Gotta Love Ego

Jim Bowden's latest Examiner dictation is out, and this focuses on the draft and the team's preparations. There's some mildly interesting stuff in there, but what struck me is the sheer size of the man's ego. This time of year it swell to dangerous proportions stretching his skin as tight as Tony Batista's pants when he bends over.

Nationals cross-checker Jeff Zona got an e-mail from a friend with the Red Sox wanting to know what it’s like in the Nationals war room, with all those high-profile, experienced, baseball people all used to making final decisions, it can’t work can it? I wasn’t sure myself, but the result has been an astounding:

YES!

Can't you just picture the Red Sox scout's email?

Jeff, Golly! How can you manage to do it? You've got so many smart, unbelievably talented and respected baseball men in one room, do you really think you're worthy to be in Their Divine presence? Gosh, if it were me, I'd strip down to my undergotchers and lay down in the room and hope their wisdom and greatness would seep through my pores, completing me as a human being.

Your friend, Theo

(Or at least that's how Bowden seems to be interpreting it)

If there’s no consensus, we use chain of command: myself, Rizzo, Brown, Boone and then LaMar.

Something about this strikes me as off. Maybe it's the use of the word 'then', which makes it seem like it's in reverse order. But then his ego wouldn't allow him to list his name last, so he got confused halfway through.

We have a blend of philosophies, with none being the right answer every time.

(Except his)

How can all these egos coexist? Because selecting the best player is what everyone in the room wants to do.

Knowing is half the battle right?

Besides, they coexist because he has the final say. Of course he thinks that that's a perfect system.

But what really struck me about the piece was the two references to brain imaging and caliper testing!?

We've already been over the pseudo science of brain imaging before. I wrote about that last year, including how its chief proponent can determine a person's personality just by sight.

Bowden first got into brain imaging when he sought help to deal with -- wait for it! -- his arrogance. And in that article, we found this gem:

Mr. Niednagel has identified 16 basic brain types and says Mr. Bowden's is similar to that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Teddy Roosevelt and computer entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

But caliper testing!? That one eluded me. A quick trip to google came up with this, an employee personality testing company. That's fine, I guess. At least it seems respected.

But a further google search revealed the juicy secret. Caliper testing has been tested with salesmen. The Cheeeeeep Lerners are going to ask our high draft picks to pull double duty as ticket sellers! Much as they've asked us to pay for our own feckin' bobbleheads, they want our prospects to pay for their own bonii! Have they no shame?

I guess I should be happy that the team is compiling lots of bits of information, and trying to have as much data as they can on each possible prospect. But is it possible to overthink things? And is Bowden going to really listen, especially if his ego is out of control and he is a Mozartian-style genius?