tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post8384305670785375396..comments2023-01-27T13:00:06.764-05:00Comments on Eclectic Indulgence... classic literature reviews: When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback | Michael LeahyEclectic Indulgencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09773640906287038956noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-48676731265387295822009-09-12T07:59:51.699-04:002009-09-12T07:59:51.699-04:00Curious, after reading "When Nothing Else Mat...Curious, after reading "When Nothing Else Matters", if you're in any way surprised by Jordan's almost obliviously petty HoF ceremony comments yesterday. <br /><br />It certainly wasn't surprising to me. It reminded me of Jordan's careful cultivation of his image, his punishment of media who wrote stories that honestly were fair game for someone in the public eye and not even especially vicious. Because for the first time maybe since he was a teenager, he didn't have anything to sell to the people watching. No shoes to sell (well, he's still got a stake in that, but it's no longer based on what people think of him), no image to protect. That tight cocoon that's described so well in here... well, that's gone now. There's no need to tread softly anymore.<br /><br />And hey, he can stand up there and do nothing but stare sullenly at Jerry Krause with his middle finger up for 20 minutes straight for all I care. He's probably earned the right to do that. <br /><br />But the last speech I heard of this magnitude by a Chicago sports star was by a frail Walter Payton a few months before he died when he said "Nobody promises you tomorrow." I've thought about that line so many times since then. It's probably the only philosophical lesson I've ever drawn from an athlete. What a remarkably stoic way for a human being whose body set him far beyond 99% of the population to confront its failings. What an amazing way to look at what anyone would have to admit is being dealt a really bad hand. And through some tough times that have come in my own life since then, dealing with death which just always seems so unjustified, I've actually found myself saying the same thing: Nobody promises you tomorrow. It's like an affirmation and a admission at the same time.<br /><br />It just seemed so... so unnecessary. So pointless. Almost self-indulgent. Like everything he said mattered about 4,000 times more to him than to anyone else on the planet. Like a person describing in minute detail the sandwich they had for lunch. Hey, good for you and all... but after five minutes I'm looking at my watch. After ten I'm wondering if there's something seriously wrong with you. After fifteen, I'm fairly well convinced you're suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.<br /><br />And as you mention at the end of your post... in some ways, I feel sorry for him. There's no doubt he changed basketball more than any other human being probably since it was invented, and that degree of fame has definitely stunted him as a person. Leahy mentions this: Dean Smith, his old coach, had a number of passionate concerns outside of basketball, from civil rights to being an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. It worried him, per Leahy, that Jordan hadn't developed any interest outside of basketball, that he had retired from the game and seemed to lack any kind of personal development. Leahy compares this to Magic Johnson, who had his own doomed comeback but since then has really become a well-rounded person with passions beyond what he used to do for a living.<br /><br />I don't think anyone on this planet can relate to what it was like to wake up as Michael Jordan for twenty years. If that was the "real" Jordan in a brief snapshot, I'm not sure I'd like to know.Granvillenoreply@blogger.com