I’m boycotting the Oscars.  #whogivesaflip

Yep, that’s my hashtag.  Who cares?  If a movie is good, it makes lots of money.  If a movie is good, the people who like it will watch it.  Other #whogivesaflip #Oscars2016

All this stuff about too white and not enough diversity.  Good grief.  How many awards programs are there for segments of the community?  BET.  LBQTRZ (I don’t know all those letters).  It seems like every color and every special interest has their own award show so who cares who gets nominated at the Oscars.  If it’s the best, quit going to the awards that aren’t the best.  I played basketball and I was never excited about playing in the consolation game.  I loved to play so I played my hardest in every game but playing for 3rd place was just a game.  Nothing special.  If they wouldn’t have had the 3rd place game I would not have cared.  I wanted the championship…the best.

While I am a proponent of #whogivesaflip #Oscars2016 there is one lady who might make it interesting.  I don’t think she’s a fan of political correctness either.

Say What You Mean

So, while chances are 99.999% I won’t watch a second of the Oscars (or any other award show), she might make it interesting enough to keep an ear on the fallout.

Otherwise, #whogivesaflip #Oscars2016.

Back to our regular programming at ESPN.

A leader isn’t driven by his will to win.

The credible leader is driven by his desire to lift others up.

A leader isn’t the first person who steps up.

The credible leaders is given the authority to lead from those around him.

A leader isn’t loud and doesn’t need a microphone.

The credible leader has the ear of the people and they are eager to listen.

A leader isn’t running others down.

The credible leader is focused on the moment and making it count for something.

A leader isn’t the one who addresses conflict with a clenched fist and a loud voice.

The credible leader deals with conflict with his ears first and his thoughts second.

In this season of politics, we see people who want to be leaders by being the loudest, the brashest, the boldest.  We seem them touting their own victories and throwing their own victory parties.

Wouldn’t it be great to see a leader rise from the ranks because he or she had lifted up the people around them?  Wouldn’t it be great to see a leader emerge who had helped people be successful and fulfilled?

A leader isn’t always the loudest guy around.  Often, the leader is the quiet one, the encourager, the teacher, the servant.

It’s bizarre to watch a newscast that reports the Charleston shootings and Tom Brady’s appeal in the same 10 minute segment.

I’m from the south.  I’m from a place and time where the confederate flag represented high school spirit for a team that had blacks and whites playing together.  We, as kids, were naive to what the flag meant to a host of other people in town.  When the school changed the mascot (Rebels) and removed the flag, it started something in our town that became more contentious than school spirit.  Thirty years later, I can see the racism I was naive to as a teenager but also see healing.

I’m not a presidential candidate but if I was I would encourage South Carolina to remove the confederate flag from public places other than a museum.  It is a part of our history and it has a broader meaning than race but it still causes pain for people and we need to be sensitive to that.  We need to love people, not a symbol of history.

I don’t understand white supremasists groups.  They espouse God and hatred.  It doesn’t take much to realize that is just ridiculous.  I grew up playing basketball with black guys.  I drove them home from practice almost daily.  My mom made cookies for all of us on game days.  We joked together.  We sweated together.  We grew up together.  We had physical differences but we weren’t all that different on the inside.

I don’t know that the pain of slavery or racism will ever go away.  Sadly, because we live in a broken world, there will always be things that try to divide us.  There will always be things that succeed at dividing us.  I hope while we battle those conflicts we learn to love better, to empathize better and to grow closer to each other.

Our world needs more peace.  More empathy.  More love for the hurting, the poor, those challenged with mental disorders, those challenged with the battles for the heart in a broken world.

I am not always right and you are not always wrong.  You are not always right and I am not always wrong.  Let us talk.  Let us listen.  Let us look to the future for what we want the world to be for our children and grandchildren.  Let us look more like Christ and less like ourselves.

Grace and peace.