Rant of the Exiles

Jujimufu doesn't need CrossFit It took me a couple tries at first. I couldn’t quite climb high enough up the rock wall to grab the overhang. But eventually I got comfortable enough with the holds to reach out, grab the ledge, and crank out three pull-ups before jumping to the ground.  Without a doubt, this was the strangest job interview I had ever participated in or even heard about. I spent five hours at Castle Rock State Park with my interviewer - hiking, climbing, and fielding questions about small group ministry philosophy and God’s sovereignty. In advance of the interview excursion, I was only told that “we’re going on an adventure so dress accordingly”. During my candidacy process with Garden City Church, I was asked which high school team sports I had played, how I would function as part of a team, and finally, whether I would take advantage of the CrossFit membership benefit. It turns out...

A response to this well-written  article . I am unlucky. In the lottery of life, I came up empty. I lost because I have college educated parents who placed achievement over athletics, were Asian, not very tall, and not very good at sports. I live in a safe neighborhood and was unfortunate enough to have attended a local high school that had a nationally ranked speech and debate team but a very crappy basketball team. Due to the lack of diversity in my student population, I am not playing in the National Basketball Association. That's why I support affirmative action for the NBA. I was shocked after attending a Golden State Warriors game recently. Most of the players were black. This does not reflect the demographic of California. Upon further research, I discovered the NBA is 78% black. I could not believe this lack of diversity. Clearly, blacks are overrepresented in the NBA whereas Asians are an underrepresented minority. We must begin reversing this trend today. 1) Th...

I am a fidgety person. I cannot sit still. And when seated, I love shaking my leg and it drives my wife crazy. Motion has a calming effect on me. It helps me concentrate. I especially need to do something with my hands. I remember in middle school all my friends (three Asian guys) would twirl their writing devices around their thumb. They would sit there listening to the teacher and spend the entire class session twirling their pens. I was always bitter I wasn't coordinated enough to do it. My sixth grade teacher, Ms. Delbridge, let me entertain myself with modeling clay during her class. I would make tanks and alien creatures.  She allowed it because she knew I was listening. Every now and then, I would pause to ask or answer a question and then go back to molding my gray block. I never had a problem staying engaged in that class - both because of the content and because of the creative freedom she gave me. Fast forward almost twenty years. My former company sends m...

My brother got me David Epstein's book The Sports Gene . It is a fascinating quick read. If you're interested in sports and science, it will enthrall you.  I finished it in three days. Epstein's point is that far more of an athlete's performance is due to genetics than due to the so-called "10,000 hour" rule promulgated by books such as Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin (both which are very good). The 10,000 hour rule states that any person can reach expert level of performance in a sport if they devote 10,000 hours of deliberate and intentional practice.  That's a lot of hours. Most people aren't capable of anywhere close. And that's precisely Epstein's point. Someone who devotes 10,000 hours of sport-specific practice is likely genetically gifted for the sport in extraordinary ways AND genetically gifted in their ability to persevere and benefit from practice. Therefore, a person who can pra...

 According to one source , Jeremy Lin is an average point guard in the National Basketball Association. His season stats are pretty good but not All-Star caliber. His scoring is down slightly from last season because he has a different team and a different role. I couldn't be more ecstatic about this. It means that Jeremy is an ordinary NBA player. It means that he's not that big of a deal. It means that he's getting by at his job. To be average in an elite cadre of 500 of the best basketball players and top athletes in the world is nothing short of extraordinary. For overachieving Asian Americans, being average is garbage. Getting a "C" is failure. Getting a "satisfactory" is humiliating. Most of us won't attempt anything where we can only "get by". But the reality is there has never been an average Asian American NBA player. Yao Ming is exceptional both in ability but also in height. Being 7'6" does not make you normal....