Trash Talking

... bugs the shit out of me.

Let your actions do the talking.

If you need to trash talk, you're most likely trying to make up for some sort of inadequacy on the field, in the ring, on the ice, on the court, on the track, in the pool, on the road...

I mean, sure. Different strokes for different folks. But I'll take nice and quiet over brash and loud any day.

Wait... I take that back. Do all the trash talking you want. Just make it seem like you're a nice guy. Or trash talk and be the best.

Reggie Miller trash talked a bunch. So did Michael Jordan. But Michael backed it up and won 6 rings. Reggie only made it to the Eastern Conference Finals a bunch...

Amendment: Trash talking bugs the shit out of me... if you can't back it up.

Floyd Mayweather trash talks so much I half expect a Waste Management truck to fall out of his mouth. But the man is undefeated, so there's not a lot of arguing to be done. Sure, he supposedly ducks fights. Yes, he's pretty classless at times and downright arrogantly ignorant at others. But the man is undefeated. So until someone makes the 0 a 1... you can't really fault him for trash talking.

You know what doesn't bug the shit out of me?

Sports...

Sour and Sweet

Some say you need the sour to appreciate the sweet.

MJ needed those 6 seasons of heartbreak to truly appreciate threepeating... and then the brief descent into retirement fueled his desire for that second threepeat... and I guarantee you it was that much sweeter.

Lance needed to go through cancer and reach the lowest of his lows in order to rebuild himself into a cyclist that would win the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times.

I hope that the pain and shame that LeBron feels right now will fuel the fire that will lead to multiple championships.

I pray that Tiger powers through this valley and finds a way to catapult himself back into golf's elite.

It's such an easy way to explain the hardship, pain, hurdles, setbacks, mistakes, failures...

But it's a lie. We don't need the sour to appreciate the sweet. You just need the patience, the humility, the self-awareness to not take things for granted. But it's difficult to have those things, to conduct oneself with grace and poise, to be content and realize how good you have it.

So when things are going badly, we delude ourselves.

"You need the sour to appreciate the sweet!"

Why can't we just look around and realize that everyday is filled with both so why not focus on the sweet and enjoy what we already have?

*NOTE: Is it ironic that all four athletes I mention in this blog are sponsored by Nike?