I read one Sports Law Blogger’s comment on Cal Ripken’s recent election to the Hall of Fame:

“Cal Ripken['s] consecutive-games-played streak [is] something associates should try and emulate to when deciding whether they should come into work on a given day, no matter how sick they feel or what the doctor tells them to do…”

I think I know what the blogger was trying to say, but I think the way it came out sounds cliche and trite. To be quite honest, though, I get a little tired of seeing Cal Ripken as the Poster Child for the “Great American Work Ethic”.

Ripken will probably be the first to tell you that he wasn’t trying to set any records. I don’t know the man, but I’m sure he’d say he wasn’t trying to win any medals for having a great “work ethic”. Instead, I think he’d probably tell you that, even in the hard times, going to work at shortstop every game for 2,632 games was easier because he loved what he did.

For many years, I have kept a photo of Cal Ripken in my office; even in law school, I kept his photo above the desk where I studied (I also keep a photo of Roger Clemens, but that’s another story altogether.) When times get rough, or when I feel like I don’t want to be at work doing what I’m doing, I often look at the picture and think for a minute.

I don’t think “What would Cal do?” and I certainly don’t think “If Cal can do it, I can do it”. What I do think is this: “Chris – are you enjoying what you’re doing?”

When I enjoy my work, sticking with it in hard times is a little easier. If I don’t want to show up for work when things get nasty, maybe it’s because I’m not enjoying what I’m doing.  If it ever stops being fun, then maybe I’d have to consider moving on.

That’s the real lesson of Cal Ripken. One that Carl Pavano would do well to learn (at least the moving on part).