HALF A MILLIONAIRE

The New York Yankees are champions, again. They have done it twenty seven times. However, it amazes me when I realize that most of my friends at work and many others hate the Yankees. And, when I ask them for the reason why they harbor so much hatred for the baseball club, I receive the most absurd answer–”because they have so much money and win all the times”. I do recognize that there is some truth in the answer. However, I do not believe that money is the only factor that helps them win “all the times”. There must be something special about the organization. Personally, I believe that the Yankees’ constant success is the byproduct of effective management and leadership. And, therefore, instead of hating the winners, we all must love them, study them and become like them. So, why don’t people like the Yankees?

I would like to share a personal story before I attempt to answer the above question. I grew up in a communist country where I was taught to hate the United States of America because it was an evil empire that only wanted to conquer and destroy its neighbors. However, the truth was that my home country was poor because the communist leaders were corrupt and uneducated. They did not care for the people. They just wanted to fill up their pockets with the people’s sweat and blood. When I came to America, I began to see the light. After I had learned more about the game, I understood why the U.S. was the winning team. Capitalism, freedom to compete, encourages creativity because each individual wants to win and harvest the fruit of his labor. On the other hand, communism is just a stupid idea because it suggests that everyone works and shares the fruit. In the beginning, the communist comrades work and share. However, after awhile, they start to question the system because they see that there are many who do not work as hard but still enjoy the same fruit. Therefore, eventually, everyone will stop and the system breaks down. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, I was so happy because it proved to me that I had understood the game. The sad thing is that communism is still ruling my home country because the communist comrades still refuse to change. They are holding on to their power because they still have empty pockets which they plan to fill up with the people’s bones and skulls.

Sometimes, we see others succeed, but we still stubbornly refuse to accept the fact that they are better than us because we know that we are weaker and afraid that we can never become like them even if we try. Many of us hate the Yankees because we know that our favorite team can never become like the New York Yankees. Perhaps, some of us want to defect and become Yankee fans, but we are afraid that others will label us as “traitors”. Therefore, we force ourselves to like our losing team by lying to ourselves–”it is ok because I am a true fan”. We choose to enjoy the pain and humiliation of defeat every year while the Yankees fans are celebrating.

For those who hate the U.S., please look at your own government. Are the leaders of your country corrupt? Perhaps, they are the evil individuals who take away your food and shelter. If you still hate the U.S., please study harder or become smarter to help your country compete with us. If you still hate the U.S. and do not know what to do, I would like to suggest that, first, you learn from us and then you use that knowledge to beat us. If you are still stubborn and refusing to understand, I would like to offer this simple analogy: Imagine that you are running a marathon and the U.S. is the leader. You must gather your strength and courage to beat the U.S. because you know in your heart that the U.S. will not slow down to let you win. The U.S. will always go after the gold medal even though it has won it many times. It competes because it constantly wants to advance human civilization.

Baseball is not my favorite sport, but I like its history. The game’s greatest player is Babe Ruth, who in 1927 handed out 60 homeruns or 14% of all homeruns hit in the American League that year. To match this percentage, a player in the modern era would have to hit 340 homeruns in a season. In 2001, Barry Bonds set the single-season record for homeruns with 73 amid the steroid scandal. I am not in a position to judge Barry Bonds and his record. However, I would like to point out that ”steroid” has forced me to divide the history of baseball into two parts: 1) Baseball in its originality and 2) Baseball in the steroid era. Many argue that steroid is acceptable because everyone uses it and that steroid cannot make everyone to become Barry Bonds. For example, I myself cannot even swing the bat although I am on steroid. Personally, I believe that all athletes must resist the temptation to use performance-enhancing substances because they must recognize that sport represents our species’ competitive spirit. We must compete on our own potential without having to resort to dishonesty or any form of cheating that will give us an unfair advantage over our opponents.

On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee put Mr. Barack Obama on a “steroid” fasttrack to winning the prestigious award, the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Prize is prestigious because it has been used to honor those human beings (or organizations that) who have worked tirelessly for decades to make this world a better place. More importantly, I want to point out that the Nobel Prize winners make it prestigious–not Norway, not Sweden, not Nobel. We all know that in actuality Mr. Obama has not done anything but talking and promising. Many argue that the prize will motivate him to keep his promises. Truly, I find this argument very insulting to the past winners and to Mr. Obama himself. First, the winners change the world because they choose to do so, not because they want to win the award. In my opinion, they are so compassionate about their work that they don’t even have time to think about the award. Perhaps, they don’t even care about the award. For example, a scientist is about to discover a way to turn water into a useful source of energy. And, he knows that his discovery will greatly benefit our world (his true intention) and that regardless if he wants it or not he will be the most famous human being on the planet. Does it matter if he is awarded the Nobel Prize? Second, let us assume that Mr. Obama will change the world in the next few years. Will Norway win the Nobel Prize for pushing Mr. Obama to do something for the world? What if Mr. Obama has true intention to make the world a better place and he will succeed in doing it in the near future, this hasty award will take away our chance to celebrate his success. My point is that what are we Americans to celebrate about now when our president wins the Nobel Peace Prize? Or, shall we delay the celebration until we see the results? Will the celebration still be joyful and meaningful?

In my opinion, Norway made a big mistake when it irresponsibly handed out the award to Mr. Obama because the action ruined the image of the award. It should only be given to one who has a track record of doing ”great” deeds for this world. Talking about doing good is wonderful but not enough. The award would have been more celebrated by the world had Norway waited for the results. Besides the “to motivate him to do good” excuse, why did Norway do it?

Many speculate that Norway just wanted to humiliate Mr. Bush because he waged wars against other nations. How can one promote peace by humiliating someone else? Let us assume that this speculation is true. Do you think that the action will affect Mr. Bush? His father, Mr. Bush, Sr., was also the president of the United States. The Bush family has its own tradition and values. Do you think that they really need Norway to approve of their actions? When one is elected to be the leader of a country, one has to do what one believes to be right for one’s country. Of course, one can always argue that war is never good, but what if war or conflict is just a part of life. When resources are scarce, nations compete. One day, when the world runs out of oil, Russia will probably conquer Norway for its oil, disregarding the Nobel Peace Prize.

My own speculation is that Norway just wanted to signal to the terrorists that it is a peace loving country to protect its citizens from harm. Basically, Norway knows that it does not have the capability to defend itself militarily, so it resorts to promoting peace to protect its territory and people. Unfortunately, in the real world, nations compete, and sometimes the strong bully the weak. Personally, I have great love for Norway. However, I am worried for her because the terrorists will exploit her weakness.

Although I know that dishonesty exists in sports, I still love them because they represent true competition. In the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup, the United States tied Italy (1-1) on June 17, 2006 at Fritz-Walter Stadium, Germany. I was so proud of the American team because we fought hard. Personally, the result did not matter to me because I wanted to see my national team fight to win. I wanted to see them work hard to achieve their goal. We did not win that game, but I felt inspired by the national team. I believe that if one wants to hit a baseball out of the ball park, one must do it on one’s own power,  without assistance from steroid. I believe that if Mr. Obama is destined to be mankind’s greatest leader, then we must let the results speak for him, without extra motivation or assistance from an award.

Reference: www.wikipedia.org; www.baberuthcentral.com; soccernet.espn.go.com