Talk radio is filled with hyperbole. That mentality has spread so deeply that it is difficult to get away from it in any format. It seems like the competition for attention has gotten so bad that if anything is called "good" it is automatically discarded. It has to be "the best ever" in order to even be discussed at all.
We see this magnified in sports talk. If a team wins the championship, they are automatically entered into a discussion of "best ever". If they win more than one, the talk of "dynasty" begins. The converse is also true. A string of a few losses and you are on the discussion of "collapse" begins. The only saving grace on the downside is that it can be really tough to enter the "worst ever" discussion because there does seem to be a lower threshold. If you haven't lost the most games or the most games in a row, you (thankfully) don't qualify.
Here in the Boston area, baseball season began yesterday. The off-season was filled with grumbling because we didn't spend inordinate amounts of money chasing high-priced free agents in an attempt to leverage our way to the World Series. There were even some whispers that the team might stumble to a fourth-place finish with a payroll of over $180 million. The screams have intensified now that we dropped the season opener in excruciating fashion. It doesn't help that we allowed our best relief pitcher to sign with a rival for $50 million and replaced him with someone who will now be recovering from thumb surgery for a few months.
It must be really difficult to be a professional baseball player. The season is 162 games. The crushing pace of games averages out to about five per week from April through the end of September. You have to sustain peak performance at a relentless pace against players who are often nearly as good or better than you at all times. One injury could literally be the end of your career. Through it all, you must learn to block out the howls of the crowd who will turn on you during a prolonged slump even if you are (or once were) a superstar.
I think there's a lesson in there. It may involve fortitude or perseverance. Or perhaps it is just about survival.
There are days when it doesn't seem all that different at work....
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