Some random thoughts from the weekend, last week, etc.

Obama and the Supremes

President Obama will get his first appointment to the Supreme Court. Souter is retiring and now the hand-wringing begins. Conservatives are worried he will find someone even more liberal than Souter. Liberals are worried Obama may not get someone liberal enough. When some media outlet speculates as to whether or not Obama will find someone “liberal”, I just want to go: “DUH!”

Twins, Royals, and Torn Loyalties

In the middle of last season I determined to swear off my boyhood team, the KC Royals. I am a HUGE baseball fan and grew up in the days of George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, Amos Otis … (okay, I could name the entire team if I wanted).

From that glorious World Series in 1985 (Thank you, Don Dekinger!), the Royals have done ZIP. I mean NOTHING.

And I cheered them on. I witnessed a Brett Saberhagen no hitter (thanks to the hometown scorer that night and Kirk Gibson being in left field). And even though I’ve been in Minneapolis for 11 plus years, I kept hoping against all hope that franchise would finally wise up. After another horrible season last year, I threw in the towel. The Twins would be my team! GO TWINS!

Then… the Royals come to town and take two of three from the Twins. The Twins actually handed it over… twice. On Sunday, Baker had a no hitter against the them for six innings. (He did that a couple of years ago, too!) Then… it all collapsed. A four-run Twins lead vanished and the Royals won.

I honestly think teams need to start paying me NOT to cheer for them!

Genius at Work

I must be in a rambling mood. This post is too long.

David Brooks has a column on “Genius.” It’s not so much the divine spark or IQ.

“The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not IQ. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) practicing their craft.”

The simple fact of the matter may be that practice pays off. It’s not that practice makes perfect, but PERFECT practice makes perfect. You practice the practice.

Russian tennis schools will practice returning volleys without the ball. They concentrate on the technique.

The mind wants to turn deliberate. It wants to form habits, even bad ones. We allow ourselves to get sloppy. By practicing slowly, we force the brain to break down the skills. Examine the rules. Examine the tiny parts. The brain can then internalize a better pattern of performance.

It kind of takes the magic out of great achievement. We just want to think, “Well, I can’t play well because I’m not Tiger Woods.”

Well, it may be you just don’t work as hard as he does at his game. And the man works hard. He wins tournaments with one good leg! That’s not magic.

While it’s said we’re creatures of habit, we may need to learn we can become BETTER creatures of habit.