazy work schedule possible. There is no way I could travel for work if she didn't back me up. I know when it comes to the house work, she picks up more than her fair share. I hope she knows how much I appreciate everything she does for me. As I can only eat small portions of food, we held of on going to dinner to celebrate.
