The third man
Written by Michael Obiomah
Hello, good morning
Let me tell you a story....
Three friends are on a flight, from Lagos to New York and are preparing for an eleven (11) hour long haul, when they encounter an unusual flight attendant. He asks "anything to make your flight more comfortable, can be granted to you...just ask". The first guy says, "I can't imagine being in this plane for 11 hours, I wish I could close my eyes and wake up in New York". He closed his eyes and his wish was granted. Second guy says "Oh well, there's no hurry. I'd love to fly in comfort...so take me to the first class cabin". Wish granted. Last guy says, "Damn. Those are my friends, how do you expect me to enjoy this journey alone?Please bring back my companions or the next 11 hours would be hell". Wish granted....they all flew economy to New York.
Morale of the story:- some people don't like progress, and would rather have you down in the mud with them just to prove their friendship. Be careful who you play with.
Sometimes, you could be friends or partners, or even a rival to a global superstar and while you're quietly going about achieving greatness ....you're relegated to the background, because your name doesn't sell newspapers.
First example.... Scottie Pippen. How many people know that name? Pip is a 6x NBA champion (with a LOT of individual records) who's not considered amongst the greatest players in history ....because he played in Michael Jordan's team. Ask Jordan though, and he would tell you that without Pip the history of the Chicago Bulls in the '90s is very incomplete.
Andres Iniesta won the Spanish La Liga NINE times. The UEFA champions league FOUR times. The European championships TWICE...& scored the goal to win the World Cup for Spain in 2010. However, when you think about football in the new millennium you'd mostly be talking about Ronaldo and Messi in a debate about who's greater.
Which brings me to the man of the hour, Novak Djokovic. This unheralded champion would go down in history as the third wheel, in the Federer/Nadal era.... but a closer look would show that even in a time dominated by those two names, he was actually more than a footnote in the story. Following his victory last night at the Cincinnati open, Djokovic became the first player to win all NINE Masters tournaments on the tennis circuit. In fact, by beating Federer in this final, he extended his head to head record with the G.O.A.T to 24-22. In 2016, Djokovic became the 3rd man in history to complete the GRAND SLAM (holding all titles at once, following his victory at the French Open) and the first to do it on three different surfaces....the first two names don't include Federer or Nadal. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the picture.
Well, thank God it finally stopped raining this morning. We can FINALLY go about our business in peace...though it wasn't so bad staying indoors all weekend. I wish you all a great week ahead. See you soon. Cheers🍷
Hello, good morning
Let me tell you a story....
Three friends are on a flight, from Lagos to New York and are preparing for an eleven (11) hour long haul, when they encounter an unusual flight attendant. He asks "anything to make your flight more comfortable, can be granted to you...just ask". The first guy says, "I can't imagine being in this plane for 11 hours, I wish I could close my eyes and wake up in New York". He closed his eyes and his wish was granted. Second guy says "Oh well, there's no hurry. I'd love to fly in comfort...so take me to the first class cabin". Wish granted. Last guy says, "Damn. Those are my friends, how do you expect me to enjoy this journey alone?Please bring back my companions or the next 11 hours would be hell". Wish granted....they all flew economy to New York.
Morale of the story:- some people don't like progress, and would rather have you down in the mud with them just to prove their friendship. Be careful who you play with.
Sometimes, you could be friends or partners, or even a rival to a global superstar and while you're quietly going about achieving greatness ....you're relegated to the background, because your name doesn't sell newspapers.
First example.... Scottie Pippen. How many people know that name? Pip is a 6x NBA champion (with a LOT of individual records) who's not considered amongst the greatest players in history ....because he played in Michael Jordan's team. Ask Jordan though, and he would tell you that without Pip the history of the Chicago Bulls in the '90s is very incomplete.
Andres Iniesta won the Spanish La Liga NINE times. The UEFA champions league FOUR times. The European championships TWICE...& scored the goal to win the World Cup for Spain in 2010. However, when you think about football in the new millennium you'd mostly be talking about Ronaldo and Messi in a debate about who's greater.
Which brings me to the man of the hour, Novak Djokovic. This unheralded champion would go down in history as the third wheel, in the Federer/Nadal era.... but a closer look would show that even in a time dominated by those two names, he was actually more than a footnote in the story. Following his victory last night at the Cincinnati open, Djokovic became the first player to win all NINE Masters tournaments on the tennis circuit. In fact, by beating Federer in this final, he extended his head to head record with the G.O.A.T to 24-22. In 2016, Djokovic became the 3rd man in history to complete the GRAND SLAM (holding all titles at once, following his victory at the French Open) and the first to do it on three different surfaces....the first two names don't include Federer or Nadal. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the picture.
Well, thank God it finally stopped raining this morning. We can FINALLY go about our business in peace...though it wasn't so bad staying indoors all weekend. I wish you all a great week ahead. See you soon. Cheers🍷
Comments
Post a Comment