Reggie Bush, Jack Nicklaus and the possibility of failing

Los Angeles, Calif., a city where things are constantly abuzz in entertainment and sports. A city where a true freshman started at quarterback for USC, Manny Ramirez led the Dodgers to a victory and Reggie Bush responded to criticism of being a bust in the NFL – all within an hour. At the same time, Kate Beckinsale was on the red carpet touting her newest film while Britney Spears was performing at Staples Center. With the constant attention on entertainers and athletes throughout the city, observers tend to get a sense of how they have become so successful.

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o how do athletes and celebrities handle the pressure of work in a calm and confident manner? It is because they have reached a point where they no longer have a fear of failure like average people do. Take a second and think about how often celebrities and athletes are faced with the possibilities of failing. Great hitters fail seven out of ten times. Actors and actresses face the constant possibility of not getting the next part or wowing producers in the next audition. Even the biggest movie stars fail in certain situations. We all have been trying to forget Adam Sandler’s Punch Drunk Love and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.

Athletes and celebrities aren’t afraid of failing and their confidence reflects their attitudes. In an interview with ESPN the Magazine, famed tennis instructor Brian De Villiers stated, “So many Americans are afraid of failing and so concerned with keeping up with the Joneses that they don’t want to put themselves out there and go for it.” However, performers have trained their minds to believe highly in their abilities that failing will never happen, even if they have failed several times in a row. Contrary to De Villiers comments, Americans are not inherently hard wired to have a fear of failure but most Americans have simply not trained their mind in the correct way when hit with stressful events.

A reporter once asked Jack Nicklaus how many times he had missed meaningful six-foot putts. Jack looked at the reporter with a confused look and said, “Never.” After the reporter chuckled, he posed the question again and got the same exact response from Nicklaus. Even though Nicklaus has obviously missed innumerable short putts, he is able to just think about the successes and that allows him to continue to perform at the highest level.

Every person has a natural confidence within them and many people have difficulty finding that inner confidence, especially during stressful situations. If people are able to think like an athlete or celebrity, in a way in which you aren’t worried about failing, confidence will grow and performance will improve. Plus, stress levels will go down when confidence is higher and performance is improved, all of which adding up to a higher quality of life.

Musicians Team up for Tibet

Sting, Matthews, Mayer Gamer for Tibet than Beijing

With the Olympics beginning in less than a month, many people are speaking out against the human atrocities that are taking place in China. The latest is a list of prominent musicians using their fame as a platform to speak out in support of Tibet. The article caught my attention because the author used a delayed lead to pique my interest in the subject and then go into what the real story was. Even though the article is quite short, the author puts forth quite a large amount of information regarding the controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics.
Last month, Steven Spielberg stepped down as an artistic advisor and several other prominent Hollywood people have also taken a stand. As the article points out, musicians from around the world including Dave Matthews and John Mayer have recorded tracks for a benefit CD that will help the people of Tibet. China has ruled Tibet since 1950 and reportedly killed 250 Tibetans in March because of anti-government protests.
Because China is treating the Olympic Games as a platform for their way of life, I believe it is really important for people to take a stand against the policies of the Chinese government. The more pressure the government receives from people around the world, the more likely they are to grant sovereignty to Tibet and to end their trade with Sudan. As we’ve seen over the past few months, hundreds of famous people have spoken out in protest of the Olympics being in Beijing. However, athletes don’t seem to really want to take part in the stand against the Chinese government. A few athletes have, including Steve Nash and Ira Newble of the NBA, but for the most part athletes have remained tight-lipped. For America to truly take a stand, a prominent athlete needs to stand up and make their voice heard without fear of the repercussions of their actions.

Apple Doing Well

After strong quarter, Apple Signals Changes



With the release of the iPhone 3G, Apple has proven yet again that it is the most innovative company in the computer industry. This year, Apple had sold 41% more computers compared to the same time last year. Despite going nearly bankrupt 10 years ago, Apple is now the 3rd best selling computer in the US and continues to grow at an incredible rate. However, despite all of the company’s successes, Apple’s stock values have been falling recently which concerns potential investors. Because of their large profit margin, Apple has decided to drop the prices on several of their products including the new iPhone which is half the price of the previous model. The lower prices will likely reduce their profit margin which many investors are quite leery about. Another potential point of concern is the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs who has had cancer in the past. Investors seem to want to make sure that he will be heading the company for a long time to come before they commit a large amount of money to the company.
The thing that stood out about this article was that it was free from insider jargon even though the story was about technology and investing. Instead, the author used terms that everyone could understand and that the normal person could use to help them. It should be quite interesting to see if Apple continues its climb to the top of the technology world or if it levels off in the near future.

Harrington Impressive at Open

Asterisks won’t be applied to Harrington

Even though Tiger Woods was not in the field at the British Open last week, Padraig Harrington proved that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the elite golfers of the world. Despite having a nagging wrist injury that nearly forced him to withdraw from the field, Harrington put together four stellar rounds to win by four shots over Ian Poulter. His win at Royal Birkdale not only netted him $1.49 million but it also vaulted him to number three in the latest World Golf Rankings, behind only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
During the entire week, Harrington appeared cool and confident as though he expected to win the Open Championship all along. He also showed no signs of pain from his wrist and obviously didn’t play like it was hurting him. Perhaps his wrist being hurt brought down his expectations down which allowed him to relax during the week and focus on playing his game. For most people, when expectations are raised, it causes a spike in their stress level. In golf, stress is the worst thing that can happen to a player, especially when it comes down to touch shots around the green. As the article says, Harrington won the British Open because of the way he dominated the course, not because Tiger Woods was not in the field.

Milwaukie, OR the birth place of many box office hits

Welcome to Milwaukie, Ore.

Even after growing up in Salem and once having a girlfriend from Milwaukie, I had no idea that such a large company was based there. What surprised me even more was the fact that a Los Angeles Times contributor wrote about the fact that Dark Horse Comics is in a small city in Oregon. After signing a deal with Universal Studios, Dark Horse has been the imagination behind several blockbusters including 300, Sin City and now Hellboy 2. As the author points out, Dark Horse started with only $2,000 back in 1980 in Bend, Ore. Today, Dark Horse is estimated to be worth millions of dollars. Dark Horse is also incredible in the fact that it has created several muti-million dollar blockbusters with only 150 employees. When I think of movies, I often think of media conglomerates out to have a good bottom line instead of creating good movies that are made by fans for fans.
What’s great about Dark Horse’s story is the fact that the company was started out of a simple love of comics by one man. With the economy so bad recently, it seems as though people don’t have the nerve to take a chance on something that could go nowhere. People are much less willing to take chances and go with the sure thing in life. That is what makes Dark Horse’s story so refreshing and enlightening.

Soldiers find problems when returning home

Celebrated Soldier Fell Victim to Demons

This article points out the scary reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. When returning home from a warzone, where a person’s adrenaline is constantly at a raised level for several months, it is difficult for soldiers to readjust to reality. When exposed to something stressful, the normal psychological defenses are raised to an abnormal level and when it is constantly raised, it takes a while to return to normal. In 2007, PTSD was twice more likely to be diagnosed to servicemen than just the year before. The sad part is that the U.S. government doesn’t seem to be doing enough to help the soldiers with their recovery process. There were several things that caught my eye with this article. The first was the fact that it had to do with psychology which is a subject that I really enjoy. However, the main thing that caught my eye was how the author wrote the story. Even though it was an AP wire story, it had the feel of a feature article in the way the story jumped around. Nearly one-third of the story was devoted to an anecdote to set the scene for the rest of the article. The anecdote not only provided some context but it made the reader want to understand why the author was telling the story. This story is just one of many in the growing problem of mental illness among military veterans.

Oregon High School Star Commits to Arizona

Oregon HS Star Commits to UA



This article presents a growing problem for Ernie Kent and Oregon basketball. After recently signing an extension that will pay him $1.06 million per year until 2014, Kent still can’t seem to recruit inside Oregon. Just in the past two years alone, Kyle Singler has signed with Duke, Kevin Love with UCLA, Michael Harthun with Washington State, and now Mike Moser with Arizona. Although Kent has a great recruiting class coming in this season, four of the six players are from east of the Mississippi River. Several years ago, Kent’s image took a turn for the worse when he was caught having an affair. These days, for Kent to return his image to where it once was, he needs to tap into the local talent instead of letting it go out of state. With Oregon State being one of the worst programs in the nation, Kent should have Oregon high schools on lock down, especially having gone to two elite eights in the last six years. However, Mike Moser is just the latest in the line of Salim Stoudamires to leave the state for greener pastures.