Interesting times

Its been quite a few weeks...First, the tragedy in Newtown and the resulting gun debate, fueled by the gun enthusiasts who believe that assault weapons are their God given right...no true.

Second, a cruise with my wife that was spectacular   While on the cruise, the ND Fighting Irish got stomped by Alabama.  Manti T'eo played like shit.

Third, get back from cruise, and Lance Armstrong is going to admit his drug use.

Fourth, turns out T'eo was in a relationship (and pushed the story forward) with a woman that was not real...WOW.

The first part of the Armstrong interview played last night -- he looks like an Asshole.  I suppose, though, that if we (the public) really got to know most of the people who win (athletes, CEOs, manageing partners of law firms, politicians) we'd discovery a lot of them assholes.  It raises a good question -- is that what it takes to become super successful (not comfortable, not sucessful, but CEO Type successful)?

I hope not, but it appears that more and more people that are ultra competitive and have reached the very top of their profession have very real personality flaws.  We all have those flaws.  Some of us are selfish...some are needy, some are just dicks, some mean, some insecure.  We all know and accept that human beings are flawed.  I suppose its possible that when you reach the pinnacle of your respective profession, those flaws can be enhanced because there is nobody to tell you that are you acting like an asshole (though my wife would tell me).

When you reach the top -- Pujols, Jordan, Tiger, Armstrong, -- there is nobody around to tell you that you are a jackass.  I think, obviously, there are people at the top who are genuinely nice people.  That is they didn't destroy people to get to the top.  They do not abuse their staff or the public.  They do not think they are better than everybody else simply because of their place in society.  It seems like (though i would presume that this is not a true statement) that more and more of the top people are asses.  In raelity, I'd assume that many titans of indiustry in years past were similarly assholes, but we (the publc) did not know or care to know.  Now everything is out there.

You can't turn around and find something out about a person that you have heard about, whether it be athlete, policitian, industrial CEO, polician.  Frankly, the added knowledge may not be a good thing.

This leads me to T'eo.  I feel sorry for this guy.  I have no idea what happened.  Maybe he was in on it from the beginning as the Deadspin article suggested.  Maybe he had no idea.  I think (like most things) it lies int eh middle.  Its more likely that it was a hoax to begin wtih and he liked it and the attention.  The real concern, on my end, is that he is a homosexual and this was a cover for that.  That would be sad.  It would also make him instnatly sympathetic.  It would not explain the constant lying AFTER he's (or ND) admitted that he knew.  The whole thing is bizarre.  I wonder when he will speak and, if he does speak, what the hell is he going to say??

Interesting times adn I did not even get to gun control (next time).  I hope you have a great day.

Be easy

-cp