HUDDLE!
Here we go team...There's a smell wafting through our great city, and its not the sewer system nor the subway. It's not a wayward skunk who made it to the city. Nor is it the pungent odor of "teen spirit".
BUT IT STINKS! And this is a good time to address where it's coming from.
Last summer basketball icon, LeBron James made a public spectacle of himself and his free agency staus in the NBA. It all went badly and his now former boss, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dennis Gilbert, called him out. Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans had these kind parting words to LeBron:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5365704
But, that's not where I'm going with the ball. Today we discuss loyalty. I've been running this team for several years. We have made great strides, and everyone seemed to be happy. I'm discovering that after spending much of my time developing and molding young men and women into being responsible leaders and players, that a few are quietly defecting! Some to arch-rivals, some to parts unknown.
Where is the loyalty? Where are the replies to my weekly e-mails calling for pre-season training and fitness classes? All this time I thought that money was too tight to mention, so I felt that parents were counting up their chips and would "all-in" as we got closer to the start of the season. SOME STILL OWE MONEY FROM LAST YEAR'S PROGRAM! (And for them, I would merely remind them of their trespasses and allow for longer, if any, payment)
TWEET! Personal foul, offens(ive)! The result of the play is ejection!
It's the actions of the few that make it bad for the whole. The distaste now will not allow for me to have patience and empathy going forward. Imagine, attending a preseason event, used to promote togetherness and learning later that these parents are entertaining another team?
Have we as a society, forgot all about manners? Is this another part of the dumbification of America? DO YOU HAVE ANY PRIDE?! Are we all thoughtless and as self-possessed as the peons we're watching on shows like "Filthy Wretched Housewives of Atlanta?"
Listen up team! I'm insulted. You've been insulted. We are gonna hitch up our wagons in a circle. We're gonna stand back to back. And when we see them on the court, we'll take it right to them, because no one disrespects us!
All hands in on three!
One-two-three
LOYALTY!
