As the story goes….there were two monks standing alongside a shallow river when a beautiful young lady came across them and asked for a favor.
“I really need to get to the other side,” the damsel in distress said. “would it be possible for one of you to carry me across so I don’t get my new clothes wet?”
The first monk said of course, he would help. But the second monk warned: “We took a solemn vow of complete chastity…we are not even supposed to look at a beautiful woman, let alone come into contact with one and carry her.”
Nevertheless the first monk carried out his good deed…and with the beautiful young girl in tow, her arms wrapped tightly around him, he waded through the water and carried her to the other side.
An hour later…as the two monks continued walking along, the second monk was still quite troubled by the actions of the first….”I still can’t believe you went against everything we were taught, everything we committed to….and carried that girl across the river…I must tell you that I’m still quite distraught by your actions.”
The first monk paused…then quietly said: “My good friend…I dropped the young lady off on the other side of the river an hour ago…you, on the other hand, still carry her.”
Well…it’s a good old story, anyway…and in case you didn’t quite grasp it all…the moral is that the one who can move on is always going to better off than the one who carries resentment along with them.
Now…for why we bring it up today.
But first, a quick question: Of all of the athletes, in all of the sports…which athlete would you say the city of San Diego hates the most? Here’s a hint: Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips and the rest of the Chargers will be trying to tear his head off this Sunday afternoon in the Meadowlands.
And you’ll be rooting for them to do it — and maybe not just figuratively.
Look…it’s pretty easy to understand why we all despise Eli Manning, quarterback of the New York Giants. After all, we feel as if he dissed every single one of us back in 2004 when even before the Chargers selected him with the first pick in the NFL draft, Manning announced that he would refuse to come to San Diego.
Advised by his annoying father, Archie — who had ridden out his NFL career in the obscurity of New Orleans — Eli deemed that it would be best for him to play where the stage was brightest…and he practically orchestrated (seemingly on his own) a trade from the far-away shores of America’s Finest City to Broadway.
Frankly, whether we like it or not, it all has worked out pretty well for Manning. After sitting and learning for a half-season behind Kurt Warner with Giants, Manning took over as the starter…A couple of years later — while maybe not quite to the adornment of the great Broadway Joe three-and-a-half decades earlier — Eli was the toast of the Big Apple after leading New York to a Super Bowl title.
Shortly thereafter, in partnership with his even more-revered brother Peyton, Manning began to rake in the really big bucks he must have dreamed of when sponsorship and commercial ad opportunities flooded in his direction.
Would any of it happened had Manning come to San Diego? To be honest with you, it’s doubtful…Even a Super Bowl title with the Chargers would not have brought to Manning the same fame and fortune he’s received in Manhattan.
A better question, though, is why Manning’s cold shoulder still bothers us here in our sleepy-little border town. To me, if a guy would rather not come here (for whatever egotistical or monetary reasons he may have), I’d rather know about it right up front.
Had Manning accepted his draft fate and come to San Diego with a chip on his shoulder, chances are things wouldn’t have worked out very well for either he or us…I mean, wouldn’t it have been a whole lot nicer if Ryan Leaf would have just told everybody he was going to be a complete jerk and malingerer before he ever got to town?
Would have saved everybody a lot of headaches.
The other good thing about that way things turned out with Manning is that we got Philip Rivers instead (plus Merriman and Nate Kaeding). And, despite Manning’s shiny Super Bowl ring and penthouse Park Avenue apartment (or wherever it is he lives back there)….I’ll take Rivers — and his blue-collar work effort and more-impressive skill set any day of the week.
So…maybe it’s just simply time for us to stop caring about what Eli Manning did, way back when, five years ago…He’s happy in New York, and believe me, he doesn’t care a lick about what any of us here in San Diego think of him…We’re happy in San Diego, and why should we give him the satisfaction of knowing that we still care.
Think about that Sunday when you watch the Chargers and Giants play. And then think about this: which of the two monks by the river would you rather be?
– Ello –
