A Passing of the Torch

There are a lot of interesting things going on in sports right now. Obviously the NBA Finals are in full swing and featuring a throw back series of the best rivalry that sport has to offer. We are gearing up for another Olympics, one in which a swimmer (Michael Phelps) will be making his second attempt at breaking Mark Spitz’ record of 7 gold medals at one Olympic games. We just watched the New England Patriots fail in their attempt to go 19-0 by losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl. And of course, my indoor soccer team was recently promoted to a higher league where we won our first game in stunning fashion.

As wonderful as all of these events have been, none will go down in history like the performance this weekend at the US Open at Torrey Pines. Tiger Woods, in dramatic fashion, won the championship in a sudden death playoff following an 18 hole playoff on Monday. This was his first tournament following a knee surgery and by all accounts he really had no business winning this tournament, not considering the rust on his game and the pain in his knee. But he did, and as I watched it I couldn’t fight the feeling that no other athlete in history could have ever accomplished anything close to this level of success. That is when I realized that, for my money, Tiger Woods has passed Michael Jordan as the greatest athlete of all time.

Sports is a big deal to me, and I think excellence in sports is a subject worth investigating. If you think about it, the modern professional athlete has one of – if not the hardest – jobs out there. In today’s celebrity world an athlete must be on the clock at all times. Public appearances, events, commercials, business meetings, awards shows, etc. are all part of the extracurricular duties of all athletes. On top of this they are expected to continue to train and grow as athletes and remain at the top of their chosen craft in the world. Then we ask them to be good family men, to marry and have children and be “normal” people. Imagine if on top of his daily duties, your company’s CEO was expected to keep himself in excellent shape, attend parties and events daily, and keep his life “normal”. So when an athlete achieves greatness, as only few truly have, it should be noted not just as a terrific athletic accomplishment but instead a terrific human accomplishment.

For years Michael Jordan has been the standard bearer for athletic achievement in sports. His legend has grown to such tremendous heights that he still casts a larger shadow over the sport than any current star in the NBA today. His feats have been named things like “the shot” and “the flu game” so they can be recalled by admirers with a quick few words. I think it is fair to say that at this point most basketball fans believe that Jordan could do anything he wanted on the basketball court. But after Monday I can think of one thing he can’t.

The equivalent to Tiger’s feat would have been for Jordan to miss two months of the season due to knee surgery, only to come back for the NBA finals where he averaged 45 points a game and sank the winning jumper in game 7 to win the championship. Obviously not even Jordan could do this. It takes all-star caliber players weeks and even months just to get their timing back, let alone play at the highest level they are capable of. But that is what Tiger did this weekend. He came back (probably too early based on the performance of his knee) and beat out an entire field of the best golfers in the world at one of the toughest venues in the world; and when the pressure was the highest he was his best.

We hear hyperbole a lot in sports. Things are exaggerated and we lose all scope of history, but in watching this remarkable achievement I felt pretty secure in knowing I was watching the greatest athlete of all time compete. I am sure others will come along, many who appear or even prove themselves to be greater, but I still cannot imagine ever seeing anything like this past Monday again.

P.S. In case anyone was wondering my list now looks like this:

1. Tiger Woods
2. Michael Jordan
3. Pele
4. Wayne Gretzky
5. Muhammad Ali

 

William Arno

“Empty-handed I entered the world/Barefoot I leave it/My coming, my going/ Two simple happenings/That got entangled.” – Kozan Ichikyo

Three years ago today our family lost a beloved husband, father, brother, and uncle to an anyuerysm while he was vacationing in Japan. It is a tragedy that I don’t find myself talking about that much, which is odd considering a day has not gone by where I have not thought about him and the sudden circumstances of his passing. In truth, at the time of his death I was not real close with my Uncle Bill, mainly because I was really just reaching an age where I could create meaningful and adult relationships with those around me but also think I was beginning to slowly transition my relationship with him from that of a uncle/nephew to one built on friendship. In the three years that have passed I feel as if I have learned a good deal about him, things that I would like to think I would have been able to gather on my own had life permitted me to do so.

The one thing I had always known about my Uncle Bill was that above anything else he was a family man. My knowledge of this was based on hearing the pride with which he spoke of his two children and the closeness that his family always seemed to have. The four of them always seemed to be like a group of wonderful friends, a group who had chosen to be together, unlike so many families where choice is clearly not a factor in their togetherness. But in his passing I continued to learn more and more about this aspect of his life through stories, reflection, and by witnessing the strength in the family he created and led. I would like to think that he is watching down upon everyone and is able to see that his family has continued to prosper and grow and that much of this is surely rooted in the lessons he provided them in their years together. I would suspect he is also marveling at his wife, whom continues to amaze me with her strength and optimism.

As a young child I remember thinking of my Uncle Bill as a larger than life figure, something his stature and voice helped reinforce. It has been interesting to learn these past years that despite my diminished maturity at the time, even as a 7 year old I was able to pick up on one of the deeper aspects of his personality. Probably the lasting lesson I have learned from him these past three years is to approach life with passion and make sure you get what you would like out of it. Few people live their lives fuller than my uncle did and I think that although he was young when he left this earth he accomplished more than most do in 80 years. He attacked hobbies and interests with an energy and enthusiasm usually reserved for paying jobs. He maintained a healthy curiosity of life and consistently tried new and intriguing things. He was not a materialistic man by any stretch of the imagination, but if he saw something he wanted than he made it happen. He also seemed to let things go easily, to never hang on to negativity. I have heard many a story from some of the people in our business that include Bill yelling at them over a problem and quickly moving on by asking them how they were doing.

As I mentioned earlier I did not have the opportunity to get to know him as I would have liked. But shortly before his death I was able to spend some good time with him while working down in Orange County, minutes from his home. We joked together, shared a beer, and he teased me about being a “weird little kid” when I was younger, certainly something I was guilty of. What I took away from that brief time we shared was that he was a man who was comfortable in his own shoes; who was living the exact type of life he wanted to. I remember saying at the time that it felt as if there was something in the air, that maybe in a weird cosmic way he knew something was to happen to him. Now I don’t think so. I think this was just a transitional time in my life where I was growing up and for the first time seeing the adults in my life (my parents, aunts, uncles etc) for who they were. This was just who my Uncle was – a great guy to be around.

I know that my father has struggled a good deal with this loss more than he has let on and I can certainly understand how difficult it would be to not question why the world works in certain ways. In a few short hours he lost a brother, best friend, business partner, and confidant, a devastating blow that he is likely to never fully recover from. While I know my dad continues to be amazed by the many ways he had grown to count on Bill in his life, I have also noticed a number of lessons that my father seems to have learned. He is chasing after his dreams and putting a higher priority in making the exact life he dreams of. He is making a wonderful effort in improving his health, working impressively hard and achieving astounding results. I know like all of us he is cherishing relationships more and treating each interaction with the understanding that there are no guarantees of future ones.

I have learned that the world is not fair and that often people who are needed the most seem to leave the earliest. But I believe my Uncle Bill was the rare type of person whose personality was magnanimous enough to truly live on. I feel his presence today and continue to learn lessons that shape how I choose to live my life. I know that today is a sad day, a cause to mourn and to remember, but I hope that all of us can also remember to celebrate. I hope all of us can continue to learn from him and to try to do one thing that makes US happy, because I cannot think of a better way to celebrate who he was and why he was so special. So rest in peace Uncle Bill and know that we think of you daily and continue to grow from the lessons you continue to teach.

The Economics of Happiness

Recently I have been reading about the relatively new discipline of “happiness economics” which is the study of country’s hapiness in the context of both economics and psychology. I suppose it has come about as a subjective measure to objective economic ideas like Gross Domestic Product and the quality of life index. I mean what good is a strong GDP if the citizens are miserable? I find this research facsinating because while many people in my “peer group” focus on accumulating money, I try to focus on accumulating happiness. Common theory would tell you that these two end goals are intertwined or that with one (money) comes the other (happiness). I have always taken issue with this belief but I did not realize that there was academic discourse on the very topic. And while these studies have yet to create any definitive conclusions, I think the research does shed light on some things that we should all think about.

One of the few widely accepted theories in this field is the Easterlin Paradox, which states that on a national scale, happiness does not increase with wealth once basic needs are fulfilled. So what this says is that once our basic needs of water, shelter, food, health, etc. are met, our happiness is a function of influences that are at least not directly tied to wealth. This is not to say that wealth cannot be a factor in happiness, just that there is no discernible causal factor at play. Now this is a macro concept but does it mean that the same logic cannot be applied to the micro level as well?

The United States has been the World’s economic superpower for some time now, and despite the recent down turn it is still in many ways the standard bearer of economic prosperity.  But despite this prosperity we are no where near the happiest country on earth. In fact a look at (fairly subjective I admit) rankings of happiness, nations like Malaysia, Costa Rica, and even Oman supercede the US. These three countries are generally attributed to belong in the developing world yet their citizens seem to be happier than ours. Obviously a cursory look would suggest geography (at least anyone who has been to Costa Rica would) there has to be something deeper.

My guess would be that it is precisely our nation’s fascination with wealth, and its’ role in our hapiness is to blame. What is so unique about our economic system today is that we have created an entirely new form of poverty. It is no longer the result of scarcity but instead the inability to meet a set priority. No longer is poverty a failure to have shelter or sufficient food, it is a failure to drive an SUV and sport designer clothing. When it is an issue of scarcity our happiness tends to be more primal. Something along the lines of “belly full, happy” or “belly empty, unhappy”.

I suspect that this is a field of study that will continue to grow, especially if the economy continues to nose dive and we all, at both the macro and micro level, need to begin thinking about priorities. I am not sure what kind of change can be made as the collective psyche of large groups of people tend to be slow moving but largely reactionary. I know that many of the happiest people I have met in my life have often had the smallest bank accounts and unfortunately many of the unhappiest people have had some of the largest. I don’t expect the average person to research this kind of thing or to even spend a good deal of time thinking critically each day over what drives them in life, but I do hope that we can all reach a point some day where we understand that money, and certainly the chase of it, will not solve either individual or aggregate problems of happiness. Feeling good about one’s self is often a choice and many people are able to see the positives in their life without reflecting on the negatives. In the case of our country we can all choose to focus on the negative: the economy, ugly politics, high cost of living etc. Or we can choose to look at the positives: The opportunity of change, the freedoms, the intellectual capital, the advances made in science and technology, etc. I know I don’t always follow this rule well but I hope to teach myself to make this change.