Using Work Ethic as trash talk.

I sometimes go to this speech center during Noon on Wednesday's called Toastmasters. At social settings, most people that I interact with will go to the work ethic card for whatever reasons to defend or dismiss people. This is true in groups that you try to fit into. They try to use their upbringing or discipline to push you out. The one thing I know is that most people aren't like Brad Pitt in "Fight Club." Put a mob on them, they will back off. They don't trust their discipline or hard-work against mob authority. Most will say that they have family or someone to protect when they only care about themselves.

This is from the man who says, "To be a champion, you must work harder than work itself." Hearing this kind of commentary, scare me to death even now as well as then. Ivan Lendl was a hell of player and a intellectual, warrior on the tennis court. His opponents were not only concerned about his game, his shot-making skills, patience, and power, they were concerned about his work ethic. When he entered tennis 1978, he started to make comments like the one above as well as this at this paraphrase, "if I don't practice well then I won't play well."

Work-ethic trash talkers will simply dismiss as something as "Life" or "things they can't control" card. Most of them though, will always look at people who they perceive don't work hard and have a lot to say but about 9'11, they shut up. Lot of them, will use I do the best as I can crap. These folks are selfish but scared who know their place like Lendl. However, Ivan Lendl is willing to "work harder than work itself" to move up.

Likewise with Lendl, you could not put American Idol's to keep him in line like with other bullies. Ivan didn't get along with Czech Authorities or the people of Czechoslovakia. They wanted him to lose because he had become a capitalist and sold himself out to America. Therefore, when he lost to matches to Borg, McEnroe, Connors, and Wilander, they were happy because the betrayer was kept in line. Sounds familiar with minorities here, huh.

He could have have used that "I played my best line" which he did but he got better and won. Americans didn't like him because he was boring, cold, and arrogant. They called him Ivan "The Terrible" because he humiliated so many American players (arrogant and charismatic ones as well as the hard-working and patient ones) and did it with a punkish attitude.

Ivan respected and embraced people who worked harder than him which is what kept him from going under when he lost a lot of big matches. Unlike a lot of bullies, he picked on people that he could beat and embraced the challenge of beating the best. Very few bullies can make that transition of beating their own and the best. Eventually, he did with Connors and McEnroe.

After getting out of tennis due to back injuries, respect has come slow as unfortunately guys like McEnroe are in the broadcasting booth while Ivan is living at home raising German shepherds, raising a family, and playing golf. Even his born country doesn't give him respect like let say Martina (not even she does). Hey, Peter Bodo he is from Czechoslovakia. Conservative critics don't want to say nothing because Ivan has tapped into their prejudices of what a conservative champion should be like, English-American and Ivan wasn't. He is Czech-American. Ivan does not care because he won and beat the best doing it his way.