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Diamond Dave and Baseball Bob
Published: 5/29/2008 2:05 PM
Last Modified: 5/29/2008 2:05 PM

Many times you hear quotes that say nothing, or you hear a variation of the same quote so many times that it doesn't register as remotely original.
Occasionally, you hear a quote that sticks with you. I've got two examples, courtesy of two very different fellows -- Van Halen singer David Lee Roth and baseball broadcaster Bob Costas.
Roth once said in an interview (not with me) that "the band was at each other's throats more than ever, but I say it with a smile. The best accomplishments are not achieved when everybody is sitting going 'You're great! Do you think I'm great, too? You do? Great!' "
Here's what I took from the quote: If you want to have a good product, you need to have healthy disagreements. If I was a head coach, I wouldn't want to be surrounded by yes men.
During a recent XM radio interview, Costas talked about the prevalance in society of critics who take aim at successful people (and there are more forums to do this than ever before because of Internet message boards).
Said Costas, "People think that simply insulting someone or making a mean-spirited comment about someone is the same thing as being edgy or having a
provocative opinion. Simply being a jerk is not the same thing as being insightful...Not only does being successful at what you do, and being a decent person about it, not only does that not insulate you against criticism, it almost incites that kind of criticism. In a way, the more worthy of respect you are from reasonable people, the more you're going to get it big time from those on the periphery who traffic only in crazy anger and resentment. I think its not a healthy thing for the culture overall."
Here's what I took from the quote: Costas never once mentioned Peyton Manning, but my opinion is Manning failed to win the Heisman Trophy because voters seemingly got tired of him being too good to be true. They went out of their way to pick someone else just because of the backlash factor.
I agree with Costas that it's way too easy to take jabs at successful people (maybe we've all got a little green-eyed monster in us), and the media certainly can be as guilty as message board posters in that regard. Maybe we all need to step away from reality TV and fix our own lives instead of trying to drag someone else down to our level.




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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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