It was a busy week spending a few days in Washington, D.C. with members of the Sports Philanthropy Network and attending the Aspen Institute’s Future of Sports event.

Aspen Institute—The Aspen Institute held another forum in their series entitled “The Future of Sports.”  You can read my full write titled “NCAA Under Attack” which goes into a lot more detail.  Bottom line, changes are coming.  The only remaining question is how quickly the process will move and what the final result will be.  As you will see in my earlier article, the choice is either a level playing field or a completely open market. Stopping some place in the middle will not work well and attempts to do so will only create more problems by virtue of the additional regulations that would be required.

Washington, DC Holiday Party—We had such overwhelming interest for the Sports Philanthropy Network’s DC holiday party, that the Washington, DC, market is likely to be one of the initial Chapters the Sports Philanthropy Network will launch in 2020.  Despite many conflicts, even the people who were not able to attend last week reached out and specifically asked how to get involved with the network and were especially interested in our Membership Levels.

Chicago Holiday Party—We hosted this event in the Top Golf Swing Suites in 900 N. Michigan (Bloomingdales).  It is a terrific venue and a fun place to eat, drink and network.  I love getting the opportunity to meet people who are just learning about the Sports Philanthropy Network and telling us how they would like to get involved and joining as members of our network.

Meeting Great People and Organizations—One of the best parts of launching the Sports Philanthropy Network 11 months ago, has been the opportunity to meet and engage with so many people who are finding innovative ways to use sports to create stronger, healthier and more inclusive communities.  The caliber of people and their efforts is truly amazing.  I feel fortunate to be a part of this process, learn as much as I can about their work and hopefully be a part of the solution.  As there people join the Sports Philanthropy Network through our Membership Program, we learn more about their needs and their abilities. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to speak to me, meet with me, record a podcast, speak at the Sports Philanthropy World Conference and participate in any of our other events.  We accomplished so much in 2019.  We have set our sights even higher for 2020.  Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Chanukah Party—Earlier today Kayla and I hosted a Chanukah Open House and it was fantastic to celebrate with Julia, Brett and many friends.  I am appreciative to have these people in my life and enjoy having the time and ability to host people to share these special occasions.

Holiday Time—As we head into the final 10 days of the year, I am thankful for the great people in my life. I am very fortunate to have two living parents who have been incredibly supportive to me during difficult times.  My sister, Sharon, is an amazing bundle of energy who has taught me many things despite her disabilities.  Julia had a great first semester at college in Madison and Brett is doing well in his Junior year at Stevenson HS.  Kayla has been an incredible addition to my world these last 17 months and I cannot imagine life without her.  While life gets hectic and we rush around a lot.  I feel fortunate to have a great network of friends, a warm home, plenty of food and clothes.  Perhaps most importantly, I have my health, something which I do not take for granted as I see so many other struggling.  I also recognize that many people are alone during this holiday period.  I encourage you to reach out and include them.  Having company is much more important than the food, drink or venue. They will appreciate your kindness!

If you didn’t have a chance to see some of the other things I have been involved with or written recently, take a look here:

• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, December 20, 2019
• NCAA Under Full Attack at Aspen Institute’s “Future of Sports”
• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, December 13, 2019
• PODCAST: Fred Mitchell, Chicago Blackhawks
• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, December 6, 2019
• Roy’s Ramble, December 1, 2019
• PODCAST: Tony Giarla, AVP First
• Why an 8 Team Playoff Will Save College Football
• FIRE SABAN!! Be Careful What You Wish For ‘Bama Fans
• Why Second Guessing Playcalling is Like Second Guessing Rock, Paper, Scissors
• 25 Life Lessons that I learned from Sharon

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

Wishing all of my loyal readers a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and positive vibes for 2020.

Some very interesting stories to follow over these last couple of week. 

This coming week I am excited about the Sports Philanthropy Network holiday events in DC (December 17th) and Chicago (December 19th), as well as the Aspen Institute’s event on the State of College Sports which is being held in DC on December 17th. Should be a a very interesting week ahead with lots to report next week.

NFL CELEBRATIONS—for so many years the NFL fought against allowing players to celebrate.  The moniker of the “No Fun League” seemed to fit very well.  I think one of the best things to come along in sports in a long time is the permission the NFL has given players to have fun planning, executing and enjoying the pleasure that comes along with a TD or a turnover.  Though the games are long enough, I would much rather watch the players celebrating than seeing a commercial for the 100^th time, 500^th time.  Let’s hope that they find other ways to encourage these positive spirited enhancements of the game!

CHRIS PETERSON—His retirement highlights the enormous pressure cooker college coaches are under.  NFL coaches are no different, except that very few of them are able to make it past a few years in the league.  Virtually no coach has an open ended contract, unless your name is Belichick or Tomlin.  We have seen Urban Meyer retire multiple times and there are reports he will be back. Bill Cowher took a step back and there does not appear to be much chatter connecting him to any job openings this year.   Jon Gruden stepped away for a long time before he was lured back.  Though it gets in the coach’s blood, people often underestimate the mental, physical and psychological damage it can do to the coach and his family.

49ERS ANNOUNCER—This was a very disturbing incident in which the 49ers announcer Tim Ryan stated that one of the main reasons Lamar Jackson succeeded was due to his dark skin (and uniform) being able to hide the ball on play-action and read-option plays.  The absurdity was highlighted by Jackson wearing white sleeves and white gloves and continuing to put up huge numbers.  Anyone watching his performance will tell you that his running and passing abilities have nothing to do with “hiding” the ball due to his skin color.  The announcer got the appropriate flack and hopefully this issue is put behind everyone. 

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME—I had the privilege to get press credentials to cover the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis last Saturday night.  Indianapolis has the well-earned reputation for putting on a phenomenal show.  It was doing so for many years of NCAA tournaments, Big Ten Tournaments and other events, before the Super Bowl showcased its capabilities to a much wider audience.  The fan set up in Indy is tough to beat with the hotels and restaurants so close to the action.  The Indiana Convention Center hosted a terrific Fan Fest and pep rallies letting fans get opportunities to kick field goals, run the 40 yard dash and much more.  Some parents even let their kids get in front of them in line.   The staff at Lucas Oil Stadium does a great job hosting the media and ensuring first-class access to the field and all of the necessary resources. 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF— Returning from the Big Ten Championship game and watching the playoff field unfold was completely anti-climactic given that there were really no strong arguments for any of the other teams, highlighting the need for an 8 team playoff to keep things interesting for more of the country and putting home field at stake!  Personally, I still hate having these games in advance of January 1^st so that the losers of the semi-finals are out of the college football talk before about half of the bowl games have even been played. 

PATRIOTS VIDEOTAPES—It is hard to believe that the Patriots are embroiled in another scandal.  You would think that they would have learned their lesson and that the specifications of working on a Patriots project would clearly articulate the need to be careful about videotaping improper areas of the field.  While it is hard to see how this would give the Patriots a competitive advantage (because anyone in the stands can videotape anything these days), there are certainly multiple troubling aspects of this issue.  First, the lack of “institutional control” in this case is surprising given the past history.  Second, the videographer’s lack of ability to articulate his purpose is somewhat troubling.  If you are filming for a particular feature, it would seem that you should be able to tell the “story” about why that film was needed.  At minimum, it is just a bad look for the Patriots, but it is also the type of incident that has seemed to galvanize the team in the past.

PRESIDENTS CUP FIGHT—Golf is typically perceived to be a game of honor and sportsmanship.  Patrick Reed’s failure to report his violation in the sand waste area created quite a storm leading into the Presidents Cup and the opposing fans at Royal Melbourne gave him an earful.  Reed’s caddy was apparently tired of it at the end of one of his rounds and got in a fans face and shoved him after the fan’s explicative filled tirade.  No matter the fan’s comments, physical assault by the caddie was unacceptable and the PGA rightfully suspended him immediately. Reed accepted that penalty.  He also responded as you would expect and came back with a dominating performance early in the singles session to help set the tone for the USA’s comeback victory.

BEARS-PACKERS—As one of the oldest rivalries in sports, this game always means a lot.  There were some very interesting plays and a finish which might have ranked up there with the famous Cal-Stanford rugby laterals (even if this one was shorter).  The Packers seemingly had no idea how to defense the play and only the failure to make the last lateral properly kept the Bears out of the end zone. It has been a difficult year for the Bears franchise and it will be interesting to watch to see how they react in the off-season.  Trubisky made a lot of very good throws in the game but still makes the critical mistakes that can turns wins into losses.

DARK WATERS—I don’t usually put much in here in terms of movie recommendations but I saw “Dark Waters” Saturday night and highly recommend it.  It depicts the highly disturbing story of DuPont and the pollution it wreaked around the disposal of the chemical compound used to make Teflon.  The compound cannot be broken down by the human body (or by most animals) and it causes all types of cancer and birth defects.  The movie traces the lawyer who fought the battle for 15 years to the detriment of his own legal career and family.  The heartbreaking elements of the story highlight the ongoing failures of the EPA, the inability of government (federal and local) to regulate chemical compounds for our food and water supplies and the challenges inherent in our legal system which allows a large well funded corporation to “bully” its own employees, cancer victims, the town hosting its plant, opposing counsel and everyone else involved in the legal process.

If you didn’t have a chance to see some of the other things I have been involved with or written recently, take a look here:

• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, December 13, 2019
• PODCAST: Fred Mitchell, Chicago Blackhawks
• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, December 6, 2019
• Roy’s Ramble, December 1, 2019
• PODCAST: Tony Giarla, AVP First
• Why an 8 Team Playoff Will Save College Football
• Plenty of Blame to Go Around in NFL/Kaepernick Fiasco
• PODCAST: Danya Rosen, Chicago Run
• FIRE SABAN!! Be Careful What You Wish For ‘Bama Fans
• Why Second Guessing Playcalling is Like Second Guessing Rock, Paper, Scissors
• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, November 29, 2019
• Roy’s Ramble, November 22, 2019

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

Thanksgiving—I was very appreciative of being able to spend the day with my parents, my sister Sharon and Kayla Bradham and her children.  It was great to host them all and be able to share a full evening together.  It was also great to have some time with my kids over the weekend and hear about my daughter’s first semester in college at Madison. We were also able to share in the celebration of the Badgers clinching a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game against Ohio State and we will be looking for a much better performance than the game in Columbus in October. 

Most importantly, I am thankful for all of the good things in my life.  A place to live, plenty of food, plenty of clothes and many friends and family to share happy occasions with.  I hope to continue to do a lot of work with the Sports Philanthropy Network to help many organizations make positive impact in their communities.

Dean Smith Letters—These are some amazing letters that I found online.  They were written from legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith to a young basketball player named Michael Jordan.  You can see the attention to detail Smith has and the eye for the game.  What I also found interesting in these letters is the fact that you can see how they impacted Michael’s game at the NBA level.  It would be very interesting to see other letters from Dean Smith or other coaches in terms of how they want to see their players improving in the off-season (and then looking back on these letters after a player becomes a star).

Nick Saban—Alabama losing 2 regular season games is almost unheard of.  The loss yesterday really had to sting because Alabama mostly controlled the game.   The first pick-6 was relatively normal, but the second one was a horrendous throw and an enormous turning point in the game.  Instead of an 8-point Alabama lead it turned into a 100 yard INT return for Auburn.  But the lasting image of the game will Nick Saban’s tirade at the extra time added at the end of the first half.  By all rights, Saban is 100% correct.  There is no way that the clock should have been stopped or that Auburn should have been given time to kick that FG (which was ultimately the difference in the game).  The second dispute at the end of the game seems different to me. Auburn pulled off a good trick play and Alabama got caught with too many players on the field allowing Auburn to run out the clock. As in any close game, there are so many individual plays that can make the difference.  Besides the two big disputes, you have a relatively short missed FG and a defense that was clearly not up to Alabama’s recent standards. Still, it is hard to see how so many Tide fans are calling for Saban’s head.  As I wrote recently, be careful what you wish for Alabama Fans.  You might not make the playoff this year, but I would not bet against Saban next season (and if I were one of his assistant coaches, I would not plan on much sleep).

The Hedges—There were some very funny images of people trying to get through the hedges at Auburn after the win.  It would seem that if you were a fan at Auburn you might have a better game plan of how to get on the field after a big win.  Surprisingly, Alabama is 0-7 at Auburn when both teams are ranked. 

Jim Harbaugh Press Conference—After becoming the first Michigan coach to be 0-5 against Ohio State, Harbaugh was obviously quite testy at his press conference.  It might not have risen to the level of contentiousness as Mike Leach does at Washington State, Harbaugh was clearly irritated by questions of what Ohio State did better.  It is going to be very interesting to see where Michigan is slotted for a bowl game and how the sentiment around Ann Arbor in the off-season will impact the Harbaugh era.  Many Michigan alums were unhappy going in to the season and Michigan lost to the three best teams they played (Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State).  They were not even close against Ohio State or Wisconsin and needed a huge comeback against Penn State to get within striking range, a comeback which appeared to be the turning point for Michigan to play well for the second half of the season.  While Harbaugh has made Michigan more competitive than the last two coaches (Hoke, Rodriguez), he hasn’t been able to get over the hump in the way that many expected.  This will be an interesting story to watch in the off-season.

8-Team Playoff—I recently wrote why I think the 8-team playoff will save college football.   The enormous pressure on coaches is just another reason.  With only 4 teams making that playoff, there is virtually no margin for error for any team not named Alabama, Clemson or Ohio State.  You look at Championship Weekend and there are very few teams that can really improve their spot and only a couple (Georgia, Utah, Oklahoma and maybe Baylor) that can likely play their way in.  By contrast, an 8-team playoff would still have a lot of room for movement not only into the field but also into the matchups and into the home-field advantage.  What would be better than seeing and SEC team travel to the Midwest for a game in a snowstorm?

Coaching changes—One of the things that I hate most about this time of year (and also Black Monday after the NFL season), is seeing all of the coaches who lose their jobs. These guys gave their hearts and souls to the programs that they are working for.  Clearly it is a business and they all understand that it is part of the profession, but too many of us fans fail to recognize the impact these decisions have on all of the family members, especially the children uprooted to new schools or faced with abusive attacks on their parent in the media and on social media.   It was refreshing to see the positive press release Northwestern put out after the decision to move on from Mick McCall as offensive coordinator after a truly dreadful offensive season, one which ironically ended up with their best offensive performance of the year.

Josh Shaw betting—The NFL doesn’t play games when it finds out that one of its players has been gambling on NFL games.  Josh Shaw was a backup player on injured reserve who laid some action at a Vegas casino, supposedly due to his misinterpretation of the rules. Though he did cooperate fully, he is suspended through 2020.   According to the NFL’s own language it would appear to prohibit fantasy football but you frequently hear players referencing their fantasy teams.  Maybe they are all just playing for fun. Here are six other things you might not know about Shaw, including the fact that he fabricated a story while at USC about leaping off a balcony to save his drowning nephew.

Medical Independence—One disturbing story this past week was about the lack of medical independence on many college campuses.  According to NCAA regulations, the sport coaches are not supposed to be in charge of the hiring and firing of medical personnel for their programs.   Unfortunately, it has become apparent that there are still way too many coaches who control this aspect of their programs leading to enormous conflicts of interest and unreasonable pressure on the athletic trainers and other medical personnel. The NCAA itself has provisions for dealing with this situation but it appears that they are rarely enforced or even investigated.

Arena Football Bankruptcy—The Arena Football League filed for bankruptcy this week.  The league has had many lives and there is no reason to believe that it is gone for good.  There is always a huge appetite for football, but one important element of the league may be replaced by the XFL.  The development aspect of arena football is limited because too many NFL positions really do not have equivalent positions in arena.  The XFL will be a better developmental mode but the desire to see football is likely to create another desire to resurrect this league.  Its biggest obstacle is likely to be the concussion crisis since players are going to be increasingly reluctant to sacrifice their brains and bodies for the meager financial rewards of arena football, especially if it is not a true developmental option for the NFL.

If you didn’t have a chance to see some of the other things I have been involved with or written recently, take a look here:

• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, November 29, 2019
• Why an 8 Team Playoff Will Save College Football
• Plenty of Blame to Go Around in NFL/Kaepernick Fiasco
• FIRE SABAN!! Be Careful What You Wish For ‘Bama Fans
• Why Second Guessing Playcalling is Like Second Guessing Rock, Paper, Scissors
• Roy’s Ramble, November 22, 2019
• Roy’s Ramble, November 15, 2019
• Roy’s Ramble, November 8, 2019

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

It has been an interesting week. Last weekend I was out in Buffalo for Project Play Western New York.  This week I have been out in California for meetings with more sports youth organizations, promoting Sports Philanthropy WORLD 2020 and meeting with speakers and sponsors for that event coming up June 25-26, 2020. If you would like to register, you can get our SUPER EARLY BIRD rate through December 31, 2019.

For much of the week I have been attending MEGASUCCESS, a conference run by JT Foxx. It has been an amazing experience.  I have also had an opportunity to reconnect with some good friends and have a chance to sit down for meaningful conversations with people who are trying to change the world.

Amidst all of the travel and activity, I am feeling very thankful for the people that I have in my life and recognize how fortunate I am to have many supportive people in my life.  While I am involved with sports philanthropy all year round, especially at this holiday time, I encourage people to think about their good fortune and donate to causes that help with food insecurity.  Blessing in a Backpack is great organization my daughter Julia is raising money for through her sorority. Blessings helps feed children in need and is something that runs across all races and geographic locations.

What I was following this week:

• Colin Kaepernick—This situation got out of control quick.  You can see what I wrote about “Plenty of Blame to Go Around in NFL/Kaepernick Fiasco.”  Ultimately, even many of those who have spoken out in support of Kaepernick’s right to protest, like Stephen A. Smith, have come down harshly on him agreeing with what I wrote about him trying to dictate terms of a job interview.  Stephen A’s comments this morning focused on the fact that the NFL was even allowing him an opportunity after he sued them, took a huge settlement and more. I will be surprised if he ends up on an NFL roster this season.

• Tua Tagovailoa injury—People heaped blame on Saban, but the injury occurred in the first half so that is clearly absurd. No team sits starters in the first half, regardless of the score.  The bigger concern might be the issue raised when it became apparent that Tua did not have the proper insurance to protect him in the event of an injury.  That is a place where they are rightfully angry at the school because he should have had coverage to protect a drop in value, not just the total permanent disability. This is why athletes need representation to help them negotiate and ensure the proper steps are taken.

• Athlete violence—In the wake of the Myles Garrett fiasco, there were many calls for the NFL to take a stronger stance against domestic violence or other violence against women. Some expressed disappointment that there was more outrage from Garrett’s conduct than some of the recent examples of violence directed to women.  It becomes interesting to watch some of the double standards that exist where players and many members of the media seem to be more willing to give players a second chance or benefit of the doubt for a domestic violence incident than they do for Myles Garrett’s helmet swing, with some calling for a permanent ban.

• The NCPA (National College Players Association) held an event at UCLA which was primarily focused on two issues:  1) health and safety of college athletes; 2) whether players should be paid or allowed to capitalize on their name image and likeness.   The stories from the women on the first panel were heartbreaking.  Listening to the abuse they suffered and hearing about the number of failures in the administration, you have to wonder how so many people could turn a blind eye to their pleas.  Yet it has happened frequently.  (You can read my more detailed summary of each panel coming soon if you check back on this site). The second panel focused on the issue of payments to players, either in the form of direct payments from the schools or allowing athletes to capitalize on their name image and likeness.  Here are a few articles that I have previously written about the topic.
  • NCAA Statement on Name, Image, Likeness Leaves Gaping Holes
  • Only Two Choices Left for College Sports: Level Playing Field or Free Market

• MEGASUCCESS by JT Foxx—Each year JT Foxx puts together an incredible lineup of celebrities for his MegaSuccess event.  So far, the event has featured: Hugh Hilton, Steadman Graham, Gabriel Macht (Harvey Spector from Suits), Omarosa, Dr. Phil, Vince Vaughn, Dolph Lundgren, Jillian Michaels and many others.  The celebrity aspect is truly just one part of the environment because the event draws over 2500 entrepreneurs from over 80 countries around the world.  It is an incredible opportunity to engage with business leaders from around the world, learn about different cultures and network with successful business people trying to help each other improve their businesses.

• California Organizations—Great trip out to California to have the chance to meet with several organizations.  Met with LA Scores (Spotlight), AVP First (Spotlight) and GOALS (Spotlight coming soon).  Each of them perform incredible work in their community and I especially enjoy the opportunity to take a site visit and see the way each group works. If you want to support our efforts to help organization’s like these, you can become a member of the Sports Philanthropy Network by joining here!

• Project Play Western New York— Last weekend I had the honor to present to Project Play of Western New York in Buffalo.  There were over 75 people leading youth sports organizations about how to improve their organizations and build their capacity. There was amazing energy in the room and people that are very passionate about helping kids in their community remain active, learn through sports and develop needed life skills and relationship building through their sports activities. A special treat to end the trip was the hospitality of the Buffalo Sabres who gave me my peek into the Key Bank Center as they hosted “Hockey Fights Cancer” night. I managed to be a good luck charm to help the Sabres end their 7-game losing streak (with a 4-goal game from Jack Eichel).

If you didn’t have a chance to see some of the other things I have been involved with or written recently, take a look here:

• Sports Philanthropy Newsstand, November 22, 2019
• Why an 8 Team Playoff Will Save College Football
• Plenty of Blame to Go Around in NFL/Kaepernick Fiasco
• FIRE SABAN!! Be Careful What You Wish For ‘Bama Fans
• Why Second Guessing Playcalling is Like Second Guessing Rock, Paper, Scissors
• Roy’s Ramble November 15, 2019
• Roy’s Ramble November 8, 2019

Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

A terrible week for the NFL comes to an end with one of the ugliest incidents anyone has ever seen in the league. They can only hope that Sunday’s games do something to take the spotlight off of the the Browns-Steelers debacle.

Browns-Steelers—This is obviously the headline story of the week.  One of the most vicious incidents ever seen in an NFL game overshadowed an otherwise boring football game.  Probably the only person happy about the ending was Browns DB Demarious Randall.   Randall was ejected—something hard to accomplish in the NFL—for a helmet to helmet hit which was really not even close to being a reasonable football play.  His hit would be the talk of the NFL world if not for Myles Garrett and his helmet swing.  Roger Goodell and the NFL came out with a strong and prompt message.  The prompt part might have been the most surprising given how slow the NFL usually moves, but the league could not let last night’s incident go unpunished into a full slate of games this weekend.  The quick suspensions are just the easy ones and you can anticipate that there will be a lot more fallout as the NFL fully looks into the incident.  Mason Rudolph is unlikely to go without punishment either.

Houston Astros—The Astros were also beneficiaries of Myles Garrett’s actions. Their electronic sign stealing will still be a huge story as it is unlikely that they are the only team using technology to steal signs.  As the analytics craze hits everything else, it is almost funny that the teams do not want anyone stealing signs.  The process of stealing signs has been going on for over 100 years, but the “spirit” of the game apparently draws the line here.

Project Play Western New York—I am excited to be presenting Saturday for a group of sports organizations funded by Project Play of Western New York.  We are expecting over 75 leaders representing 50+ organizations to participate in the workshop and break out sessions aimed at building the capacity of their organizations.  As with many organizations, the challenge is how to balance all of the requirements of running a youth sports organization.   Typically the Founder takes on an enormous burden both financially and in time.   As we sit with organizations we try to help them identify the best way to make their organization sustainable so that if they get hit by that bus, the organization will be able to carry on its important mission and all of the hard-work from the Founder will not go to waste. One of my favorite parts of this process is the smaller group sessions which allow the participants to ask the questions with which they need the most help.

Colin Kaepernick—In another of the NFL’s struggles, the workout set up for Colin Kaepernick on Saturday has received wide-spread criticism.  The reason is that it does not fit in the NFL’s usual timeframe for working out players (Tuesday).  The league did not give Kaepernick much advance notice and many sources have reported that they gave the teams no notice at all prior to the media announcement.  The bottom line is many feel this is a CYA move by the league.  Kaepernick feels he has been blackballed by the league and a victim of systematic discrimination.  However, some former players close to the league have told me that Kaepernick was not even trying to get workouts, was not in shape, and was not training and practicing in any fashion which would make the NFL teams take him seriously. Remember, this is a small community and people know what is going on.  If Kaepernick was training and preparing for workouts, word would easily have gotten back to the NFL teams.  It will be interesting to follow what happens at Saturday’s workout.  Maybe the NFL should give a compensatory to pick to the team who dares to sign him.  It will be interesting to follow what happens on Saturday and it will probably merit its own article early next week so check back here. UPDATE: 11-18-19 Plenty of Blame To Go Around in Kaepernick and NFL Fiasco

Fiserv Forum/Giannis—I had my first chance to see Fiserv Forum and watch Giannis live.  His athleticism is even more impressive in person than in HDTV.   For my personal taste, there are still too many side shows at NBA games because I like the focus on the game and the competition but the crowd for the most part seemed much more engaged by the entertainment during the timeouts.  Fiserv lived up to its billing with an impressive array of food selections and nicely redeveloped area though somewhat inexplicably, several of the bar/restaurants would not serve food or have anything other than bar service. Really? You didn’t see the game schedule? Or you didn’t expect people to come by after the game when you are 200 feet from the exit?  Puzzling.

Georgia vs. Alabama—Does someone want to explain to me how Georgia is ranked ahead of Alabama?  As you can read in my post about “Why an 8-team Playoff Will Save College Football”, the criteria are so questionable that nobody knows the real requirements.  Georgia lost at home to South Carolina.  South Carolina is currently 4-5.   Alabama lost at home to #1 LSU.  LSU is undefeated.   Granted Georgia has a couple good wins (Notre Dame and Florida).  However, you can only play who is on your schedule.  I hate the concept of punishing teams for schedules which are either set a decade in advance (for non-conference games) or are out of their control (set by the conference).  Alabama is still likely to get into the playoff if LSU beat Georgia.  So the Tide will now have to cheer for their rivals because there is almost no way Bama gets in if LSU loses to Georgia because you are hard pressed to see how Bama would be picked ahead of the team that beat them.

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

As we head into this holiday season, please consider support Blessings in a Backpack

SUPPORT BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK, A NATIONAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT FEEDS SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES.

STORIES THAT I AM FOLLOWING THIS WEEK

Chase Young–Reports out of Columbus this morning are that Ohio State Heisman candidate Chase Young may be ineligible for violations of NCAA rules. He is being suspended from the Maryland and potentially Rutgers. Cynics will question the timing as he sits to investigate these issues before Ohio State’s two big games against Penn State, Michigan and the potential Big Ten Championship game. He would be a huge loss to a dominant defense but more importantly, if there are truly violations you have to wonder whether Ohio State will be forced to forfeit games in which he competed.

Jermaine Whitehead—The Browns’ DB went off the deep end in a Twitter tirade that led to his release.  It is sad to see a player lose his livelihood over a adrenaline induced rant on social media.  There are many players who have ACTUALLY been violent that have received lesser punishments.  Sports is not always rationale and the tidal wave of response to his posts almost forced this move.  One thing that I hate in today’s world is how many people’s lives are being destroyed by single mistakes or expressions of frustration.  I am certainly not excusing violence, sexual assault or other offenses, but we seem to be having trouble drawing a reasonable line. 

McDonald’s –The company’s decision to terminate its CEO Steve Easterbrook is another example, where a consensual relationship ended a long career.  I understand that it was against corporate policy and I understand the risks of not making that decision, but it seems like an extreme action for a consensual relationship.  One of the challenges in today’s world is that “any” mistake can now be a fire-able offense. We want people to learn from mistakes, admit mistakes and take responsibility for mistakes, yet we seem to be making the penalty so high that is discourages that type of behavior.

Running up the score.  A high school coach was suspended because his team scored too much.  While we all understand sportsmanship, sports is ultimately about competition. As many coaches have said over the years, “if you don’t want us to run up the score, stop us.”  Now that sentiment may be more applicable to college or pro sports than youth sports, trying to draw a bright line at a certain score margin will create other unintended side effects.  Instead of teaching kids to compete to the finish and try their best, will we see schools that are dominating a game do a dumb thing like run backwards, fumble on purpose or take other actions that are likely worse in the long run.

Podcasts.             One of the privileges of running the Sports Philanthropy Network is the opportunity sit down and meet so many interesting people and hear about the fascinating work they are doing in the community.  This week I had the pleasure to record several podcasts that will be released over the coming weeks and it never fails to amaze me to see and hear the passion of those individuals running the organizations.  I hope that you will tune in and listen to our podcasts.

Sports Philanthropy Newsstand.              Each week we release a Newsstand that includes many interesting stories from the world of sports philanthropy.  I hope you will take a look at these each week and see the tremendous work being done.

NCAA.   Lots of ongoing conversation about the Name, Image and Likeness issues. If you did not get a chance to read my views from last week, here is another chance

Six Gaping Holes in the NCAA Statement.

Where Do College Sports Go From Here? Only Two Choices.

Chicago White Sox Game Changers.        The White Sox hosted a terrific event billed as “Incorporating Inclusion and Accessibility Through Sports”.   With a focus on adaptive sports, this Game Changers panel looked at the importance of increasing the level of activity and access to facilities.  For more detailed coverage, read the full post here.

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

HUMOROLOGY DONATIONS

SUPPORT BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK, A NATIONAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT FEEDS SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES.

TOP STORIES THAT I WAS WATCHING THIS WEEK

NCAA statement on compensation for Name, Image and Likeness–The NCAA came out this week and said that they were going to start to examine how to allow athletes to receive compensation for their Name, Image and Likeness.  However, if you read the NCAA’s actual statement about the situation, you will see that it is truly full of gaping holes.  Take a read here as I outline some of the problems with the way that NCAA is going about this process.

LEVEL FIELD OR FREE MARKET—After you read the article above, take a read through this analysis about the only two options that are really left for college sports: 1) A level playing field; or 2) A free market system.  Are you ready for these changes? Well, it doesn’t matter because you will have to choose a side! You will see the arguments for each side and then we would love to see you vote which side you would take.

ARENA FOOTBALL—The news that the Arena Football League was going out of business indicates the second professional football league to fold this year, after the AAFL.  The trouble is that the minor league sports are a very difficult business model and if they cannot get secure financial backing as well as solid TV contracts, they are going struggle.  The XFL is picking up momentum as it heads towards its kickoff and it is getting more coverage in the mainstream media and talk radio circuits.

IHSA REFUSAL TO ALLOW CPS SCHOOLS TO PARTICIPATE IN STATE PLAYOFFS—The lengthy Chicago Public Schools teachers strike had many unintended consequences, not the least of which was the fact that the Illinois High School Association decided that it would not allow the CPS schools to compete in state playoffs for the fall sports.  I am still really not clear what the rationale was for that position, but it seems to me that the kids who have worked so hard in their sports all season long should not be forced to miss the playoffs.  I am not weighing in on the right decision regarding the now settled strike, but punishing the kids seems to be in nobody’s best interest.  Kudos the judge that finally allowed the students to compete.

WORLD SERIES—Truly an amazing series. It is unbelievable that the road team won all 7 games.   The Nationals managed to pull it out and won an amazing number of games with clutch hits.  Brewers fans are probably still lamenting the one game playoff they lost when they appeared to have the game in hand and the Nationals rallied with clutch hits.  To me, one of the most disturbing calls was the interference at first base, but thankfully it was made little difference in the game so it can just be relegated to a footnote.

AXIOS—They hosted an event on Wednesday related to criminal justice reform.  A star-studded lineup came through including governor JB Pritzker.  A lot of interesting issues were addressed and you can read more of the details here.  The criminal justice reform issues continue to lag and the slow pace of change is detrimentally impacting a lot of families.

Chicago Sports Commission—Billed at “Telling Chicago’s Story”, the panel included longtime Chicago media members Dave Revsine (Big Ten Network), Peggy Kusinski, Dave Eanet (Northwestern Sports) and Lou Canellis. The panel was moderated Tarah Cooper Wright who is currently in the role of CEO and Partner of the Rise Strategy Group.  She put some very interesting questions and each panelist got the opportunity to tell some of their favorite stories.

AXELSON—The Axelson Center for Non-Profit Management put together a nice event on Tuesday.  They host periodic events around the Chicago area aimed at improving the work of non-profit organizations.  Take a full read here for more details about Tuesday’s event.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN–The story coming out this week about Jeffrey Epstein’s death potentially not being suicide could be the least surprising story of the year.  With all of the information that he had about a lot of powerful people, someone getting to him was a virtual guarantee. The complaints of the Federal Bureau of Prisons aside, you have to wonder how much help someone had to get to him.

ENTREPRENEURS—One of the things I really enjoy is sitting down with entrepreneurs and non-profits and seeing how I can help them improve their operations or take a new product/service to market. I had a chance to sit down with some very interesting organizations and companies this past week and look forward to sharing more details with you over the coming month.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• AMERICAN ISRAEL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE—LEADERSHIP AWARD DINNER, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2019.   Here is a link to the full information. I hope you can join us.  If you are interested in coming as my guest, please send me an email ASAP so that we can get you on the list.  This great organization builds relationships between businesses in Israel and the United States.
• PROJECT PLAY, WESTERN NEW YORK—I have been honored to be invited to present to a group of non-profits that are funding by Project Play of Western New York on November 16, 2019.  These organizations do a lot of interesting work in their respective communities and I am excited to share with them a variety of ways to help them build capacity and sustainability in their operations.

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

Some really interesting issues coming up this week:

• Skateboard Mom—If you have not had a chance to see this video, I hope that you click here and watch the impressive feat performed by a loving mother who wanted to let her son with cerebral palsy experience the exhilaration of going through a skateboard park. Impressive dedication and energy to make that a reality for her son.

• Brett Concussion—While I have done a lot of concussion related work with youth sports organizations and high schools over the last decade, this was my first experience with one my kids having a concussion in that time frame.  Brett and a teammate collided in a flag football game as they tried to stop the opposition from getting into the end zone.  Taking a knee in the head is likely to cause a concussion (or other injury).  I commend Stevenson High School and the athletic trainer on staff for taking immediate action and giving him a comprehensive sideline assessment.   Even though the concussion was fairly apparent, it is always a good idea to go through the entire test to try to identify where some functional deficit may have appeared.  One of the most challenging aspects (as always), is getting the athlete to sit out.  After about 36 to 48 hours, Brett was feeling pretty good and was very frustrated that he was not allowed to participate in sports this past week.  This highlights the challenges that occur with young athletes who feel fine but may not recognize that areas in which their brain is not performing properly.  It is a reminder to every level of sports organization, that the sideline assessment and the initial medical assessment are merely the BEGINNING of the process.  Even his physician failed to give him the proper information about a return-to-play protocol.  The physician told him that he would be allowed to return-to-play if he had no symptoms over the course of this week.  Unfortunately, that is not the accurate standard (though it could be correct in some instances).  The proper way to assess whether an athlete is ready to return to play according to the CDC is the following:
  • 1.            No apparent symptoms
  • 2.            Return to normal baseline test (which is difficult when most organizations do not do baseline testing proper—or at all)
  • 3.            5 day, Return to Play Protocol
    • Day 1: Light aerobic activity
    • Day 2: Moderate activity
    • Day 3: Heavy, non-contact activity
    • Day 4: Practice and full contact
    • Day 5: Competition

• Playing One Sport Year Round—The National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) put out a statement this past week highlighting the problems with playing one sports.  These problems include the higher frequency of burnout and mental anguish, but also, some very real physical problems that can occur when an athlete plays one sport year round.  The ongoing stress and pressure on the same muscles, joints and ligaments creates a long term problem for many young athletes.  Among NATA’s recommendations are:
  • Delaying specializing in a single sport for as long as possible
  • One team at a time
  • Less than eight months per year for a single sport
  • No more hours per week than the age in years
  • Two days of rest per week
  • Rest and recovery time from organized sport participation

• Astros fire Taubman. The only surprise is that it took so long. After the initial comments from Brandon Taubman surfaced, the Astros claimed to do an investigation and then stood behind him. The Astros failed to recognize that the references to domestic violence were shouted in the face of female reporters. Despite the strong calls for immediate action by many female members of the media, the Astros went all-in on defending Taubman. Unfortunately for them, you can’t sweep things under the rug during the world series. The true comments came out and the Astros were left with little choice. What makes it even more interesting is that it is unlikely that the Astros would have fired Taubman had they come out and punished him or suspended him at the outset and many wonder whether this scrutiny would have been different during the regular season. MLB is now weighing a suspension as well.

• ORT—I was fortunate to be invited as a guest to the ORT Leadership luncheon at the Standard Club in downtown Chicago.  With over 120 people in attendance, the event highlighted the work of honoree Katy Lynch, the Founder of Codeverse.  Codeverse is doing impressive work in the community and helping teach young kids to code and enjoy the skills that are needed to excel in our increasingly STEM world.  You should check out their website at www.codeverse.com.

• Northwestern Football—This is Northwestern’s Homecoming weekend and so the Northwestern Gridiron Network held its annual luncheon at the Norris Center along the lake.  Over 300 people gathered to hear AD Jim Phillips, Coach Pat Fitzgerald, President Morton Schapiro and some of the current players expressive their love for the university.  Fitz always has some great one-liners though he declined to share any of his Iowa material in advance of the game. 

• Dental work—Unfortunately, had to have some dental work done this week and as I sat in the chair, I marveled at the advancements of the technology.  It used to hurt far more to just have a filling than it does now to have a tooth removed.  In fact, the most painful part was the injection for the local anesthetic and the most uncomfortable part was the little brace that was placed in my mouth to keep it open.  Truly incredible.

• BE ON GUARD—When you look at every level of sport, one of the main attractions of fandom is the uncertainty of what is going to transpire.  We never know whether our team will perform well, perform poorly or manage to win the game.  Even when we think we know, we don’t.  That is one of the reasons that sports remains one of the last bastions of valuable TV content, because live sports continues to be a huge draw.  Nothing illustrates this better than the Wisconsin-Illinois game last week where despite dominating time of possession and the statistical battle, the Badgers made crucial mistake at crucial times and managed to put a damper on their big match-up with Ohio State.  In sports, you need to be ready to go every single time you step on the field (or court, course or other competition area).

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

• Packers-Lions Controversy—This really is not a Packers/Lions issue.  It is an issue that is occurring on a weekly basis in the NFL.  There is a lot of difficulty officiating games properly when every single play is examined with a microscope and the benefit of slow motion replay, high definition television and thousands of “experts” weighing in on Twitter.  The NFL probably made things worse instead of better in the wake of the blatant miss in last year’s NFC Championship Game between the Saints and the Rams.  Trying to re-adjudicate judgment calls to the microsecond are going to bring us to the same point that we have been at with the catch rule, where for a few years even a minute movement of the ball would cause a pass to be ruled incomplete.  If you focused the cameras on any play and zoomed in on the offense and defense lines, you would likely see holding or a hand in a facemask on every play.  It is hard to see where the NFL is going to be able to clean this up. But at minimum, there were some very funny memes to come out of the game.

• Chicago Ideas Week.      One of my favorite weeks of the year is Chicago Ideas Week.   A week-long program focused on larger societal issues and a series of presentations that are like mini Ted Talks, CIW annually turns out some provocative sessions.  The ones that I was able to attend this week included:
  • What Will The World Look Like in 2050
  • Does Activism Make a Difference
  • It’s time to kick Your Addiction to Algorithms
  • Do We Have All the Answers
  • Who Draws the Line Between Right and Wrong?
  • Entrepreneurs can Change the World
  • Who Do Your Kids Trust More:  You or YouTube?
  • Leaders Aren’t Born, They’re Made

• JT Foxx                 His MegaSpeaker series was held in Chicago this week.  JT Foxx bills himself as the World’s #1 Wealth Coach.  I first went to one of his events about 15 months ago.  At the outset he can come across as arrogant and condescending.  After you have a chance to listen to him for several hours and hear the way he engages with participants and hear from those that have attended multiple events, you realize how much depth there is to his systems.  He has built a terrific team led by Francie Baldwin and by Brent Turley.  Brent always opens for him, much in the way that Joseph McClendon frequently opens for Tony Robbins.  He bills his presentations as a way to help people get speaking opportunities, but the reality is that the events are so much more.  He helps them focus on getting a mentor, branding and being decisive in their decision making as a way to get better results in their business.  If you have a chance to attend one of his events, you can feel the energy and passion he has.  Despite his critics, he is an extremely hard worker and travels around the world speaking and putting on events.  Typically over 320 days per year!! His upcoming MegaSpeaker event has 2000-3000 people in Anaheim and attracts high level entrepreneurs from across the globe.  If you can handle a bit of the schtick, you might get a lot of benefit out of it.

• Airwick VIP Pre-Poop Toilet Spray.   So I usually don’t question the powers that be and their marketing strategies, but after having to endure this ad for the last month on the sports talk radio morning shows, I can no longer remain silent.  Let’s put aside for a moment that it plays about 4-6 times per hour (and sometimes more) during the 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. timeslot.  Let’s also put aside the fact that it seems to be targeted at women (or maybe I am misunderstanding that.  But what troubles me the most with this commercial, it that it seems to be giving women, young ladies, and girls the feeling that they need to “hide” their bodily functions from their boyfriend or spouse.  The mom on the commercial literally tells her daughter that her father did not think she pooped for three years.  Really?  I doubt he is that dumb.  But the commercial might be.  The only redeeming performance in the commercial is the (presumably) teenage daughter giving her mom the typical teenage attitude when spoken to about her “body changing”, “needing protection” and the mom’s other inane comments.

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

As every week goes by, there are a variety of new issues that hit the sports landscape.  Some merit detailed examination and others get only short-term focus from the mainstream media.   What I find interesting is how some of the most significant issues get only quick sound-bytes and almost no properly follow up.  Here are a few of the items that I found interesting from this week.

• Baker Mayfield—his alleged refusal to shake hands with Richard Sherman became a headline item for 2 days until people pulled up the actual footage and showed Sherman that Baker had in fact greeted him before the toss, though Baker is clearly seen running off immediately after the toss.  To his credit, Sherman acknowledged that the reality was his degree of “hurt” was overblown, but it shows us once again the danger of making immediate reactions and judgments when a player (or eye-witness or victim) provide their initial impressions.  No matter how certain or how loud they are, there is likely to be some discrepancy between the video footage and the “reality” that was initially blasted across the screens.  In the sports world it is easy for us to laugh and brush it off.  In the world of the criminal justice system, those initial soundbytes can dramatically alter a person’s life and devastate their future.

• Increased Risk of CTE—Yet another study was released by Boston University that found an increased risk of CTE for those who have played years of football and found that there was a strong correlation between the number of years played and the the degree of risk..  It is clear that we still are not taking the risks of repetitive hits seriously enough and that there is sufficient data to confirm the importance of reducing the number of head impacts our children receive in ANY sport.  Soccer is eliminating headers at early ages, hockey is eliminating checking at young ages and football is attempting to convert the game to flag football at the youngest levels.  All of these efforts deserve applause, and yet we have to question why so much of the process is still being mis-managed at even the highest levels.  The study of 266 deceased athletes found a 30% increased risk for each year played, meaning that the risk of CTE more than doubled for every 3 years of football. Scary stuff.

• Improper use of subjects in concussion studies and ADHD diagnoses—Once again we see some suspect actions out of the University of North Carolina.  The Athletic found that there was a mysterious absence of critical data in UNCs renowned concussion research. (If you don’t have a subscription to Athletic, here are a couple other links to articles summarizing the coverage: 1) BusinessNC: Years of UNC Concussion Research Led by Guskiewicz May Be Unreliable; 2) The Key Play: OT: Investigation into UNC Concussion Research. Having been through the academic cheating scandals and more, the latest hit comes out as it appears that the athletic department has been diagnosing players with ADHD when they enter college at rates far above what would be expected for kids that had never received that diagnosis.  To make matters worse, the UNC students were then also included in some of the concussion research studies performed at UNC without properly disclosing the ADHD diagnosis.  The troubling aspect arises as people reviewing that study and relying on it for future purposes are potentially basing their new research studies on defective data. 

• High School Baseball—at a business event I happened to meet a mother who relayed the story to me from a local high school baseball team.  Her son loved baseball and played for many years and was the sole kid cut from this particular high school.  Despite having notified the school in advance that this child was coming over from a special program and despite having spoken to some of the coaches in advance to discuss potential accomodations, this particular coach took a hard line attitude.  I cannot imagine the justification for cutting one single kid from any sport (if you are only cutting one kid, then you could clearly keep them and allow them to practice and be part of the team).  But when you combine this issue with the special needs issue, this coach is likely in violation of an IEP, the ADA and many other regulations.  A stubborn attitude and refusal to have a proper conversation about it hardly seems like the type of role model that we want for our children.  Hopefully I will be able to intervene and will have some more positive information to report in the coming weeks.

• Dreadlocks—The letter to Penn State Football player Jonathan Sutherland was truly outrageous.  Calling him out for dreadlocks, tattoos and more, the letter reprimanded him for not holding up the Penn State image.  Leaving aside the simple idiocy of the comments in today’s society, the fact that the letter was so tone deaf to the racial issues in this country is astounding.  I commend Penn State for its prompt reaction to the letter and the fact that it quickly distanced itself from the lunacy.

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK