Accepting Mediocrity…
I think that we are lowering our standards all over the place and accepting.. no cheering mediocrity. What promoted this rant… well baseball. I have blogged before about my passion for baseball but I have not touched on the incredible high regard I hold major league players..the skill it takes to play major league baseball and what it takes to go beyond and really excel, delivering performances worthy of standing ovations and loud praise.
To be more specific, today the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox pitched 5 shutout innings and then got into some trouble with the Braves bats. He was removed from the game without getting an out in the 6th inning. and he received a STANDING OVATION from the Boston Fans… WHAT! Since when is being removed from the game after pitching just 5 innings worthy of any kind of ovation. It is not even a considered a quality start by those that measure those stats.
I do not know.. are we so starved for positive news and behavior from our athletes that we cheer things that used to be criticized. I am amazed at the behavior of fans and the media alike. These are rare professionals who should be held to a much higher standard of accomplishment… but we seem to have lost our standards.