A Misplaced Perspective
July 1st 2009 20:08
Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel recently benched his leadoff hitter, former NL MVP Jimmy Rollins, for a full weekend slate of games. Rollins has been in a terrible swoon all season long, to the tune of a .250 on base percentage, which is the worst in the major leagues among regular starters.
I take issue with this whole situation: not with the benching itself, but the verbiage Manuel used to describe his goal for Rollins while benched is my problem. Manuel wanted Rollins to take a few days off, get away from all baseball activity, and "clear his head."
Of all the phrases to use, Manuel used "clear his head"? This represents a startling lack of perspective by Manuel in my opinion. I would expect to hear that phrase used in actual real life situations, such as someone recovering from an addiction, or grieving a sick or lost loved one, not a struggling baseball player. This just rubbed me the wrong way when I first read it, and still does. The billions of dollars and incredible fame that run through sports leagues have seriously rearranged priorities and clouded a right perspective on life. It seems very much as though sport has become equal to or greater than life itself for many involved.
On the other hand, Charlie Manuel and others in sports should not shoulder all the blame. We all are guilty of losing perspective and mixing up our priorities from time to time. The important thing is that people have some thing, some idea, or some person that will always keep them grounded in order that we don't lose sight of what is truly important in life.
I take issue with this whole situation: not with the benching itself, but the verbiage Manuel used to describe his goal for Rollins while benched is my problem. Manuel wanted Rollins to take a few days off, get away from all baseball activity, and "clear his head."
Of all the phrases to use, Manuel used "clear his head"? This represents a startling lack of perspective by Manuel in my opinion. I would expect to hear that phrase used in actual real life situations, such as someone recovering from an addiction, or grieving a sick or lost loved one, not a struggling baseball player. This just rubbed me the wrong way when I first read it, and still does. The billions of dollars and incredible fame that run through sports leagues have seriously rearranged priorities and clouded a right perspective on life. It seems very much as though sport has become equal to or greater than life itself for many involved.
On the other hand, Charlie Manuel and others in sports should not shoulder all the blame. We all are guilty of losing perspective and mixing up our priorities from time to time. The important thing is that people have some thing, some idea, or some person that will always keep them grounded in order that we don't lose sight of what is truly important in life.
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