Ozzie Guillen: Baseball Success, PR Nightmare

Surely the Miami Marlins' front office must've known they were hiring an outspoken, often irreverent manager in Ozzie Guillen.  They knew he had a successful track record as a player, coach and manager, and had won the favor of many players he managed.  But after Ozzie's ill-advised "I love Fidel Castro ... I respect Fidel Castro" quip on Time Magazine, their season wavered like a top losing its spin, flirted with the Chicago Cubs' own MLB bottom-feeding season, then gone, history, hasta-la-bye-bye.  Ozzie fired, but left fat in the wallet.     

The front office wanted a prominent, capable Latino manager to help advance their commercial, sports and cultural plans in a predominantly Cuban-American community in Miami.  A short year later, they decided they didn't want that manager after all.

Maybe they should've engaged Eva Longoria as the true diamond in the dugout, instead.

How free is freedom, really?  

There is no questioning Ozzie's freedom to speak his mind.  But we know that freedom comes with a responsibility to be respectful and therefore an accountability to others.  Surely he must've known that the community he had recently joined would go ballastic, if he said anything even remotely praiseworthy of the Cuban leader.

What was he thinking, man?     

I am one of those who've been around the block, literally, having crossed continents and back and having slid into the second half of life.  So I know that, even though I rack my brains now and then trying to figure people out, there is a place in the world for everyone, including Ozzie Guillen.

What is that place, and what is his purpose?

Ozzie plays the Fool

ESPN senior writer LZ Granderson offered an insightful take on this, and I'd like to build on it. 

You see, in Shakespeare, the Fool has a prominent role in the royal court.  He is a figure, if fortunate enough, who is installed for the King's amusement.  Think about the Joker in a deck of cards, and you have a sense for how wild yet useful the Fool is.

The Fool, most importantly, has license to speak true to the King, that is, without getting punished.  In turn, the King may seek, and value, such truthfulness, because he sees only a court full of yes-Your-Highness, curtsy-every-second subjects.  The Fool comes across as silly and dumb, but may actually be smart as a whip and have a finger on the courtly pulse.

LZ is correct in that Ozzie's slurs are a prompt to have a dialogue on very sensitive, clearly incendiary issues.  But more than that, I think, people like Ozzie serve a critical societal and psychological purpose.    

A society hung up on political correctness (PC) may keep an air of civility, by and large.  Each word is carefully crafted, before uttered, or else it lands the utterer in hot water.  Each manner is dressed up, so as not to be offensive to the eyes.  But the reason PC is often itself the butt of politically incorrect sarcasm is that it creates a society that is plastic and unreal, even repressed, ultimately dissatisfying and untenable.

Punish Ozzie for the wrong he said, because he deserves it.

Praise Ozzie for that same wrong he said, because we, as a society, need to be shaken from our staid civility now and then, to face these issues and engage in difficult conversations.  

Finally, no doubt, Ozzie isn't the only one who has those very sentiments about Fidel Castro.  In a way, then, he is the vehicle by which those silent (maybe not all so silent) sentiments are vicariously delivered.

So, the next time the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory stages "King Lear," they know whom to cast to play the role of you-know-what! 

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD

Bears Jay Cutler Suffers from Type 1 Diabetes

Right after a dominant win over the Colts in the first game of the season, the Chicago Bears hit the wall against the Packers.  The defense held their own relatively well in the 23-10 loss, but the offense tanked and QB Jay Cutler spent most of the game on the turf.  Packers linebacker, Clay Matthews, effectively made mince meat of his counterpart on the Bears offensive line, J'Marcus Webb, and got to Cutler probably more often than his own mother. 

The poor QB was not at all a happy camper, and berated his hapless tackle on Thursday-night national TV.  What got football circles buzzing angrily, though, was his shoulder bump against the much bigger Webb.  His apparent reluctance to apologize afterwards only kept him in the neighborhood of villainy.

In the heat of the game, every athlete and coach know that this sort of thing can happen.  At the end of the day, it's no big deal.  It's better, of course, if the particular combatants kiss and make up privately, and little else has to be disclosed to the media.

Importance of team engagement

There is superb research by Gallup on employee engagement.  Organizations do what they can to promote motivation and commitment, as this makes for a high-performing culture and a highly satisfying milieu for everyone.  In particular, Gallup found that safety incidents diminish, the stronger the bond among the staff.  Why?  Because colleagues who feel that kinship look out for, and take care of, each other.  So for Cutler's sake, I hope he did make lovey-dovey with Webb sometime afterwards.   

That Thursday night loss and incident receded from the limelight well enough, as the Bears beat their opponents in the three games since.

Still, since Cutler's arrival to Chicago, the favor he curries even with us Bears fans waxes and wanes because of his attitude and behavior.  My sister and I were texting each other, while watching the Redskins-Vikings game last week, and she wondered why Cutler couldn't play like Robert Griffin III.  I quipped, "RG3 is a stud, Cutler is a dork (lol)."

Cutler suffers from diabetes

Then a reader commented on a Peter King article in Sports Illustrated that Cutler had Type 1 Diabetes.  He pointed out that stress can result in mood swings, like anger and irritability, in those who suffer from this condition.  I didn't know that, and it stands to reason that diabetes could account for part of what Cutler does on the field.  The condition doesn't excuse his behavior, but it offers an additional explanation.

I scoped out more information on Cutler, and I saw that this was a serious condition and that it both shocked and relieved him when he was finally diagnosed.  Here he was on Larry King Live, where he related his efforts to help children suffering from the same thing: 

That same reader above acknowledged that Cutler may very well be a jerk, but seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I thought, good point, but reasoned that his personality probably accounts more for his behavior than his condition does.  One, I trust that the Bears' training and medical staff have his diabetes under control.  Two, he isn't exactly the most gracious athlete in the media, and few people are likely to characterize his personality as winsome.

But I tell you what, in finding out more about him, I came to appreciate him better.  Apparently he's eschewed endorsement deals, in order to dedicate himself to playing football and helping the Bears win a championship. 

That's cool, I like hearing that!

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD

Here are more references on Cutler, diabetes, and athletics:

Jay Cutler's Journey with Diabetes
MH Spotlight:  Diabetes-Beat the Blitz
Management of Competitive Athletes with Diabetes

Pregame Rituals Show NBA Players are Unique

Each of us is as unique as a snowflake.  Fine saying, if you are from a country that has winters.

I lived in Dubai, and consulted throughout the Middle East, for years.  There, the coldest it gets is the 60s F.  Many people have never seen snow.  Then how about, Each of us is as unique as a grain of sand?

As unique as a drop in the ocean.

A thumbprint. 

You see, I am a poet, and can readily run rampant with my metaphors.  So get someone like Stephen A. Smith, from ESPN, to tell me, Hold on, get going with what you're trying to say, will you? 

The NBA recently imposed a 90-second time limit on players' pregame rituals, as Sports Illustrated reported.  KD is right:  We fans like it, we fans enjoy it!  This feels like the NBA being ogre parents putting children in their place.

So much of what athletes do in the field, court or rink of play is about their professional demeanor.  They abide by strict rules of conduct that, in a way, diminishes their individuality.  What's more, the gear they don further hides them and makes them virtually anonymous.  Think football linemen, those hefty boys that are all shoulder pads, helmet cages, and thighs like tree trunks. 

At the same time, we fans clamor for their personal side.

Years ago, NBC Sports learned that to attract more women viewers to their Olympics coverage, they needed to do occasional cutaways or personal profiles of the athletes.  Men like them, too.  

I might argue, then, that the unprecedented popularity of social media has to do, in part, with people finding  those personal sides of others on Facebook and Twitter.  And, at the same time, they have a chance to show (off) their personal sides.   

Besides, do NBA players' pregame rituals take all that long to begin with?

 

Personal rituals are about athletes showing us they're real and unique.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD

The Quandary that is Lance Armstrong

The news today is abuzz with Lance Armstrong, once again, because he has stepped down as Chairman of his Livestrong Foundation and been fired by Nike.  ESPN is tops for me, as far as awesome, intelligent, and intriguing sports news is concerned, and this is one of their reports on our man in the hot seat.

I love this Nike commercial, and still do, the irony of it notwithstanding.  "What am I on?" he repeats the often-asked question.  "I'm on my bike, busting my ass, six hours a day.  What are you on?"

His claim to infamy had been that he was the most drug-tested athlete and never failed a test.  Now there are reasons to wonder if there was illicit collusion among the testers about any positive results.  I expect that even more will come to light in the next several months. 

Yeah, he was 'on' something

In conversations with cycling friends, in the midst of his championship run on the Tour de France, I said, "Yeah, I think he's on something.  But he's so smart, so disciplined, and so well-advised by the best of minds in the sport, that he's ahead of the game."  

So, as the veritable fortress of doping that he and his mates constructed came undone, brick by brick, I was saddened but not shocked.  I already knew.  There is still more to undo, of course, but his legacy is a demolition site now.

Sports is a quandary

We marvel at what athletes do.  Our jaw drops in awe, our head shakes in disbelief, and our voice is lost in the thick air of whoops, high-fives, and beer.

Truth be told, 99.9% of us cannot do what they can do.  But perhaps in a fit of vicarious play, when we watch them, we can.  Even if the inspiration lifts our athletic skills just a fraction closer to theirs, we are grateful.  This is why I am hooked on sports.

But for those 0.1% athletes, their world is pure, unadulterated reality.  Past that marveling, I think it's inhuman to subject themselves to such strain and pain.  No body or mind should be subjected to it.  The Tour de France, for example, is 2100 miles of hell, over a 3-week period.  Yes, hundreds of athletes endure this grueling race, year after year, and they recover and they're just fine.

Not to condone the use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), I simply encourage us to try to understand why, for goodness sake, athletes may, and do, in fact resort to them.  As a weekend cyclist, I have a feel for that strain and pain.  I resort to protein powder, spaghetti carbo-load, and hydration fluids, when I train and cycle, but consume absolutely no drugs.  I am wasted after a fast-and-furious 50-mile 'recreational' ride with the guys, under the 110-degree Dubai sun.  I know how my body and mind feel, and all I can do afterward is what Lance did in the Nike commercial:  sleep.

Then, in preparation for the next ride, I review the last ride in my mind and tweak my training regimen accordingly.  I also wonder what else I can consume to raise my performance.   

Moreover, aside from the personal compulsion to excel, athletes also face peer and commercial pressures to perform at such a high level, as to be, once again, downright inhuman.  There's no question about the fact that they made a choice to subject themselves to such pressure.  But once in the sea of these choices, each of them can go only so far to keep their heads above water and endure it.  The cliche is true:  They're only human, after all. 

Yeah, we can get inspired by no-limits, nothing-is-impossible commercials on YouTube and posts on Facebook. But as a matter of brutal fact, all of us have far many more limits than capabilities. Far more things we cannot do than things we can. So those who dope are simply trying, in this complex, strenuous arena of sports, to withstand, survive, and succeed.

Lance is a dilemma

Lance remains a standout athlete to me. They can strip him of his Tour de France mantles, they can grab million-dollar sponsorships off his hands, and they can vilify him in judgmental media circles. He is still a remarkable guy to me.

Why and how?

We do not know exactly how many dopers there were in the field of riders, in his seven-year championship run, but we can safely assume there were many indeed.  So, as far as doping is concerned, it was probably a level playing field.

The fact, then, that Lance rose head-and-shoulders above all of them cannot be accounted for by PEDs.  No, I'd say it was his brilliant strategic skills on the bike.  His unmatched conditioning, discipline, and athleticism.  The masterful direction of Johan Bruyneel.  The training stewardship of Chris Carmichael.  No doubt, all of these were competitive differentiators.  I bet he could've won those championships without PEDs.  The dude was that great on the bike!

It may be said that every dog has its day.  I mean, the critics who must now feel justified in their hard-fought doping accusations, especially those in the French media, who apparently disliked Lance with a passion.  Let him drown completely in his own sea of lies and denials, I hear them shout, wholly discredited and dismissed.

But wait a minute, I say.  Can we not separate the good from the bad, and still admire the guy for surviving cancer, raising half-a-billion dollars to eradicate it, and excelling in one of the most grueling sports around?

I can, and encourage all of us to do the same.

The dilemma in all honesty, however, is that some of us cannot - and will not, even if we can - separate the good from the bad.  He's all bad, good riddance, amen, and thank you, ma'am!

Think:  Joe Paterno.  The abuse that several victims had to endure requires recompense and punishment, of course, as a response to those perpetrators and accomplices, Joe included.  But if this abuse weren't tragic enough, the NCAA had to go nuclear with its own set of punishments on Penn State University and its football program.  Apparently, the hundreds of (innocent) athletes, coaches, students, faculty and administrators were all bad, too, for being at PSU.  No one can convince me that that isn't a travesty in itself!                    

That said, Joe's phenomenal legacy on the football field is obviously now a tarnished set of trophies on the mantlepiece.  But let them take away his statue and categorically vilify the dead man, those trophies still stand strong and proud, in my eyes.  Joe remains among the heralded few in college sports, who sustained decades of success.  Perhaps he is more the real idol now, for his very flaws and mistakes, amidst his longtime accomplishments.      

Same with Lance.  Again, I am saddened by his doping but I still admire, and am inspired by, all the good he did, on and off the bike.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD