We all get caught up in greatness. It is here for brief shining moments and it is gone just as suddenly as it had appeared. These are the people who change the game and make all of us take note.
In the National Basketball Association this was done by Chicago Bulls forward Michael Jordan. Everyone who loves basketball has seen footage of “Air Jordan” leaping from the free throw line, hanging in the air for what seemed like minutes, and hitting big shots late in crucial games. Jordan left the game viewed as the greatest player to ever pick up a basketball. After leaving the game commentators have been looking for the next Michael Jordan. This label has made the likes of Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway, LeBron James, and now Derrick Rose have been compared to him at the prime moment in their careers and they have all fallen short. No one can truly fill the void of greatness.
Just as a young Michael Jordan was starting his career at the University of North Carolina the Republican Party was on the path to greatness as well. The elder statesman Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in the same year as Jordan began his career at UNC. President Reagan to many Republicans/Conservatives is the greatest president of the modern era. He brought down Soviet Communism, he brought America back to greatness, and brought Americans together under his presidency. Many pundits on television are trying to crown the next Ronald Reagan or describing candidates as Reagan-like. These are unrealistic and unfair comparisons. It puts unrealistic pressures on the candidates to live up to his moniker.
You cannot replicate excellence or greatness to believe so is foolish.
Pundits and politicos must recognize that it is time to create the next hero. We cannot continue to press unrealistic comparisons on candidates. The pressure and expectations can derail a candidate or put unneeded pressure in our general election season of 2012 and beyond. We cannot continue to look to the past for how a candidate should be when we have many of our own superstars in this age that bring their own special set of skills to the table can perform at a great level.
Great is not excellence but excellence happens so rarely that we are forced to take notice and wish it would come back. Excellence is going to occur again with or without these questions. We just have to wait patiently.
In the National Basketball Association this was done by Chicago Bulls forward Michael Jordan. Everyone who loves basketball has seen footage of “Air Jordan” leaping from the free throw line, hanging in the air for what seemed like minutes, and hitting big shots late in crucial games. Jordan left the game viewed as the greatest player to ever pick up a basketball. After leaving the game commentators have been looking for the next Michael Jordan. This label has made the likes of Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway, LeBron James, and now Derrick Rose have been compared to him at the prime moment in their careers and they have all fallen short. No one can truly fill the void of greatness.
Just as a young Michael Jordan was starting his career at the University of North Carolina the Republican Party was on the path to greatness as well. The elder statesman Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in the same year as Jordan began his career at UNC. President Reagan to many Republicans/Conservatives is the greatest president of the modern era. He brought down Soviet Communism, he brought America back to greatness, and brought Americans together under his presidency. Many pundits on television are trying to crown the next Ronald Reagan or describing candidates as Reagan-like. These are unrealistic and unfair comparisons. It puts unrealistic pressures on the candidates to live up to his moniker.
You cannot replicate excellence or greatness to believe so is foolish.
Pundits and politicos must recognize that it is time to create the next hero. We cannot continue to press unrealistic comparisons on candidates. The pressure and expectations can derail a candidate or put unneeded pressure in our general election season of 2012 and beyond. We cannot continue to look to the past for how a candidate should be when we have many of our own superstars in this age that bring their own special set of skills to the table can perform at a great level.
Great is not excellence but excellence happens so rarely that we are forced to take notice and wish it would come back. Excellence is going to occur again with or without these questions. We just have to wait patiently.
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