Arrogance: Part 2

The last blog was a reflection about a gifted young athlete I observed that was missing humility. He brandished his selfishness refusing to pass the ball and insulted both opposing players and the game of basketball itself. But why is arrogance bad for sport? Where's the edge in competition if you don't have a swagger. I find that it's hard to talk about humility to winners, people who have success doing it their way. When an athlete employs arrogance and destroys the competition, who am I to refute it? In a debate I now realize I cannot argue against arrogant players who champion their prowess and point to the score board when they are criticized. We'd like to say that prideful people soon come to ruin but I've learned that this "ruin" isn't necessarily described in terms of losses. So what is it that arrogance does that is so corrosive? Answer: The corrosive piece associated with arrogance is DECEPTION. It's been said that deception is what it is because you don't know it's happening to you. So in essence, the arrogant athlete is of the belief that he/she will never be in a position of want. The arrogant athlete operates from a well-founded position of authority because he/she is more gifted than the masses. But there are forces in the world that can strip the arrogant athlete of his/her power. Athletes are a commodity, as quiet as it is kept. They build reputations for high schools, attract new recruits for colleges and make money for everyone except the athlete until draft day comes, if it comes. In the shadows lurks the law system, jealous friends and potentially spiteful administrative bodies. Arrogance makes one expendable over time the way a slow cooker prepares the evening meal. Ten years may pass as the athlete simmers in his/her juices of arrogance and when the athlete is done stewing, he/she is surrounded by one of two things: cut-throat opportunists or no one at all. Arrogant athletes create a scenario where they are only worth as much as they can produce. But the humble athlete gets a pardon when performance starts to tail off. The humble athlete is kept on the team because he/she has value beyond ability and it is this value that moves an athlete from simply phenomenal to contagious. Arrogance isolates you and makes your teammates wish you forgot your shoes. Humility creates synergy so that your desire to win is multiplied exponentially. So the next time some arrogant player defends him/herself saying that arrogance is my cold-hearted edge, admit that they are correct. The humble competitor finds his/her edge in preparation and not in brashness and you can promise the arrogant athlete that his/her edge will cut them from the inside out.