All Stars

Last night's All Star game was over almost before it started. Justin Verlander gave up five runs in the top of the first.  He could have been helped by a catch or two in right field, but Verlander did not help the American League cause by walking batters.

As I was driving home last night I started thinking about my All Star team.  I was not thinking about who I would select for first base, second base, in the National League, but--if I set out to create a roster of people who were All Stars in my life--who they would be.  Who, for example, would be an All Star as friends, teacher, physician, neighbor.  Who would be an All Star as colleague, mentor, relative.

The radio talk about the All Star selection may have got me going on this track. There were conversations about who should have been picked and quite a bit of talk about the national league manager's selection of starting pitcher.   What makes someone an all star was the general theme of the talk.

I did not actually create a team, but did think about certain individuals who would make it if I were to create such a team.  If you try it, that is try to identify who the All Stars are in your life, it might be interesting to consider, when you are done, the common denominators in this group of people.

I don't think the common denominators will be affluence, or physical beauty, or power or even passion.  I think you will find that the All Stars in our lives are the people we can trust, who we know we can depend on to do what they implicitly or explicitly promise to do.  I think our all stars are the people who default to being considerate despite and regardless of their own personal aggravations. 

Sport general managers are supposed to assess team talent and seek out other players who might help the enterprise.  It might be a good exercise to think about the people with whom we spend our time. Are they all stars?  More--or at least as--significantly, would we make our own team?