• 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

Though the game itself was not starting until after 7 p.m., Wrigley Field was still hopping at 7:30 a.m. when the Crain’s breakfast crowd poured into the venue to listen to the insight from Ryne Sandburg and Cubs executive Crane Kenney.

It was great to see Crane again as we used to play golf together during our law school days. I was very interested to hear his insight into the renovation process and his remarks did not disappoint.

While most in the audience were interested to hear Ryne’s words, I always like hearing the business perspectives behind the sports success. Ryne spoke about how much more space and how many more staff people the Cubs have now since the Ricketts family took over the operations. The numbers are staggering.

Crane talked about how he evaluated other iconic sports and entertainment venues around the country and even overseas as he started the process of determining how to best make the renovations for Wrigley. Of particular interest was how the focus groups responded to alterations to various design elements. There was never any question that the marquee would not go away, the bleachers would remain and the scoreboard would stay in place. But Crane did not expect the big uproar over the the bathroom renovations, especially when there was a discussion about possibly removing the troughs from the men’s room.

The Ricketts family has taken over a lot of real estate in the area and has transformed the neighborhood into an entertainment complex that provides many opportunities for the fans. One of the biggest changes was the array of private clubs housed within Wrigley that can provide a variety of upscale options for those entertaining at the game.

Some beautiful, if pricy, options, give terrific sight lines into Wrigley while still allowing a lot of comfort, food and drink.

As I say every time I leave a sports venue, I am amazed at the enormous operational infrastructure that it takes to pull off a sporting event. Fans take so much for granted and gripe up a storm if something does not go smoothly, but there are SO MANY moving parts and the coordination that it takes to create the comfortable environment is impressive.