{"id":6027,"date":"2016-03-20T01:58:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-20T05:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6027"},"modified":"2016-03-20T01:58:44","modified_gmt":"2016-03-20T05:58:44","slug":"the-underdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6027","title":{"rendered":"the underdog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1433162653888-a571db5ccccf\"<\/a>For nine years, Shoeshine Boy’s heroic alter ego blessed many via his appearance on Saturday morning\u2019s weekly slate of cartoons. “There’s no need to fear; Underdog is here!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026When in this world the headlines read<\/em>
\n Of those whose hearts are filled with greed<\/em>
\n Who rob and steal from those who need<\/em>
\n To right this wrong with blinding speed<\/em>
\n Goes Underdog! Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!<\/em>
\n Speed of lightning, roar of thunder<\/em>
\n Fighting all who rob or plunder<\/em>
\n Underdog. Underdog!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As we currently find ourselves wrapped in both the madness of March and current election cycle, I find myself dreaming of those simple Saturday morning cartoons\u2026 Underdog!<\/em> The underdog is the little guy \u2014 the David in the world of Goliaths, the competitor thought to have little chance to win, with little to no societal status. The beauty of the underdog \u2014 if we pause long enough to see it \u2014 is that he is someone who is \u201chumble\u201d and \u201clovable.\u201d In fact, his humility is much of what actually makes him so lovable.<\/p>\n

I find myself thinking that encouraged humility is rare these days; it\u2019s as if we\u2019ve allowed humility to somehow have become equated with weakness or being imposed upon. Thus in this world where we continually aver to \u201cstand up for oneself\u201d and \u201cnot take crud from anybody,\u201d we\u2019ve somehow suppressed the consistent encouragement of humility.<\/p>\n

We also applaud ample behavioral contradictions\u2026 all the ongoing chest thumping and bumping, the social media rants and frequent \u201ctake that\u2019s,\u201d the disrespectful protests and deafening cheers \u2014 like it doesn\u2019t matter who else may be affected by our behavior. And when it doesn\u2019t matter who else is affected, conceit \u2014 the opposite of humility \u2014 creeps in.<\/p>\n

Conceit often seems a more accepted societal position. And when we willingly embrace that excessive pride in oneself and our way of thinking, we forget that in humility, there is something beautiful; in the underdog, there is something beautiful\u2026<\/p>\n

There is something beautiful in the NCAA men\u2019s college basketball tournament, when the underdogs labeled as the 13th, 14th, and 15th seeds all win on the same day\u2026<\/em>
\n There is something beautiful when a tiny mid-major school succeeds over a prominent basketball powerhouse\u2026<\/em>
\n There is something beautiful in the \u201clittle guy\u201d banking in a miraculous, last-second three point shot \u2014 perhaps the \u201cbest shot ever,\u201d as some would go on to say.<\/em><\/p>\n

No one expected these \u201clittle guys\u201d to win.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it; there is no expectation of winning in the underdog. If you win, it\u2019s a gift. It\u2019s an opportunity. It\u2019s a blessing. Blessings should never be confused with entitlement or expectation.<\/p>\n

And yet infused in our society, we tend to utilize a colloquial language so inundated with self\u2026 \u201cI, me, my, myself,\u201d my spouse and I often say. Too many of us too often employ a vocabulary centered on self. \u201cWe\u201d are often the subject of our sentences.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like the athlete or politician who believes they\u2019re God\u2019s gift to the world. Friends, let me be very clear: we are never God\u2019s gift to the world; the world is God\u2019s gift to us. I think the underdog knows that.<\/p>\n

The majority of \u201cUnderdog\u201d cartoons ended with a common scene. A crowd of people would look up to the sky, saying, “Look in the sky!” “It’s a plane!” “It’s a bird!”<\/em><\/p>\n

An elderly woman would then exclaim, “It’s a frog!”<\/em><\/p>\n

“A frog?!”<\/em> said another.<\/p>\n

To this, Underdog replied:
\n\u201cNot plane, nor bird, nor even frog,<\/em>
\n It’s just little old me. Underdog.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Little old me\u2026 the little guy. Humble. Lovable. There\u2019s something beautiful in that.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For nine years, Shoeshine Boy’s heroic alter ego blessed many via his appearance on Saturday morning\u2019s weekly slate of cartoons. “There’s no need to fear; Underdog is here!\u201d \u201c\u2026When in this world the headlines read Of those whose hearts are filled with greed Who rob and steal from those who need To right this wrong … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “the underdog”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[569],"class_list":["post-6027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","category-current-issue","tag-2016-ncaa-mens-basketball-tournament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6027"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6034,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6027\/revisions\/6034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}