The Path Less Traveled

If you're a fan of sports and/or human behavior, you should read the latest ESPN.com article on Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Possibly my favorite excerpt in a while:

"As he sat there looking at men who aspire to be him, he reflected on his fortune. This was not a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I moment; Mayweather's not built like that. Instead, he felt the weight of the cash in his pockets, considered his abundance of wealth and said to himself, "God love me, and I'm a hell of a fighter." It might as well serve as his mantra."

This is my kind of dude.

Which makes for an interesting thought. Now, most of us who have some sort of ability or have been blessed with success almost live despite of it. We shrug it off in the hopes of acting "humble." We give others credit for our success. We downplay things. Not Floyd. He knows where his bread is buttered. God loves him. And he does very at what he does. From now on, I'm taking compliments with more of a matter-of-factness. I think that my standard response will be, "Yep. God loves me, and I'm pretty awesome."

This weekend, I'm rooting for Mayweather. Normally, I'd root for Oscar de la Hoya, but not this time. I'm a fan of excellence. Normally Oscar is the personification of excellence. But I think that Mayweather is the better boxer. And I don't like underdogs.

The idea of rooting for underdogs goes against just about every fiber of my being. Here's the thing. When people talk about David and Goliath, they use it inappropriately. David was God's anointed. He knew it. God knew it. Just everyone else, didn't, yet. That doesn't come through in rooting for a 15 over a 2 seed in the 1st round. The 15 isn't going to win the championship. They're just looking to get lucky once. That's crap. Rooting for David is more like rooting for Tom Brady. He'll win the big one when you don't expect it, but then he follows it up by continuing to win. Rooting for underdogs is more like rooting for Pharoah, when his magicians are able to replicate Moses's actions. It worked out well then, but wouldn't work out in the long run.

Of course, I sort of like rooting for Goliath, myself. But that's another posting.

Back to the point, what do we have against excellence? Why don't we like seeing the best team do their thing, and show everyone how things are supposed to be done? I don't know, but I don't like it. So here's to Yankees Baseball, Patriots Football, Duke Basketball (and Lacrosse), and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

-Chairman