Monday, June 2, 2008

Remember Walt Frazier

Initially, I thought this was just another NBA basketball trivia-nostalgia piece that usually comes a dime a dozen during the week that precedes the NBA Finals (especially now that the Lakers-Celtics rivalry has come out from the dead), but I was wrong.



Francis Kong's piece is inspiring especially to those who feel "down and out". I'm yielding my space to his Star column item. If you need to lift up your sagging spirit, check out his blog to help yourself get back on your feet.

BUSINESS MATTERS (Beyond the bottom line)
By Francis J. Kong


Philippine Star

Sunday, June 1, 2008


There are people in the work place whose favorite part of the human anatomy is the back. These are the people who love to back-stab and back-bite and they feel that the only way they can add value to themselves is to devalue others. They are in the work place, they are in organizations and they are also found in churches too.

What do you do when you are a victim of injustice?

What do you do when you are on the receiving end of a smear campaign? Ask me. I’ve got stories to tell. I am not speaking theory here but I am speaking based on actual experiences. These experiences are not exactly ecstatic for me but I sure am learning a lot from it.

There are people out there whose joy in life is to see me fail as I am sure there are people out there whose mission in life is to destroy you and your career or business. These are insecure people who cannot stand good and healthy competition. These are yellow-bellied cowards who would not dare fight you face to face. They scheme. They mislead. They plot. They conspire. Lying is their native tongue. Hypocrisy is their virtue.

Deception is their character. And then they hurt you or at least they irritate you.

So what do you do?

Some times it gets to you. You have within your means the arsenal to fight back and you are almost there. It is so tempting. All it takes is a hard blow. Just one strike is all it takes and you have all the plans in place. Your mind tells you: “The best defense is offense…!!!” Should you hit back or shouldn’t you?

When you find yourself in this situation…try to remember the celebrated basketball player of the New York Knicks Walt Frazier.

Walt Frazier was the soul and the spirit of the New York Knicks in the early ’70s—unflappable, unselfish, versatile and smooth, he embodied the essence of what made champions special.




Although he was overflowing with basketball talent, he was first and foremost a team player. And although he’s often remembered for his on-court and off-court smoothness, his game was definitely not all-style-and-no-substance. Frazier brought the goods—he had an inner toughness and heart underneath the controlled flow.

Many years ago during a Knicks-Bullets playoff game, one of the Bullets came up from behind and punched Walt Frazier in the face. Strangely, the referee called a foul on Frazier. Frazier didn’t complain. His expression never changed. He simply called for the ball and put in seven straight shots to win the game, an amazing display of productive anger. This provides us with a great moral lesson as well.

Watching Frazier played his ball game many years ago, I officially considered him my hero for “Coolness.” I taught myself at a very young age that being “cool” is the tool of the intelligent.

Being destructive is the tool for fools. Being “cool” accomplishes more than being emotional and explosive.

And in being cool, I have discovered 3 ways of hitting back these cowards who continue their mission of destruction. And if you are currently being hit these days, do the following:

1. Pray. God does not sleep. Vengeance is His not yours. He knows how to deal with the situation. And when you know that you have Him on your side you will always be on the winning side. No, don’t pray for God to hit those losers with thunder and lightning but you should pray that God forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. That they may come to genuine repentance and realize the sins they are committing.

2. Learn. Realize that wickedness lies in the heart of people. And if this could happen to them the same thing could happen to you as well. The heart is hopelessly and wickedly deceiving. So learn form the experience and be on guard. Determine never to decline and deteriorate to their level.

3. Live. The best form of revenge is a life well lived. Excel in what you do and use the energy and channel them on doing more than what you are able to do. Let these losers fuel you with the creative anger and passion to succeed more.

Be a Walt Frazier in the hard court of life and business.

And always remember this:

Never wrestle with a pig. And there are 2 reasons why:

Number 1: You get yourself dirty and number 2: The pig loves it!

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