Why the Hate?

 

I don't get it. The more I think about it, the more I just really don't get it. LeBron James returns to Cleveland and all seems right with the sports world. Yet, there are people who still find a reason to criticize and hate on the man.

James has carved a tremendous and impressive legacy during his decade-long tenure in the NBA. MVPs, check. NBA championships, check. Scoring titles, check. One of the best players of all time, check. Perhaps the most impressive part about James is the fact that he has improved pretty much in all facets of the game over the course of his career. Even with all that, he has been a good ambassador for basketball and has stayed out of trouble.

But people want to criticize that he went to Miami to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to win his championships. Even old-time NBA players voiced their displeasure with James' DECISION back in 2010. But how can Magic Johnson even compare his experience to James when the Lakers had other Hall of Fame players (Kareem, Worthy, Wilkes, McAdoo) on that team with him? Even though Magic had good leadership ability, the fact is that he was surrounded with players who would have been Hall of Fame players regardless of they played with him or not and that actually toned themselves down to fit the Lakers' style of play. What Magic had, James never had in Cleveland. The only Hall of Fame level player he had was Shaq, who as already in the twilight of his career. And can we really compare Mike Brown (who I really like as a coach) to Pat Riley in the coaching department?

Let's go to Larry Bird. His leadership ability is also heralded in basketball lore. Yet he had a coach named KC Jones, who is a Hall of Fame player but truthfully should have also been a Hall of Fame coach. Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson all are Hall of Famers. Johnson actually had won a championship before even coming to the Celtics with the Seattle Supersonics in 1979. Once again, James did not have this type of roster support and coaching staff in Cleveland.

Lastly, we'll talk about Michael Jordan. On his championship teams with the Bulls, Jordan played alongside Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman and tremendous role players such as Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, John Paxson and Steve Kerr. Not to mention, that he also had Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson at the helm for all six of those championships. Once more, not anything near what James had in Cleveland.

Then I find myself reading posts from people on Facebook complaining that James went back to Cleveland because of the letter owner Dan Gilbert wrote when he left. Whether these people realize it or not, what they are saying is that they don't approve of James and Gilbert sitting down like two grown men and burying the hatchet. Isn't that supposed to be a good thing? I just don't get it.

It's late at night and I know I'm sounding preachy in this entry but I'm flabbergasted by this whole thing. I understand why people were upset with James when he left for Miami amidst a media circus frenzy that he embraced and supported. But this was different. The way James handled himself this time showed his maturity and what he has learned over the past few years. But some people were too busy hating in order to see it.

Haters are gonna hate. I still don't get it.

Time to get some sleep,

LandoRigs

Happy for LeBron

LeBron James is a Cleveland Cavalier once again!  Link to ESPN.com article

Well, in case you haven't heard, reports are swirling about that LeBron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. ESPN and other sports networks have been on the story with speculations and predictions ever since the 2014 NBA ended. Now we finally have our answer and I am happy for him.

But as James heads back to Cleveland, I am reminded at how everything broke down in 2010 when he decided to leave the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. James and the sports media turned his announcement into a circus, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert wrote a nasty letter about James and the Cleveland fans burned their former hero's jerseys at will. What I hope is that all three sides (James, Gilbert, Cleveland fans) have learned from that experience and are able to see where they all were at fault. I would hate to see a repeat if James' were to go to another team when he becomes a free agent again.

That being said, I am thrilled to see him make a choice that was best for him. He has been one of the hardest working players and has improved over the course of his career. If anyone has earned the right to choose what he wants for his career, James certainly has earned that right. All I ask is that the Cavaliers change their jerseys back to the way they were when James was on the team the first team because those jerseys since have been hideous. :)

Same bat time, same bat blog,

LandoRigs

Let's Watch How We Speak to One Another

Let everything that you do be done in love. 

- 1 Corinthians 16:14 (ESV)

Today's post is going to be one that is geared more to my Christian brothers and sisters but what I am going to propose is something that I feel any person can benefit from. There is a trend among some believers that I believe is very counterproductive and unfruitful. It is the unloving and disrespectful way that believers sometimes speak to one another.

As we continue, I admit that I have been very guilty of the things that I am going to talk about. So my perspective is not coming from a person who doesn't know how easy it is to fall into this dangerous pattern. It is coming from a person who has realized over the course of his life how damaging it has been to others and sought to correct it. My personal experiences are why I have the insight that I do on this topic but at the same time, certainly isn't anything that I am proud of.

Furthermore, I believe passionate dialogue and energetic discussions among Christians is a good thing. There is nothing wrong with them. But what I have seen time and time again, particularly online, is believers cutting down other believers in order to get their point across. This is not loving and no matter how many good points a person has, when a conversation deteriorates to such levels, nobody wins and nobody is the better for it. Yet, shouldn't dialogue between believers be edifying for all parties involved?

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

-1 Corinthians 13:2 (ESV)

If we as believers are entering conversations with other believers in order to simply be correct, flex our theological muscle, boast of our titles and seminary learning, and try to show ourselves to be superior in knowledge of the faith compared to others, then we are being very counterproductive. These are all characteristics wrapped up in pride, something that God detests. Such characteristics lack the one ingredient which would produce a fruitful conversation—LOVE! Let's consider Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13. It is a chapter focused on the importance of love being our intent in all that we do. In one part, Paul talks about having understanding of all mysteries and knowledge without love amounts to nothing. In another, he reminds us that love does not boast, dishonor, is not proud and is not self seeking.

So when I come across a conversation where people are showing the attributes that are the complete opposite of love, it is a concern. If one of us has a really good point to show another, wouldn't it be better to explain it without having to tear the other person down and elevate ourselves? And what do titles, education level and seminary experience have to do with anything when it comes to who God can use to proclaim His truth? What does age or gender have to do with it? Either something is true or it isn't. Just because a college graduate says “2+2=4” doesn't make it any more true than a person who has never had any education saying “2+2=4.” I believe when we get stuck on credentials that not even Jesus' 12 disciples had, we waste precious opportunities to learn from one another and also create bad blood within the body of Christ.

Another attribute that is missing along with love in some of these conversations is humility. A person who is truly humble will never feel as if he or she knows everything and that an “inferior” person is incapable of showing them truth. Such people don't even put others into categories of "superior" and "inferior." Several years ago, it seemed like God was constantly putting me in encounters with homeless persons on the street. It got to the point that when I was at a gas station, if I saw a homeless person, it was a guarantee I would end up being approached by the guy. My conversations with these gentlemen would blow my mind because the advice and encouragement that they gave me was more in tune with God's truth than anybody I had ever spoken with in a suit. Had I been stuck in the notion that because the guy is homeless, smells funny, has worn clothes and is missing some teeththat I could never learn anything from him, I would have missed out on those nuggets of advice I can still remember to this day. Those were amazing moments.

Humble people do not look at “superior vs inferior” in relation to others. They view themselves on the same plane as others. Instead of talking at and down to people, they talk WITH people. There's a big difference there. It's like the difference between the way a boss speaks to an employee that can leave the employee feeling encouraged or feeling belittled. Think about how much better we'd communicate in our marriages, with our children, among our friends and with our employees if we took more of the approach of talking WITH people. It would create a world of difference and believe me, I saw it firsthand in my life.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 

- James 1:19 (ESV)

One of the keys to fruitful communication is having a greater ability to listen than to speak. It is so easy to want to speak, to be heard and to want to get our point across. Some of us may even believe that dominating a conversation is the most effective way to go. But it isn't. Believe me, investing your time and effort to be a much better listener than speaker will go a long way. If another person says something you don't understand or comprehend, ask that person for clarification rather than accuse and attack. Rather than dismiss your brother or sister as being a non-Christian or another hurtful label, try to spend more time understanding his or her perspective, even if in the end you don't agree with it. And it is okay to leave the conversation with separate viewpoints yet still be able to love one another. Don't make the conversation about having to prove the other person wrong or winning. Simply love and share what God leads you to share. God will do the rest.

Lastly, remember we as Christians are all still on the journey and last I've checked, we've all got a ways to go.

Enjoy your weekend,

LandoRigs

The Importance of Gratitude

I can honestly admit that when I was younger, I took so many things for granted. I never really took notice of the big picture and how so many things are interconnected. That has changed as I have gotten older and the funny thing is that I know that the more appreciative I've become, the happier in life I've been.

We can come up with a list of all sorts of things that we don't have and that we want to have. But do we really take the time to be thankful for what we have right now? I think if we did this a little more, we would see that in most cases we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. It might take a change of mind in order to begin to appreciate what are considered to be the "simple" things of life. But I can tell you from personal experience, the more gratitude you have in your heart, the happier you will be. To not appreciate those good things that we have right in front of our faces will make us bitter people.
 

Not only is it important for us to be appreciative but it is also good for our health to have others appreciate us. When is the last time someone said “Thank you” to you or other compliments such as “good job” and “we appreciate you”? Doesn't it feel good to be appreciated? I'm sure others feel the same way when we appreciate them. How much better our society would be if it were one of true appreciation of one another. 

There are some of us who do a wonderful job at being gracious for the things that others do for us and there are others of us that could use some work in that department. It's okay if you need work because I've been there too. The cool thing about knowing you need to work at something is that you can get better at it and improve in it. Sometimes it is very easy to take people for granted and to live by the mantra that the good things that people do are simply what they are SUPPOSED to do. There is a danger in living by this ideology in that it creates a very unappreciative expectation in others and such persons can end up living out a very sour existence. Think about how a mother or father who has been a fabulous parent to their children only to have their children tell them that they didn't feel they had to thank them because parenting them was what they were supposed to do. Wouldn't that be terrible if you were that parent who poured into your childrens' lives and yet they could never tell you even a simple "thank you?"

I present another example that most of us would be familiar with--the restaurant experience. As a customer, when we go into the restaurant, we have a greeter who welcomes us to the establishment and leads us to our respective seats. Within minutes, a waiter or waitress that we become familiar with throughout the remainder of our dining experience comes to ask if we would like anything to drink. We give him or her the order and within minutes, we have that delivered directly to our table. Next, we may order appetizers or get right into the main course. Just like the drinks, we will soon have our order of food delivered directly to our table. Anything we order, it is delivered to us. The only time we would have to get up would be to go to the restroom, deal with an emergency or to leave the restaurant after we've finished our meals. What we are receiving is service and hospitality.

The real test of gratitude arrives when the bill does. How many waiters and waitresses do a phenomenal job, along with the other members of their team in the restaurant, only to get stiffed in their tips when the proper time comes for their reward? Most of them go out of their way to provide outstanding service, only to receive a measly three-percent tip. It's terrible but also very indicative of how we can consume the efforts of others in our society without an ounce of appreciation. What is happening in the restaurants also happens to parents and children in the home, husbands and wives in marriage, workers in the workplace, teachers in the classroom and I could give so many other examples. I can not even begin to tell you how many people I know who go to work for a company every day and feel as if their time and efforts are not appreciated at all. This shouldn't be.

Maybe one of the reasons why we deal with so much depression in this country is because we don't have a heart of gratitude as a whole. Even though the conveniences and luxuries we enjoy many times come from the work of the impoverished and those with significantly lesser income, we still find reasons to complain about how we don't have enough. Instead of being content, there is always the desire for more. Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting better and wanting to do better, but when we come to a place when we can't even appreciate what we have, that's a problem. Of course, our mainstream media and entertainment play a huge role in this as well because you're always being treated to a barrage of in-your-face and subliminal advertisements that help to create that craving of never being satisfied.

For me, my relationship with Jesus Christ has given me a heart of gratitude and allowed me to see just how I lacked that before I followed him. From there, I appreciate everything in my life even down to the fact that I am still breathing when I wake up in the morning. Gratitude has also played a significant part as to why I can still be the happiest I've ever been even though my life was turned upside down two years ago when I was diagnosed with End Stage Renal (Kidney) Failure. It has served me well and that is why I want to share this with you today.

So if you're having trouble being happy, it won't hurt to be a bit more thankful.

Until next time,

LandoRigs

Really ESPN?

With so many people online praising the latest "The Body Issue" from ESPN magazine, I just may be one of the few that takes exception to the annual issue and that constantly asks the question of, "What's the point?"

ESPN has been a staple in sports media since its inception in 1979. Shows like SportsCenter and NFL Primetime, First Take and Numbers Never Lie are still among my favorite sports shows of all-time to this very day. They've done a fabulous job resurrecting Monday Night Football, provide outstanding coverage for college football and basketball and I recently enjoyed their coverage of the World Cup to this point. In my opinion, there is a lot that they do right.

But when it comes to this annual "body" issue, truthfully, what does this have to do with sports? I realize that when "The Body Issue" was first released in 2009 that it was supposed to be ESPN's answer to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. But what do things like that have to do with sports, other than to provide an opportunity to show skin? Of course, there will always be an audience and a chance to make money off that sort of thing. But it is really necessary to go completely nude with only the main private parts not showing? Where is the appropriateness in that?

My Christian beliefs may be playing a big part in why I feel this way. In the bible, after Adam and Eve sinned, God provided the couple with animal skins to clothe themselves and clothing has been an integral part of most societies ever since. Consider what happened in the incident of Noah, when one of his sons saw him naked and was cursed. His other sons rushed to over their father and make sure not to look as they covered him. Other accounts show in so many words that it is only appropriate to see one's spouse in the nude. That's what I go by in my personal life.

Whether a person is a Christian or not, I would imagine if most of us saw a person in the nude on the street, even with their lower extremities covered, we would be appalled. I think if ESPN wanted to do a "body" issue, there is definitely a more tasteful way to do it.

More to come,

LandoRigs

Everybody is Important

A few months ago, when I attended a Toastmasters meeting, I did kind of an impromptu speech on one of my most character-building experiences that I had when I was a substitute teacher in my mid-20s. It was my second speech since I had become a member and I decided right at the meeting that I wanted to do it.

I remember getting a call one morning (as I normally did when I was given an assignment for the day) and I was asked if I would be willing to fill in for a custodian that day. As I was pondering whether I wanted to accept the assignment or not, the lady on the line told me that she had asked others if they would do it but everybody else declined. I'm not going to lie, my first instinct was to the do same and turn it down outright. I envisioned the nastiness and filth that I would encounter during the day, especially when dealing with a boys locker room. But as a freelancer that worked three different jobs at the time, I knew an extra $100 in my pocket would help me out so I accepted and reported to my assignment.

Instead of getting a room key and reporting to a classroom as I normally did as a sub, I collected a set of keys from the office and headed to the boys locker room. Apparently I was going to be filling in for the custodian who handled the upkeep of that area. My job would be to sweep and mop the floor of the locker room area throughout the day. There was also some window and mirror cleaning in there as well. Later in the afternoon, I would need to clean the bathroom area, which meant the sinks, toilets and urinals. It was on that day that I came to truly appreciate what custodians do for our schools and other businesses throughout the country. It's one thing to see it but it is a completely different thing to actually put on another person's shoes and do their job.

The faces of the students, who were used to seeing me as a sub in their regular classrooms, were priceless but I am thankful that they didn't poke fun at me nor did they do anything to make cleaning the bathrooms any more unpleasant. Sure it was humbling, but I decided to go at it with a positive attitude and found that I actually had a good and rewarding day with it. I was able to get some good exercise for my arms and was satisfied with the job that I did. When I had free time between periods, I was in the P.E. office talking to the teachers and other custodians. What I thought was going to be a disaster that one day turned into a three-day assignment that I'm glad to have done. What I didn't know was that I had gotten such rave reviews on the first day that the substitute caller told me that they were requesting me for the next two days. This assignment not only provided some much needed money but also a greater appreciation for some of the people in our society that are too many times undervalued and underappreciated.

Reflecting on my 3-day stint as a custodian takes me back to Ben, who was the custodian at my elementary school. I remember him because he always greeted the kids and even played foursquare with us, though he always cheated. Cheating custodians might be a good topic for another blog entry. Then I think of Matt, who worked as a custodian at a high school I substituted for and is now retired and enjoying life. Matt was a special guy, who had high school graduates coming back just to say hello to him and current students stepping over each other just to be able to tell him about their day. When I worked in Claremont, I met custodians who had that same glow that reminded me of Ben and Matt. And I realized, not only do these people make the schools our kids go to look decent, they are also the ones who many times can brighten their day.

I share this experience because we live in a society that puts such an emphasis who makes the most money, who gets the most attention and who holds the highest position. But many times, the greatest workhorses of our society are the ones whose names we will never know, the people who don't get to live in the nice two-story house with the white picket fence and who only wear a suit when they go to church on Sunday. We forget that without these people and their hard work, our society can't function the way it does and the conveniences that we have would cease to exist immediately. Our society constantly promotes the Bill Gates, Oprah Winfreys and Beyonces of the world but what they can do is only the result of the efforts of others as well. We must remember that.

I have heard on many occasions people act as if their success was of their own accord and it disturbs me because it is absolutely impossible for somebody to be successful on their own. Ponder that and really take time to think about it. In no way am I taking away anybody's great accomplishments, but how many people lent a helping hand in some way, shape or form along the way? A great business person needs to have clients or else there is no business. A director of a film needs actors and a crew or else there is no film. A company that mass produces a product needs workers or else the company could never create enough supply to meet the demand. A successful sports team has to surround its star player with other good players or they won't even make the playoffs, let alone win a championship. Even with the examples that I have provided, there are countless others that are still a significant part of those scenarios that I didn't mention. I could supply an endless amount of other examples but I hope you get the point.

We all need each other and we all rely on each other, whether we take the time to realize it or not. The very people that we look down on as a society are the very people that are vital to the conveniences and luxuries that we enjoy in life. So, let's not look down on others and throw our nose up at people because the work and life that they live is less than glamorous to us. Instead, let's be more appreciative and show more gratitude to the people who are just as much the backbone to our society as anyone else is. They are just as important in the big picture as everyone else. 

And if we really understood this, we would treat each other much better, wouldn't we?

We'll do this again,

LandoRigs

It's Blogging Season

When you have a lot of thoughts and perspectives on a multitude of topics and issues, sometimes the best thing to do is to find an outlet in which to express those very thoughts and perspectives. On a daily basis, my mind seems to go from one thought to the next and my poor wife many times is subjected to random lengthy rants that I'm sure she would rather not have to endure on a daily basis. Like clockwork, around 11 p.m. at night when she is winding down and getting ready to go to sleep, it is as if I'm barely getting started. I have always been more of a night owl and my wife is more of a morning person so you can imagine how many times I have found her nodding off right in the middle of one of my epic rants. Well, it's time to give my wife a bit of a break and try something new.

As a result, I have decided to begin a new blog that will highlight many of my interests in just one place. Some of the interests may be similar to yours. Whether it's things just pertaining to life, living with a disease, the effect of the mainstream media on our culture, Christianity, sports, wrestling or even video games, this is going to be the place that will be my outlet on a regular basis. And I'm looking forward to seeing what you all think on these same topics and issues.

Many topics will be covered here so there may be things that catch your interest and others that you will simply scroll past but at the very best I hope what you read here will give you something to think about and at times encourage you. Believe me, my wife, who is now fast asleep at 1 a.m., will be very grateful.

Until next time,

LandoRigs