Dress to Impress

I was always told growing up that, regardless of my position in life, I should try to dress for success. Some may see it as a cocky way to express false wealth, but I always agreed that dressing up is a great way to gain respect amongst your peers. Even if you have no idea what you are talking about, you’ll not only be noticed, but people will know that you take what you do seriously.

When I look at the sidelines during soccer games, I can’t help but notice what the managers are wearing. There’s basically two types of managers: those that wear suits, and those that wear their training kit. To be honest, I think managers that wear their training kits on matchday are tacky and tasteless. The managers with the most success in recent times all seem to dress well, separating themselves from their team and commanding authority. For example, I’ve never seen Jose Mourinho rock Chelsea’s or Inter’s training kit on the sideline since he has been in charge. The same goes for Fabio Capello and even newboy Pep Guardiola at Barcelona. The success between those three managers alone in recent times has been incredible.

Then you’ve got guys like Steve Bruce at Sunderland and the current US Men’s National Team manager Bob Bradley. You can argue that they have been somewhat successful in their time as managers as well, but by no means can they be mentioned in the same breath of success as the aforementioned. I don’t understand. It’s not really that hard to throw a suit on for ninety minutes and look the part. I tend to look at the people that are successful in whatever it is I want to be successful in and try to emulate them. Dressing to impress may not get you to the finals, but at least you’ll look good while you try.

Current FC Barcelona Manager – Champions League Winner 2009

Current Chelsea Manager – Champions League Champion with AC Milan 2003,2007

Current Inter Milan Manager – Champions League Champion 2004 with Porto – Premier League Champion with Chelsea FC 2005,2006

Current Sunderland Manager – Has bounced around high Championship/low Premier League sides

Current US Men’s National Team Manager – Experienced some success in the MLS as well as this year’s Confederations Cup – World Cup 2010 will be a test.

Former Burnley Manager from 2004-2007. Currently without a job.

Current England Manager – Won the Champions League with Milan, La Liga with Real Madrid, and the Serie A with several Italian Clubs. Obviously dresses for success with strapped sandals and a speedo.

Tweet Tweet

Twitter has taken the world by storm, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Everyone seems to be tweeting. High school students share their biggest fears while world famous athletes hold competitions rewarding their followers. Some of the most famous people in the world, like Shaquille O’Neal, Lance Armstrong, and Ashton Kutcher have more than 2 million people reading their thoughts every day in 140 character increments. These accounts have proven a great way for fans and the general public to get a sneak peak inside the lives of their favorite athletes and celebrities.

As wonderful as it is for athletes to be spilling their guts and saying whatever they feel whenever they feel, it couldn’t be a bigger nightmare for their employers. Prior to blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets, professional teams were able to monitor and approve all interviews. If players said something somewhat controversial, it would be erased from the interview and the public would never see it. Twitter has changed the game, though.

Although its old news, Darren Bent made it completely clear how he felt about his situation at Tottenham Hotspurs this summer before his account was shut down. Thousands and thousands of fans, media sources, and apparently club officials were shocked when they saw Bent reveal his true feelings:

“Seriously getting p***** off now”

“Why can’t anything be simple. It’s so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***.”

“Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around, Levy. Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest.”

I’m not a genius, but if someone possesses your rights, I probably wouldn’t recommend telling them to “stop f****** around.” At least he learned, though. In his first press conference after signing for Sunderland, Bent explained what happened on Twitter. Skip to 5:25 to hear what he says about opening a new account.

His new account can be reached at http://twitter.com/DBTheTruth.

Several weeks ago, after showing up late for the team bus to Portsmouth, Hull City striker and American starlet Jozy Altidore tweeted:

“Apologize to all of you. I showed up late. Made a big mistake I’m very very sorry.”

Not only did Phil Brown drop him from the squad, but he also hit Jozy with a two week fine for revealing why he had been dropped from the squad. Brown cited that Jozy’s absence from the squad was a private team matter that didn’t need to be revealed. You really have to wonder, though. Do we really live in a world where when you mess up at work the first thing you think to do is make it public?

The world is changing and definitely for the better. Twitter allows us common folk to get a glimpse of the glamour that surrounds the rich and famous, as well as their daily routines. I personally follow several Premier League, NFL, and NBA players and love seeing where exactly they are and what exactly they are doing. I only hope that these players are smart enough to know what can and can’t be made public to the millions of people watching.