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Forgotten Democratic Presidential Candidates

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Every election cycle, the Democratic and Republican parties announce their final presidential candidates, and those two obviously get the most attention. Along the way, there are many nominees that attempt to get elected but are knocked out in the primaries. Over the course of the Democratic Party, there have been some interesting names that were interesting but didn’t make it all the way to November. Here are some of those forgotten Democratic presidential candidates:

John Wolfe Jr.

Not many party nominees would be willing to unseat an incumbent that’s up for reelection, but don’t tell that to John Wolfe Jr. In 2012, Wolfe (who had lost four congressional elections in Tennessee by that point) attempted to take Barack Obama’s Democratic Party bid. While he ultimately wouldn’t come close, he still did have the second most delegates with 23.

Dennis Kucinich

The former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, Dennis Kucinich had a lot of momentum going into the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. Unfortunately for Kucinich, he took on the more famous John Kerry in his first bid and then the massively popular Barack Obama in the second. Kucinich continued to serve as a congressman following his two lost bids and was unsuccessful in trying to reclaim his spot as Cleveland’s mayor in 2021.

Bill Bradley

A former professional basketball player who went to Princeton, Bill Bradley had a long career in politics, serving as a senator representing New Jersey from 1979 until 1997. After his term in the Senate, Bradley ran for President in 2000, but it was an ill-advised run. Bradley would be pitted against Al Gore, who had just got done serving eight years as the country’s Vice President and was a shoo-in for the Democratic nod.

Lyndon LaRouche

Very few people have been as persistent in their attempts to become the President as Lyndon LaRouche. LaRouche was in charge of his own movement and represented the Socialist Workers from 1949 until 1964, then the Labor Party from 1973 until 1979, running for President under the latter party in 1976. LaRouche then switched over to the Democratic Party, where he received some votes but was never considered a serious candidate due to his imprisonment. In total, LaRouche ran in every election from 1976 until 2000.

Jerry Brown

After serving as the Governor of California from 1975 until 1983, Jerry Brown attempted to run for Senate but ultimately lost. Brown then set his sights even higher, running as the Democratic nominee for President during the 1992 election. Brown had some early momentum, but Bill Clinton’s popularity skyrocketed, leaving Brown behind. Brown would then become the Mayor of Oakland before returning to the Governorship in California.

Gary Hart

Back in 1984, Gary Hart was serving as a Senator representing Colorado when he decided to run for President. Hart had a strong run, but was ultimately defeated by Walter Mondale. Hart then ran again in 1988 and was well on his way to earning the nomination. However, an affair scandal derailed his campaign, ultimately leading to Michael Dukakis winning the nomination. Hart’s career would recover, returning to the Senate and then working under Barack Obama as the Vice Chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council and US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.

John Glenn

Gary Hart wasn’t the only Democratic hopeful in 1984 that people may have forgotten about. Astronaut John Glenn also ran for President during that election cycle, but would end up coming in fourth place. Glenn had a long resume by that time, having served in World War II, eventually becoming the first American to orbit Earth, and was also a Senator representing Ohio. After Glenn’s bid didn’t result in him being on the final ticket, Glenn returned to his Senate duties where he served for just over 24 years, retiring in 1999 and heading to space one more time before his death in 2016.

Is Plagiarism Illegal?

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Whether you’re writing something professionally and have a tight deadline or you’re a student trying to churn out a massive paper that takes up most of your grade, it can be tempting to copy someone else’s work. However, directly copying someone’s work is an act of plagiarism, and can land you in hot water.

Plagiarism doesn’t have to be a direct copy, either. Simply stealing someone’s idea or converting their spoken word into your own print can also be considered plagiarism. There have been a countless number of people to commit plagiarism and not even know it. You can hear or see something once, and write it down as your own, completely unaware that you’re plagiarising at that moment.

But is plagiarism a crime? The answer is both yes and no. Let’s take a look at the specifics of plagiarism and see the scenarios in which legal action can be taken against someone that commits it.

Not Criminal

If you think that because you copy and paste something out of a textbook onto your semester-end research paper you’re going to go to jail, don’t worry. Doing so is not considered a criminal act, but you could face serious repercussions with your school. Committing plagiarism on accident or in a very small dose will likely just lead to the paper having to be edited or a knock against your grade. The most egregious forms of academic plagiarism, though, can lead to a full expulsion.

However, we’re talking about the United States, where plagiarism itself is not a crime at the federal or state levels. That doesn’t mean that you can’t go to jail in other countries. In certain parts of the world, plagiarism is a jailable offense. In fact, Montenegro made plagiarism a crime in 2017, but that’s a rare case. For the most part, the worst that can happen legally when someone commits plagiarism is a civil infraction.

Paying the Price

In more severe cases of plagiarism, someone that commits this act may be looking at infractions linked to plagiarism. This includes copyright infringement, which frequently leads to civil suits when monetary gain was made with copyrighted work. If you’re posting a quote from Bill Gates in your essay or using Mickey Mouse’s likeness in an office memo, the chances of facing any punishment are basically zero.

There are a lot of cases in which plagiarism can be avoided simply by giving credit to the person that created the original work. Instead of simply copying and pasting what someone wrote word for word, you can make a reference to it. The standard is to cite the work, give it its own paragraph in your writing, and italicize it (if digital). This makes it clear that you’re simply using this work as a source instead of your own creation. For example:

“To engage in downright plagiarism is disappointing. It’s cynical, opportunistic and hypocritical.” -Saul Bass

Checking For Plagiarism

These days, it can be more tempting to plagiarise since there are so many thoughts that have already been put out into the internet thanks to the countless blogs and websites available. However, it’s also easier to detect. Instead of waiting until someone else checks your work for plagiarism and facing serious consequences, check for any potential plagiarism yourself through one of the online trackers.

A plagiarism tracker will scour the internet to see how much of your work matches with someone else’s. If there is a small overlap, it’s not a big cause for concern. You may be writing about the exact same topic, and therefore will be using a lot of the same words. The higher the score on a plagiarism checker, though, the more you’ll want to proofread your work and edit what you need so that you don’t get into trouble.

What Did The First ATP Tennis Ranking Look Like?

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To determine who the best tennis players in the world are, a rankings system is used with players compiling points throughout the events of the previous 52 weeks. Though not a perfect method for determining the top players in order, it’s a great way to determine who has been the strongest performer on the biggest stages in the past year.

Breaking down how the system works, winning Grand Slam events is obviously the fastest way to get big points, with the champion of each of the four tournaments receiving 2,000 ATP points. Points are also given to anyone reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Other tournaments aren’t nearly as prestigious points-wise, but you can still get 1,000 for winning an ATP Masters 1000 event. Points are given all the way down to the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour with Futures M15 event winners taking home 15 ATP points.

The ATP rankings haven’t always been a part of professional tennis, however. In the early days of the sport, the criteria to enter tournaments and where you were placed in the bracket were strictly up to tournament personnel and the tennis federations for each country. Then, the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) union was born in 1973, paving the way for earlier rounds of the tournament to be more balanced while the later rounds were more competitive with the top players frequently meeting for the title instead of at random spots throughout a tournament.

As part of the union forming, an objective rankings system was one of the biggest goals that players had in mind. Beforehand, rankings were determined mostly by how big of a draw a certain player was. “The ranking system was a hot point for the players and it continued to be very important,” said Stan Smith, a player who had been at the top of the rankings during that time.

With players taking more control of professional tennis over the organizers, the rankings system was finally introduced to the world for men’s singles tennis on August 23, 1973. In that first edition, Bob Kramer had been gathering results for the past 52 weeks in any way that he could. Whether it be mail or telephone, Kramer spent countless hours making sure the rankings were just right.

With 186 players being ranked in total, legendary American player Jimmy Connors started off the top 10. Tom Okker, Adriano Panatta, John Newcombe, and Ken Rosewall took the ninth through sixth spots, respectively. Australian Rod Laver was in the fifth spot, with Arthur Ashe just ahead of him. The previously mentioned Stan Smith was in third, with Spain’s Manuel Orantes at second. Finally, the world’s first ATP number one ranked player was Ilie Nastase of Romania.

Nastase would go on to win seven Grand Slam titles across singles and doubles competitions and was actually the first athlete to endorse the Nike brand. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Nastase was one of the few players that were apprehensive of the rankings despite being number one, saying that the number was “hanging” over each player. In regards to being the inaugural number one, Nastase said “I won eight tournaments in a row to do it.”

A little more than two years after the men received their first ranking, the WTA rankings were released for the first time in November 1975. Chris Evert was the first female at the top of the world rankings, and she would reach that number one spot on nine different occasions in her illustrious career.

As for who has held the most time spent at number one since the rankings were released, they are records that are unlikely to ever be broken. A player on either the men’s or women’s side would have to hold the number spot for more than a combined seven years to top Novak Djokovic or Steffi Graf.

5 Democratic Politicians Who Surprisingly Failed To Achieve The Presidency

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Throughout the course of American history, there have been plenty of politicians that many felt were primed for at least one term in the White House. Not everything goes as planned, though, and all parties know that. The Democrats have had many of these candidates, with some losing out in the presidential election while some were ousted in the primaries. Out of all of the Democratic nominees, here are the five who surprised people the most by never achieving the presidency.

5. Howard Dean

Heading into the 2004 presidential election, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean wasn’t really considered by many to be a candidate with a strong possibility of winning. However, Dean quickly became popular and almost overnight turned into a favorite for the Democratic nomination. Unfortunately for Dean, he tried to emphatically rally his supporters, but his infamous “Yeah” scream derailed his campaign.

Dean would go on to become the Chair of the Democratic National Committee. It seems odd now that Dean was lambasted so much for his enthusiasm, but the internet was still in what was basically its infancy and the standard of presidential behavior was held to a much higher standard.

4. Michael Dukakis

By the time the 1988 election came along, no party had ever won three consecutive elections. This meant that Democrat Michael Dukakis was due to take the White House after Ronald Reagan’s term limit was reached. Dukakis, the then-Governor of Massachusetts, squared off with George H.W. Bush after defeating the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Gore in the primaries.

Similar to Howard Dean, it wasn’t his policies that cost Dukakis a lot of votes. It was a photograph of him in a tank that was used ad nauseam by Republicans that swayed a lot of public opinions.

3. John Kerry

Though George W. Bush had a very high approval rating after 9/11, those numbers quickly sunk due to the ensuing War on Terror. Because of this, the door was opened for John Kerry to take the White House and make Bush a one-term president. Instead, the Massachusetts senator lost the popular vote by more than 3 million on the way to winning 251 electoral votes. Still, at the time, Kerry’s 59 million votes were the second-most ever for a candidate.

2. Al Gore

Ultimately, the 1990s were a time of growth in the United States and the country ended up with a surplus economically. Bill Clinton was the president through much of that time, so it seemed like Al Gore may have been a safe bet to win the election to stay in the White House after serving as the VP for eight years.

Going up against George W. Bush in 2000, though, Gore lost the electoral college vote despite winning the popular vote. Of course, the election is remembered by the “hanging chads” and multiple recounts in Florida that ultimately decided the vote.

1. Hillary Clinton

Many felt that it was her “time” when Hillary Clinton received the Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidential election. After losing out to Barack Obama in 2008, Clinton was next in line and was going against businessman Donald Trump, who had never held elected office before. Almost all political analysts expected it to be a landslide in Clinton’s favor, but it wasn’t to be.

Even after the early results showed Trump in the lead on election day, Clinton’s campaign was still confident that a victory was coming in the evening. Hour by hour, the expressions on Clinton supporters’ faces became warier. Late in the night, Clinton conceded to Trump despite winning the popular vote by nearly 3 million, while third-party and write-in candidates received a shockingly high amount of votes.

How To Make The Most Of Your Wordle Guesses

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For many of us, we start staring at the clock when it begins to approach midnight local time so that we can play our daily game of Wordle. What can make it disappointing is that we spend all of that time waiting only to guess six times without matching more than one letter. It happens, but there are ways that it can be avoided. 

Though it may not seem like it on the surface, Wordle actually does require a fair bit of strategy. Before you make your first guess, there are some things to look out for. Following these tips, you can knock out Wordle every day by the end of the fourth guess.

Wheel of Fortune Rule

If you’ve ever watched “Wheel of Fortune”, then you know that in the final round, contestants are given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. Try to apply this strategy in your daily game of Wordle by starting with words like “stern.” If you’re getting tired of using “stern” to start off every day, try to throw in the letter A, the other most common vowel, with words like “learn,” “stare,” or “rates” to name a few.

If these two particular vowels aren’t on the board, that eliminates a massive amount of potential words that the answer could be. If you’re starting with letters like Q, Z, or X, you’re essentially wasting a turn if those letters aren’t present. 

Vowels at the Start

There is always going to be at least one vowel on the board (even if it’s a Y), but it’s all a matter of finding out where it is. Don’t be afraid to try and use a vowel as the first letter of a word. It’s tempting to always start with a consonant, but Wordle has been known to use words that often start with an A or E to throw people off. Words like “award” or “eagle” can be very tricky, especially since they use the same vowel twice. For a bonus tip: try starting out with the word “audio” since it uses four of the vowels all at once.

Never Use Double Letters On The First Guess

Unless you’re trying to go all out and get the word correctly on the very first try, don’t spend your opening turn using double letters. Knowing what is and isn’t on the board is the most important aspect of Wordle. If you’re guessing a word that has double letters and that particular letter doesn’t appear at all, that’s just one more letter that could’ve been used differently.

Don’t Forget C and H

Perhaps two of the most underutilized letters in Wordle are the letters C and H. It can be easy to ignore since they’re not one of those “Wheel of Fortune” letters or a vowel. However, C and H are used more often than you think. In fact, C is the 10th most used letter in the English language. These two often go hand in hand in words, so be on the lookout for words that end in -ch like “watch,” “beach,” or “mulch.”

Take Your Time

One of the biggest enemies of success is impatience, even when it comes to Wordle. Quite often, people will type their guess and hit ‘enter’ without even thinking about it. Rushing can cause you to place the same letter in a spot that was highlighted in yellow and burn through your guesses quickly. Remember, if you start your Wordle round right at midnight, you have a full 24 hours to think of the perfect word. Hopefully you don’t have to sit there all day to think about one word, but you can if you need to.

Dabo Swinney’s Road to Becoming a Clemson Tiger Legend

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Though there had been brief spurts of success throughout the school’s history, the Clemson football team was never a sustained powerhouse until coach William “Dabo” Swinney came along. Before his arrival, the Tigers had just one national championship. Then-coach Danny Ford had led the team to much success, but had a falling out with the administration and left following the 1989 season. For years afterward, though, Clemson football was in purgatory.

Following Ford was Ken Hatfield, who had the same problem with the administration and left the school in 1993. Tommy West then stepped in, but his teams got progressively worse each year. Tommy Bowden became Clemson’s mainstay from 1999 until 2008. Bowden resigned in the middle of the season, with Swinney taking over as the interim head coach.

Clemson didn’t have quite the prestige of a Notre Dame or Ohio State type of school at the time, but many were still surprised that a relatively unknown position coach was given the keys to the Clemson program when he was named the permanent head coach. For Clemson, it made sense as Swinney was considered one of the best recruiters in the nation. In college football, that can be more valuable than drawing up a good game plan.

What did Swinney’s road to becoming the Clemson coach look like? A lot of his history is tied to another college football program that Swinney has gone head-to-head with many times as a coach: the University of Alabama. Swinney was born in Alabama and remained in the state for the entirety of his young life. He walked on to the Crimson Tide team as a wide receiver, playing for three seasons mainly as a backup.

Swinney chose to attend graduate school at his alma mater while also taking on an assistant job on the Alabama coaching staff. Following three seasons, Swinney was given a more prominent role. From 1996 to 2000, Swinney served as both a wide receivers coach and tight ends coach. In his final season, though, Alabama struggled mightily, finishing 3-8 and unranked after starting the year ranked #3 in the country.

With that, Swinney’s coaching career almost ended entirely. He instead went to work in the real estate industry with a friend and former Alabama assistant coach. It wasn’t until Tommy Bowden took the job at Clemson that Swinney got back on the sidelines. Bowden was the wide receivers coach at Alabama during Swinney’s playing days, meaning that Clemson’s hiring of Bowden opened up a door that they never would’ve expected.

It was a shaky first couple of years for Swinney, including one season with a losing record. However, Swinney would right the ship and became one of the most prominent figures in the rich history of Clemson Tigers football. Swinney became the second Clemson coach to win a national championship for the program, and the first coach to win multiple titles.

Interestingly enough, Swinney had no interest in becoming a coach once his playing days were over. It was by chance that he went to watch an Alabama practice while he was in grad school, but his former coach spotted him. “Next thing I know, coach (Gene) Stallings, he’s like, ‘Hey, you need to get a master’s degree, I’m gonna pay for it, and I need a graduate assistant coach, and you start in July,’” Swinney said. “I had never even thought about coaching a day in my life.”

Afraid to say no to Stallings, Swinney wound up taking the job. Within the first couple of days, Swinney knew that he made the right call. Sometimes all it takes is a little push in the right direction to find your calling, and that’s what happened to Swinney on that spring day in Tuscaloosa.

Best NCAA Basketball Coaches of the 1990s

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Long before the days of NIL deals and wall-to-wall coverage on streaming platforms, NCAA basketball was a much different game than it is now. For the first half of the 1990s, basketball coaches weren’t worried about recruiting players that would only stay for one season before heading to the NBA. Because of this, the best coaches had four-year plans for each player and mostly picked out local players.

The 1990s marked a significant shift into modern basketball and some coaches were able to adapt through the entire decade. Out of the many that could be picked, these were the best NCAA basketball coaches of the 1990s.

Honorable Mention:

  • Lute Olson
  • Jim Boeheim
  • Bob Huggins
  • Bob Knight
  • Jerry Tarkanian
  • Tom Izzo
  • John Thompson
  • Tubby Smith
  • John Calipari

5. Rick Pitino

After leading Providence to a stunning Final Four run, Rick Pitino was one of the hottest coaches available in 1987. He found his way to the University of Kentucky, which was ineligible for postseason play due to sanctions at the time. After the 1990-91 season, Kentucky was eligible once again and Pitino took advantage.

He coached the Wildcats through the 1996-97 season, making all tournaments the team was allowed to make. That first year of eligibility resulted in an Elite Eight run. The Wildcats made it at least that far five times in six years, including a championship in 1996 and a trio of Final Fours.

4. Roy Williams

Before he headed to Chapel Hill to coach North Carolina, Roy Williams had made his mark at Kansas. Replacing Larry Brown, Williams took over at the end of the 1980s, and after one season became a national title contender. Williams spent the entire decade with the Jayhawks, winning at least a share of the Big Eight/12 Conference Championship in all but two seasons.

Williams also led Kansas to an NCAA Tournament appearance in each year of the 1990s. Though he didn’t win a championship, Williams did reach the Final Four twice and at least the Sweet 16 five times.

3. Jim Calhoun

Jim Calhoun was hired by the University of Connecticut in 1986 and got off to a slow start. When the 1990s came around, though, UConn became one of the nation’s top teams. Calhoun’s Huskies made the NCAA Tournament in all but two seasons, reaching at least the Sweet 16 on six occasions. 

After flirting with a Final Four appearance so many times, Calhoun finally reached the promised land in 1999. The 34-2 Huskies didn’t just make the Final Four, either, as they ended up defeating Duke for Calhoun’s first NCAA Championship.

2. Dean Smith

It’s a testament to the greatness of Dean Smith to be one of the best 1990s coaches without even being around for the final three years of the decade. Smith, the North Carolina legend, already had decades of success heading into his final years as a coach. 

Smith retired in 1997, but not until he made four Final Four appearances during the 1990s, including his final NCAA Championship in 1993. Even at the very end, Smith’s Tar Hells finished 28-7 and reached the Final Four one last time before calling it a (very fine) career.

1. Mike Krzyzewski

After struggling during his first three seasons with Duke in the early 1980s, Mike Krzyzewski found his footing in the latter half of the decade and made his Duke Blue Devils dominant for the entirety of the 1990s. In the first two seasons of the decade, Coach K and his team took home back-to-back championships.

Coach K added a pair of Elite Eight runs during the 1990s and nearly won a third title in 1994. There was one season that Duke didn’t make the tournament during the decade, and it was when Coach K missed most of the season with an injured back that needed immediate medical attention. 

Best NBA Basketball Coaches of the 1990s

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The 1990s were indeed a magical time for basketball. It was the decade when many younger fans really started to become enthralled by the sport, and countless players rose to superstardom. Of course, Michael Jordan led the way during the decade, but plenty of other stars like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Shaquille O’Neal (just to name a few) made the NBA a globally watched league.

Of course, no matter how much talent a team has, they won’t make it to the mountaintop if they don’t have the right coach. The 1990s had nearly as much star power on the bench as it did on the court, with hall-of-fame coaches leading the charge. Who really stood out, though? Here are the best NBA coaches of the 1990s.

5. Chuck Daly

Though known more for his time in the 1980s with the Detroit Pistons, Chuck Daly still found a lot of success in the following decade. In fact, the second of his back-to-back championships in Detroit came in 1990.

Daly, who also coached the Dream Team, never had a losing record in the 1990s despite coaching three different teams (Detroit, New Jersey, Orlando). Daly retired after the 1998-99 season with a career record of 638-437.

4. Rudy Tomjanovich

A former All-Star as a player, Rudy Tomjanovich took his first head coaching job with the Houston Rockets during the 199-92 season. Throughout the decade, Tomjanovich never finished with a losing record (saving it for the 1999-2000 season), winning two NBA Championships in the process (1994 and 1995). 

Tomjanovich would coach until the 2004-05 season with the Lakers when he abruptly resigned. Overall, Tomjanovich finished with a record of 527-416 and has been enjoying the retired life ever since departing the Lakers bench.

3. Pat Riley

Pat Riley had already been well established as a coach thanks to his time with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1980s, winning four NBA Championships. Riley wouldn’t win a title in the 1990s after departing Los Angeles following the 1989-90 season, but he still had a strong decade. 

Riley coached both the New York Knicks and Miami Heat during the 90s, and only had one season where he lost more than 31 games. His Knicks reached the NBA Finals in 1994, as well. Riley finished his career with Miami following the 2007-08 season, having added a fifth title to his resume in 2006.

2. Jerry Sloan

The late Jerry Sloan had a lengthy playing career in the NBA and took on coaching in the late 1970s and early 1980s to not much success. It wouldn’t be until 1988 that he was hired again, this time with the Utah Jazz where he would remain for the rest of his career. During the 1990s, there was only one year in which he finished with at least 30 losses.

Sloan’s Jazz teams were a staple of the NBA Playoffs with his star players Karl Malone and John Stockton. They reached the NBA Finals in back-to-back years, ultimately losing out to Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, and the rest of the Chicago Bulls both times.

1. Phil Jackson

Of course, you can’t talk about basketball coaches of the 1990s without mentioning Phil Jackson. Jackson started his coaching career in the 1989-90 season with the Chicago Bulls and remained with the team through their final championship run in 97-98 before heading to the Lakers for the final months of the decade. 

All in all, Jackson won six titles with the Bulls and his 1999-00 season with the Lakers also resulted in one of his five titles in LA. The “Zen Master” was known for his calm demeanor and ability to have big personalities all gel and work toward the common goal of a championship.

The Wisdom of Basketball Coaches – 5 Lessons For Life

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While on the surface sports seem like a competition to see who the fastest and strongest are, there are a lot of life lessons that can be learned when participating in a sport. Perhaps no sport teaches more life lessons than basketball, where you rely on your team to help get you to the mountaintop of whichever league you’re participating in.

To become the best both on and off the court, every basketball player needs a great coach. Coaches do more than make you run sprints and have you practice free throws until the sun comes up. They teach life lessons at all levels. Out of all of the great basketball coaches, here are five of the biggest life lessons that everyone can take away.

5. Empower Everyone

In basketball, much of the team may revolve around a single person who has the most talent. However, not even the best players are able to play every minute of every game. People get tired or hurt, just like in real life. With that in mind, it’s important to empower everyone on the team so that when it’s their opportunity to contribute, they have the confidence to deliver. If a coach hasn’t done a good job of building up that confidence, that player is more likely to become overwhelmed with the situation since they don’t feel like a part of the actual team. Draymond Green noted that this is Steve Kerr’s strong point, saying “it’s on everybody to come together and empower that next man.”

4. Leaders Care

The late, great Dean Smith of North Carolina basketball said that “The most important thing in good leadership is truly caring,” adding that this is true in all aspects of life. “The best leaders in any profession care about the people they lead, and the people who are being led know when the caring is genuine and when it’s faked or not there at all.” So whether you’re in the NBA Finals or leading a team of salespeople, you have to care to lead.

3. Don’t Coast On Success

We’ve all had that time where we’ve had success, only to get a bit complacent or develop an ego instantly. When this success happens, people tend to think that they were the biggest reason behind a team’s success, it can be by pure chance that all of the right pieces fell into place. You have to continue to grow as a person. As hall of fame coach Pat Riley said, “Success is often the first step toward disaster.”

2. Communicate With Trust

Communication is more important than just about any aspect of life when building relationships both professional and personal. If you can’t communicate and do so with trust, then you’ll lose those around you in a heartbeat. Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski said that you don’t get to that level of trust “when you look each other in the eye and tell the truth. If you do that on a consistent basis, the element of trust is developed…and that becomes part of your culture.”

1. Success is Measured By Effort

The final lesson to take away is that you don’t have to reach the pinnacle of success to truly succeed. Too often, people are hard on themselves because they aren’t the best in the world at what they do. Even if you’re not the best at something in your building, you’re still succeeding if you’re doing one thing: giving the best that you can. The best college basketball of all time, UCLA’s John Wooden, said that “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you were capable of becoming.” Wooden won 10 NCAA Championships, but all he remembered was the effort given, not the end result.

Best Individual Pitching Season of the 2010s According to FanGraphs

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Perhaps more than batting, pitching is something that’s very fleeting. Seemingly out of nowhere, a pitcher comes through and dominates for a year and then can fade into obscurity or completely burn out of the league. A big part of this is due to injuries sustained by pitchers. If even so much as a fingernail is just a nanometer too short or long, it can seemingly affect a pitcher.

There were some dominant years that took place in the 2010s for pitchers. Some of them really stood out as being all-time performances, too. Let’s take a look at the best individual seasons for pitchers during one of baseball’s most exciting decades.

Kershaw’s Dominance

Throughout the 2010s, no pitcher was as dominant overall as Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Of the top 11 pitching seasons of the decade, four of those belonged to Kershaw. Two seasons sit at the top as the best of his career, with 2014 and 2015 taking the fourth and third spots overall, respectively. In those two seasons combined, Kershaw finished with a record of 37-10 and a combined 16.5 wins above replacement.

Cy Snubs

Speaking of Kershaw’s 2015 season, he surprisingly didn’t win the National League Cy Young Award that year. That honor belonged to Chicago Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, who surprisingly had the 14th-best season of the decade. Those who watched Arrieta that season know that he had one of the most dominating second halves in MLB history. Arrieta finished 22-6 that year with an astonishing 1.77 earned run average.

Having the highest WAR total doesn’t always translate into a Cy Young. In addition to Kershaw, there were several other pitchers that led the league in that category without winning the Cy Young. In the National League, this includes Roy Halladay in 2011, Matt Harvey in 2013, and Max Scherzer in 2018. As for the American League, Chris Sale (2017) Gerrit Cole (2019), Cliff Lee (2010), and Justin Verlander (2012) were some of the Cy Young snubs.

Strikeout Kings

There were a total of 11 pitchers that had seasons where they struck out at least 12 batters for every nine innings pitched. Max Scherzer accomplished this three times. Gerrit Cole, Robbie Ray, and Justin Verlander did it twice while Jose Fernandez (2016) and Chris Sale (2017) did it once each. Justin Verlander (2019) and Max Schezer (2018) were perhaps the most impressive as they were the only two pitchers to accomplish this feat in 220 or more innings.

The Two Best Seasons

While the assumption is that the best single-season performance of the 2010s probably belongs to Clayton Kershaw, his top season actually registered third overall on Fangraphs. The number two spot belongs to the late Roy Halladay when he was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay didn’t blow anyone away in terms of strikeouts but also didn’t let batters get good contact or take walks.

Halladay helped get the Phillies to 100 wins on the season thanks to his 19-6 record with an earned run average of 2.35. Kershaw would end up winning the Cy Young Award that season in what was considered the eighth-best individual season of the decade by Fangraphs.

The top season of the 2010s belonged to a pitcher entering his prime and surprisingly only finished with a record of 10-9. That, of course, is Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, and the record certainly doesn’t indicate just how good he was in 2018. deGrom had the lowest ERA for any qualifying pitcher at 1.70 and a strikeout rate of 11.16 per nine innings. For deGrom, it was the first of back-to-back Cy Young wins, with his 2019 campaign ranked as the 15th best of the 2010s.