In September 1862, German political strongman Bismarck declared in a speech in the House of Commons that "the major problems of our time cannot be solved through speeches and majority resolutions, but must be solved with iron and blood."
This is Prime Minister Bismarck's famous "Iron-Blooded Statement". Because of his speech and Prussia's use of artillery to unify Germany in the future, Bismarck earned the title of "Iron-Blooded Chancellor".
However, when he made this speech, it had just been more than a week since he was appointed Prime Minister of Prussia. He was still acting Prime Minister and his position was not stable.
This speech was not a well-thought-out political speech, but an impromptu speech at the table. After he finished speaking these words, some people criticized his speech for "going off topic on a whim."
Bismarck himself did not take these remarks seriously. In his correspondence with his wife Johanna the next day, he did not mention the "Iron-Blooded Statement" until these remarks spread to the public, and all newspapers were excited about it. Only then did Bismarck realize the significance of this speech.
Bismarck, who acted cautiously, insisted that this was not his political opinion or policy agenda, but merely a political fact describing the current international situation.
However, local parties used this to attack Bismarck, believing that Bismarck was a war madman. This made Bismarck suspicious of the king. He encountered a crisis of confidence just after he took office. His acting prime minister has not yet been appointed, and he is likely to step down in a hurry.
Faced with the crisis caused by his "gaffe", Bismarck remained calm and calm. He met with William I and persuaded William with a conversation to give up the idea of dismissing him. From then on, Bismarck officially stepped into the post of Prussian Prime Minister and began to work hard. began his unification plan.
What Min Congda said at the league's referee working meeting on July 10 is naturally not comparable to Bismarck's "iron-blooded speech", but the development of things was exactly the same as the situation at that time.
Because he said these words publicly at the meeting, the media and the referees association learned the details of the meeting that afternoon, and sent Min Congda to the front page in the evening press conference.
To be honest, most of the news during the NBA offseason still revolves around players, especially big-name stars. League work, including referees, negotiations, salary and other issues, are generally not reported as hot topics.
Because most fans don't care about such issues, I'm here to watch the game. How you operate the NBA internally and how you distribute profits has nothing to do with me.
As long as the game continues to be played, as long as the stars I like can play on the teams I like and play exciting games, I don't care about how your league operates internally.
But this time is different. Min Congda is an outlier in the league. He is a traffic controller among non-players, a topical prince, and a person who causes problems wherever he goes and in the general environment.
The reputation of the four consecutive championships is still reverberating. He has moved the public opinion field to the league office and quickly opened fire on the referee group. How could the media let go of such a hype opportunity?
There is no big news in the free market this summer. Big fish like James, Durant, Kobe, and Howard are not moving. There are no super stars in this year's draft. The long draft period is difficult for the media and fans. It's suffering.
A common routine used by the general media is to create historical rankings. As soon as the offseason comes, various media start to look for trouble to create historical rankings to attract attention. They do it every year, and fans enjoy it every year.
Comparatively speaking, fans are not very interested in major issues that may affect the direction of the league in the future. I only watch football. If the league does not develop well, I will not watch if there is no football.
The emergence of Min Congda has greatly alleviated the media anxiety during the offseason. This guy can always give you some new jobs and traffic, so that sports reporters will not run out of topics to write about and keep talking about those two bad topics all day long. Chew it, and the squeezed seeds you chewed have no flavor anymore.
Min Congda resigned from the Clippers and went to work in the league, which gave reporters a good meal. Unexpectedly, in the past few days, big news came out-a fierce conflict broke out between Min Congda and the Referees Association, which even came to the point of killing me. To the point of living.
There is you without me, there is me without you.
Such a fierce conflict is also expected. After all, the feud between Min Congda and the referee has never stopped in the past six years.
ESPN News, which is not afraid to watch the excitement, even took out the photo of Min Chongda angrily dunking on Foster in a popcorn bucket and used it as the headline cover of the news. It also inserted a video into the news to help fans relive the famous scene of the year. .
Under the spotlight of the media, the conflict between Min Congda and the Referees Association further intensified to the point where it was difficult for each other to give in.
But even so, the Referees Association did not issue an official statement admitting that they "used Min Congda's departure from the league office as a requirement for negotiations."
Because after all, this is a disgraceful threat, and Min Congda is very popular in the current NBA fan circle, the Referees Association still needs to stay on the front line so that they can meet each other in the future.
However, the Referees Association still secretly put pressure on Adam Silva, hoping that Silva could force Min Congda to resign or change his position.
This was exactly what Silva expected, so after the public opinion fermented, Silva found Min Congda and had a conversation.
This time he did not invite Min Congda to dinner, or even let Min Congda enter his office. Instead, he found an opportunity to have a secret conversation with Min Congda in the bathroom.
Of course, such secret talks will not yield any results. Min Congda will not regress. Of course, Silva also knows that Min Congda will not regress.
He just used this opportunity to inform Min Congda, "Public opinion is not good for you. The Referees Association is very firm. You have just arrived in the league and there is no support. I think for the sake of your career development, you should think carefully and don't act impulsively. New York is not Los Angeles." . I remember there is an old Chinese saying, ‘He who knows the current affairs is a hero.’ I think you must understand the meaning of this sentence.”
Silva's words were very naked, just to tell Min Congda to retreat when the situation was difficult.
If you are a person with a relatively average psychological quality, you will have already compromised in the face of such an offensive.
Why should a foreigner go against the CEO? Besides, the referee job is a boring job with the most things, the greatest pressure, and not much money.
But any rational person, faced with such explicit and implicit statements from the CEO, would have surrendered obediently, saying soft words and waiting for orders, waiting for the limelight to pass and then changing positions to bring him down.
But Min Congda was different. He shook his head, zipped up his zipper, and said to Silva: "President, he knows Chinese very well. I heard that you also gave yourself a Chinese name of 'Xiao Hua'? This is a good name, very interesting." The ancient style and poetry are also concise and clear, with romantic feelings. But do you know that the greatest romance of the Chinese people is not the wind, flowers, snow and moon, nor the falling trees, but Confucius' knowing that something cannot be done but doing it, and Mencius' I'm leaving now...forget it, I don't translate well, so you probably won't understand it well. You will understand what I do when the time comes."
After speaking, Min Congda washed his hands and left.
Silva did understand Min Congda's translation of the ancient sayings only partially, but he knew about Min Congda's tough attitude.
Silva's face was livid, and he sighed deeply in his heart. He knew that Min Congda was smelly and tough.
This is a challenge for Silva. It would be unjustifiable if he were to use his power as president to directly dismiss Min Congda from his position.
The pressure of public opinion is the pressure of public opinion. Min Congda did not make any mistakes and there is no reason to dismiss him from his post.
If Min Congda had to bear it, there was really nothing he could do.
In the evening, Min Congda returned home - the flat-floor apartment Bozia prepared for him and Ada. The location was very good, the decoration was exquisite, luxurious and very comfortable.
The rent of twenty thousand dollars a month is really not in vain.
Ada asked Min Congda about his work at the dinner table. She was obviously worried. She had seen everything on the news.
She was worried that Min Congda was too tough, which would trigger a backlash from the Referees Association, affect negotiations between the two parties, and ultimately lead to him being unable to gain a foothold in the league office.
Min Congda comforted Ada and said: "I know in my heart that I still need to be tough on the surface. They all made such excessive demands and asked me to give up my refereeing job. If I don't be tougher, what will other people think of me?"
"Does the president support you?"
"Which CEO are you talking about?"
"Of course it's this one."
"We had a few words in the afternoon and he was on the referee's side."
"How could he do that?"
"I was recommended by David Stern. Silva needs the support of the referees. But he doesn't dare to do anything to me. I am not at fault, and pleasing the referee group too much will make things difficult later in the league. He is also looking for a balance. He must please the referees but not let them get too dominant. This is something I can take advantage of."
"Then what should we do next?"
Although Ada was pregnant and recuperating at home, she was still very concerned about her husband's affairs and made suggestions, and the two discussed it together.
"The first step is to change public opinion. You contact Rachelle tonight and ask him to find the Los Angeles media to publish a special report. I will pay for it. The subject of the report is the life of NBA referees, focusing on the difficulties of low-level referees. Live your life, and the gap between the rich and the poor with star referees. Interview more marginal referees and contact them...I will communicate with them personally when the time comes."
The information center established by Min Congda in the Clippers is still an important arm of him. Racheli is very loyal to Min Congda. The entire information center is Min Congda's think tank.
"In the second step, I will talk to Bozia, McCutchen, and Foster and make some exchanges of interests. In short, I will defeat them one by one and finish them off one by one!"
Monty McCutchen is the president of the Referees Association and the main person in charge of this referee and league negotiation.
Foster is naturally the famous Scott Foster, who is both the devil among referees and the poor guy who was dunked by Min Congda.
Since the dunk incident, although Min Congda issued a written apology to Foster in accordance with the penalty requirements, the two have never reconciled in private.
Moreover, the photo of Foster's head being held in a popcorn bucket has made headlines again this time, and has to be used from time to time. This has really hurt Foster again and again.
Therefore, when Min Congda took the initiative to call Foster and said that he wanted to formally apologize and reconcile to him in the media, Foster was surprised, relieved, and felt something was wrong.
At first he chose to refuse, "Everyone knows that you are currently having conflicts with the Referees Association, and I will not reconcile with you."
"Because there is a conflict, this is an opportunity for reconciliation, isn't it? I have never formally or publicly apologized to any referee in the past. You have to think about it carefully. Besides, the Referees Association has objections to me, but after all you are To reach an agreement with the alliance, this is just a means. You and I know it very well, so why do we act like we are at odds with each other?"
Min Congda's words hit home. The Referee Association is making a fuss about Min Congda because it wants to gain more bargaining chips before the negotiations begin in August.
Originally, the Referees Association was worried about not finding a chance to bargain with the league. But now it is better. Of course, there is a ready-made target to hit, but the target cannot be damaged.
Foster hesitated again and again, but his proud self-esteem still made him decide to accept a public apology. After all, the damage caused to him by that dunk was really great. He needed a chance to feel proud, to build his reputation and change his public opinion. image.
So, on July 12, Min Congda and Foster participated in a basketball talk show on Turner TV. The two recalled the specific circumstances and details of the "Popcorn Dunk" game.
After receiving a call from Richele, Turner TV executives agreed to produce this program five minutes later and conducted a large amount of publicity to fill the lack of traffic during the offseason.
In the show, both Min Congda and Foster showed their outstanding eloquence, humorous conversation and elegant demeanor. Especially Foster, he has a very bad reputation among fans because he always makes some controversial decisions.
This time Foster had the opportunity to come to the show to express his feelings and talk about his experience as a referee, starting from the 1994-1995 season, various interesting things in the league, etc. It is undoubtedly a good public relations image and leaves a lasting impression on the fans. A deep impression.
In the end, the two hugged each other, shook hands and made peace, singing a perfect performance.
Tonight's show on Turner Network received strong ratings and critical acclaim.
Foster finally made a comeback in image management and saved face.
And Min Congda also showed his humble side because of his apology.
Public opinion is improving.
Then on July 20, Fox TV broadcast a short interview record related to the selection and training of NBA referees.
The TV station interviewed three referees on the fringe of NBA law enforcement, two men and one woman. Through their life and work records, they showed how difficult it is to become a professional referee.
Due to the short shooting time, the production of the documentary was a bit rough, and it was obviously a rushed work. However, it happened to catch up with the recent heat on refereeing issues, and with the Clippers and Fox TV stations contributing to the flames, the documentary also received a good response from public opinion.
At the same time, many articles began to expose the shady development of NBA referees, as well as some unreasonable and illegal behaviors of star referees on the court.
In short, in just over a week, public opinion began to develop in a direction that was not conducive to the referee association. During this period, Min Congda kept calling, communicating and chatting with the marginal, young and female referees in the league. , eat, understand their situation and demands, and promised that he would not antagonize the referees in the league office. On the contrary, he would pay attention to the living environment of referees, especially marginal referees.
Therefore, when Min Congda met with Monty McCutchen for pre-negotiation communication on July 24, McCutcheon said bluntly, "Smart, I think it's time for us to sit down and have a good talk."
But it is Vice President Bozia who really wants to negotiate with the Referees Association.
And it wasn't Min Congda who took care of Bozia, or Min Congda couldn't directly take care of Bozia. After all, he was his immediate boss.
You can ask him to condescend to help you find a house, but you can't exchange interests with him casually, because Min Congda is not qualified enough.
So Min Congda very smartly went to find the real big boss, David Stern, and asked Stern to come forward to deal with Bozia.
Of course Stern saw everything Min Congda did. He knew that he had chosen the right person. This was a guy who knew how to fight, had skills, and had sufficient resources.
In particular, Min Congda is very good at using the public opinion machine to help himself, which is very important when he is struggling in American society.
Therefore, David Stern came forward to help Min Congda and Bozia complete the exchange of interests - Bozia will take over the replay center to be established in the future, and he is the number one candidate for director.
This was a position that satisfied Bozia, so he changed from his previous wait-and-see attitude to supporting his new assistant and allowing him to participate in the referee labor negotiations in August.
On July 30, the last day before August, Min Congda met President Silva again in the bathroom.
Min Congda said to Silva: "Mr. President, do you have any further understanding of our Chinese sayings?"
Silva smiled stiffly and said, "Yes, I think I understand a lot."
Min Congda said: "Let me give you another sentence, which is even older than the previous two sentences. It's called 'I have done my best for the best, and I still have no regrets even after nine deaths~'. Oh, by the way, the salary cap will increase next year. Remember to give me a salary increase. . I will have a child next year. Milk powder is very expensive, and my rent is also high. Give me more salary, and I will do a good job."
(End of chapter)
