David Beckham has been in the news a lot lately, and no matter how great-looking he and his wife Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham are, the guy will not make me care about soccer any more after he plays on Saturday for the L.A. Galaxy than I do today — and I care very little about professional soccer.
I actually like to play soccer. I have nothing against the sport. I do, however, have something against watching it, and no pretty boy from England is going to change that opinion. Sorry, L.A. Galaxy and Major League Soccer, but that $250 million could have been better spent.
• Video: The Grrr! Block on Beckham
Why not promote your homegrown stars with some of that money and make American soccer heroes? Instead, we import one who is already about 10 years older than say, Ladanian Tomlinson, the pro-football running back sensation — or other up-and-coming sports stars who will hold fans' interest past the initial curiosity factor.
Even if Beckham dazzles Americans with soccer skills we haven't seen since Pele played for the Cosmos, how long can he do it? Five years of bicycle kicks are highly unlikely, and sad to say, without bicycle kicks, ESPN SportsCenter just won't care.
I hope Becks is as good as we hear he is. Anything less than spectacular will be like going to the opening of the much-hyped "Mission: Impossible III" and finding out it stinks.
Wake Up, Dummy
You ever run into someone on the sidewalk, in a store, on the road, at the office or at the Little League field and wonder what planet they're from?
The guy who cuts in front of you and a dozen other people while standing in line at the deli is one example. The screaming parent at the T-Ball game is another. I like to call them and people like them Oblivions — people who are so self-absorbed that they're Oblivious to the people around them.
These people have tunnel vision, and the only thing they see is what is directly in front of them. But as bad as Oblivions are, they at least don't even realize how rude they are. They simply cannot help it.
It's the people who are intentionally rude to others who need to wake up even more than the Oblivions. It's the people who take everything for granted, who feel entitled to their share without making an effort, who need to wake up.
What planet are they from?
How about the people who empty the office refrigerator of food and drink that does not belong to them?
Who are these people? I have never been so cheap, so poor, so inconsiderate — no matter how little money I was earning compared to others in the office — that I would steal their food and think "they can afford to buy another sandwich" as justification for that theft.
In fact, forget the moral problem with stealing.
I don't think I could eat someone else's lunch, period. I have problems sharing entrees at dinner with my own extended family, nevermind putting a sandwich of unknown origin into my mouth.
Intentionally negative people make me go Grrr, too.
I know, I know. It's ironic that the author of "GRRR! Celebrities Are Ruining Our Country and Other Reasons Why We're All in Trouble" is complaining about negativity, but at least I report on the negative in an attempt to turn those things into positives.
At the very least, I try to make people aware of the negativity so that they try to address it.
It's the "Debbie Downers" who get my goat. They're the people who have to constantly see the down side to every situation.
— "Going to the beach? Hope it doesn't rain."
— "Going to Las Vegas. You know they don't build those places on winners, right?"
— "Have fun in the park. Look out for muggers. Don't say I didn't warn you."
— "Heading into a busy time at work? Things are going to get interesting."
Please, just stop. Shut up. What planet are you from, Negativo?
And then there are the ones who try to hurt your career by starting or repeating rumors about you. Sometimes those rumors start off harmless enough, but soon they're harmful.
It's always better to not say anything at all about your coworkers.
Then you've got those little people who want nothing more than to see you fail. Even worse are the ones who have power in an organization and instead of using that power for "yes," they use it for "no."
To me, real power is the ability to make someone's dreams come true. Not crush them.
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