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