Would Obama have the audacity to apply his logic to a professional athlete?

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Max E., Jul 23, 2012.

  1. sle

    sle

    True, but the version of 80/20 rule applies here too - determination and hard work make up for 80% of their success. Raw talent and (in large part) luck is what makes them the champions. Oh, and don't forget about steroids, of course!
     
    #31     Jul 23, 2012
  2. im certainly no barack hussein obama fan (do we really have a president named hussein :p) but it sounded like he was talking about the roads and bridges as far as the building part of the quote.

    "somebody invested in roads and bridges, if you got a business, you didn't build that"

    thats the exact quote, i could be wrong.
     
    #32     Jul 23, 2012
  3. You are absolutely correct. Talent is an enormous advantage and it's usually what makes all the hard work worth it.

    Granted, comparing MJ to Tiger isn't even the best analogy. At their respective peaks, it makes sense, but their path's to greatness were quite different...considering that MJ didn't even emerge as a college prospect until sometime in his junior year of high school.

    Tiger, OTOH, played in his first PGA Tour event in his junior year of high school and was cleaning up on the junior circuit.
     
    #33     Jul 23, 2012
  4. So if Tiger was born 15 years earlier in history; he would've made it into pro-golf?

    Not picking a fight here, just asking you what you think about this given pro-golf's history.
     
    #34     Jul 24, 2012
  5. Ricter

    Ricter

    You are correct, thank you for being honest. Obama's error there was that of the "dangling modifier". Composition 101 error.
     
    #35     Jul 24, 2012
  6. Well, relatively poor is one thing. Being born in a ghetto is another. I would place Tiger's upbringing as stable (his dad was together and *there* to guide him), secure and middle class.

    There are probably quite a few potential "Tigers" out there.... but, we'll never get to see them reach that potential as a result of poverty, poor family values and a lack of community.

    Personally, Tiger is inspirational in many ways to me; his work ethic is world class as is his emotional temperment. My point here is not to take away from Tiger's accomplishments; but to shine some light on the impact environment has on the individual. Its a significant impact in my opinion, much more so than people would care to admit.
     
    #36     Jul 24, 2012
  7. Lee Elder, Jim Dent, Calvin Peete were PGA Tour Pro's and black. They were all around 15 years prior to Tiger Woods turning pro.
     
    #37     Jul 24, 2012
  8. Please expand on this. I'm not sure what you're getting at.
     
    #38     Jul 24, 2012
  9. Your comment about "15 years prior" would Tiger Woods have made it? I'm not sure what was intended, but from the look of it, I assumed you were commenting on his race and the obstacles towards playing professional golf in a tradtionally white sport.

    I wanted to make clear that there were several prominent and successful black golfers in the 1960's,70's, 80's...but maybe you weren't implying that after all.
     
    #39     Jul 24, 2012
  10. Ricter

    Ricter

    He's providing examples of black golfers who made it without beginning in favorable circumstances. This is an attempt to weaken the argument that environment is important (which of course goes back to Obama's statement re infrastructure). Here is where you get to trot out statistics, which is a beautiful moment since he loves using statistics to demonize blacks in the first place.
     
    #40     Jul 24, 2012