In the last two Goal Posts blogs, we have examined the powerful role the media can create in terms of both pressure and public perception (LeBron James and Lance Armstrong). Unfortunately, too often the media seems to focus on the missteps and mishaps of professional athletes. Of course, each of us who reads stories of athletes behaving badly shares in the blame for this focus on the negative, Downward social comparison occurs when we focus on others' flaws and failures in an attempt to make ourselves feel better. The unfortunate reality is that the media oftentimes portrays an unbalanced portrait of athletes, either as entirely positive or negative.
Last week, our focus was on Lance Armstrong's response to his 3rd place finish, and apparent tension with teammate and 2009 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador. Multiple readers correctly pointed out that Lance Armstrong is far from a perfect role model, and in fact has been criticized for his ego and individualism. My point is that athletes are not that different from others in society; they have good qualities and not-so-good qualities. Sadly, the media (and public) often portray athletes at one end of the continuum (flawless) or the other (very flawed). The reality is often somewhere in the middle, and I believe this balanced portrayal can teach our children quite a bit about learning from success and struggle.
Recently, Rickey Henderson was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. This is the greatest honor a baseball player can receive, and one that Henderson richly deserved. In fact, he was voted in the first year he was eligible, with nearly 95% of voters deeming him worthy of the Hall of Fame.
Henderson set all-time records for most stolen bases in a season and career, most runs scored, and most walks (since broken by Barry Bonds). Henderson was a 10-time All-Star, an MVP, and played 25 years in the major leagues, with over 3,000 hits, nearly 300 homeruns, and over 1,400 stolen bases. Quite simply, Rickey was amazing. He also had a flair about his game that created a buzz whenever he was up to bat or on the bases. Fans stopped what they were doing and paid attention. It was as if he singlehandedly could increase the energy level of a baseball game.
Rickey Henderson was also noted for his ego. He was reported to speak frequently in the third-person. When Rickey broke Lou Brock's all-time stolen bases record, he said, "Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing. But today, I'm the greatest of all time." Noticeably absent from that statement was any qualifier about being the greatest base stealer of all-time; instead, it was simply that Rickey was the greatest. The public reaction was that this was Rickey being Rickey, arrogant and conceited. Henderson was noted for other public speaking faux pas.
It was with great anticipation, then, that the media prepared for Henderson's upcoming Hall of Fame speech. In fact, I read several columns predicting what Rickey might say. Henderson thanked many people in his speech, and provided surprisingly mild remarks. He concluded by saying, "In closing, I would like to say my favorite hero was Muhammad Ali. He said at one time, 'I am the greatest.' That is something I always wanted to be. And now that the Association has voted me into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time. And at this moment, I am.... very, very humble. Thank you."
Rickey Henderson's newfound humility seemed to surprise some people, inspire others, and strike many as less than genuine. Whatever the motive, our children can learn much from Henderson's comments. Among the lessons Henderson's speech can teach our children:
1) Be open to feedback, positive and negative. Henderson clearly listened to critics who felt his ego got in the way of his accomplishments during his career.
2) Have a sense of humor about our shortcomings and past mistakes. While Henderson was roundly criticized for his speech after breaking the stolen base record, he was able to playfully acknowledge those remarks during the speech, going so far as to lead listeners and viewers to think he was going to once again proclaim himself the "greatest of all time".
3) If we want to improve on something, it takes work! Most impressive to me about Henderson's speech is the painstaking preparation he put into his remarks. Henderson visited several class periods at Laney Junior College. During that time, Henderson practiced his speech, received feedback, and implemented that feedback. For a 50-year old soon-to-be Hall of Famer, this could not have been an easy task. The professor of the class, Earl Robinson, was impressed: "He was committed, and he was more organized than I thought he would be. He was on time, he was patient, he listened, he absorbed and assimilated the suggestions he got and tweaked it. I was impressed. He astounded me, in fact."
Sadly, few of our children read about the improvements that Henderson made, the humility he demonstrated, or the work it took to craft a speech that was at once honest, humble, and gracious. Why the lack of attention to Henderson's actual speech? The media seemed solely interested in predicting and reporting another Henderson faux pas. When that didn't happen and Henderson gave a solid speech, the story died.
Wouldn't it be nice if the media would spend as much time focusing on the behaviors that our children should model their behavior after, rather than simply the behaviors they ought not model? Wouldn't it be wise if we demanded more of this type of coverage from our media?
I recall being horrified when at the age of 2, my younger son Adam's favorite word became "NO!". I quickly realized the only reason that Adam was saying "No" so frequently is because that is what he was hearing most frequently. However, I also quickly realized Adam was no closer to behaving well. Rather, he was simply learning what not to do.
Countless studies bear out this fact: if we want children to learn, better to highlight and reinforce what they ought to do, not what they ought not to do. Otherwise, we may end up with a generation of kids focused more on avoiding failure and not screwing up and less focused on achieving success.
Kudos goes to Rickey Henderson for both his tremendous baseball career and his Hall of Fame speech. His remarks offer a reminder that we all have improvements we can make in life, and that a small dose of humility can be helpful for us all.
