Only The Strong Survive

As will become apparent alot of my posts will come out of the world of sport, and this is to be no exception to that rule. The sporting world nowadays is filled with supposed "role models" like Christiano Ronaldo. This man, as I am sure you are aware, is not the most popular man in the world. He is talented but has tarnished his reputation with bad sportsmanship and arrogance. I recall after missing the penalty in the Champion's League final, Ronaldo said "well this is football, I score a goal in the game but I miss a penalty". He followed this comment with a nonchalent shrug of his shoulders. This is quite sickening for me to hear and see, not because of any deep hatred of Manchester Utd, but because he was not bothered by his mistakes. As a performer in sport I always want to be better than the last time I competed. People who have been on court with me will tell you it angers me when I'm not. A professional sportsman should constantly be fighting to make himself better than the next person and this is what makes a legend. Ronaldo don't get me wrong has achieved and he probably has worked hard to get it but that attitude is not one I would like to send out to kids who aspire to be me if I were in that position.


I would sooner be like the failing Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Let me set the scene OKC have been the laughing stock of the basketball world this season, but they have battled on. The Thunder were looking in contention for the worst record of all time in the 82 game season and at one point losing to the Thunder would mean your team would automatically be put in the Number 30 spot of the NBA Power Rankings. However OKC began to turn it round, they are still bottom of their conference with 11 wins and 37 losses, but they are now holding a better win rate than Washington, Sacremento, and the LA CLippers. Now if that is not fighting then I don't know what is. They have even pulled out wins against highly respected teams like Detroit Pistons.


OKC Thunder do not have any players on their roster like Ronaldo. They all fought the odds in order to be better, whereas Ronaldo would sit back and say "Well, shit happens." I am not going to say that I believe the Oklahoma City Thunder of 2008/09 will stay in the memories of people longer than Christiano Ronaldo will but they symbolise the above statement. Only The Strong Survive. The best players of all sports will be remembered for their will to go out and train, the Roger Federer's, Michael Jordan's and Pele's never wanted to miss a shot (in fact i know for a fact Michael Jordan kept a tally of game winning shots he had been trusted to take and missed as a motivation to be better: it stands at 26) and when they did they had the strength in themselves to say "Yeh my fault." Then they went out and practised until it was done.


This drive, desire and strength is what makes sport a great pastime and a culture, not big Portugese pansies who don't care about the name on the front of the jersey, only the name on the back.





Only The Strong Survive