Posts Tagged "Earthquake"
The Laraque Lesson.
(January 25, 2009 - Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images North America)
FULL DISCLOSURE – I’ve recently developed an interest in the great sport of Hockey. What’s weird about that? Well, I’m a 26 year old white male living in Montreal and up until about 6 months ago I couldn’t name more than three hockey players. When you live in Montreal, you’re expected to know, live, and breathe hockey. My recent interest developed cause I moved in with three friends who are avid hockey fans. Not to mention all my other friends watch hockey, so naturally, when there’s a party at our house it’s usually centered around a hockey game. In fact, as I write this, Montreal is losing 3 – 2 to Ottawa (UPDATE: they lost).
What I like the most about hockey is not who’s who or the stats of the game, but rather the funny things that can happen during a hockey game. Things that have nothing to do with the rules of hockey or even the actual game of hockey. Something that comes to mind recently was when Plekanec scored a goal and was celebrating and he fell face first on the ice, tripping Markov in the process who was making his way there to congratulate him on the goal or, like, when fans dress in green spandex and make fun of players in the penalty box.
These are the moments of hockey that make me keep watching. Lately I’ve been interested in the story of Georges Laraque. Laraque is known as the Habs’ goon, put on the ice to intimidate opposing hockey players. Georges Laraque is also Haitian and, as we all know, Haiti has lately been devastated by a massive earthquake. Another interesting fact about Georges Laraque is that he hasn’t scored a goal in the past 2 years… that is, until January 14th, 2010, one day after the Haiti earthquake hit.
Again, I remind you, I don’t know much about hockey, but something happened to Laraque. Something we can take a lesson from. See, Laraque was now playing a different game. His reason for playing hockey changed. It wasn’t about intimidating others or starting fights, now it was about those devastated in the destruction of Haiti. Laraque looked at the big picture. He wasn’t paying attention to the stats, he wasn’t overthinking things, he was in the mindset where he needed to trust himself and make things happen.
Laraque dedicated the goal to his people in Haiti, mentioning the goal was a miracle. Now, what can we learn from this? What can we take from Laraque’s situation that we can apply to our everyday lives that’ll help us love what we do? See, we have to look at the big picture of things. We need to find, in ourselves, why we do what we do. The reason you do what you do needs to inspire you, it needs to fuel you, it needs to give you the energy you need to perform. That’s what happened to Laraque on the 14th, his reason for playing hockey changed and the new reason gave him the energy and focus he needed to make him perform better than usual. Now, let’s not confuse Laraque’s success with Laraque’s performance. True success is playing at the top of your game and not the outcome or stats of a game. It’s the journey, not the destination. Scoring a goal is the outcome of good performance and the performance is what we’re all there to watch.
What to take away from this is that we all need to find a reason that empowers us in the morning, every morning, when we wake up. That reason, like I mentioned, needs to inspire you, it needs to set your insides on fire. You need to find that something that’ll fulfill you. Here’s the thing: that reason has nothing to do with any physical aspect or goal. If Laraque was playing hockey on January 14th so that he can higher his stats as a player, get a better contract, and get paid more money, then I doubt he would’ve ever scored at all. No, Laraque was inspired and emotional about his reason for playing hockey. He wasn’t playing for money, contracts, stats, he was playing to inspire others, he was playing so that Haiti, at it’s darkest, could shine just a little bit. And shine it did cause, after Laraque scored, the crowd broke into a giant standing ovation, yelling “La-Raque! La-Raque!” as loud as ever. These simple things, these simple reasons, they’re the reasons that change our world. Find your reason to change our world and do it and don’t look back. Whether you succeed or not doesn’t matter, what matters is how you got there.
Laraque was always very philanthropic - donating to various charities and increasing the well-being of his community Today, he continues to help out and raise awareness of the Haiti earthquake, in order to get aid to the people who need it immensely.
Again, I encourage whoever might be reading this to donate to help out those in Haiti. An easy way to donate is to simply text the word “HAITI” to 90999, which in turn sends a $10 donation to the Redcross. You can also donate via the Redcross. Obviously, anything counts.
Read MoreEither NBC is Really Really Smart or Really Really Dumb
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In this age of Internets, it’s very easy to neglect our beloved television. Oh, TV, you’ve been there through the best times and through the worst times. Through the times when The Simpsons was the funniest show on TV to now when they’re a rip-off of a rip-off of their own show (Family Guy). However, the age of Internets has changed things drastically. Now things are all literally at our fingertips. I can Google search Mother Teresa and just as fast segue into a search for celebrity nipple slips. Never before has society had the power to have all their questions answered, even if those questions might be something along the lines of “what would happen if you stuck a firework up your ass?” Naturally, people would also use Internets to replace T.V. I mean, with sites like YouTube, just about any douchebag out there can have their own show (warning: this video will make you feel like you’re wasting your life away). Whether it’s good or not, is a different story, the point is we’re the ones who choose what we want to watch. I don’t have to schedule my life around TV anymore. No need to hurry up and finish my homework so I can catch The Simpsons. TV, on the internet, now happens at my leisure. I’m catching up on LOST thanks to the Internets.
If you’re an avid Interneter, then you’ve probably heard about the whole NBC fiasco between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. If you haven’t, Google it, and get up to speed. What’s happening is that NBC wants to move Conan to 12:05 to put Jay Leno at 11:35. The thing is, Conan refused to be moved to 12:05 which means that his days at NBC or on The Tonight Show might be numbered… or so it seems.
Pehraps with the chance in schedules, Conan moving to L.A. to take over the Tonight Show has probably caused a certain shift in ratings which didn’t please NBC. So, I’m guessing, they’re trying to revert to the way it was, kind of like trying to suppress the memory of walking in on your parents having sex. Or maybe this whole thing is deliberate. Think about it, I’ve never been more interested in watching Conan O’Brien’s show. I’m a fan of Conan O’Brien but I admit not watching his show regularly. I’ll watch if I manage to catch it but that’s about it. But with all this, I find myself wanting to watch his show rather than scouring the Internet for clips of Conan bashing on NBC. This whole thing is working in NBC’s favor cause it’s getting eyeballs off the Internet and onto the T.V. screens.
Here’s how I see the whole thing playing out. Jay Leno wants to retire, instead of shutting down his show and saying “that’s that”, they start up this controversy. And if there’s anything we could learn about Passion of the Christ or Hugh Grant, it’s that controversy gets people interested. Just look at the whole Tiger Woods thing, people feel the need to know every detail about the life of a man who spends most of his time smacking small white balls across a giant field with a big metal rod (this sentence sounds delicious). So, with this whole Jay Leno and Conan controversy, I’m sure NBC’s getting a nice surge in ratings as people tune in to support their favorite hosts. Conan seems to be the side that’s winning as his ratings have shot up recently.
I can see this going two ways. NBC keeps Conan where he is (and Conan stays) and he now has this new influx of ratings or Conan leaves NBC and while juggling networks he produces some online content that catches the attention of everyone and, BAM, another nail in T.V.’s coffin. Conan’s fan base is predominantly on the Internet, I say this, cause the Internet is ablaze with this story. People are showing support for Conan left and right. Whatever is happening, NBC is either doing something very strategic or is further pushing the demise of television.
As an audience, we tend to be loyal to the things we like and when the things we like are in danger, we tend to retaliate. Take Arrested Development for example, probably one of the finest shows of the decade (okay, not probably, it is the show of the decade), which was cancelled by FOX way ahead of it’s time. How did fans retaliate? Well, we purchased the DVDs of the seasons. Same thing goes for Family Guy, which got resurrected after FOX saw how well the DVD sales were doing. Even Futurama, which spun off into 4 original made-for-DVD movies, after FOX saw that DVD sales were high. Do networks make more money this way? Introduce a show everyone likes and then cancel it before it’s time so that people can retaliate by buying the DVDs? Then spin that show off into movies, made-for-DVD films, and even other shows?
I just find the whole thing very meta. It’s like a Television show brought to the fore-front of it all. Except, this Television show makes it’s way through our Twitter and Facebook streams, our News feeds and our YouTubes. This is the T.V. of the 21st century, with tentacles and eyeballs that reach out of the idiot box and into our phones and laptops. We’re watching a different show these days, one that blurs the lines between fiction and reality (I just wanted to say that line).
Read MoreDISCLAIMER: It’s hard to write a blog post like this making it seem like this late-night show fiasco (i keep using this word) is the biggest thing in the news, but it’s not. I wish it was, but it’s not. No, the biggest thing in the news is the devastation caused by the Haitian earthquake. The earthquake has shaken up one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, it has left thousands dead and thousands more injured, without shelter, food, or water. It’s easy to ignore this seeing as we’re thousands of miles away (depending where you live) but it’s a lot more fulfilling and human to do whatever is in your power to help out. An easy way to donate is to simply text the word “HAITI” to 90999, which in turn sends a $10 donation to the Redcross. You can also donate via the Redcross. Please, let’s try not to ignore this one. TV shows can battle it out all they want for our eyeballs but in the end, they’re doing it so they can provide us with entertainment and moments where we can shut off our brains and unwind. But when there’s an opportunity to help out humanity, I say take it on full force, do what you can cause there’s nothing more blissful.
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