89 on The Pivot

[PleaseCutStewart]

Gotta wonder if Smitty's brain has turned to mush with how hard he played in the NFL

[Proudiddy]

1 hour ago, Gapanthersfan said:

With guys like Steve, the sooner you can get out of the conversation, the quicker you can get back to something enjoyable and meaningful. It’s just not worth calling out a narcissist. Steve’s punishment is the hollow life he has made for himself. 

Damn good take, brother.  I think I take that poo personally because (sidebar: I don’t like to use narcissist often because social media has made it a buzzword and diluted the meaning, so when I use it, I don’t take it lightly) I grew up in a home with a raging narcissist, then married a narcissist and just came out of a divorce after a 20 year marriage with her, where afterwards she met and married another narcissist.  And in my dealings with them, over my 41 years on this earth, at times I took great delight in breaking down their arguments point by point and forcing them to either acknowledge their wrongs and take ownership of them or watch them yammer and stammer away when they ran out of lies and excuses.  At various points, that was extremely satisfying, but ultimately, which I’ve realized especially after the last 3 years and going through the divorce and everything, it does NOTHING to them.  It doesn’t affect them one way or another.  For a logical, reasonable, grounded person, you would think calling them on their poo will bring it to their attention when they’re faced with nothing but facts and truth and it would force them to change, but nope.  Not in the slightest.  They just disassociate from the ones who do that and find more people who will validate their behaviors and thinking.  poo pisses me off because they’re so destructive and couldn’t care less so long as their needs are met.

[Proudiddy]

1 hour ago, Gapanthersfan said:

Some won’t, but I read all of what you wrote. Bravo. 

Appreciate you, brother!  I know it was lengthy, but I felt whoever actually read it would appreciate it.

[Proudiddy]

1 hour ago, raleigh-panther said:

I am really sorry  that  happened to you

they say to never meet your sports heroes

i have friends who met  mickey mantle when they were young and he was a belligerent alcoholic at the time  ut broke their hearts 

I had the opportunity to meet and spend  time with Cam Newton.  
 

He was the polar opposite of Steve Smith and his public image.  

Polite.  Honest when asked question.  You could tell the things that mattered to him and the things that  didnt. The disappointments in himself and the things that hurt him 

those qualities make him quite a good interviewer too 

i genuinely liked him   Im sure as young, rich, sports hero, he has not been a choir boy but there is goodness in him 

the time i met him i took one of my friends with me from the west coast. She said she didn't like him and wasn’t enthusiastic about meeting him.  She left loving him   No one can say anything bad about ‘her Cam’ anymore 

Appreciate that, bro!  And I could definitely see that with Cam.  Even though he’s a little younger than me, he is also someone I admire and feel a kinship with for a lot of various reasons.

Funny enough, a few years after that encounter with Steve, I went to Charlotte with one of my friends whose brothers owned a moving company at the time.  He dropped me off uptown and went to work the day with them where I would wait until he got done and then we were gonna go to the Bobcats game that night.  So I walk all through that area for hours.  After awhile, I walk back towards the arena and sit in a bench on the backside of the arena, where the practice court and player’s entrance was.  As I’m sitting there, I look up and almost think I’m seeing things - I squint and blink my eyes a couple times just to be sure, and yes…  it’s one of my childhood heroes, Muggsy Bogues walking across the crosswalk and into the arena.  I think he was coaching the Sting then, iirc.  Part of me wanted to just say, “Hey!  Muggsy!  Thank you for the inspiration and memories!  You were one of my favorite players as a kid!”  But, I just watched him walk by and into the arena and thought, “that was cool!”  I also so Miguel Cotto a couple years back while in Orlando and told my kids who it was but didn’t say anything to him.  I think somewhere in my subconscious, that encounter with Steve really made me feel like the gamble on finding out if they’re receptive to interaction just isn’t worth finding out.  At the end of the day, no matter if they’re receptive inspired us or were a hero, unless they initiate it, I likely never will…  because again, they’re humans just like us.  Not anymore unique or special, they just have a highly visible and very public job that we get to watch and in some ways participate.  So, I just appreciate it for what it is.