Several things today:

Let's start with the final exhibition game for the Milwaukee Bucks.

They lost, but that's not what caught my attention.

After the game coach Larry Krystkowiak said, "It was really a pathetic effort. I thought it was a horrendous effort."

Mo Williams chimed in, "We didn't have the effort. Plain and simple."

Effort is the act of trying. You can have good effort and bad effort. But effort is all about trying.

It's not like this is unique to the Bucks. I've heard athletes in every sport say the same thing.

And you've got to ask yourself, "How in the world can a professional athlete not try?"

They make gazillions of dollars. They have people do everything for them, with the possible exception of going to the bathroom and having relations with their wives or girlfriends. They have nothing to worry about. They only work a couple of hours every few days or so.

How in the world can they not try? Lord knows that the evidence is clear that the harder you try in sports, the better the results, usually.

You can blame the players and you can blame the coach. But I will never, ever be able to figure out why professional athletes don't try.

***

The other day I was listening to WSSP and they had a very intriguing subject that really made me think.

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by sandstorm on Nov. 1, 2007 at 2:57 p.m. (report)

you're both absolutely right, and you'd be hardpressed to find any of those people giving 100%, 100% of the time. the irony is is that stockbrokers can be found online while at work checking the fantasy stats of those athletes they accuse of not giving 100%. hey, i think i everyone should give their best effort all of the time, but i just think it's hypocritical to call others out on a lack of effort when one doesn't always give their all as well.

Posted by sandstorm on Nov. 1, 2007 at 8:38 a.m. (report)

Jimbo, how would you like it if you were paid by the hot dogs you sell at superamerica? no minimum wage, just performance based pay. don't agree with it now, do you? Kilgore, i hope that was sarcasm because you just described nearly all of the american workforce.

Posted by KilgoreTrout on Oct. 30, 2007 at 12:02 p.m. (report)

Can you imagine what would happen if those of us with regular (aka non-celebrity) careers showed up to work, slacked off and then just admitted we plain old weren't trying?