May the best man NOT win
One of the ways, at least most enjoyable ones, for me to deal with my overweight problem is to play soccer (the European version of football, to avoid misunderstandings with the US fellow warriors). I can run and rest when it suits me the most. At the same time, as a 40-year-old I have nothing against to chase a ball with the 14-year-old kids. These kids are great and positive all the time. The most important thing, they don't make a fun out of an old dancing bear who quickly loses his breath on the field. Yet, for some reason, they ask me to be a goalkeeper all the time. Probably, my size makes it quite a difficult for a player to score, but that's another story.
So, I do some healthy exercise, lose a symbolic percentage of weight, and I meet quite a few interesting people. One of them was a football (soccer) coach who was training these kids for quite some time. On one occasion, I said something that I really feel privileged of being able to play a game with some of the future superstars in this sport. It goes without saying that some of these kids will sign a multimillion worth contract and become a well-known TV face. For some reason, the coach didn't share my enthusiasm. So, I was more than curious to find out the reason.
You think that you're going to see and admire the very best in this sport, or in any other sport, but that's simply not true. This was a huge surprise for me to hear. I just had to ask, what's that supposed to mean exactly. The coach explained that not even the talent itself isn't a guarantee for these kids to get what they deserve. I realized, it wasn't an easy thing for him to admit that an average player with the extraordinary rich parents has better chances of becoming a professional player than an extraordinary talented kid with not so wealthy parents. In addition, some of the kids are super talented, but they simply lack the basic sport and life discipline. Again, a kid who isn't extremely talented can do a lot, if he knows the meaning of the word discipline. The coach said that he had seen many perspective careers being ruined before they even started because these youngsters were too wild and unpredictable in both life and the football field.
So, my dear friend, what you see and what you get aren't the best of the best, but rather the best of the rest. When you hear something like that, then you begin to question quite a few things around you. I don't even dare to ask what's happening in other sports. Then I suddenly recalled an article I read about my greatest passion - the movies. You have probably seen the Godfather. Now, do you remember the actress who portrayed the character of Al Pacino's sister Connie? She was also Rocky's beloved Adrian. Needless to say that she's an outstanding actress. However, I didn't know that she's was Godfather's director sister or cousin, I think. I'm talking about legendary Francis Ford Coppola. Now, we all know that Sofia Coppola Lost in Translation is his daughter, but did you know that Nicolas Cage is actually Nicolas Coppola. He's Francis Coppola's nephew.
Now, under any circumstances, would I even try undermining their acting qualities and achievements. Yet, I can't help myself wondering if by chance, this family has taken the seats, so to speak, that rightfully belong to some talented kids who had a great talent for acting, but no influential cousins to back them up. So again, we enjoy watching the so-called "B Team" instead of the Dream Team who never had a chance to fulfill its dreams. We can go on finding as many examples as we want. I'm afraid that we will end up with more or less identical conclusion. May the best man win should actually be may the best man NOT win. Of course, you can find equally impressive examples to challenge this theory of mine with the fascinating stories about underdogs who have made it despite all odds. However, I have to ask you a simple question, are we talking about an exception or a rule?
So, I do some healthy exercise, lose a symbolic percentage of weight, and I meet quite a few interesting people. One of them was a football (soccer) coach who was training these kids for quite some time. On one occasion, I said something that I really feel privileged of being able to play a game with some of the future superstars in this sport. It goes without saying that some of these kids will sign a multimillion worth contract and become a well-known TV face. For some reason, the coach didn't share my enthusiasm. So, I was more than curious to find out the reason.
You think that you're going to see and admire the very best in this sport, or in any other sport, but that's simply not true. This was a huge surprise for me to hear. I just had to ask, what's that supposed to mean exactly. The coach explained that not even the talent itself isn't a guarantee for these kids to get what they deserve. I realized, it wasn't an easy thing for him to admit that an average player with the extraordinary rich parents has better chances of becoming a professional player than an extraordinary talented kid with not so wealthy parents. In addition, some of the kids are super talented, but they simply lack the basic sport and life discipline. Again, a kid who isn't extremely talented can do a lot, if he knows the meaning of the word discipline. The coach said that he had seen many perspective careers being ruined before they even started because these youngsters were too wild and unpredictable in both life and the football field.
So, my dear friend, what you see and what you get aren't the best of the best, but rather the best of the rest. When you hear something like that, then you begin to question quite a few things around you. I don't even dare to ask what's happening in other sports. Then I suddenly recalled an article I read about my greatest passion - the movies. You have probably seen the Godfather. Now, do you remember the actress who portrayed the character of Al Pacino's sister Connie? She was also Rocky's beloved Adrian. Needless to say that she's an outstanding actress. However, I didn't know that she's was Godfather's director sister or cousin, I think. I'm talking about legendary Francis Ford Coppola. Now, we all know that Sofia Coppola Lost in Translation is his daughter, but did you know that Nicolas Cage is actually Nicolas Coppola. He's Francis Coppola's nephew.
Now, under any circumstances, would I even try undermining their acting qualities and achievements. Yet, I can't help myself wondering if by chance, this family has taken the seats, so to speak, that rightfully belong to some talented kids who had a great talent for acting, but no influential cousins to back them up. So again, we enjoy watching the so-called "B Team" instead of the Dream Team who never had a chance to fulfill its dreams. We can go on finding as many examples as we want. I'm afraid that we will end up with more or less identical conclusion. May the best man win should actually be may the best man NOT win. Of course, you can find equally impressive examples to challenge this theory of mine with the fascinating stories about underdogs who have made it despite all odds. However, I have to ask you a simple question, are we talking about an exception or a rule?