Honor Your Talent

i’m sickened by stories of wasted talent — especially where coupled with reckless abandon. sure, moms love to tell their children how special they are. the fact remains that so few people are truly talented. when i heard what u.s. soccer forward charlie davies did, i had to hit the board. imagine this for a moment. you’re talented enough to make the u.s. national soccer team. you help them defeat spain in the 2009 confederation cup (about one year before spain would win the world cup). then you’re a passenger a terrible car accident. one of your friends is killed. you sustain the following injuries: two broken bones in your right leg, a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and bleeding on the brain. you’re unable to compete in the 2010 world cup (after years of training and preparation). in your wildest dreams — would you even come close to speeding to the tune of 125 mph behind these incidents? le progres newspaper reported friday that davies was driving an audi q7 last sunday when he was caught on a motorway in france’s jura region. nice whip, true, but come on. maybe i’m just not sympathetic enough. how do you forget something so traumatic from just one year earlier? what does this say when someone so talented is willing to risk it all? if you’re troubled, then please get help. true talent is rare in the untied states. mediocrity is everywhere you look.