According to Internet Media: What’s the point? the sportswriters keep asking. Why are those relentless, humorless U.S. Attorneys going after Barry Bonds?
Don’t they have real bad guys to chase and put in jail? (No one seems to think that Bonds will go to jail if found guilty of perjuring himself in sworn testimony.) Don’t the federal prosecutors have mobsters to get off the streets and keep the rest of us safe? (No one, except maybe some non-breaking curveballs seems to have been in any danger from Barry.) Is anything important going to be proved if Bonds is convicted – doesn’t everyone already believe he was using steroids? (Come on, look at the guy. Look at his performance in what are the waning years of every other ballplayer’s career.)
Hasn’t enough taxpayer money been wasted already? On a trial that won’t change anything no matter how it ends up – except maybe, just maybe, influencing Bonds’ chance at getting into the Hall of Fame.
So why didn’t this whole thing go away a long time ago – what the hell are the U.S. Attorneys trying to do?
To coin a phrase: their jobs.
I think most people who’ve followed the Barry Bonds steroids scandal think it should never have gotten this far. I agree. But if you work for the United States – meaning you work for the American people – aren’t you supposed to make sure that people don’t perjure themselves and get away with it? Isn’t that what would have happened if the prosecution had been dropped? Bonds would have lied and gotten away with it.
If the prosecutors had allowed a high profile target to get away, what reason do they have to show up for work every morning? Their mission is not to save taxpayers money; it’s not to make life easier for celebrity sleazebags who are almost impossible to prosecute; it’s not to listen to the media. Their mission is to prosecute people they believe have violated the Constitution of the United States. (If that sounds heavy, it’s supposed to.)
Staying focused on your mission when virtually everyone is pushing you to go in a different direction is the ultimate in leadership. Doing your job when there is almost no external support for you is leading by example. It’s easy to lead when everyone cheers you on. When everyone is screaming at you, not so much.
Remember when John Sculley ran Apple? Everyone said that Apple had to allow Mac clones – that’s what had made PCs using Microsoft’s Windows on Intel chips so ubiquitous. Sculley allowed Mac clones to be built. Apple wobbled a bit, and many felt that Sculley had executed the correct strategy but done it badly.
Steve Jobs returned to Apple and promptly returned the business to its non-clone roots. He didn’t listen to the business press. To this day, Jobs doesn’t listen to the media or to consumer focus groups. He goes in his own direction, a direction that has created the iPhone (Oh, no one wants touch pad phones!) and the iPad (Tablets? That’s been done and failed.). Apple is doing very well, thank you. I don’t know about your home, but my family consists of 3 people, 3 iPods and 1 iPad. And I see more Apple devices in our future . . . that’s the result of leadership that goes its own way.
What’s the point? As John Wayne, that eminent business leader once said, “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” And that’s a great mission statement for leadership.
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Don’t they have real bad guys to chase and put in jail? (No one seems to think that Bonds will go to jail if found guilty of perjuring himself in sworn testimony.) Don’t the federal prosecutors have mobsters to get off the streets and keep the rest of us safe? (No one, except maybe some non-breaking curveballs seems to have been in any danger from Barry.) Is anything important going to be proved if Bonds is convicted – doesn’t everyone already believe he was using steroids? (Come on, look at the guy. Look at his performance in what are the waning years of every other ballplayer’s career.)
Hasn’t enough taxpayer money been wasted already? On a trial that won’t change anything no matter how it ends up – except maybe, just maybe, influencing Bonds’ chance at getting into the Hall of Fame.
So why didn’t this whole thing go away a long time ago – what the hell are the U.S. Attorneys trying to do?
To coin a phrase: their jobs.
I think most people who’ve followed the Barry Bonds steroids scandal think it should never have gotten this far. I agree. But if you work for the United States – meaning you work for the American people – aren’t you supposed to make sure that people don’t perjure themselves and get away with it? Isn’t that what would have happened if the prosecution had been dropped? Bonds would have lied and gotten away with it.
If the prosecutors had allowed a high profile target to get away, what reason do they have to show up for work every morning? Their mission is not to save taxpayers money; it’s not to make life easier for celebrity sleazebags who are almost impossible to prosecute; it’s not to listen to the media. Their mission is to prosecute people they believe have violated the Constitution of the United States. (If that sounds heavy, it’s supposed to.)
Staying focused on your mission when virtually everyone is pushing you to go in a different direction is the ultimate in leadership. Doing your job when there is almost no external support for you is leading by example. It’s easy to lead when everyone cheers you on. When everyone is screaming at you, not so much.
Remember when John Sculley ran Apple? Everyone said that Apple had to allow Mac clones – that’s what had made PCs using Microsoft’s Windows on Intel chips so ubiquitous. Sculley allowed Mac clones to be built. Apple wobbled a bit, and many felt that Sculley had executed the correct strategy but done it badly.
Steve Jobs returned to Apple and promptly returned the business to its non-clone roots. He didn’t listen to the business press. To this day, Jobs doesn’t listen to the media or to consumer focus groups. He goes in his own direction, a direction that has created the iPhone (Oh, no one wants touch pad phones!) and the iPad (Tablets? That’s been done and failed.). Apple is doing very well, thank you. I don’t know about your home, but my family consists of 3 people, 3 iPods and 1 iPad. And I see more Apple devices in our future . . . that’s the result of leadership that goes its own way.
What’s the point? As John Wayne, that eminent business leader once said, “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” And that’s a great mission statement for leadership.
Read More>>
