Have we ever thought we're too hard on our Stars?

First I would like to thank those of you that reached out with kind words in regards to the first post. I wasn't sure how it would go or be received, so I am glad so many of you enjoyed the first installment of DMM and look forward to hearing your feedback in the future. For those of you that would like to subscribe to receive an email when a new post is up every Monday, simply enter your email in to the box on the right hand side of the screen, and you will receive an email for future posts. Second, I'd like to apologize for the delay in this week's post. We ended up not having class on Monday so my schedule was a little out of wack yesterday. I will try to avoid any late postings from here on out. Without further to do, let's get to it.

This week was relatively monotonous, just going to class and getting work done. We are creeping towards Final exams in a couple of weeks for I-Core so I have one eye on that while also maintaining focus on the material we learn on a day to day basis. I also began to lay the groundwork for the upcoming year in BEPP Club (Business Economics and Public Policy), and am really looking forward the events we will be putting on with our Corporate Partners. I am heading up our event with Accenture at the beginning of September so that will be a main extracurricular focus of mine heading into the beginning of the Fall Semester.

Courtesy: Four Four Two 

For this week's main topic, I wrestled with what to focus on. I wasn't sure what would be the best, but then Sunday night's Copa America Final happened, a rematch between last year's finalists Chile and Argentina where Chile came out on top in Penalty Kicks. This year's final was a similarly hotly contested affair, with a multitude of cards (Some Questionable) were shown to both sides leading to both teams being reduced to 10 Men for a majority of the match. Eventually Chile would top Argentina in Penalty Kicks again, with Leo Messi, currently the best player in the world and one of the best players ever missing a spot kick for La Albiceleste. Instant reaction poured in from around the world, burying the Argentine National Team for falling in the Final of a major tournament for the 3rd straight Summer. Even more of the criticism fell on Messi, who many people, especially those in his home country, chastise him for the inability of Argentina to claim a title.

After reading the reaction online on Social Media, it got me to thinking- why do we as sports fans save our loudest and most stringent criticisms for our top athletes? Is it simply because they are so good that we expect them to be otherworldly every time the step on the field, court, or pitch? Do people just love to see those that are built up to be the best fail that much more? I really can't comprehend why the loudest jeers come out when our Superstars fail. I think there are some parallels between Messi's experience with the National Team and LeBron James' experience in the NBA. I think back to when LeBron and the Heat's Big Three fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals in the first year after LeBron left to take his talents to South Beach. In his post-Finals press conference, LeBron said "At the end of the day, all the people who want to see me fail, they gotta wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had when they woke up today. Same personal problems they had today." While this quote did not really reflect well on LeBron, I think that he actually has a point. We watch sports to get away from the day to day events of our personal lives. We are so wrapped up and amazed by what Superstars like Messi, or LeBron, or Adrian Peterson do that their greatness yields as many detractors as they do supporters- many times with the detractors yelling and making the most commotion.

I think that we as sports fans need to start appreciating what we are seeing play out in front of us on a week by week basis. There's the old adage "You don't know what you got until it's gone", but do we as sports fans try to avoid this trap? We all are slaves to revisionist history, remembering the good times while trying to avoid the bad experiences during a Superstar's career. Why can't we just appreciate what we are seeing from these athletes without having to criticize every minute detail of what a player does? And yes, I understand that fan is short for fanatic, and that most times "fanatics" are not going to be the most rational people. But I think we all need to realize and appreciate greatness before it is too late. I'm not saying that we should stop complaining about our respective teams and players (that's half the fun of being a fan), but what I am saying is that piling on and taking cheap shots at the best our world has to offer only achieves one goal- and that's making you look like an idiot.


Duncan Hensley
Kelley School of Business
Indiana University '18

Duncan's Monday Musings Post #1

Ok, well I've been thinking about doing this for awhile. And not for any specific reason other than the fact that a blog seemed like a fun way to write about whatever I want with no restrictions- just me, a keyboard, and a dimly lit computer screen. I'm not sure if there will be a specific focus or theme for my blog, I plan on just living my normal everyday life each week and then writing about every Monday, hence the name "Duncan's Monday Musings". I tried to come up with a catchier name than that but it immediately came to mind and just kind of stuck with me so that's what I'm going to roll with. With that said any and all feedback will be appreciated, I will open most weeks with a brief week in review of my life and then just jump right in to whatever I want to write about. Without further extending this clunky intro here we go!

So for those that don't already know I decided to stay in Bloomington this summer to take "I-Core" at the Kelley School of Business here at IU. I understand that many people who might read this are not up to date on the educational structure of Kelley so here is a brief synopsis of what I-Core actually is. I-Core is a collection of four different classes, Marketing, Finance, Operations, and Management that is meant to expose the Kelley Student to the different parts that make up a business. Before officially "declaring" your major you will experience these different sectors of business in hopes of either reinforcing your decision to major in a specific area or decide that somewhere else is where your best suited.

You work throughout the semester in these courses with Midterms and Finals in each class, finally culminating in a two-week case that utilizes all of your skills that you have learned throughout the semester. These classes have been the most difficult I have ever had throughout my schooling career, but I am enjoying the challenge and truly look forward to going to class every day. I'm double-majoring in Finance and Accounting here at Kelley (recently ranked the 4th Best Undergrad Business School in the country by Bloomberg, Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers! http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-best-undergrad-business-schools/) and I think that this program has helped reinforce my desire to major in these programs am really looking forward to my major classes in the Fall. I decided to stay in Bloomington this summer so that I can open up my next spring semester in hopes of studying abroad in Barcelona. I have never been to Spain, or Europe as a whole, so I am really looking forward to that opportunity. After getting the opportunity to have a mini study abroad experience in Korea this past Spring Break I know how well these programs are set up through Kelley and I think that the Barcelona experience will be no different than the one I had in Korea.

As a sports fan, there is not much that you can complain about right now. I had a blast watching these NBA Finals, and was extremely happy that LeBron James was finally able to bring a Championship to Cleveland. Ever since I was a young NBA fan, I have been a big LeBron fan and I do not know an NBA without him. And maybe because of my love for LeBron I was not able to root for and appreciate what the Warriors have done the past two years. I have no reason to dislike the Warriors, they play beautiful basketball, and the combination of Steph, Klay, and even Draymond are a group that's easy to root for. They look like they legitimately enjoy playing together and put together one of the greatest NBA seasons of all-time. Even without the ring we as an American Public need to realize how great of an achievement 73-9 is and applaud Steve Kerr and the entire Golden State Warrior Organization for their accomplishments this year.

In addition to the recently concluded NBA Finals, the two international soccer tournaments right now, the Copa America Centenario and European Championships are just a feast of futbol for any soccer fan. I would still say I am a relatively new soccer fan, only truly following it week in week out for three years now, but my love for the game has quickly grown and continues to grow day by day. It was a difficult Group Stage for the Three Lions of England, specifically the results against Russia and Slovakia, but I think that they could still be a strong team in this tournament. As the runner up of Group B, they play the runner up of Group F which still could be any one of those four teams in that group. Worst case scenario they would draw Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo, but they did beat them in a pre-Euro friendly and I think that England would actually be able to handle them quite easily. So fear not my English friends, you may vote to leave the European Union on Thursday but I still think you'll be in the European Championships for at least another week plus!

Finally, I'll wrap this post up with a quick preview of the biggest game for United States Soccer since the Confederations Cup Playoff against Mexico as the US travels to Houston to take on Argentina and the greatest player in the world right now, Leo Messi. I was hoping to travel to Houston earlier this spring to cheer IU on to a 6th banner (thanks Marcus Paige et al for your extremely fluky shooting), but hopefully the US will be able to perform and somehow pull off this gigantic upset. Many pundits have been quick to remember the US' similar upset in 2009 against Spain, one of if not the best international side ever, at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, so for those that say there is no precedent for the US and they have no shot clearly you are mistaken. With that said, Jurgen Klinsmann and the Boys in Blue have their work cut out for them. I have not always been the biggest supporter of Jurgen in his time in charge of the US National Team, especially in the time since the 2014 World Cup, but I have been impressed with how the US has set up and game planned in this tournament. While I do not necessarily agree with the substitution  patterns used or the roster construction (I mean c'mon it was a nice moment but Jordan Morris needs to be in the dressing room for the US not with the American Outlaws walking into the stadium), credit where credit is due and Jurgen has earned a little political capital that I believe the US should trust him even if it is just for this match.

That about wraps it up for me and this first post on Duncan's Monday Musings, thank you for taking the time to read this post and I like mentioned earlier, any questions, comments, or criticisms would be greatly appreciated.


Duncan Hensley
Kelley School of Business
Indiana University '18