In Support of the Divisive Athlete: One Yasiel Puig

I'm starting to realize just how much I appreciate the divisive player. 

In the wake of the Incognito-Martin case, you may wonder how that is possible. Athletics provides a very public platform and case study for us to raise questions, challenge assumptions, and discuss moral issues. Although I wish racial slurs, bullying and hazing were not part of our world, we know the sad truth is they occur more than we want to admit. Enter in the controversial athlete. In addition to serving as a model of what not to do or who not to become, they can also teach us a lot about who we are and what we value. Case in point: one Yasiel Puig.

Most people hated this move--I loved it.

Puig is a 22-year old outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers who defected from Cuba in 2012. To the delight of San Francisco Giants fans and many others, he was NOT the National League Rookie of the Year. He is loved and loathed. His $42 million dollar seven-year contract is but one of the many reasons this athlete is hotly contested. My social experiments continue and this is what I have learned about my colleagues and myself from "el cubano."

Respondent #1
This teacher comes to school every Sunday to plan for the week. Despite the fact he has taught for over 20 years, he continues to thoughtfully prepare his classes, quizzes and exams on his day off. I have often wondered if Coach John Wooden mentored him. Furthermore, he is never late; he never leaves school early.  

When Puig's name came up at the lunch table, he immediately cited the incident in August, when Dodgers manager Don Mattingly benched him during the fifth inning for reasons he wished to keep "in house." Local sportswriters and fans guess it was for not hustling to his position in right field. That was an unofficial disciplinary measure, but he was officially benched eight days prior when arrived 35 minutes late for pre-game activities.  

Translation: Colleague #1 could never support a player with a lax work ethic or a professional who does not give their best. I am so glad that he holds his students to a high standard, one which he meets as well.

Respondent #2
This co-worker works in the finance office. He is a great at what he does but I know his true passion is serving as an assistant coach for our boys' basketball team as well as his own daughters' softball team and his son's little league team.

When asked about Puig, my friend said "I know he's a great athlete but boys and girls see what he does and they imitate it. You just can't have that attitude on the field." He's referring what happened in post season play. Dodgers were down to the St. Louis Cardinals 0-2 in the series. Mike Wise of the Washington Post captures the charade.

Puig twirled his bat and tossed it at home plate in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, raising his arms and celebrating a long drive he thought was a home run. Realizing the ball didn’t clear the wall, he burst into a dead sprint and legged out a standup triple, celebrating further by raising both arms. Dodger Stadium fell into delirium. 

Puig is the first baseball player I can recall to wildly celebrate a home run and a triple in the same at-bat, and the fact that he made it to third base without sliding was all the more reason to be in awe.

Translation: Colleague #2 likes to point to professional athletes for who they are and how they play the game. My recommendation? Consider using Puig as an example of how he does not want his players to act. More importantly however, explain why. Perhaps it has something to do with sportsmanship.

What an incredible documentary; "From Ghost town to Havana" 

Respondent #3
This person traveled to Cuba in March 2012. She learned a lot about this rich culture, namely how little and yet how much the people have. They have a deep love of baseball and the way they play the game is dramatically different. Players and fans are vocal. They live and die with their teams, wearing their heart on both sleeves. She knows that Puig responded the way every other player would in his homeland and started to wonder why American's don't celebrate wins with more joy and losses with more disgust.

Translation: In the study of ethics, we are always invited to consider motivation, history, cultural influence, background and more. For the record, I am #3 (and felt weird writing about myself in the third person). I saw what many criticized as an invitation to learn more about baseball in Cuba. If you would like to see for yourself, check out this brief clip "From Ghost town to Havana." In doing so, you'll learn what Cuba can offer for each one of us and what we can offer for Cuba.

Yasiel Puig, you are just one of many professional athletes who offer us something to consider. I hope you have a terrible season next year ;-) 

Photo Credits
Excessive Celebration
Documentary Photo

A Case for Thank-You Notes: The LPGA

I love watching golf on TV.  I find it tremendously relaxing while appropriately intense. The aerial views from the course allow for incredible vision--the flight of the 1.68-inch ball is never lost.  The beauty of many courses is near therapeutic for me. 

Yet, I want nothing to do with the women's tour. I know the players are extremely talented--my own female students who play on the varsity team are outstanding.  I would be thrilled to play like them. And the professional level is a quantum leap in execution, mechanics, and grace under pressure from that goal.  I could learn a lot from these ladies. but I find no appeal in watching them play.  I figured most golf fans are like me and wouldn't be upset if the LPGA faded into oblivion.  It almost did.

In the same way that professional doubles tennis is on life-support, so too was women's golf.   In The Case for the LPGA, "In 2010, the tour staged only 24 tournaments down from 34 two years earlier."  Sponsorships were down as the tour lacked big name recognition.  If pressed, I could name but two female golfers--Michelle Wie and Lorena Ocoha.  Wie played on the men's tour she was so good--which said something to me about the appeal/draw of the women's tour and Ochoa retired.  Golf thrives on a "cash cow."  Not having any big-name stars wasn't helping the situation.

This struggle was a striking contrast to the explosive popularity of the men's tour.  The 2012 US Open hosted by the Olympic Club here in San Francisco had three times the number of attendees than it did in 1999.  The USGA erected stands to accommodate for these crowds; thank God they did—every day was packed!  The Golf Channel has made coverage of the sport more available than ever.  

And to my surprise that coverage of late hasn't been limited to the PGA.  No, the hiring of Mike Whan as commissioner has ensured that "there will be a record 360 hours of TV coverage--93% of which will be live."  Unbeknownest to me, the LPGA is on an upswing. It's success proves what good leadership can do. That and a thank you note.

Whan has played up the globalization of the tournament schedule.  He has cultivated relationships with an international palate of sponsors and encouraged players to show appreciation to them for their support.  The players go out of their way to meet and greet these sponsors. They are able to do this because "before each tournament, players receive a two-page dossier on the sponsors. These include head shots of key executives and their clients....and addresses where players can mail thank-you notes."  

Ah...the thank you note.  How many of us grew up loathing the exercise of committing our gratitude to writing?  I know friends who feel pressure after wedding and baby showers to crank out the thank-you notes. No doubt, a good problem to have.  But a problem never to take for granted.  

I believe in a ministry of letter writing.  The power of the hand-written word cannot and should not be underestimated.  Whan said "I had a CEO tell me that in the middle right-hand drawer of his desk he keeps handwritten notes that have been meaningful to him.  Of the hundred notes, he said 90 were from LPGA players."  

And equally important is the message itself--thank you.  Scripture names for us the tendency to forget. The Cleansing of the Lepers is a parable that reminds me of this truth.

As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us! And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed.  And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”  Luke 17: 11-19

I find it appropriate that the percentage of notes the CEO kept is the inverse of those mentioned in the parable.  Clearly, the LPGA is doing something right.  Founded 22 years before Title IX, it's rooted in something good.  It serves as the professional platform where the talents of female golfers are on display for the world (literally) to see.  I'll try to give it another look....or at the very least, it's business model.

Photo Credits
LPGA logo
Mike Whan
Wie Wins