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THE EPILOGUE: WINNERS AND LOSERS
This past weekend Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson faced off and it was predetermined that the narrative of playoff "loser" was going to be attached to whomever lost. Then sure enough the Ravens lose in a heartbreaking way and it was time to throw Lamar right under the bus along with his tight end. Next week, if Mahomes beats Josh again then he too will be handed the loser mantle. If any Bills or Ravens fans want to trade Jackson or Allen for Caleb Williams please let me know and we can start a letter writing campaign together. Dan Marino never won a Superbowl, Charles Barkley didn't win an NBA title those two had to deal with Montana and Jordan. But Trent Dilfer "won" a super bowl and Stacey King "won" 3 NBA championships. No one thinks Dilfer and King are better than Marino and Barkley but Kenny Smith gets to take shots at Barkley anytime he feels like it. Kenny "the jet" Smith who lost his starting job the moment Sam Cassel showed up as a rookie.
Then there are of course all of the young people who practiced day and night and never even made the pros because it is a tiny percentage that even gets to play in the pros. I used to dribble until my arm felt like it was going to fall off and shoot jumpers from the same three spots over and over so if I found myself open there I could hit one. I would describe my skill level to be slightly above a person who had never seen a basketball before. Intellectually I understand how to play, where to stand, when to pass etc, but getting my body to do those things at the right time? Very different problem. My man cheats off me and I cut to the basket, Jerry throws me a perfect pass, sometimes a layup! High Five! Many other times ball bounces off my hands and goes out of bounds. Slaps self in head repeatedly and apologize to Jerry who was a tree trunk that passed like Jason Kidd. He would set a pick for you, your man would be crushed and then all you had to do was take that sweet bounce pass and finish Haze! If only Crash Davis had been there tell me "Basketball is supposed to be fun dammit!". I really only figured that out many years later while singing Karaoke in Japan. I can't sing but I would have fun kind of imitating John Lennon, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain etc. and it made my peers laugh. So when I got back to the U.S. I could just go right up there and do one of my twenty songs and have fun. If you were in the audience making fun of me I was definitely winning that one.
We like to maintain this winner vs loser narrative and it is at our own peril. Who gets to decide? Gallagher made more money as a comedian than Gary Shandling but I miss Gary. Dane Cook was at the top of the comedy world and fell off with a loud thud. Marc Maron was almost out of the business and is now a force to be recognized. Ian McKellan and Bryan Cranston were toiling away in obscurity before making it big later in life. Were they losers that became winners? Was Ted Danson a winner that became a loser and is now a winner again? John Travolta was never better than in Blow Out from 1981 and has had the craziest career of them all. Currently Santa Claus and making a sequel to "Cash Out" a movie I was unaware of until this very moment.
If I had to turn in some kind of life points, resume, am I going to be proud? Surely last night I could have written ten more pages in a novel rather than re-watching Twin Peaks episodes. I wanted to celebrate David Lynch, however you feel about the man and his art, we used the word "Lynchian" to describe the appearance of surreal or dream like elements in other shows and movies. So his collected box office doesn't equal a medium hit for Steven Spielberg he put his vision on the screen and was the king of specificity. He probably got a kick out of blowhards explaining the meaning of his visuals to people when David was thinking "I just really love red lamps!" The point is that David loved his art and worked hard to create his vision to the best of his ability. His version of "Dune" remained a sore spot for him because it was the one that he was interfered with the most and he learned to not let that happen again. I don't think he would have wanted to switch careers with Steven Spielberg, and I don't want to work at the world's largest Total Wine store! (or the smallest one, or the medium one). I don't need to walk into rooms and be recognized. I don't need to be interviewed by Whiskey Advocate, or The Charlotte Observer. If you ask me for an easy drinking Scotch and I give you one and you like it, then I won. If I track down a gin I really want and am able to get it onto the shelf, I won. If I can drive to the super G Mart and find the ingredients I need to make my Thai curry, I won. If I can afford to be a member of the Page Mill Wine Club, i won. If Ryker dog is happy to see me when I come home, I won. If my friends know they can count on me, I won. If I finish the day knowing I did considerably more good than harm, I won.
Most of the losses have already happened and I would enjoy not doing any more of that but that is impossible. Did I learn, did I try to make amends? Am I recovering from the loss or wallowing in it? Can I repair the mistake? Was the goal out of reach to begin with? Yesterday Melissa thanked me for helping her stay afloat during the VERY long and arduous process of putting her album together. I told her that if that is what happened then I am happy for us both. I certainly had aspirations of being a tremendous help, but I just did what I could do when I could do something. If you care and believe in someone and you can participate in helping them accomplish their dreams I strongly advise doing so. You could put that on the top of my life resume. I don't think I was ever a fantastic teacher but there are kids out there that I taught how to write, and they still have that skill, and I am proud of that. Folks could call me a loser and build a case with charts and graphs, and some very unflattering pie chart but I feel like a winner. Last week I built two amazing Woodford picks with Elizabeth McCall and the list of things I would rather have done than that is VERY short.
So even though you didn't cure Polio, travel to the moon, visit all seven continents (Shoutout to Lara Owen for actually doing that!) if you are enjoying your life than you are winning. If people are happy to hear from you, you are winning. If folks look forward to your green bean casserole every Thanksgiving, you are winning! All those folks that are counting on you, cheering for you, you are a winner to them and their vote counts more than some random person on the internet that says "our store smells funny" 2 stars. The people that actually know you, that are part of your life they are happy you are there and you should be too. Losers are folks that are terminally unhappy. Finding fault in everything and everyone. It would be better if, why does this have to be like this, remember when this was like that. Yeah I do remember, and you complained then too! Being a loser is looking for joy in other people's failures and misery. Someone asked me if I was happy Stateline got robbed?? Are you out of your mind? Don't get my disdain for mediocrity confused with some kind of blanket world hatred. I'm a cheerleader. I'm rooting for so many people! I want folks to make it, I'm not a misery loves company person I'm a soak up the sun person. Send me the people that are smiling, laughing, sharing, encouraging, and uplifting, always room for those winners. The folks stepping on heads, hands, pushing folks out of the way, taking credit for others work, talking shit about people when they are not around and smiling to their faces, those folks can walk right past me and enter the misery Olympics. I will be on the couch sipping on Winter Welcome listening to Melissa Engleman's album like a winner!
Cheers
Keith
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