I was shocked and dismayed at the veracity and tone of his speech.
IMHO, it was brutally honest and bordered on the pathological or alcoholic.
To be great is to be driven. To be driven is to be competitive.
Apparently, to BE Michael, to BE the best, requires an overactive competitive spirit hypersensitive to finding motivation through direct conflict:
-with anyone perceived as being or actually being an enemy,
-perceived as or actually having been slighted
-a real or imagined interpersonal challenge or news clip
-proving anyone who doubts you as wrong by whatever means necessary
Though this was delivered in the context of competitive sports, it clearly runs much deeper. To get what you want you have to be ruthless.
Simple personal slights are never to be forgiven, never to be forgotten, vindictively harped on even decades later when the need for the motivation and the area of the event are long since settled.
What lesson is this for those who want to be like Mike?
What would the world be like if we really were «Just like Mike»?
Isn’t it just this attitude that provokes what most gang shootings are about?
Is Mike’s formula for success, for perfection, for glory, the singularly right prescription? We have seen the template in many others but never expressed so directly, so venomously. Just as clearly though it is not the only model.
When Tiger’s career is over will he address the crowd in such a fashion?
–Michelson told me in 1992 I couldn’t putt….I practiced everyday from then on until I almost never missed a putt under 5′ and then chided him everyday until his putting collapsed for good. In fact, I called him this morning and just laughed–.
In the 2 iconic last minute shots that mark Micheal’s career it is plain to see that he forceably pushes the defender away, providing a clear, although still difficult shot. Imagine if Tiger could just nudge the ball once in a while.
On a subconscious level he must know that. He must see that in all the myriad replays he is exposed to and it must eat at him. He some level he knows he cheated, even if no one else cares or calls him on it and he attempts to dismiss it himself until it manifests itself in the misguided justification he expressed. Get rich or die trying. Success at any cost.
Why ban Steroids? Gambling on your team? Kneecapping your opponent.
I wish him well. He is obviously human and deeply troubled (as so many of us are), he was just able to use it to excel to rare heights. I just think pride really does come before the fall. I hope he lands softly.
