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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