What If They Held an Induction and No One Came? | Seamheads.com

Or what if they had a Hall of Fame and nobody cared?

I have been writing for some time about how the Baseball Hall of Fame seems bound and determined to take a "death march" into becoming the Hall of Irrelevancy or even worse the Hall of the Ignored. It doesn't do my heart good for the sport that others have taken notice that which I feared would inevitably happen.

from Seamheads.com
What If They Held an Induction and No One Came? | Seamheads.com:

Back in January, when Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson announced that the BBWAA had resisted the temptation to elect the all-time home run champ, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, two guys with more than 3,000 hits, and other significant ballplayers to the Hall of Fame, I sent him an e-mail. It read: “For the first time since you’ve been at the Hall, you’ll be able to give an accurate count of the attendance at the induction ceremony. All you have to do is count the legs and divide by two.” To Jeff’s credit, within an hour of facing the national cameras with his no-news-is-bad-news, he responded with this witty note: “Not if Bill Veeck shows up,” since Veeck’s wooden leg would screw up the arithmetic. I replied, “If you can get Bill Veeck here, you’ll have a record crowd.”

With only 34 living Hall of Famers returning for this year’s ceremony–the lowest number in many, many years, after a peak of more than 60 a few years ago–the ceremony was already going to be significantly shorter because of fewer introductions. With film tributes to the 12 overdue honorees, plus a current Hall of Famer reading the text of each of their plaques, the ceremony lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. It was a fine little ceremony, and we enjoyed it.

But it was not without some strange moments, some odd, discordant notes. My favorite involved the choice of current Hall of Famers to read the plaques. As much as possible, the Hall matched them up very well by position and/or team. Cal Ripken ended the afternoon by reading Gehrig’s plaque; Tommy Lasorda read the plaque of earlier Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson; Wade Boggs read third baseman Jimmy Collins’ text, and so on. Then came the Hornsby plaque, the last before Gehrig’s. That “honor” went to Hall of Fame Vice Chairman Joe Morgan, presumably because both players were second basemen. But I couldn’t help flinching when I learned that the Hall was asking an African American to honor an avowed member of the Ku Klux Klan. I’m guessing that Morgan has no idea that Hornsby was in the Klan, or that anybody bothered to tell him. Maybe Jeff Idelson didn’t know it either. One of the Hall’s three missions is to “preserve history,” but that doesn’t mean its president has to preserve history in his own head. Suppose someone had told Morgan that Hornsby was in the KKK; would he still have read the plaque? Well, he did read it.

'via Blog this'

by contrast for football:
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/08/04/seven-inducted-into-pro-football-hall-fame/?intcmp=trending

More than 120 hall members, a record, and a crowd of 11,500 was on hand at Fawcett Stadium for the golden anniversary celebration of the shrine.

The baseball voters seem to feel they are voting for the Hall of Saints. They will continue to suffer from fan apathy as long as they continue down this path. Once again, the Football Hall of Fame outshines as the current class of inductees was robust in both quantity and quality.

It is both striking and amazing to me that for some reason football -- a sport which seems to be a weekly celebration of self-glorification within the game itself -- standing in direct contradiction to the game of baseball -- which values humility and humbleness on a game to game basis.

However, when each sport elects its Hall of Fame members, the football players appear more humble ( see Cris Carter reduced to tears yesterday ) and full of gratitude whereas the baseball inductees almost enter the Hall as if they were always entitled to the honor, the rest of the world was simply late to notice. Like they were royalty or they deity or something.

It may have something to do with the grind of the voting process, but it seems like the other sports have a much better handle on the process than baseball does. Again, it may just be me, but the football players seem more grateful for the honor, the baseball guys more feel like they are entitled now to be worshiped. As if being honored throughout their career was not enough.

from Wade, World Trade, NPD, Serial Killers and Politicians, Evil and People of the Lie...thanks Google

TRUST ME, MR. WADE, NO SANE PERSON WOULD EVER EQUATE YOU LOSING THREE GAMES TO THIS.

AND I DON'T CARE IF YOU AND THE OTHER TWO AMIGOS WIN THREE GAMES OR THREE CHAMPIONSHIPS - YOU WILL NEVER BE AS HEROIC AS THE THREE MEN SHOWN IN THIS PICTURE

NEVER FORGET - "WORLD TRADE" WAS A NATIONAL TRAGEDY, NOT A TAG LINE FOR A KNUCKLEHEAD

He said it for a reason, the writers didn't miss his words by much. It was his choice of words. This goes to how (self) important these guys think they are in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, here's the quotes, printed and straight from the horses(ass) mouth. This reflects how these guys think. The magnitude and the level of their self-indulgence and vision of their place and importance in the world is truly staggering.

This post gets rather lengthy--it may seem meandering at times--but bear with me, because the underlying concepts, ideas and themes are extremely important to understand and they apply to everyday life.

Thanks Google, thanks Dewayne or Flash or whatever the hell your name is.

And, never forget.

Wade sorry for 'World Trade' comment

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5392510

Standing at his locker before a group of reporters, Wade said:

"There's going to be times when we might lose one, two games in a row, maybe two games, three games in a row, you never know. It's going to seem like the world is crashed down. You all are going to make it seem like the World Trade has just went down again. But it's not going to be nothing but a couple basketball games lost and we'll have to get back on track."

On Monday, before leaving on a flight to Los Angeles for some television appearances -- he was previously booked to talk with Jay Leno -- Wade issued an apology through the Heat.

In the statement, Wade said: "In an interview yesterday, I attempted to explain how some people may view the Miami Heat losing a few basketball games in a row during the upcoming season. It appears that my reference to the World Trade Center has been either inaccurately reported or taken completely out of context. I was simply trying to say that losing a few basketball games should not be compared to a real catastrophe.

"While it was certainly not my intention, I sincerely apologize to anyone who found my reference to the World Trade Center to be insensitive or offensive."

AOL Fanhouse initially reported the guard saying: "If we lose a couple in a row this season, it will be like the World Trade [Center] is coming down again."

Hours later, AOL Fanhouse published a different version of the quote, citing a transcription error and an editor's note saying, "we deeply regret the error."

-----------------

When I hear stuff like this, that just makes my head spin, of course I go right to Google, cause Google knows everything, and I ask (or query to us geeks) Google - "exaggerated sense of self importance" which is my knee-jerk reaction to the Wade story.

Not surprisingly the # 1 entry is:

What is a personality disorder?

http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/dsm-iv.html

What is a personality disorder?

[from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, 1994, commonly referred to as DSM-IV, of the American Psychiatric Association. European countries use the diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization.]

An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectation of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.

A personality disorder is a pattern of deviant or abnormal behavior that the person doesn't change even though it causes emotional upsets and trouble with other people at work and in personal relationships. It is not limited to episodes of mental illness, and it is not caused by drug or alcohol use, head injury, or illness. There are about a dozen different behavior patterns classified as personality disorders by DSM-IV. All the personality disorders show up as deviations from normal in one or more of the following:

(1) cognition -- i.e., perception, thinking, and interpretation of oneself, other people, and events;

(2) affectivity -- i.e., emotional responses (range, intensity, lability, appropriateness);

(3) interpersonal functions;

(4) impulsivity.

NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER - HMMMM....

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

While grandiosity is the diagnostic hallmark of pathological narcissism, there is research evidence that pathological narcissism occurs in two forms, (a) a grandiose state of mind in young adults that can be corrected by life experiences, and (b) the stable disorder described in DSM-IV, which is defined less by grandiosity than by severely disturbed interpersonal relations.
The preferred theory seems to be that narcissism is caused by very early affective deprivation, yet the clinical material tends to describe narcissists as unwilling rather than unable, thus treating narcissistic behaviors as volitional -- that is, narcissism is termed a personality disorder, but it tends to be discussed as a character disorder. This distinction is important to prognosis and treatment possibilities. If NPD is caused by infantile damage and consequent developmental short-circuits, it probably represents an irremediable condition. On the other hand, if narcissism is a behavior pattern that's learned, then there is some hope, however tenuous, that it's a behavior pattern that can be unlearned. The clinical literature on NPD is highly theoretical, abstract, and general, with sparse case material, suggesting that clinical writers have little experience with narcissism in the flesh. There are several reasons for this to be so:

-- The incidence of NPD is estimated at 1% in the general population, though I haven't been able to discover the basis of this estimate.

-- Narcissists rarely enter treatment and, once in treatment, progress very slowly. We're talking about two or more years of frequent sessions before the narcissist can acknowledge even that the therapist is sometimes helpful. It's difficult to keep narcissists in treatment long enough for improvement to be made -- and few people, narcissists or not, have the motivation or the money to pursue treatment that produces so little so late.

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.[jma: NPD first appeared in DSM-III in 1980; before that time there had been no formal diagnostic description. Additionally, there is considerable overlap between personality disorders and clinicians tend to diagnose mixes of two or more. Grandiosity is a special case, but lack of empathy and exploitative interpersonal relations are not unique to NPD, nor is the need to be seen as special or unique. The differential diagnosis of NPD is made on the absence of specific gross behaviors. Borderline Personality Disorder has several conspicuous similarities to NPD, but BPD is characterized by self-injury and threatened or attempted suicide, whereas narcissists are rarely self-harming in this way. BPD may include psychotic breaks, and these are uncharacteristic of NPD but not unknown. The need for constant attention is also found in Histrionic Personality Disorder, but HPD and BPD are both strongly oriented towards relationships, whereas NPD is characterized by aloofness and avoidance of intimacy. Grandiosity is unique to NPD among personality disorders, but it is found in other psychiatric illnesses. Psychopaths display pathological narcissism, including grandiosity, but psychopathy is differentiated from NPD by psychopaths' willingness to use physical violence to get what they want, whereas narcissists rarely commit crimes; the narcissists I've known personally are, in fact, averse to physical contact with others, though they will occasionally strike out in an impulse of rage. It has been found that court-ordered psychotherapy for psychopaths actually increases their recidivism rate; apparently treatment teaches psychopaths new ways to exploit other people. Bipolar illness also contains strong elements of grandiosity. See more on grandiosity and empathy and its lack below.]The disorder begins by early adulthood and is indicated by at least five of the following:

Translation: Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a pattern of self-centered or egotistical behavior that shows up in thinking and behavior in a lot of different situations and activities. People with NPD won't (or can't) change their behavior even when it causes problems at work or when other people complain about the way they act, or when their behavior causes a lot of emotional distress to others (or themselves? none of my narcissists ever admit to being distressed by their own behavior -- they always blame other people for any problems). This pattern of self-centered or egotistical behavior is not caused by current drug or alcohol use, head injury, acute psychotic episodes, or any other illness, but has been going on steadily at least since adolescence or early adulthood.

NPD interferes with people's functioning in their occupations and in their relationships:
Mild impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in occasional minor problems, but the person is generally doing pretty well.

Moderate impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) missing days from work, household duties, or school, (b) significant performance problems as a wage-earner, homemaker, or student, (c) frequently avoiding or alienating friends, (d) significant risk of harming self or others (frequent suicidal preoccupation; often neglecting family, or frequently abusing others or committing criminal acts).

Severe impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) staying in bed all day, (b) totally alienating all friends and family, (c) severe risk of harming self or others (failing to maintain personal hygiene; persistent danger of suicide, abuse, or crime).

1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

Translation: Grandiosity is the hallmark of narcissism. So what is grandiose?

The simplest everyday way that narcissists show their exaggerated sense of self-importance is by talking about family, work, life in general as if there is nobody else in the picture. Whatever they may be doing, in their own view, they are the star, and they give the impression that they are bearing heroic responsibility for their family or department or company, that they have to take care of everything because their spouses or co-workers are undependable, uncooperative, or otherwise unfit. They ignore or denigrate the abilities and contributions of others and complain that they receive no help at all; they may inspire your sympathy or admiration for their stoicism in the face of hardship or unstinting self-sacrifice for the good of (undeserving) others. But this everyday grandiosity is an aspect of narcissism that you may never catch on to unless you visit the narcissist's home or workplace and see for yourself that others are involved and are pulling their share of the load and, more often than not, are also pulling the narcissist's share as well. An example is the older woman who told me with a sigh that she knew she hadn't been a perfect mother but she just never had any help at all -- and she said this despite knowing that I knew that she had worn out and discarded two devoted husbands and had lived in her parents' pocket (and pocketbook) as long as they lived, quickly blowing her substantial inheritance on flaky business schemes. Another example is claiming unusual benefits or spectacular results from ordinary effort and investment, giving the impression that somehow the narcissist's time and money are worth more than other people's. [Here is an article about recognizing and coping with narcissism in the workplace; it is rather heavy on management jargon and psychobabble, but worth reading. "The Impact of Narcissism on Leadership and Sustainability" by Bruce Gregory, Ph.D. "When the narcissistic defense is operating in an interpersonal or group setting, the grandiose part does not show its face in public. In public it presents a front of patience, congeniality, and confident reasonableness."]

In popular usage, the terms narcissism, narcissist, and narcissistic denote absurd vanity and are applied to people whose ambitions and aspirations are much grander than their evident talents. Sometimes these terms are applied to people who are simply full of themselves -- even when their real achievements are spectacular. Outstanding performers are not always modest, but they aren't grandiose if their self-assessments are realistic; e.g., Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, was notorious for boasting "I am the greatest!" and also pointing out that he was the prettiest, but he was the greatest and the prettiest for a number of years, so his self-assessments weren't grandiose. Some narcissists are flamboyantly boastful and self-aggrandizing, but many are inconspicuous in public, saving their conceit and autocratic opinions for their nearest and dearest. Common conspicuous grandiose behaviors include expecting special treatment or admiration on the basis of claiming (a) to know important, powerful or famous people or (b) to be extraordinarily intelligent or talented. As a real-life example, I used to have a neighbor who told his wife that he was the youngest person since Sir Isaac Newton to take a doctorate at Oxford. The neighbor gave no evidence of a world-class education, so I looked up Newton and found out that Newton had completed his baccalaureate at the age of twenty-two (like most people) and spent his entire academic career at Cambridge. The grandiose claims of narcissists are superficially plausible fabrications, readily punctured by a little critical consideration.

The test is performance: do they deliver the goods? (There's also the special situation of a genius who's also strongly narcissistic, as perhaps Frank Lloyd Wright. Just remind yourself that the odds are that you'll meet at least 1000 narcissists for every genius you come across.) [More on grandiosity.]

2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
Translation: Narcissists cultivate solipsistic or "autistic" fantasies, which is to say that they live in their own little worlds (and react with affront when reality dares to intrude).


3. Believes he is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

Translation: Narcissists think that everyone who is not special and superior is worthless. By definition, normal, ordinary, and average aren't special and superior, and so, to narcissists, they are worthless.

4. Requires excessive admiration
Translation: Excessive in two ways: they want praise, compliments, deference, and expressions of envy all the time, and they want to be told that everything they do is better than what others can do. Sincerity is not an issue here; all that matter are frequency and volume.

5. Has a sense of entitlement
Translation: They expect automatic compliance with their wishes or especially favorable treatment, such as thinking that they should always be able to go first and that other people should stop whatever they're doing to do what the narcissists want, and may react with hurt or rage when these expectations are frustrated.

6. Selfishly takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends
Translation: Narcissists use other people to get what they want without caring about the cost to the other people.

7. Lacks empathy
Translation: They are unwilling to recognize or sympathize with other people's feelings and needs. They "tune out" when other people want to talk about their own problems.

In clinical terms, empathy is the ability to recognize and interpret other people's emotions.

Lack of empathy may take two different directions: (a) accurate interpretation of others' emotions with no concern for others' distress, which is characteristic of psychopaths; and (b) the inability to recognize and accurately interpret other people's emotions, which is the NPD style. This second form of defective empathy may (rarely) go so far as alexithymia, or no words for emotions, and is found with psychosomatic illnesses, i.e., medical conditions in which emotion is experienced somatically rather than psychically. People with personality disorders don't have the normal body-ego identification and regard their bodies only instrumentally, i.e., as tools to use to get what they want, or, in bad states, as torture chambers that inflict on them meaningless suffering. Self-described narcissists who've written to me say that they are aware that their feelings are different from other people's, mostly that they feel less, both in strength and variety (and which the narcissists interpret as evidence of their own superiority); some narcissists report "numbness" and the inability to perceive meaning in other people's emotions.

8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him
Translation: No translation needed.

9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes
Translation: They treat other people like dirt.

-----

This led to an article about the close linkage to this similar type of mind-set and that of our politicians and public leaders and serial killers?

Serial killers and politicians share traits

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m6d12-Serial-killers-and-politicians-share-traits

Psychopathy is a personality disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, intimidation, and occasionally violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own selfish needs. Although the concept of psychopathy has been known for centuries, the FBI leads the world in the research effort to develop a series of assessment tools, to evaluate the personality traits and behaviors attributable to psychopaths.

Interpersonal traits include glibness, superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, and the manipulation of others. The affective traits include a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility.

The lifestyle behaviors include stimulation-seeking behavior, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic orientation, and a lack of realistic life goals.


Research has demonstrated that in those criminals who are psychopathic, scores vary, ranging from a high degree of psychopathy to some measure of psychopathy. However, not all violent offenders are psychopaths and not all psychopaths are violent offenders. If violent offenders are psychopathic, they are able to assault, rape, and murder without concern for legal, moral, or social consequences. This allows them to do what they want, whenever they want. Ironically, these same traits exist in men and women who are drawn to high-profile and powerful positions in society including political officeholders.

What doesn't go unnoticed is the fact that some of the character traits exhibited by serial killers or criminals may be observed in many within the political arena. While not exhibiting physical violence, many political leaders display varying degrees of anger, feigned outrage and other behaviors. They also lack what most consider a "shame" mechanism. Quite simply, most serial killers and many professional politicians must mimic what they believe, are appropriate responses to situations they face such as sadness, empathy, sympathy, and other human responses to outside stimuli.

Psychopaths are not sensitive to altruistic interview themes, such as sympathy for their victims or remorse/guilt over their crimes. They do possess certain personality traits that can be exploited, particularly their inherent narcissism, selfishness, and vanity. Specific themes in past successful interviews of psychopathic serial killers focused on praising their intelligence, cleverness, and skill in evading capture.


Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

----
Ultimately it leads to this:

The Book People of the Lie, by Scott Peck

http://www.turtletrader.com/people-of-the-lie.html

People of the Lie: Insight for Traders

Many wise traders look deep. They know to understand human psychology is the bedrock of good living and ultimately success. The book People of the Lie by Scott Peck offers food for thought:

The central defect of 'the evil' is not the sin but the refusal to acknowledge it. More often than not these people will be looked at as solid citizens. How can that be? How can they be evil and not designated as criminals? The key word is designated. They are criminals in that they commit crimes against life and liveliness...their crimes are so subtle and covert that they cannot clearly be designated as crimes. The theme of hiding and covertness will occur again and again throughout the rest of this book. It is the basis for the title People of the Lie.

Evil deeds do not make an evil person. Otherwise we would all be evil. If evil people cannot be defined by the illegality of their deeds or the magnitude of their sins, then how are we to define them? The answer is by the consistency of their sins. While usually subtle, their destructiveness is remarkably consistent. This is because those who have crossed over the line are characterized by their absolute refusal to tolerate the sense of their own sinfulness.

The poor in spirit do not commit evil. Evil is not committed by people who feel uncertain about their righteousness, who question their own motives, who worry about betraying themselves. The evil of this world is committed by the spiritual fat cats, by the Pharisee's of our own day, the self-righteous who think they are without sin because they are unwilling to suffer the discomfort of significant self-examination. It is out of their failure to put themselves on trial that their evil arises. They are, in my experience remarkably greedy people.

A predominant characteristic of the behavior that I call evil is scapegoating. Because in their hearts they consider themselves above reproach, they must lash out at anyone who does reproach them. They sacrifice others to preserve their self-image of perfection.

Utterly dedicated to preserving their self-image of perfection, they are unceasingly engaged in the effort to maintain the appearance of moral purity. They are acutely sensitive to social norms and what others might think of them. They seem to live lives that are above reproach. The words image, appearance and outwardly are crucial to understanding the morality of 'the evil'.

While they lack any motivation to be good, they intensely desire to appear good. Their goodness is all on a level of pretense. It is in effect a lie. Actually the lie is designed not so much to deceive others as to deceive themselves. We lie only when we are attempting to cover up something we know to be illicit. At one and the same time 'the evil' are aware of their evil and desperately trying to avoid the awareness. We become evil by attempting to hide from ourselves.

The wickedness of 'the evil' is not committed directly, but indirectly as a part of this cover-up process. Evil originates not in the absence of guilt but in the effort to escape it.
It often happens then that 'the evil' may be recognized by its very disguise. Because they are such experts at disguise, it is seldom possible to pinpoint the maliciousness of 'the evil'. The disguise is usually impenetrable.

They are not pain avoiders or lazy people in general. To the contrary, they are likely to exert themselves more than most in their continuing effort to obtain and maintain an image of respectability. They may willingly, even eagerly, undergo great hardships in their search for status. It is only one particular pain they cannot tolerate: the pain of their own conscience,
the pain of realization of their own sinfulness and imperfection.

They are men and women of obviously strong will, determined to have their own way. There is a remarkable power in the manner in which they attempt to control others.

Those who are evil are masters of disguise; they are not apt to wittingly disclose their true colors - either to others or to themselves. It is not without reason that the serpent is renowned for his subtlety. We therefore cannot pass judgment on a person for a single act. Instead judgment must be made on the basis of a whole pattern of acts as well as their manner and style.

Think of the psychic energy required for the continued maintenance of the pretense so characteristic of 'the evil'! They perhaps direct at least as much energy into their devious rationalizations and destructive compensations as the healthies do into loving behavior. Why? What possesses them, drives them? Basically, it is fear. They are terrified that the pretense will break down and they will be exposed to the world and to themselves.

Evil people would be distinguished by these traits:

1.) Consistent destructive, scapegoating behavior, which may often be quite subtle.

2.) Excessive, albeit usually covert, intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury.

3.) Pronounced concern with a public image and self-image of respectability, contributing to a stability of lifestyle but also to pretentiousness and denial of hateful feelings or vengeful motives.

4.) Intellectual deviousness, with an increased likelihood of a mild schizophrenic-like disturbance of thinking at times of stress.

This relates to trading? Yes, but more importantly it relates to life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck

According to Peck an evil person[2][3]:

Is consistently self deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self image of perfection

Deceives others as a consequence of their own self deception

Projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets (scapegoats) while being apparently normal with everyone else ("their insensitivity toward him was selective" (Peck, 1983/1988[3], p105))

Commonly hates with the pretense of love, for the purposes of self deception as much as deception of others

Abuses political (emotional) power ("the imposition of one's will upon others by overt or covert coercion" (Peck, 1978/1992[2], p298))

Maintains a high level of respectability and lies incessantly in order to do so

Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency (of destructiveness)

Is unable to think from the viewpoint of their victim (scapegoat)

Has a covert intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury

More references to People of the Lie and The Road Less Traveled by Peck:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/septemberweb-only/32.0d.html

http://www.robertringer.com/people-of-the-lie.html

http://www.geftakysassembly.com/Articles/Perspectives/MalignantNarcissism.htm

http://ejm.tripod.com/people.htm

Cavs owner puts Billy Goat style curse on LeBron

WOW!! Somebody is taking LeBron's decision to move to Miami pretty hard.

QUITTER...COWARD....JUDAS....NARCISSIST...CHILDISH.....Gilbert pulls no punches. And guarantees a championship in Cleveland before one appears in Miami. And he puts a billy-goat like Cubs-style curse on LeBron and the Heat to boot. Better watch out for those karma induced curses Bronny, they can be a beeyatch. Ask the Cubbies.

Careful about those promises made in the heat of an emotionally traumatic event, though. It seems as if many bad marriages start in a similar cauldron fueled mainly by hormonally charged, over-heated vows and proclamations. But good luck to you, Mr. Gilbert and your fair city.

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_100708.html

Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that's simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called "curse" on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day....

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue....



Dan Gilbert
Majority Owner
Cleveland Cavaliers

UPDATE:

The definition of a narcissist is:

Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without the commensurate achievements).
Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance.
Requires excessive admiration.
Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

The virtue of humility in athletics

One of the human virtues that people seem to struggle the most to define and develop in themselves and those they lead is humility. In a sense in sports it is a real dichotomy. Athletes have to be strong mentally and project great self-confidence outwardly, yet be humble on the inside. It's easy to say that you are humble and have humility, but hard to get a real handle on because they are opposing forces.

Many athletes, when they begin to have success and reach the higher levels of their craft, develop an attitude that screams "it's hard to be humble when you are this good". Personal vanity gets the better of them. True humility allows your actions and your successes to speak loud enough about the type of person you are. But many athletes feel that is not enough and they have to enhance things with public displays of false pride.

The great author C.S. Lewis framed this virtue when he said, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." Framing it in this light, humility is the absence of personal vanity. Being humble in spirit and confident in the knowledge that you are not only doing well, but you are doing right.

HUMILITY - Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble." - 1 Peter 5:5

MIRACLE GAME-CHANGING SHOT ENDS GAME

YOU HAVE MAIL: THIS MESSAGE IS TO SOMALI PIRATES, FROM THE U.S. NAVY SEALS, YOU'RE GOING TO NEED A HARDER HAT THAN THAT, BITCH!!!

From the story title, you probably think this is about the heroics of a Lebron James or Kobe Bryant or any one of a number of athletes who are lionized for their ability to perform in the clutch.

Under normal conditions it would be. I always marvel at the ability of these guys to come through for their teams under though situations. We define it as clutch situation. There's nothing better you can say about a player than he comes through in the clutch.

A lot of guys don't even want to be in the position of taking the last shot to win or lose a game for their team. So we elevate the guys who step up and accept the responsibility of winning or losing a game on their shoulders.

I don't want to get to Barkley-esque but the real-life heroes revealed themselves far away from home--outside of Somalia--in what will be known as the "Easter Miracle" for more than just the family and friends of Capt. Richard Phillips.

Three Navy SEAL snipers stepped up and took the last shot--in a game of life or death for Capt. Phillips--and the GOOD GUYS WON.

The details of the game changer can be found here and they are phenomenal:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/13/somalia.rescue.breakdown/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

In the end, it was a single moment that brought the hostage crisis to its dramatic finish.

Three gunshots. All three fatal. Fired in the dark by three specially trained U.S. Navy SEALs as the pirates' boat rocked in the water off Somalia.

"Phenomenal shots -- 75 feet away," said Navy Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, who oversees the region.

Even with the small boat "moving up and down a couple of feet," the SEALs hit their targets. "Remarkable marksmanship," Gortney said.

This was a last second shot in a high stakes game of life of death and these guys took it and made it.

In his CNN commentary, Bob Greene asks the question "where heroes like this come from":
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/13/greene.seals/index.html

Part of it is adherence to the following creed.

"My loyalty to country and team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans, always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own. I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. ... In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the mission. ... I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight."

They may not want the adulation that we instead shower on our "heroes" in the sports world, but events like this show that they will always deserve it.

Loyalty beyond reproach....
humble service as guardian to their neighbors....
defender of those unable to defend themselves....
service with honor.....

We know that there are arenas where kids are learning lessons like these all over the country.

We know that those, like the Somali pirates will never be able to match the strength of character--that comes from righteousness of mission--that these guys have. In the aftermath, in some strange, perverted, twisted logic they continue to shake the stick at America for their "aggression" in rescuing a kidnapped hostage.

Sorry, save that speech for the United Nations, if you dare. The Navy delivered a message that even the historically docile French seem to understand. The best way to handle bullies and thugs is to stand up and smack them across the mouth.

What a wonderful world-view these folks seem to have. We seem like we would have a lot in common. I'm sure we could negotiate with knuckleheads like this, perhaps we could begin with no preconditions and a blame the U.S.-first apology chaser.

NO THANKS. I'LL TAKE THE NAVY SEAL APPROACH, IF YOU PLEASE.

At times we may question where we will find the likes of these young Navy SEALS, I would just say this Easter, Thank God they are on our side.

IF YOUR SCORING AT HOME, IT'S U.S. NAVY 4, SOMALI PIRATES 0.