Tag Archives: Friday Feeling

I ain’t got no worries

Posted on by

Hey now Tash Appreciators

I was able to finally watch the decider of the NBA Finals this week. It was a close game and LeBron James of the Miami Heat was on top-form. In the end, The Heat were victorious.

I understand from those more knowledgeable than I, that James is one of the top basketball players of his generation. He can apparently sink jump shots even when he’s off-balance when his feet leave the ground. Some go as far as to say that he ‘balls (i.e. plays [basket]ball) so hard that people want to fine him. Lucky for him, first they have to find him.

James was the Most Valuable Player of the Finals:

Tash Friday 5:7:13 1

As good as he is, James doesn’t always have the support of basketball fans. There seem to be various reasons for this, ranging from the way he left his previous team to him getting too much praise from the media.

In an interview after the decider, when he had been crowned Most Valuable Player and also a league champion (a video of which is on the TF Facebook and twitter page #shamelessplug), James is asked about how he plays and what he thinks about people who boo him from the sidelines. He said this:

“Listen, for me, I can’t worry about what everybody say about me. I’m LeBron James, from Akron, Ohio. From the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here. That’s enough.

Every night I walk into the locker room I see a No. 6 with ‘James’ on the back. I’m blessed. So what everybody say about me off the court don’t matter.

I ain’t got no worries!”

It’s the last part that I really enjoyed. You can see in his eyes that, at that moment, he really means it: he is totally comfortable with who he is and what he does. In my view, you don’t need to be a superstar basketball player to have that attitude and find that peace of mind. He’s just a man doing what he enjoys and, in his words, “that’s enough”.

Often we – and I’m talking really about younger folk, here – get hung up on what we stand for; what we are defined as; what we put on our Facebook/LinkedIn pages as our profession. I put it to you that if we just concentrated on putting our all into everything we do (regardless of what that is), we’d be free of worries too.

I know what you’re thinking – has LeBron rocked a Tash? Has he ever! A cracking effort, actually:

Tash Friday 5:7:13 2

Just to finish this week, there’s another man who knew the value of being satisfied with life, on the basis that he did things his way. I believe he said: “what is a man [or woman!]; what has he got? If not himself, then he has nought”:

Tash Friday 5:7:13 3

Both Frank and LeBron can’t be wrong: just work hard, do it your way and all will be well.

Have a fantastic weekend folks!

Keep going!

Related articles

Racing through the dark

Posted on by

Morning Tash Appreciators,

Now that we’ve all heard Lance Armstrong’s “confession” and the media frenzy has died down, I thought this might be an opportunity to tell you a tale of real redemption. Not the kind that follows crocodile tears and a prime-time tv interview; I mean the kind which follows spending time in the depths of despair but which ultimately leads to a raised fist and victory while doing something you love. This kind:

image

That’s David Millar: a Scottish cyclist who insists on being described in the press as “David Millar, ex-doper”. Like everyone else 10 years ago, he took performance enhancing drugs to win bike races. And, like many others, he was caught. 

Unlike most, however, he offered no excuse for what he did. You will not hear him attempting to justify his use of drugs by saying that everyone was doing it and that he was just trying to level the playing field. 

Instead, even once he lost his lucrative contract, his newly built house, his friends and his livelihood, he gave a full confession which described what he did and why he did it. He then served his ban; helped start (and now partly owns) a successful cycling team that has a no-needles policy but which also allows former-dopers to race again; started campaigning vigorously against doping when no-one else was; and did everything he could to ensure that cycling, and sport generally, is drug-free.

Armstrong and Millar make for an interesting comparison. Both could have (and did) win clean but both bowed to pressure and cheated and were ultimately caught. That’s where the similarities end. Millar used his experience to better himself and the sport he cares about. He missed out on two years racing – and a lot of money – but since then he has made a lasting impact on cycling and sport in general. He’s now an athlete representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency committee and has done as much as anyone to help young athletes avoid making the same mistakes he did. Along the way, he’s even managed to win a stage of the Tour (which he did in 2012) and get back to the very top of the sport. Millar shows that sometimes the pain of defeat is sometimes worth it. He’s rebuilt his life on his own terms and seems to be a happier man because of it. I’m sure Armstrong can’t say the same. 
Millar’s victory in the Tour was his last step to redemption. The state he was in after it shows just how much of an effort it was:

image

I’ve already mentioned Millar’s team. Its name has changed over the years but Garmin has always been part of it. It’s also always got some kind of Argyle pattern on the jersey. Over the years, some of the team have sported a Tash. One such Tash was worn by Dave Zabriskie: another former-doper who is currently serving a 6-month ban after blowing the whistle on Armstrong. He’ll be back racing in March and I can only hope his Tash also makes a return:

 

image

Quality, right?
Have a good weekend folks!
Keep going!

The apparel oft proclaims the man.

Posted on by

Hello Tash Appreciators,

The opening sequence of the superb new James Bond film (fear not, this is not a spoiler) includes Mr Bond driving and running round an exotic city in an effort to track down a baddie. Standard Bond fare. 
What is perhaps slightly unusual is the fact that he did all the driving, running and, latterly, train-based brawling, in an expensive suit complete with resplendent white shirt (tucked in, of course) and perfectly knotted tie:
James Bond has always been partial to excellent suits but the fact that he was dishing out knuckle sandwiches and muay tai kicks while in a suit and tie was impressive. It’s possibly because one must maintain standards while representing Her Majesty’s intelligence services but it’s more likely that he just likes looking smart.
To tie or not to tie, is a constant debate amongst chaps. Some adopt the (hypocritical) Jeremy Paxman approach: 
“It [the tie] has always been an utterly useless part of the male wardrobe. But now, it seems to me, the only people who wear the things daily are male politicians, the male reporters who interview them – and dodgy estate agents.”

Others, however, take the ZZ Top approach and choose their wardrobe with this mantra ringing in their ears:
“Clean shirt, new shoes
And I don’t know where I am goin’ to.
Silk suit, black tie,
I don’t need a reason why.
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
Coz’ every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man.”
The question of whether to wear a tie or not can be a difficult one. For example, ahead of a recent family occasion, this Tash Appreciator had exactly that choice. Ultimately it came down to remembering that one should never be ashamed of looking too fly*.

It is surely not in doubt that wearing a tie is the way to go if you need to look smart. Anyone who disagrees need only watch a couple of episodes of Mad Men:
Of course, there is also a place for an open-neck look. It’s arguably more comfortable and has become the norm in most work places. However, when you lose the tie, you should consider making up for that loss in other ways. That’s where this week’s Tash comes in. 

If you decide that you’re tired of being a square and want to be a bit radical then you should go all out. This week’s Tash undoes at least the top two buttons of his shirts (often three!!), has long hair and the best Tash in modern rock and roll. Gents, if you don’t wear a tie, this is the only way to look fly:


Have a fantastic weekend folks!
Cheers.
*That is a lie. Threats were made and for the sake of a quiet life a tie was worn. Ultimately, if it’s a choice between looking over-dressed or having a quiet life, we all know which way a man will go.