Comments on: First Rule of Leadership: Everything is Your Fault!

By: Hey @TwinsPrez: Time For Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes? » Knuckleballs - "Like butterflies with hiccups"

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:41:38 +0000

[...] course, we can’t ignore the First Rule of Leadership (“everything is your fault!”), but if I were asked by the Pohlads or even Twins president, Dave St. Peter , what ONE change I [...]

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:06:24 +0000

No guesses on the movie quote that provided this post’s Title… I’m sure any of you with kids (or who just enjoy animated movies) have heard the line in “A Bugs Life” many, many times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWSrwEYJBrg

By: Piranhtachew

Piranhtachew — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:13:27 +0000

Surprised we’re not being told to be Flubs fans, really, then we wouldn’t have to worry about expectations…

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:16:37 +0000

thanks for the link and comments, dew.

I don’t think you have to be bombastic about demanding accountability in order to express those expectations and I certainly don’t propose (or expect) that Jim Pohlad start going public with threats and criticism of Gardy and Mauer, though since he is ultimately their employer, based on some folks opinions that’s the only person who should feel entitled to express dissatisfaction with their performance since we’re “just fans” and not qualified or entitled to express our dissatisfaction.

I agree that to do no more than demand a member of the organization be fired/traded/released/sent down reflects poorly on the fan making the comment. I see it as being lazy. I’ve tried to express WHY I feel certain people in the organization have underperformed and how I feel they could and should improve their performance. I feel doing so is something I’m entitled to do, given the amount of time, money and emotion I invest in being a Twins fan and I don’t believe anyone who expresses criticism is a fair-weather fan. A fair-weather fan, in my mind, simply stops caring about the team when they struggle.

By: dewluca

dewluca — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:51:12 +0000

Since you mentioned the Yankees . . .
Seems to me you haven’t really talked about accountability (yet?). Hate the Yankees if you must (seems like a requirement for being a Twins fan), but one thing that organization has had is accountability. This quotation from a piece about George Steinbrenner in this week’s New Yorker sums it up perfectly:
“His approach to managing the Yankees was to buy the best available player and—at least in his louder days—to hold that player, along with his manager, publicly accountable for the performance of the entire team.”

GS would not hem and haw about whether or not he thought a misplaced bunt was a stupid thing to do. That player would be benched and publicly humiliated. The result: teams that work hard not to do stupid things (and tend to play nearly perfect baseball).

[JC-You might also appreciate that GS "kept a life-size cutout of John Wayne in his suite at the Regency."]

Unfortunately, I don’t hear fans demanding that the Twins work more on fundamentals, or learn how to focus their attention, or (a-hem) review the NL rules before playing an interleague game so they don’t make stupid errors. What I hear is “so-and-so SUCKS, get rid of him”.

Is that the managing style you propose? Do you immediately fire anyone who isn’t performing up to your expectations? Or do you work on the specific things they are doing wrong?

Frankly, I’m tired of all the screaming and whining and back seat driving. And surprised at what fair-weather fans the Twins fans seem to be. I really don’t understand baseball fans who are only happy when their team is in first place. You really have all picked the wrong sport. Or, you should all switch and become Yankees fans . . .

Going back to just enjoying the game I love,
dew

You can read the full NewYorker story at: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/07/26/100726ta_talk_mcgrath

By: Tweets that mention First Rule of Leadership: Everything is Your Fault! | Knuckleballs -- Topsy.com

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:11:31 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DR, Knuckleballs Blog. Knuckleballs Blog said: New post: First Rule of Leadership: Everything is Your Fault! http://bit.ly/cnwMc1 #Twins #stribtwins [...]

By: Piranhtachew

Piranhtachew — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:38:13 +0000

Don’t fans set themselves up as that by deciding whether to pay attention to the team?

By: fenring

fenring — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:39:00 +0000

Also, there would be no MLB without passionate fans. Gardy wouldn’t have taken the job is he was too worried about criticism. I’m sure his paycheck soothes some of his anxiety.

By: fenring

fenring — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:27:49 +0000

I agree with JC. If it’s a couple of players, it’s on the players. When it’s endemic, it’s the organization. Gardy runs that part of the organization. That doesn’t mean he should be fired right away,but he should take responsibility. He needs to find a way to motivate this team. Wins are a part of his job definition, and while it might not be part of our job def to criticize him, it is our right to do so. Maybe the team needs massive criticism so they can go to the old “us against them bunker mentality” if that’s all they can come up with.

By: JB_Iowa

JB_Iowa — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:26:31 +0000

Not going to argue about whether Ron Gardenhire should be fired …. but doing the same things in the same old way is NOT working here. He seems incredibly bull-headed about not shaking things up. Then, when he does move players around for 1 game, the next day its back to the same-old, same-old regardless of what’s been effective.

I know he likes his veteran players … but for the most part they are under-performing. They all look to me like they could use a good jolt.