I have a few issues with what has happened in the news today. These issues can be used to teach your children valuable lessons. I apologize to my more sensitive readers as this is rougher language than I normally use in my rants. If you are offended, sorry. But seriously, grow up!
1. LeBron James refuses to shake hands after getting beat. He claims, “I am a competitor. I am not a poor sport. I like to win. That’s just who I am.” Sorry Asshole, let me help you with who you really are: you are a poor sport. You shake hands after a game. Period. Win or lose. Here is the opportunity for all parents to use this example of poor sportsmanship to teach your children a valuable lesson. Explain to your kids that they are not supposed to act like this. Teach that this is not acceptable behavior by anyone. Knock this guy off every pedestal he has been placed on and don’t let him pretend to be a role model for your kids. He is an ungrateful jerk. We ALL like to win. We all HATE to lose. But losing is a part of life and you better learn to do it graciously. Teach your kids to lose graciously and win the same way.
NOTE: After posting this to FACEBOOK, I got a response telling me to not be so hard on LeBron and that the above rant was a little too harsh as he is only 24 years old. This is my response to that facebook posting and I felt it appropriate to add it here: LeBron has been playing basketball his entire life – he knows better. He never had a coach in his entire NON-professional life that would have put up with what he did and neither should his current coach or the NBA. He puts a ball through a hoop – it ain’t that special. He should grow the hell up and act like a professional especially since amateurs couldn’t get by with that crap. The fact that he is 24 – is that a valid excuse? There are 24 year olds all over this country making $30K a year with a wife and a kid and they don’t get to be unprofessional. There are 18 year olds dying in Iraq. They have to be professional every minute of every day or they die. The same holds true for police and firemen. If they aren’t professional, they die and so do others. It even holds true for shoe salesmen. No one gets by with being unprofessional and rude without consequences.
2. Octomom gets a reality TV show. This gal makes me want to puke. I can get over how pitiful she is and what a stupid, irresponsible waste of skin any doctor is for aiding and abetting this crime against humanity and children. However, I can not get over the fact that people are going to pay her to keep her in front of us only to prove how voyeuristic, stupid and weak we all are. I hate that she ends up getting exactly what she wants: attention. She thrives on it and lives for it. Please use this abomination as a teaching lesson that says we don’t reward people for stupidity and that what she did was wrong and irresponsible. Don’t watch this show as it will only reward her and perpetuate this tragedy.
3. GM files bankruptcy. Good. This is exactly what should have happened in the first place. We were all told by both political parties that it just couldn’t be allowed to happen and that bankruptcy was not an option. Obviously it was an option after all. I was on FOX News several times saying that bankruptcy was the mechanism put in place by our government to handle companies that couldn’t figure out how to run profitably.
Example: Let’s say you run a sandwich shop where you make shit sandwiches and charge $200 each for them. But you don’t really run your company; you let union sandwich makers run your company for you and they charge you $200 an hour to make your sandwiches even though there is plenty of available labor right outside your door ready to make your sandwiches for only $15 an hour. Add to this the fact that the shit for your sandwich comes mostly from your biggest enemies and when you buy their shit, you only increase your dependence on your enemy as well as fund them. Then you suddenly realize that no one actually likes shit sandwiches and that no one wants to buy them and to top it all off, no one can afford to buy your sandwiches made of shit! The result of your bad management and your stupid pricing and your product that no one wants or likes is that you lose money and get in serious financial trouble. Why is it up to me to give you money to keep making shit sandwiches that no one wants and no one can afford? Answer, it isn’t! I don’t want your shit. I don’t like your shit. I don’t want to give you my money so you can keep making your shit. Keep your shit to yourself because I ain’t buying your shit any more! Explain this to your kids. Teach them the importance of providing a service that people want and can afford. In other words, teach them to be smarter than GM.
There you go – I’m done! Have a field day with this one!
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Continue to rant and spread the message. I heard Dan Clark this past weekend use this quote – “When the winds are blowing hard, some people build shelters and some people build windmills”.
The best thing most people could do is turn off the cable, sell the TV, and start doing something. Doesn’t have to be perfect just make progress on it. Start something great and build it brick by brick.
Unfortunately too many of believe in the GM story – if we screw up the government will save us. We aren’t responsible for it. I want all my toys now and don’t want to sacrifice.
Personal responsibility means sacrifice, making choices, keeping our commitments, making progress every day, but never ever never ever surrendering our God given ability to be responsible for ourselves and to happen to life rather than letting life happen to us.
I totally agree, I will not watch that show, not that I watch much TV to begin with, but if I had I wouldn’t be watching that one.
It turns my stomach too that people are just feeding that waste of carbon molecules, her having a show truly is an abomination.
I don’t want to even start on unions, I don’t care that GM went for the big B, in fact I am glad they finally did. If the kids today grow up thinking they can screw off and run a company into the ground and everyone else will come pay for my mistakes so they don’t have to. That’s not a world I want to live in. You screw up, suck it up, learn from it, and move on.
I have a suggestion for a new webster deffinition:
Insanity = doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. eg. See GM
🙂 my little attempt at humor.
You rock Larry, I am a better person for having read your books. Thanks.
Great stuff Larry. I wish your books were as forthcoming as this last blog. Swearing, when used to make a point, is not vulgar. It may put off some other readers, but this kind of stuff needed to be said the way it was said. I only think more of you for it. I agree with every point, hard to disagree, really.
Right on, Larry!
I am so sick and tired of the poor sportsmanship and whining of professional athletes. Like it or not, you ARE role models, just like the ones you idolized when you were a kid. It’s part of the game. I don’t remember Larry Bird and Magic Johnson acting like that when I was growing up.
As for GM and the big corporations: nice work. It’s really tough to hear how they’re bankrupt, and every time I see it on CNN they show the video of these HUGE glass-tower mansions where the corporate offices reside (complete with executives who are STILL being rewarded for running them into the ground). How about you occupy some cheaper real estate and get back to making the company profitable?
Love your message and style, please keep it up!
Steve Gamlin
I’m not making excuses for Lebron, but I think it’s safe to say he’d go shake all of the hands of the Orlando Magic team right today and congratulate them. At the end of a game you’re just so juiced up, mad at yourself, your team, and everyone that it’s hard to dial that back and act like you didn’t care. Swithing emotions on a dime isn’t a skill I possess, and I can’t fault Lebron for not being able to. Plus, this isn’t NCAA. They get paid to play and do press conferences. That’s where it ends. He doesn’t have to do more. But I bet he likes those guys generally and will root for them against L.A.
I think the bigger issue is that anyone would ever want there kid to have Lebron as a role model. I sure as hell won’t let my kids idolize pro athletes for anything other than their talents. Great, they can play well. That’s where it ends. I’ll be teaching my kids the real life lessons.
Thanks Larry. I told a financial support group at church last night – probably not the best thing I could have done – but that if your life sucks – it’s because you suck. They stopped stared in shock, looked at me, then wrote down the name of your book “You’re Broke Because You Want To Be” as quickly as they could. “How do you spell Winget?”
Way to go, Larry!
I have no intention of watching the Octomom’s show. I don’t watch “Jon & Kate Plus 8” and I’m about to give up baseball. When did the players stop shaking hands after games? Now the losers just sit around looking morose. Drives me up the wall.
Scott, I say build a shelter with a windmill right outside to provide power.
‘Teach the kids the importance of providing a service that people want and can afford’ What a qoute man, what a qoute, seriously.
Each of these issues comes down to three basic concepts: Entitlement, Voyeurism, and Irresponsibility. You know what the crazy thing is? A lot of teenagers do this stuff every day. Entitled to have cell phones with picture messaging, so they can engage in Voyeuristic activity through sexting and then complain when they are asked to work to get the get the Responsibility to have a cell phone back.
I agree that some lessons could be taught through these examples, I’m just not sure that some parents have the guts to use them to encourage kids to do the right thing. And even if they did, would the kids listen anyway?
I agree with you Scott. My wife and I got rid of TV and internet at the house six weeks ago, and we’re all the better for it.
Larry–i think you could do an entire session on shit sandwiches…we all know this country certainly makes a lot of them.
Great post!
There’s no reason for LeBron to act the way he did. Basketball has no room for a spoiled 24 year old to act unprofessional and immature, giving the sport a bad name. That seems to be the norm for any sport these days. Athletes behaving badly and getting away with it because the fans take it, the league takes it, the team owners take it, the coaches take it and make excuses for the players.
Octomom is a crime against children and I refuse to reward her irresponsibility. I will not watch the show at all, period.
Sorry to say this but GM (and a few others that haven’t yet) need to burn. This will allow a better more efficient company to rise up and make a better car instead of the gas guzzling SUVs they’ve been making. But you do have to admit that SUVs are tanks and as a result pretty safe. The owners pay for that by buying gas, and oh boy they’re paying for it. It’s not subsidized.
I absolutely despise “reality” television. It angers and frustrates me that genuinely talented people scrape by financially in this climate (as it is, at the moment, an employer’s job market), making well below the norm for their labor, while Octomom, Jon & Kate, the Kardashians, etc., get paid ridiculous money for nothing more than being (at some level) exhibitionists. Even worse is the face that a lot of people watch this trash.
My girlfriend asked me recently if I’d be “okay” with getting rid of the cable. I told her I’d be more than happy. Of course, with the new HD law coming into effect we have to at least get an HD converter (as I’d like to at least be able to receive local news and weather advisories, for obvious reasons). It’s funny: I spent most of my childhood on my ass in front of the TV, getting out of shape as the years went on, and now, I prefer to get to the gym first thing in the morning, and only have a show or film on when I’m on my iMac – and even then, its on in the background, while I design websites (and it’s really only on for some background noise).
Some people might argue it’s indicative of me growing up, but I disagree. Most of my friends have married and have a kid (or two), but none of them have really changed their tastes for TV or movies. Maybe I just overloaded on it over time, and I feel the need to do more on my own…
Right on, Larry!
I am in the market for a new car and have just decided not to buy a LeBron.
Somebody tell me the market cap of GM? Washington put $20 Billion into them and now dinglehead is going to put another $30 Billion (OF OUR MONEY) into them… And all for just 60% ownership? What’s 100% of the company worth? I promise it’s no where near the $50 Billion that O-DumbAss paid for just 60%. That makes me want to puke. Larry, please go to washington and teach them some math.
How gracious of LeBron. To think there was a time not that long ago that many would have refused to shake his hand (and stupidly!) because of the color of his skin. Courtesy is part and parcel of being a full-fledged, evolved human being.
Octomom has nothing of interest going on in her life about which I don’t know already thanks to relentless coverage she’s received, especially on the local news here in Cali. My fave neighbor of hers? The one who shouted to the papparazzi hovering about, “Don’t give her what she’s craving.” But they did. If TV viewers don’t watch, her series won’t go. CONFESSION: I do not really care how much money she pulls in from her private enterprises. I hope it’s a lot. As a taxpayer, I don’t wish to support her and her children, period.
GM? Buh bye. BK is a fresh start. Now come up with cars people want to buy or shut down the passenger car divisions entirely and focus on trucks alone. There’s a thought…
When I found out they gave octomom a show I wanted to puke! What is wrong with these idiots who run the netwroks.
Go Larry! You hit the nail on the head. I say Larry for president.
At least then we would get out of this mess. And it is time for us to take some responsibility for this, we helped, easy credit, buying cars and houses we cannot afford, expensive vacations, put on a credit card. It it time to wake folks. Always live below your means and you will be OK.
Great points, Larry! The three examples you provided are a testament to just how lackadaisical, immature and voyeuristic American society has become. This country was once great – and we can reclaim that greatness, but it has to start in the heart then in the home.
PT Money – I want to address one statement in your comment: “Swithing emotions on a dime isn’t a skill I possess, and I can’t fault Lebron for not being able to.” That statement is egotistical at its very core. It’s not about switching emotions or the ability to perform said switch. Your comment basically reads like “if I can’t get my way, then I’m unhappy and the world will have to deal with my unhappiness.” Exactly the behavior LeBron demonstrated. I understand competitiveness, but I also understand sportsmanship and have no problem displaying it whether or not I am victorious. No, LeBron gets no break here. He is a professional, a well paid one at that, and should act as such regardless of the circumstances. It’s amazing how the persons at the low end of the totem pole (e.g. receptionists, secretaries, customer service reps, etc.) are EXPECTED to be professional,courteous, outgoing, pleasant, etc. at all times, but we make excuse after excuse for lack of character and moral turpitude at the highest paid levels of society. Hell, they’re the ones that should display the MOST grateful attitude as they have very, very much to be grateful for. As far as LeBron, going back and shaking everyone’s hand AFTER the cameras are off and the game is long over is too little, too late.
This post is Larry at his finest.
I’ve been saying for years that if Detroit would give me a car I like I would certainly buy it.
This is my fourth Honda.
I hate buying foreign but dang, those Hondas are nice cars!!!!!!
Thank you Larry, for finally saying what every pundit has been ignoring about the auto industry: Hey – make a car we actually want to drive that doesn’t fall apart, and maybe you’ll be profitable. Totally agree with you about the unions though. Why should people be able to negotiate a raise or better benefits while the output stays the same (or goes down) ?
Lebron James – upset because team is made up of players that can’t support him, and aren’t the type of quality players that can assist L J in winning a championship, I’m going to give him a pass on this un-sportsmanship. As far as letting these companies that are financially insolvent go bankrupt – HELL YES!! This is a capitalistic society. The bailouts and handouts have just f’ed us all for years to come. The corrupt, greed and good old boys club is no different here than in other countries (communistic, socialist, fanatic religious societies, etc. – don’t kid yourselves!).
Three topics, three responses. I agree, in varying degrees:
OctoMom – 100%
GM – Hindsight certainly shows the inevitability of bankruptcy. All the time and billions in between have prepared us for it. Certainly an expensive way to go, but if we had tried to get to where we are now 12 monhts ago, there would have been panic.
LeBron – I agree with PT Money’s comments. It’s one of the really hard life lessons to learn, acting like the disappointment you are feeling is manageable.
Larry – so right on, so true. The Lord loves you Larry and so do I! Keep up the good work!!
Larry,
Unfortunately that IS what America has come to. So little pride in the workmanship that used to make this country great. Everyone has lost it and that is why everything is suffering. No one has pride in the service they provide, the product they create, or as in the case of Le Bron James, the games they play.
Ever since America has basically become a rented worker country it has gone down hill from there. The unions were basically created just for that, to rent out workers to just do a certain task, for a certain time at a certain pay. They don’t care if it’s perfect, if it works, or if it’s useful. As long as the workers were getting what they wanted the job would get done.
Basically until Americans snap out of this mentality America will keep being one big factory with no advances. People need to have pride of workmanship, ethics, and pride of ownership to make things better. All the capitalism in the world doesn’t cure the factory worker mentality. We need to go back to our creative roots, when children were taught to start a lemonade stands for some extra money. When starting a business in your garage was a proud moment and when being of service to another meant being joyful to give of yourself. You could write a book about it.
I always appreciate your bluntness! Rant on!
I agree with everyting you say… but I remember growing up reading what the goalie Gerry Cheevers said in his book when the Habs knocked them out… “they put lumps on me and took money out of my pocket, why should I shake their hand?”
Not that I agree, but I see his point… and he wasn’t a hypocrite, win or lose he never joined that shaking hand line at the end of a series…
I remember later on in 77, he stood on his head and kept the Bruins in a game that they should have been blown out of… but as soon as the Habs scored in OT he skated right over to the boards and wanted out… no shaking hands for him…
You hit the nail on the head….awesome
I like what Cramer said………someone asked in his forum on Mad money when would GM return to profitability………he compared them to Job Corps and said all they are is a jobs program now to keep unemployment down…..and they never will be major company again. I think he may be right. Reality TV is a real statement about were we are as a society these days……..pretty sad. Larry thanks for being so blunt….more people should be these days.
We expect children to put aside their disappointments, and frustrations and we make them go shake hands and smile and say Congratulations. If children can manage to do that, then a grown man can manage it. It’s called maturity. No excuse.
Sportsmen are role models need I say anymore
GM – well this is a saw point with me with Holden, a GM subsidiary in Australia, AU$6 billion dollars for 62,661 jobs for the whole car industry. I question the the value we are going to get for that sort of money, even though this pails into insignificant compared with the US car industry, it begs the question is this the best investment of the tax dollar. After all “who killed the electric car” (this was a documentary about GM electric car and what happened to it). The US and Australian car industry has had plenty of opportunities to make the right commercial decisions and they are where they are now because of those decisions.
For me its about sustainability not vested interests.
Will anything really change and do we keep on subsidizing industries that that are inefficient, poorly managed and have no real vision.
Ian Cleland
The walking man from OZ
My son a PE teacher and basketball coach just completed his MBA thesis on “Sportsmanship” – the need for training programs in sportsmanship – Hello LeBron go take a class – his behavior was called arrogance and bad behavior – he is not a role model –
You were right on with your comments as usual Larry. The lack of personal responsibility evidenced these days is sickening…and it needs to be called out. Thank for being that voice.
However, in doing so publicly, you also feed the “attention beast” so often behind these outrageous acts.
Hopefully you can balance it with some words of praise for the good deeds. Otherwise, you’re like the news!
As a photographer I am lucky in that looking for the beauty in this world is a part of my everyday life. And everyday I am rewarded for looking, because the beauty is always there.
I always encourage others publicly, through my website,
to focus on looking for the good and they will find it. And when you live your life that way the benefits are grand indeed.
Re: LeBron James – “Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength” – Eric Hoffer
I agree 100% with you, Larry. But the dratted American public has encouraged GM/Chrysler/Ford to build BIGGER vehicles so we can get the American testosterone flowing. How many people do YOU know that voluntarily drive small, fuel efficient cars because it’s the RIGHT thing to do? They could’ve run their business like Toyota…but we have waaaay too many hogs w/the big cojones that won’t drive a “sissy” car. I believe one of the answers is really simple: tax gasoline out the wazoo like Europe has done for years, and see what happens. Americans will do nothing to give up their “Texas” mentality until they have to pay for it. (Think: 2008)
Nothing more can be said about LeBron. With his salary and with his understanding of the role model he is to many kids, he should lead by example, suck it up and exhibit some sportsmanship. Anywhere, except in the NBA, a coach kick a player’s ass to the curb if he responded in the manner LeBron did.
Reality TV is as far from reality as one can get! How you ask? It is edited, often scripted and even re-taken if the outcome is not as the producers expected. I’ve watched Survivor once and laughed as these pathetic people starve themselves physically and mentally while helicopters shuttle TV crews and hosts in and out, full meals are provided for the TV crew at sites not far from the “survivors”, and the host always looks refreshed (because he is). The show is edited and hints are given to survivors as to how to handle situations. What junk.
As for Octomom – DO NOT WATCH! As long as there are people watching – the show will air. It’s a simple matter of economics and a simple understanding that stupid, senseless people will watch the show. Follow the money! As long as there are television viewers, as long as there are sports fans in the seats and as long as lobbyists have unfettered access to politicians – this nonsense will continue.
As for GM, to paraphrase both Marie Antoinette and Larry Winget, “Let the eat shit!”
Damn, that was RIGHT ON Larry! Tell it like it is brother.
Larry, I agree with you on all 3 subjects. As far as GM, there was life before GM and there will be life after – I think Ford is the only US car company that will remain viable.
Octumom’s show is being produced by a British company, because of course no American network would do it – there is too much sentiment against her. I hate the fact that the news media even covers her – I think she should be banned from the airwaves.
Agreed period.
What do you expect from Labron James? He got away with choking a coach in college. I haven’t had any respect for him or the people involved in basketball since. Before that, I was an avid fan. Now I won’t watch it at all.
Larry, So true about LeBron James. He’s way overrated and there is no excuse for his unsportsmanlike behavior. You have to be a “Man” to be sports “man” like. He’s still acts like a two year old having a temper tantrum. The real problem is that he keeps getting all these endorsement contracts. Why? If he comes to the NY Knicks org. next season, it’s going to get even worse. Oh well. It’s the same problem with the Octomom. TV and media folks go after these type of people for display. They won’t be getting my hard earned money or support. Thanks for your insights and commitment.
As usual Larry all three points are spot on. I would hope that they express the sentiments of the majority of Americans. You’re always good my friend, but this post? This is some good shit Larry.
I agree on all three counts and because I can I’m going to add my two cents.
1.) Lebron James – It seems everybody agrees on the disgusting behavior and it’s even more disgusting excuse. The real lesson for each person is that everybody is a teacher. He taught us how we don’t want to be.
2.) Octomom – Octomom couldn’t be Octomom without the help of some Doctors who shouldn’t be doctors anymore. I’m not saying that she’s a victim, I’m saying that there is more than one pig in this pen. And those children are totally innocent. They didn’t ask for any of this.
3.) GM – If GM didn’t go down now, it would have taken alot more down with it when it tanked in the future. The concept didn’t work. Period.
Thanks for the hard core personal responsibility lessons. I’m afraid this country is going to be brought down by victims.
!) Regarding Lebron – in general, good and powerful points. However, his coach needs to bear a significant portion of this. Anyone paying attention could see this coming, particularly in the waning moments of obvious defeat. What a ‘tuned-in’ coach would’ve done, is simply pull him from the game BEFORE the water all goes down the drain. In HS or College, every coach worth their job title pulls their seniors off the floor as a simple show of respect and recognition. The fans, even in Orlando, would have been happy to recognize his collective efforts and give him a very respectful applause. Further, the entire coaching staff should have atleast one person capable of recognizing the situation and deal with it with a simple, ‘hey there young fella, this is part of it, here’s a Gatorade, now come chill with me right here for two more minutes.’ None of that happened, and while Lebron did what he did, I submit that it would’ve never happened with Phil Jackson or Pat Riley or Tony Dungy, etc. on the bench. That said, the more troubling part of the whole thing was the next day interview where Lebron showed absolutely zero forward thinking or contrition.
2) Octomom – why is this even on your radar? Now, she can add your celebrity to her relevance.
3) GM – love the analogy, especially the point made on the union. I would only add that your ‘sandwich shop’ also had many other accomplices along the way. The technology has been here for decades to make more energy efficient engines, cars and conveyances. So, to add to your anology, I would add big oil as the mandatory bread maker (also a nice play on words).
P.S. – where can I buy those cool shirts?
Lawrence, I believe you have LeBron confused with another player. I don’t believe LeBron ever went to college. Sportsmanship is learned. Let’s see if he gets it this time; last season he got a pass when he blew off the Celtics. Then let’s judge him.
Larry, I agree with you on the Octomom. I cannot believe someone would pay her for anything. She isn’t even taking care of the kids. She has been too busy out running around complaining and saying poor, poor me. Well, SHE asked for it when she done the fertility stuff, and I TOTALLY agree that the Doctor is an idiot, period.