Sunday, August 07, 2005

A warm welcome back to my blog friends! Time and responsibility have kept me away for....wow, I can't believe....almost thirty days! However, I'm elated to update you on my latest find in the pursuit of nobility. I heard about this one on CNN....

The cloud:
There really isn't one. This is all good.

The silver lining:
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/mcherald/sports/12041537.htm

NY Jets head coach Herman Edwards hosted his 10th annual youth football camp this summer in the military ghost town of Monterey Bay, California. More than 800 children from all walks of life attended the free week-long camp to have fun and better their skills in the great sport of football. College and Pro athletes volunteered their time with the children instilling best practices of football and exhibiting leadership by exposing these youth to new ideas and experiences. Even Coach Edwards' pregnant wife came to California to assist with camp's administrative responsibilities. Edwards, also known as Camp Commissioner, planned a camp Super Bowl of sorts where youth engage in friendly competition while learning drills, all-star plays and chants, and getting pep talks from their trainers.

This story, while seemingly quite simplistic when written, brought me to tears emotionally. The commitment of Herman Edwards is much needed yet very rare in this overly materialistic and self-indulgent society we call America. As you can see from previous entries, I am utterly repulsed by selfishness. Why? Because no matter how independent you think your decisions are from the world, each one of them has consequences within the broader scheme of life and communities indirectly reap the consequences of those choices.

Allow me to digress momentarily to address this line of thought that decisions indirectly impact communities. Take 3rd Ward in Houston for example. This area has been commonly inhabited by lower income citizens existing within moderate to sub-moderate means. Recently, some hot shot investors bought up a bunch of land and began building $300K-500K properties in the heart of the district, leading to a sharp increase in its overall property value. Now some would celebrate the business decision. The most common praise is that property value will increase dramatically, leading to revitalization and other new expansion projects in the inner city. But within this macroeconomic review of the new developments, many have failed to remember the countless families who have recently lost their homes in this very area due to sharp increases in property taxes. Little thought was given to sustaining these long-time residents other than possibly how to drive them out so further land acquistion can take place.

So I'm extremely enthusiastic when I hear of the Herman Edwards' of our communities who, rather than gloat in excess and showboat their wealth, use it instead to showcase the talent and potential in others. Herman Edwards, in effect, proclaimed during a banquet speech that life is not about what jobs and accomplishments you had but about relationships and how those were managed. In my opinion, Herman Edwards is a prime example of nobility and thus, he and his wife receive my Medal of Nobility & Honor today.

Herman Edwards, un ejemplo para el mundo.
Always,
Altrivice

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