WOW.

That is truly the only word that came to mind watching Tiger’s win at Augusta.  It was an impressive performance, even if it didn’t require him to shoot a lights-out round as he watched his nearest competitors dump ball after ball into Rae’s Creek on #12.   We will leave out the editorial comments on their shot selections aimed at the far right of the bunker, instead of playing for the middle of that green with the tournament on the line—shocking mistakes for players that have been around long enough to know better.

As the accolades for Tiger poured in over the last few days (all well-deserved), it got me thinking about how unlikely it was.  Not Tiger’s performance, but the fact that so many people wanted to see him do well.  As a society, we often hear about the desire to see someone comeback from a past mistake. 

But the sidelines are littered with athletes, entertainers, coaches, media members and others whose mistake was one simple act or misstatement.  Most of them do not receive the same type of support.

We see millions of Americans who have been through the criminal justice system. Virtually none of them are given much support in their second chance efforts.

Why is that?  What distinguishes the cases in which a person is crucified for life for one small mistake, and another is seemingly easily forgiven for his transgressions? 

Addiction cannot be the answer because many of the individuals who are ex-communicated from college and pro sports teams were arguably facing the same types of addiction issues.

I do not claim to have the answers to this question, but I do find it fascinating.  I wonder how much more we could accomplish as a society if employers, schools, spouses, sports leagues and media companies would grant this same level of forgiveness and support to those in their midst who needed it.

So each time you hear someone cheering on Tiger, take a minute to think through your own life and see who could use that support from you!!

Each week I take a quick look at some of the stories and news that I found most interesting.  This space will include some sports, but not all of the sports stories that I normally follow in the areas of sports philanthropy, sports law, sports business, Jewish sports, concussions and otherwise.  If you want to see more of what I am following in those areas, let me know and I can point you to the best spots on my blogs and websites.  You will see that I love to find some of life’s little absurdities and point those out as well as other interesting stories that I follow.

GRAPHICS OF THE WEEK

WEEK ENDING APRIL 14, 2019

• Tiger’s win at Augusta. Obviously one of the biggest stories this weekend. An impressive feat. I have never been a Tiger fan, but it was an incredible win and a comeback for the ages. Despite my feelings about Tiger, you can read here about how I do give him credit for two very impressive accomplishments. My other question about Tiger, or more his audience, is whether they would give others the same second chances Tiger has received. I routinely see sports related people fired, shunned and shamed for far less than cheating with 100+ women. Seeing all of the joy and redemption stories made me wonder about this double standard. It was fun to see a strong leaderboard the last couple days.

• Concussion research advance.   One big story this week was the study released by Boston University which seems to bring us closer to being able to diagnose CTE in living people. While the diagnosis alone will not get us where we need to be, it will allow a much more rapid progression in the identification of the disease and give us some ability to work on treatments.

• Daylight Time vs. Standard Time.             So if you are in Chicago, in April, does an invitation for 7 p.m. CST mean 7 p.m. CDT? Or is the person sending a stealth invitation for 7 p.m. MDT?  I am not sure why this concept is so difficult.  But there are a large number of people (and media) that incorrectly publish times for an event in Standard Time when we are in Daylight Time.  Part of me always wants to email back to them to ask whether 7 p.m. CST really meant that, or whether they meant 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time.  I am sure they are only confused because we spend many more months on Daylight Time than we do on Standard Time

• Night for Victory.                             The Northwestern Gridiron Network held a beautiful event at the Godfrey Hotel on Saturday night.  Fantastic venue on the rooftop lounge.  Impressive turnout to raise money that they were targeting for customized helmets, allegedly to reduce concussions.  While better equipment can help, I am always wary of players feeling unduly” safe in particular equipment.  The rooftop setting itself was beautiful and the Purple Arch Venture hosts did an impressive job with the decorations.  Take a look at these photos.

• Alley-Oop to Alliyah. My friend David Goldstein from Toronto was in Chicago for a couple of Lunch and Learns” where he spoke about his book Alley-Oop to Alliyah. It is an impressive piece of work about the trail of African-American basketball players that have moved on to play professional basketball in Israel, and how their presence in Israel has made an impact on their lives as well as on the lives of the Israeli’s around them. Many of them have chosen to remain in Israel after their playing careers because they felt that they were treated better in Israel than in most other places that they have lived. If you would like to have David visit your community, let me know and I can put you in contact with him. I think you will enjoy the presentation and I know that I am looking forward to reading the book.

• Diverticulitis.    Typically spending a whole day in the urgent care clinic and the ER are not fun.  And this past Tuesday was spent in that fashion.  But instead of being aggravated with the slow” service, I was thankful for how quickly things were handled, how fortunate I was to be able to receive that type of medical care and how ultimately they only found something that was a short term issue.   Diverticulitis is much better than a burst appendix or dozens of other options that it could have been.  The biggest problem was not the pain, but the effect of two heavy anti-biotics that knocked me out for much of the week.  I rarely take any type of meds for pain so I was surprised to feel so sluggish and lethargic.  I dragged myself out to a few meetings, but really didn’t start feeling better until Sunday.

• NCAA Men’s Championship Game.         I was happy to see Virginia win the National Championship because I am a fan of Tony Bennett.  A tremendous turnaround from last season when Virginia became the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed.   I like Bennett’s leadership style and have followed him since his playing days at UWGB.  Virginia had two of the most improbable wins that I have ever seen in their Elite 8 win against Purdue and semifinal win against Auburn.   When Purdue poked that ball into the backcourt and less than 5 seconds remained, the odds of Virginia pulling that out had to be under 5%.  With 10 seconds left in the Auburn game, the odds might have been even lower.

• Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.       I have never been to this dinner event before, but with my friend Al Bernstein being inducted, it was fantastic to see over 600 people in the crowd to honor him.   The energy in the room was impressive and this was one of the best limos that I have ever seen.

• JNF Lawyers Breakfast. Held the day after the Israeli election, this breakfast took a bit of a detour to examine the results of the election and challenges that will be faced in putting together a new government.  Israel always has political challenges but this particular election may hold the fate of some of the biggest decision’s in the country’s history.

• Traction.              I was invited to an interesting lunch presentation by a company called Insperity.  The presentation focused on a book called Traction and the system for helping a business analyze how to prepare themselves for growth.   The presentation took us through a process called EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System) but the presentation itself was probably better suited to a small group for a working session than for a lunch presentation.  But the substance of the presentation had some terrific content and if you are interested in hearing more about it I can connect you to my host.