Questions fromkidoublesing
You know the deal: If you want questions or have questions for me, drop a line.
1. Working at ESPN, do you feel that you belong to a tight-knit group, or that everyone belongs to the same old cliques like high school?
I work in a group of 8 staff and 3 managers, so we're tight by design. Everyone gets along, which makes it much easier. Even so, there definitely are cliques within my group, but I don't think it's exclusionary in any way. As for ESPN as a whole, things are more split up organizationally; you tend to hang with the people you work with the most, and occasionally meet other folks who touch your department in some way, or that you saw in a meeting. Just like any other large company.
2. There is so much negativity in the world around us, and so many people just in it for themselves. How do you cope with that?
I cope with that by being in life for myself. My mother always said that self-preservation is the first rule of nature. I make sure I have what I need in my life first, then extend it to my friends and people I keep close. After that, it's trust and reciprocity. I prefer to give my trust away rather than make people earn it, but I control how much I give out and when.
There's a lot of negativity in the world, sure, but it's always been there. The lesson of history is that the nature of man does not change. However, there's a ton of hope as well. Any time someone says we're on the edge of hell, if you look at history in the aggregate, we're still doing far better than we were. Things really do get better; we just get better a lot more slowly. Keep some love in your life, give some love away, and do what you can in your corner of the world. Happiness is when you reconcile "what is" with "what should be," and the more you tailor that to your actual influence on those things (tailoring it down, or elevating it), the happier you'll be.
3. If you could hang out with a member of the 2009 Phillies, who would it be, what would you do, and why?
Oh, this is easy! Bowling and clubbing with Jimmy Rollins, most likely. Dude is cool, funny and fly. Reminds me of someone I know ;) My second prize is a rock festival with Jayson Werth, 'cause that dude definitely knows how to party.
4. When people find out that you have an Ivy League education, do you feel that it changes the way that they look at you?
The fact that you ask this question shows that it does affect people's perceptions. It's the separator, the fact that makes people think I'm not like the others. It's the first thing out of my boss' mouth when he introduces me. Sometimes I'm told that I'm still a regular guy even though I went to Harvard. Or you get the "You went to Harvard, you should know that" expression. Some people think they have to compete against you, like it's some kind of race. Or they've swallowed every stereotype imaginable, and have to be convinced that you're not rich, conservative, elitist and condescending. I went to private prep school and Harvard, but I grew up with lower middle-class parents who worked very hard to afford my brother and me the educations we received, and we got a lot of scholarship help, too.
Now, add my skin color to this, and it gets more complicated. Among whites, I've gotten the affirmative action comment here and there. Or other folks are impressed in a way that doesn't make you feel like a human being. Among other black people, there can be respect or contempt depending on their definition of what it means to "be" black.
But among peers or people with similar educational backgrounds, it doesn't matter as much. There's a reason many Ivy grads marry each other: It's the one time the Ivy education doesn't matter.
5. Yes, I know that we have a black president: However, do you truly feel that we as a nation have made good progress regarding civil rights?
Yes, we have. And it keeps getting better. However, it's a long-term process; change doesn't happen all at once in America. There is still a lot wrong, and we hear about bigotry (insidious, awful) and institutional discrimination (the actual evil) often. But in time, and in parts, the discrimination is brought to light and corrected. We'll see this with gay rights; people can turn back these marriage initiatives all they want, but legal gay marriage is the inevitable future. It's slow, but it's gonna happen.
1. Working at ESPN, do you feel that you belong to a tight-knit group, or that everyone belongs to the same old cliques like high school?
I work in a group of 8 staff and 3 managers, so we're tight by design. Everyone gets along, which makes it much easier. Even so, there definitely are cliques within my group, but I don't think it's exclusionary in any way. As for ESPN as a whole, things are more split up organizationally; you tend to hang with the people you work with the most, and occasionally meet other folks who touch your department in some way, or that you saw in a meeting. Just like any other large company.
2. There is so much negativity in the world around us, and so many people just in it for themselves. How do you cope with that?
I cope with that by being in life for myself. My mother always said that self-preservation is the first rule of nature. I make sure I have what I need in my life first, then extend it to my friends and people I keep close. After that, it's trust and reciprocity. I prefer to give my trust away rather than make people earn it, but I control how much I give out and when.
There's a lot of negativity in the world, sure, but it's always been there. The lesson of history is that the nature of man does not change. However, there's a ton of hope as well. Any time someone says we're on the edge of hell, if you look at history in the aggregate, we're still doing far better than we were. Things really do get better; we just get better a lot more slowly. Keep some love in your life, give some love away, and do what you can in your corner of the world. Happiness is when you reconcile "what is" with "what should be," and the more you tailor that to your actual influence on those things (tailoring it down, or elevating it), the happier you'll be.
3. If you could hang out with a member of the 2009 Phillies, who would it be, what would you do, and why?
Oh, this is easy! Bowling and clubbing with Jimmy Rollins, most likely. Dude is cool, funny and fly. Reminds me of someone I know ;) My second prize is a rock festival with Jayson Werth, 'cause that dude definitely knows how to party.
4. When people find out that you have an Ivy League education, do you feel that it changes the way that they look at you?
The fact that you ask this question shows that it does affect people's perceptions. It's the separator, the fact that makes people think I'm not like the others. It's the first thing out of my boss' mouth when he introduces me. Sometimes I'm told that I'm still a regular guy even though I went to Harvard. Or you get the "You went to Harvard, you should know that" expression. Some people think they have to compete against you, like it's some kind of race. Or they've swallowed every stereotype imaginable, and have to be convinced that you're not rich, conservative, elitist and condescending. I went to private prep school and Harvard, but I grew up with lower middle-class parents who worked very hard to afford my brother and me the educations we received, and we got a lot of scholarship help, too.
Now, add my skin color to this, and it gets more complicated. Among whites, I've gotten the affirmative action comment here and there. Or other folks are impressed in a way that doesn't make you feel like a human being. Among other black people, there can be respect or contempt depending on their definition of what it means to "be" black.
But among peers or people with similar educational backgrounds, it doesn't matter as much. There's a reason many Ivy grads marry each other: It's the one time the Ivy education doesn't matter.
5. Yes, I know that we have a black president: However, do you truly feel that we as a nation have made good progress regarding civil rights?
Yes, we have. And it keeps getting better. However, it's a long-term process; change doesn't happen all at once in America. There is still a lot wrong, and we hear about bigotry (insidious, awful) and institutional discrimination (the actual evil) often. But in time, and in parts, the discrimination is brought to light and corrected. We'll see this with gay rights; people can turn back these marriage initiatives all they want, but legal gay marriage is the inevitable future. It's slow, but it's gonna happen.