For The Proverbial Palate- 08.23.2008

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. Proverbs 16:18-19

Now must of us will detest a bragger. Personally, I would rather see someone give their all and when they gain the victory, just graciously receive their reward with a spirit of appreciation and humility. Yet it seems that we are living in a day when this is not the norm. A source of trash talk seems to be the prevailing spirit.

We are at the conclusion of the Summer Olympics that are winding up in Beijing. It is hard for one to have a competitive spirit and not find themselves immersed in the spirit of competition. We witnessed something in these 2008 Olympics that speaks somewhat to what the Proverbs is talking about.

One of the events of the swim competition is the 4X100 meter relay. This event consist of a team of 4 individuals that each swim 100 meters for a combined time.  Alaina Bernard swims the anchor (last) leg of the 4X100 meter relay for the French swim team, which is touted internationally as having the best team in the world. When Bernard began his anchor leg run in the relay, he enjoyed a substantial lead. At least by appearance the French would most assuredly secure the victory and receive the first place, gold medal that had been predicted by the international swim world.

The point of the story is that before the competition, Bernard made a comment to this affect..”the French swim team has come to Beijing for one thing and one thing alone, and that is to beat the Americans”.

The Americans downplayed Bernard’s statements before the race, but Michael Phelps, who was consumed with the emotions of victory after Jason Lezak touched the wall and helped him pick up his second gold-medal, admitted that the trash talk “fired me up more than anything.”

“We love listening to other people talk stuff about us,” said Cullen Jones, who swam the third leg for the American relay team. “It just fuels us to be ready and we don’t say anything until it’s over. When you see it in the pictures, that’s when we start celebrating.. when we win.”

Just remember, “pride goeth before the fall….”

malachi

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