Trump followed Boss’s playbook
Huskies are named Big East Defensive PoY, Sixth Man
Donald Trump is no George Steinbrenner.
This comes out of left field. Right? Wrong. Trump hung out with Steinbrenner. It seemed as if Trump wanted to be another Steinbrenner.
In fact, news reports indicated Steinbrenner had considerable influence over Trump. Steinbrenner was a mentor. Something quite unusual for Trump.
They both had wealthy successful fathers. Each was strong willed. Highly competitive. Winning was important. Their path to success was completely different. George’s father, Henry was a graduate of MIT. A star athlete, recognized nationally. Served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve during the Second World War. Made his money in family shipbuilding.
Frederic Trump, Donald’s father took a different route. He worked his way up in residential real estate. as a worker and then as an owner. Known to be frugal and at times involved in less than legal transactions. He was from Germany but told his tenants he was Swedish. Many were Jewish and he was concerned about offending them. He also did a number of other things that were not completely kosher. He was reported to have been arrested attending a KKK rally. Then released.
George Steinbrenner had a reputation of being ruthless. Tough. Verbally abusive. Uncompromising. Did not pay suppliers promptly. Surrounded himself with achievers and then mistreated them. And fired them. He involved himself in all aspects of his business. Controlling. He must have thought he was above the law. Big mistake. He was banned from baseball on two different occasions.
You could substitute George’s name for Donald’s and you wouldn’t be too far off.
There was one big difference. George wanted his success to be through the New York Yankees. He was an innovator and not afraid to spend money on talent. Even to an excess at times. He had a hot property. He loved it. Nurtured it. And it thrived.
Trump had a different love. Himself. He too, has for several years been on the fringe of the penal system and the outlook is not bright for him.
I can tell you that some of my observations about Steinbrenner are realtime, live. I presented an advertising campaign to him. It was different than he requested. His reaction was indescribable. He went bananas. Cursed me and his marketing director. Banged on his table. Called us four-letter words I never heard before. Told us to leave. I didn’t. I sat and stared at him. It worked. He listened to what I had to say and changed his tune. I thought he was going to jump across his table and hug me.
Both men used the media to their advantage. Steinbrenner’s advice to Trump was if you’re looking for attention and want to get on page one, not the back page, say or do whatever you want. Controversial helps. Trump has followed that to a “T.”
Twitter has been his vehicle. Diversion, his device. The more outrageous his proposal, the more attention he got. The further away from his legal issues. The media gobbled it up. Audiences gobbled it up. Pro and con. It didn’t matter.
He would promise the moon, the stars, Mars, and give them the swamp his cabinet swam in.
Apparently, he started to believe his own propaganda. There was no basis for it, but it seemed to give him a sense of sanity. And entitlement. At some level, he could hear the jangle of the handcuffs. At a rally he said that if he loses the election, he might have to leave the country.
Steinbrenner seemed to have confidence in himself. Trump, almost none. Steinbrenner wanted to be No. 1 in baseball. Trump, No. 1 at almost everything. “Make believe” was Trump’s mantra. What pressure. He had to appear like a star in everything he did.
He bragged about his grades at school but wouldn’t let anyone see his transcripts. He was classified 1A, eligible to serve in the military during Vietnam but his father made a financial arrangement with a tenant of his, a podiatrist to provide a false medical report classifying him 4F, unsuitable for the draft. This coming from two children of the podiatrist.
In his need to excel, Trump had his internist submit a medical report stating he was a picture of health. The internist said Trump wrote the report for the doctor to sign. To protect himself, Trump had three large men go to the doctor’s office and take all of his medical reports. The doctor’s reaction “I felt raped, frightened and sad” (NBC News). Does this make you feel warm and fuzzy?
To go a step further, Trump didn’t seem to have feelings. Except for himself. And maybe some family members. His wielding power is manifest in the construction business. Many small business people worked for him. He was known not to pay them the agreed-upon fee, forcing them to settle for lower compensation or go to court.
A key reason some supporters voted for him was his background as a businessman. His star didn’t shine in this area. He had a vodka business, an airline, a football team, a university (all went kaput). His gamble with Atlantic City ended up with snake eyes.
So what does all this mean? Not facing the truth and making and creating a whole new persona is a sign of a weakling. A coward. He spends hours on his hair and his overall look. In addition to other things, the man is not trustworthy.
There is one last trait he shares with George Steinbrenner. Intimidation. It has been an effective tool in winning his way with a significant number of Republican lawmakers. Rumor has it that those lawmakers have applied for a backbone transplant.
While Trump is still dominating page one, he is not in control of its message. No World Series here.
In UConn’s first year back in the Big East, it has claimed an award it dominated back in its heyday.
Isaiah Whaley has been named the league’s co-Defensive Player of the Year. He shares the award with St. John’s freshman Posh Alexander.
Meanwhile, fellow UConn senior forward Tyler Polley won the league’s Sixth Man Award.
Whaley, UConn’s 6-foot-9 senior forward, finished second in the Big East in blocked shots both in overall games (2.7) and conference games (2.53). Only Seton Hall 7footer Ike Obiagu (2.76, 2.68) averaged more.
Whaley was hardly a one-dimensional shot-blocker, however.
His ability to hedge on a ball screen would rank among the best in the country, if such things were measured, and his disruptive, on-theball defense has helped contain players like Sandro Mamukelashvili, who was repeatedly blocked and pestered by Whaley in UConn’s most recent bout with Seton Hall.
Whaley helped spearhead a Husky defense that ranked first in the Big East in scoring defense at 65.5 points per game and second in field goal percentage defense at 41.8.
Its the eighth time a UConn player has been named Big East Defensive Player of the Year, and the first time since Hasheem Thabeet won it in consecutive seasons
(2008, 2009). Other past Husky winners were Hilton Armstrong (2006), Josh Boone (2005), Emeka Okafor (2003, 2004) and Donyell Marshall (1994).
Amida Brimah was named the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2015.
Alexander led the Big East in steals (2.6) and ranked eighth nationally.
Polley, a 6-9 forward, is averaging 7.6 points per game and shooting 36 percent from 3-point range in 19 games this season — all but three as a reserve off the bench. He was never better than on Jan. 5, when he poured in a career-high 24 points and five 3-pointers to spearhead UConn’s rally from an 18-point deficit to a win at Marquette.
Polley followed that up four days later with 19 points in a win at Butler and was named Big East Player of the Week. He rebounded this season after suffering a season-ending torn ACL injury in January, 2020.
Other Big East awards announced ono Monday were co-Most Improved Player (St. John’s Julian Champagnie, Xavier’s Zach Freemantle) and Sportsmanship Award (Creighton’s Mitch Ballock). The league’s Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Scholar-Athlete Award will be announce on Wednesday.
All Big East postseason awards are voted on by the league’s coaches, who can’t vote for their own players.
UConn begins Big East tournament play on Thursday at 9 p.m. at Madison Square Garden against the winner of Wednesday night’s Providence-DePaul bout.