Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

A good friend of mine, Alannah, asked her friends recently to post a message on their FB page about how much their Moms mean to them.  I told her I’d wait until Mother’s Day – then I’d blog about my Mom.   So, today’s the day and here are my thoughts.

Thank you, Mom, for being a wonderful and loving Mom.   I’ve always admired your strength, love and determination to be a terrific wife and mother.  I know it was not easy for you to move to the US shortly after marrying Dad in Tokyo.  You spoke little English and you were all of a sudden in a big, foreign country.  But, you took English classes immediately upon arriving in the Washington, DC area.

It worked out well that we ended up living back in Japan for 13 of my first 16 years.  So, we got to spend lots of time with your Mom, brothers, sister and other family members.  We also made friendships in Camp Zama that have become life-long friendships.  The Guthries are a special family to the Lynns … we’ve shared so much over the years … and I feel like our families are intertwined.

I also recall when you started working at Springfield Mall when we moved back to the DC area during my high school years.  I remember at times you’d come home from working at Garfinckel’s … and you’d cry because some ignorant person made fun of you or said they couldn’t understand your English.  Yet, you worked hard and become a top salesperson and garnered awards at Garfinckel’s.  That filled me with pride.  Then, you went to work for Michael Round China — where you also excelled and many wonderful friendships.

I also have great memories of the friends that you and Dad made in the Northern Virginia area — especially the ones you and Dad would go ballroom dancing with every weekend.   And, of course, I’ve always liked your numerous Japanese friends.  Such wonderful people.

Then, 10 years ago you got a mysterious lung illness after participating in the 2001 Presidential Inauguration Parade as part of a Japanese / Hawaiian dance team.  You were admitted to Ft Belvoir Hospital (where, ironically, I was born) in Feb ’01.  Then, they couldn’t properly diagnose the illness so you were transferred to Walter Reed Hospital.  You bravely and courageously survived over 30 days in the Intensive Care Unit.  You had that awful tube down your throat … and you lost so much weight … yet you battled and battled.  I was there at the hospital every day to encourage you to fight the battle.  You left the hospital weighing about 66 pounds … but you rehabbed hard over the next few months.  And, as the pulmonologist said you’re “the miracle lady” since you made such a great recovery from your lung illness.  We are blessed and fortunate.

Then, in 2007 and early 2008, you showed how remarkable you really are by so dutifully taking care of Dad as his dementia and Alzheimer’s worsened.  Here you are … weighing in the 90′s … taking care of a man that weighed over 200 pounds.  Yet, you never wavered.  You were there for him 24 x 7.  Peter and I were both amazed at the love and care you displayed.  We know you were exhausted yet you continued to show such loving care of Dad.  I will never, ever forget your strength and love.

Dad sadly passed in early ’08.  Yes, we miss him dearly.  But, you’ve embraced your friends at the Jefferson as well as your group of wonderful Japanese friends.  I love to have dinner with you and your cast of friends and characters at the Jefferson.  We are blessed to be part of the Jefferson community.

As you know, I go to Japan every year … and I always go to our family cemetery to pay respects to the Tobari and Matsumoto families.  I pray to Obachama and I tell her how proud I am of you … and I promise I will continue to do all I can to make sure that you are 100% taken care of.

I am looking forward to our family reunion with Dad’s side of the family later this month.  All of the cousins and their kids love their Aunt Kuni.  And, I know they’ll greatly appreciate the creative gifts that you make for them.

Thank you for being the shining light in my life.  Your selflessness and appreciation of others has been passed on to me.  I’m sure that’s one of the reasons I’m so heavily involved in helping others.  In this blog, I’ve highlighted a few of the reasons that I’m proud of you.  But, in reality, I’ve always been proud of you … not just for these reasons … but for being a loving and wonderful Mom all of these years.  Happy Mother’s Day.  I love you.

Thank you, Coach Gary Williams

Is it sad to hear the news that Gary Williams has resigned as the head basketball coach of the University of Maryland?  Yes, it is.  But, instead of being bummed, Terrapin Nation should be eternally grateful for the great dedication he brought to the school.  The joys he brought to so many Terps fans for winning the NCAA Championship last decade will never be forgotten.  They should name the court at Comcast Center after Gary Williams and he should be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

We moved from Tokyo to the Washington, DC area just when the Terps were starting to enjoy a good run of success in the late 70′s / early 80′s.  They had great and entertaining players — Albert King, Buck Williams, Ernie Graham, Greg Manning, etc.   Then, in the mid 80′s I fell in love with the player who become one of my all-time favorites … Len Bias.  I remember him as a raw freshman … so much potential and upside.  And, it was great to watch to watch him grow into a great player.  Who can forget those games he had in his last year against the bitter rivals — UNC Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils?   But, then the sad day in June ’86 that none of us will ever forget.  Most of my friends and I had the same reaction when we heard the sad news … “no f****** way, not Len.”

One of my closest friends, Kurt Helwig, and I went to Cole Field House to pay respects on a hot, humid day in June.   I remember Coach Lefty Driesell asking the fans to give Lenny one more standing ovation.  It’s been nearly 25 years but I will never forget that day.  So many sad faces — so many tears.

Maryland then went through a tough couple of years under head coach, Bob Wade.  He was in over his head.  And, then who comes to the rescue?  None other than Gary Williams.  I was a fan of Gary Williams since he led my alma mater, American U, to its greatest success in the early 80′s before he went to coach the Ohio St Buckeyes.   We were elated that Gary decided to come back home to coach the Terps.

I vividly recall being at Cole Field House for the NCAA Tourney in ’91.   There we witnessed a great upset as the #15-ranked Richmond Spiders upset the ridiculously talented #-2 seed Syracuse.   But, what I also remember is when Gary walked out to his seat — he got a standing ovation from hometown Terp crowd.

Terps fans also owe a lot of gratitude to Walt Williams for not abandoning the program.  Instead, he stayed put and helped Gary start to put a foundation in place.  There were so many good players, including Joe Smith, Steve Francis, Keith Booth, etc that played under Gary.   But, in my heart, none of them come close to Juan Dixon.  His story was and is remarkable.  He lost both of his parents to drug use while he was in his teens.  He came to Maryland as a scrawny freshman.  But, under the great tutelage and guidance of Coach Williams, he turned into an incredible and fiery player who willed his team to wins.  We used to call him the “Assassin” since he wanted to take the last-minute, game-winning shots.  I loved being at the Verizon Center to watch him drill the shot that beat UConn in the NCAA tourney.  And, we all loved the backcourt duo of Dixon and Steve Blake.  They will forever be etched in our minds for bringing home the NCAA Championship.

Yes, I love the Georgetown Hoyas … Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Charles Smith, etc … but I’ll always be a two-team fan … both the Hoyas and the Terps.

Gary will be missed … he was a fiery competitor … who didn’t cheat the system … and who won with the players that weren’t McDonald’s All-Americans.  Instead, he won with the players that he coached and molded into winners.  Terps Nation owes many, many thanks for his contributions to the University of Maryland and to the Washington, DC basketball community.   I look forward to the day the court at Comcast Center is named after Gary Williams as well as to the day he’s deservedly inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Teaching at Georgetown University

Today is the last day of classes at Georgetown University.  Then, next week will be the final exams and final project presentations.  It’s been a terrific but extremely hectic semester.  I’m finishing my 6th year of teaching the “Sports Marketing Strategy” course in the McDonough School of Business and my third year of teaching / advising in our graduate Sports Industry Management Program in the School of Continuing Studies.  My larger role is with the SIM program where in addition to teaching, I also serve as an adviser as well as business development lead.

This is the first time I’ve taught classes on back-to-back nights (Mondays and Tuesdays).  So, it has been quite a handful.  But, fortunately, we use a co-teaching model with two professors.  Joe Wang (Sports Marketing Strategy) and Andy Zipfel (Digital Sports Media) have both been terrific.   Joe and I have been teaching for 6 years so it’s a good, natural fit while this is Andy’s first time teaching (he excelled this semester).  This is the 3rd straight semester I’ve worked with a “rookie,” but everyone of them has done a terrific job.

It is an interesting contrast between teaching the undergraduate seniors in MSB — many of whom are taking the Sports course as a marketing elective and are interested in Sports but are not necessarily focused on working in the Sports industry vs the graduate students who are completely dedicated and focused on working in this field.  So, it’s a good balance.

This semester has also been quite busy since the Associate Dean of our SIM program, Matt Winkler, and I have taken two trips for the program.   One trip was to Brazil where we went to meet with many top Sports officials from various Brazilian organizations such as the Rio Olympic Committee, Rio World Cup Committee, Ministry of Sport, Confederation of Brasilian Football, etc.  The other trip was taking 16 graduate students to London during Spring Break.  That was a fantastic trip — we met with Octagon, IMG, Arsenal, James Grant Sports, O2 Arena, Lord’s Cricket Grounds, 2012 London Olympic facilities, etc.

In two weeks will be the graduation ceremonies for both programs.  This is always a highlight for me … to be able to shake hands and congratulate our deserving graduates.  And, I also love to meet the parents and family members of our students.   I think it’s particularly poignant for me since graduation always bring back memories of my late father.  Although my dad wasn’t a particularly outwardly emotional person, I can still vividly recall the pride on his face at the graduation ceremonies as I received my MBA degree.  That’s why it’s special and important to me to meet the family members of our students.

My thanks to the students for all of their hard work and effort — not just this semester — but throughout their entire time in the program.   Hoya Saxa.

An amazing week in Washington, DC

This past week was an amazing one in Washington, DC.  It was a combination of my passions … teaching, sports consulting, philanthropy, mentoring and social events.

As I blogged about in the last post, last Tuesday night was a great night with the book celebration of Darell Hammond’s terrific book about KaBOOM!  We held a fantastic event with the Who’s Who of DC at the book party.  The energy in the house that night was remarkable.

Then, on Wednesday morning, I did my sports consulting work during the day, then sat it on a 4 of our Capstone / Thesis presentations from our students from Georgetown University’s Sports Industry Management program.  It did bring me great pride to see the growth and maturation of our students.  It’s great to see their evolution from the beginning of the program through the classes and then culminating in graduation, which will take place on May 20th.  I then hustled over to our NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) Annual Gala at the Ritz-Carlton.  Rodney Walker, a remarkable, young man and NFTE grad brought the house down with his keynote speech.  It was a phenomenal event with over 900 people packed into the room.  Kudos for Julie Kantor and Kate Palmer for all of their great work.

I work on Thursdays at the office of one of my clients, Under Armour.  I love this company and love seeing their rise — it reminds of AOL in the mid to late 90′s when AOL was on its way to becoming a global brand.   I actually was also there on Wed morning to speak at a roundtable discussion on Global, Digital and Diversity.  On Thursday, UA celebrated Armour Day — which included an employee meeting and then everyone going to the Orioles – Red Sox game.   A long and terrific day!

This past weekend was a big one in DC since it’s the White House Correspondents celebration.   On Friday, the Brunswick Group hosted a fantastic event, “Emerging Voices in Media,” on the rooftop of the Hay Adams Hotel.  The view of the White House from the Hay Adams is spectacular.  It’s one of the greatest sights one can witness — it simply takes your breath away.  Voto Lation’s co-founder, Rosario Dawson, was the star of the event.

Then, on Saturday, the White House Correspondent Garden Brunch was held at the home of Mark Ein (one of the most famous homes in DC).  Great mix of people, including Rupert Murdoch, T Boone Pickens, Sarah Palin, etc.  Then, on Saturday night was the Capitol File After-Party at the Ronald Reagan Building.

So, after 7 great days, I was ready to go to sleep early on Sunday night.  But, as I was dozing off, I saw the news alert about Osama Bin Laden being killed by US Military forces.   Although I only live 3 miles from the White House, I did not go there since I was exhausted.  But, the news coverage, including the celebrations at the White House and in NYC, was so intriguing.  What a week in the Nation’s Capital!