A Bigger Man

    One of my vices is sports radio. If you get in my car and a CD is not playing almost without exception I am listening to the Fan. Yesterday nearly everyone was talking about Terrell Owen's spitting in Deangelo Hall's face on the sixth play of the game. The other topic of conversation was the brawl between New York and Denver and the cost in fines and suspensions.
    Michael Irvin, a guest on the Dan Patrick Show, analyst for ESPN, and former player, stated that if someone spat in his face, in order to look in the mirror and respect himself as a man "it'd be on!"  -- he'd have to throw a punch and undoubtedly get kicked out of the game  garnering a suspension. It is a matter of "being a man" he said.
    I could have taken  that from a man who has had his fair share of arrests and shady dealings. But the next hour Patrick had Reggie Miller, a class act from the NBA who, though not perfect, has a track record of being a solid guy and a decent citizen. Miller agreed with Irvin. "Without a doubt." he stated emphatically answering Patrick as to whether Irvin was right.
    Patrick repeatedly tried to get them to back off their postitions but they were unnmoveable. He argued that they were taking a selfish and unlogical position. They didn't care.
    I just watched Lord of the Rings with my Kids, part of the message of that Trilogy is that real men sacrifice themselves for a greater good. the lesser man is concerned about having to "be a man." The greater man doesn't give a shit and simply does the right thing because it is right.
    There is a corollary to, "What other people think of me is none of my damn business." It states, "What I think of me is none of my damn business." What others and what I think about me can never be in the center of my thoughts if I am to be a real man. It may be unpopular, it may even cause me pain, but it allows me to be real, authentic and make a difference in a world too full of selfish, self centered, egoists  trying to be something and never measuring up. I'd hate that.