"Let's Play Two"

Ernie Banks, the eternal sunshine of sports loved the game of baseball. His full quote was "It's a beautiful day for a ball game, let's play two!" he was not as quotable as Yogi Berra but his inspiration was and is contagious. He played the game with pure joy and gratitude and I loved to watch him. He was interviewed on NPR today about Obama's Nobel Prize award, but more about that later. The interview came at an opportune time for me. This time last year I was in cancer treatment. It has been a long hard road back but this week was particularly good. For the first time I felt like I had my mind back. Once again I looked at real estate as pure joy and love. So in honor of Mr. Banks, I would like to put his quotes in real estate terms.

Let's play two. Ernie Banks could have come to the majors a bitter man. He was segrated in the Negro Leagues until baseball was finally integrated. Instead, he focused on the game he loved. The result, everbody loved him. You couldn't help it. In real estate if we take that same joy, and regardless of why we got into the business, this exuburance will catch on with our clients. They may be grumpy some times or negative, but if you play the game of real estate like Ernie, you keep smiling and tell them it will be all right. treat other Realtors the same way by helping not judging. We will leave this business a better place, and hopefully like Ernie Banks we will leave much loved.

I really care, but not too much. Let's face it Ernie's Cubs were bad. Jimmy Dykes said "Without him, the Cubs would finish in Albuquerque". When asked today about what it was like to play his whole career with a perennial loser, he said this quote. Sure it hurt to lose, but there was always the next game. We have many times in real estate where we are disappointed, and deals don't work out and yes it hurts, but like Ernie hopefully not too much. Sometimes failure is the only way that we get to see our true character. Ernie banks as a team player experienced more failure that we could ever have, but he never let it stop his drive for excellence.

I haven't really done anything. When asked about his honors like being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame and many more honors where he was feted, he made this remark. Excussse me! Until Cal Ripken, his 512 career home runns and 277 as a shortstop was the record for that position. What he meant was unlike President Obama all he did was play baseball. he didn't cure cancer or contribute to world peace. On World peace I beg to differ Mr. Banks. Your selfless attitude, your joy of the game, and your humbleness at the privilege of doing exactly what you wanted to do in life contributes to world peace. The ego is a great enemy often times. I don't care how successful we have been, how many deals we have closed, we didn't creat the Salk Vaccine for polio. let's be like Ernie and keep ourselves in perspective.

Finally, let me say that for commission, this has been one of my worst years in real estate, but I am okay. I am still breathing, and I have finally come back to waking up in the morning with an attitude that says, what are we going to learn and accomplish today. It has been very difficult for me, and I know that those of you out there who have gone through severe medical issues share my experience. But today I want to thank Mr. Banks for being 79 years old, loving every minute of life, and never believing that anyone he meets is a stranger. Ernie, i will wake up in the morning, thinking about real estate, and saying, "Let's play two".