Digital Sports Revolution: The move to AOL

Digital Sports Revolution:  The move to AOL.  Back in ’94, when I was the Advertising Manager for Home Team Sports, the regional sports TV network for the mid-Atlantic region, I noticed how nearly all of the 23 or so regional sports networks (RSN’s) marketed in fairly the same manner (as noted in the initial blog on this subject).  But, I was trying to figure out how to differentiate HTS from the other RSN’s as well as how to differentiate myself.  A couple of interesting items got me moving in this direction in ’94.

First, we worked with a terrific consultant, Jeff Grimshaw, who was hired to execute all of our on-air promos (primarily for tune-in for Orioles, Bullets and Capitals games).  He had gained great experience during his time running on-air promotions for Turner Sports and by that time he had his own company.  He and I talked regularly about the TV space but also about a few of the emerging trends.   Jeff set up a meeting for our HTS management team to go visit with Bell Atlantic TV in Arlington, VA.  Bell Atlantic was working on a fascinating product called “Star-Gazer.”  They were pushing “interactive TV.”  What did this mean?  It meant the TV viewer could become an active viewer, not just a passive viewer, re coach potato.  One could order TV shows, movies and pizza as well as potentially shop from the TV.  I know that sounds common now in this digital age but back then that was revolutionary thinking.

The other important item is that one of the key members of the Bell Atlantic team was a brilliant and smart person named Anne Levy, who I believe was serving as their On-Air promotions expert at that time.  I’ll get back to this connection in a moment.

The other important item for me was attending a cable marketing show in the summer of ’94 — I believe it took place in blazing, hot New Orleans.  There was a guy from a small company called America Online delivering a presentation about “interactive news.”  His name was John Coulston and he was the GM of the AOL News Channel.  He was talking about they could deliver more than static new stories.  How they could deliver photos — and how AOL members could engage by posting messages and respond to the news stories.  Well, much of what AOL was doing at the time was the pre-cursor to what is now called Social Media.

The other meeting that really got me thinking about to differentiate HTS from the other RSN’s was seeing a presentation from a company called Princeton Broadcasting System (PBS).   Their pitch was that an at-home viewer could watch a sporting event on TV and have their choice of 8 – 10 camera angles rather than the singular feed that is available.  Although the idea didn’t really take deep root, I believe some of the PBS technology was used to help create the very popular “First Down” yellow marker that is now so prevalent on TV.

So a combination of these three presentations — Bell Atlantic’s Stargazer, AOL News and PBS — really got me motivated and inspired.  Again, a lot of credit goes to Jeff Grimshaw for having and sharing the vision to think “outside the box.”

In ’94, AOL was the third-ranked online service, trailing the much better-funded Prodigy and CompuServ.   I believe Prodigy was funded by CBS, IBM and Sears while CompuServ was owned by H&R Block.  But, since AOL happened to be located in the greater Washington, DC area (HTS was in Bethesda, MD and AOL was then in Vienna, VA), we contacted AOL to discuss a possible marketing deal with HTS.

We had a good meting with AOL in the Aug / Sept ’94 timeframe, but they were not interested in a deal at the time for a couple of primary reasons — 1) at the time, they only did deals with national companies, not regional companies and 2) they did not have a Sports channel (AOL called its content sites “channels” back then).  But, they said they enjoyed the meeting and that I / we should stay in contact with them.

Although was a bit of a hiccup, we still wanted to forge ahead with developing ways to market and differentiate HTS from the other 22 RSN’s in the country.  I invited my friend, David Joubran, who was working for small consulting shop called NDC, to see if they might be able to develop an internet site for HTS.  I wanted us to the first RSN with its own website.  This did happen in ’95 (David went to launch his own very successful consulting business, Acumen Solutions).

It was in the late Jan / early Feb timeframe that I received an interesting phone call from Anne Levy, who I had connected with so well at Bell Atlantic.  She asked me if I was happy at HTS — she also asked if I might have an interest in working for a somewhat small technology service that was going to launch a Sports division.   It turns out that Anne was going to leave Bell Atlantic and join AOL as the Director of Business Development for AOL Sports.  She was paired up with Randy Dean, who was named the General Manager of AOL Sports.  Randy is a terrific guy (who I had great respect for despite his deep affinity for UNC basketball)!

I had an interview with Randy and Anne in Feb / Mar ’94.  I must say it was a nearly perfect meeting.  The three of totally hit it off immediately.  And, for whatever reason, I seemed to come up with the right answers to nearly everything they were asking about — as well as talking about this Sports space might look like in the coming years.  It was a great feeling and I was excited about potentially having the opportunity to go work for AOL.

But, I did really like the TV space and the I loved working with the HTS family (what a wonderful group of co-workers — it was a fantastic team).  But, I wanted to try something different.  The primary thought that really drove my decision-making was to “go for it.”  I thought I could go work for this company, AOL, and become deeply immersed in “Internet Sports Marketing.”  The thought was that I would go to AOL for three years or so — then I could go launch my own business as a multi-media sports marketer (with a background in Sports PR, Radio, TV and online / internet services).   I thought very few people could offer that type of marketing mix in ’98 – ’99.

But, who would have ever guessed that AOL would go on this meteoric rise throughout the latter half of the 90′s — culminating in our merger / acquisition of Time Warner, the largest media company in the world?  And, I loved my time at AOL so much that I ended up staying there for 14 years (’95 – ’09).   It was an incredible run and I’m so grateful for the many, many friendships and relationships developed — not just internally at AOL, but also externally with so many clients in the US and globally.   There are many people that I’m grateful for and indebted to for helping me “think outside the box” and encouraged me get out of my comfort zone (radio and TV) to take the leap into working in the digital space (I have mentioned some of them in this blog posting and will reference others later on).  My next blog will start to talk about my initial few months at AOL Sports.

(As noted in the previous blog, these thoughts are mine only — I’m sure I won’t get all names and dates correct — this is just a personal blog with thoughts and musing about the Digital Revolution in Sports.)

Digital Sports Revolution – Introduction

The Digital Sports Revolution.  Over the past several years, I’ve frequently lectured, participated in conference panels, blogged, etc about the history and evolution of the Sports sector in the internet / new media / digital media space (the terms change over the years so I’ll refer to it as Digital Media).  1995 was the first year that the Digital Sports space really started to formulate.  That’s also the same year I went to work for a fairly small online company in Tysons Corner, Virginia called America Online.

I have enjoyed blogging over the past few years but I have not blogged that much in the past year.  It is so much easier to quickly post comments on Facebook or bang out a quick Tweet.  Back in June ’11, I had a fun time writing a blog every day for the month of June (about what I like about living in Washington, DC).  So, now I thought I’d do something fun.  I’m going to blog regularly about the history of evolution of AOL Sports.  These written words will be completely my personal thoughts and memories.  This goes back over the past two decades so I’m sure I won’t have all of the facts correct.   But, I think it could be an interesting exercise — and I encourage interaction from friends and students in this space — as well as anyone that has interest in this topic.  Again, these are just my personal thoughts and does not have anything official to do with any company or organization.

Background

First, I want to provide context and background information about myself and why I went to work for AOL in the Spring ’95.  I went to American University and got my BA in Communications in ’85 and then a MBA in Marketing in ’89.  While at AU, I also did a number of internships in radio — I did 5 to 6 internships at WPGC-FM, WRQX-FM (Q107) and WMAL-AM.  I also DJ’ed throughout my college years as well as through the 90′s.  I DJ’ed a wide variety of functions but my specialty was DJ’ing weddings (approximately 500 wedding receptions over a 18-year period).

After graduating with my MBA in ’89, the legendary GM of WMAL-AM 630, Andy Ockershausen, introduced me to his close friend, the PR legend, Charlie Brotman.  Charlie ran the best PR sports agency in the DC — clients included boxing champions — Sugar Ray Leonard and Riddick Bowe — as as the local PGA golf tournament, local men’s and women’s professional tennis tournaments, etc.  Although I had my MBA (and was in $50k in debt), I really wanted to follow my passion of working in the Sports industry.  After a number of informational interviews, it was clear to me that to work in Sports, if one did not have any experience. one had to pretty much start at the bottom (particularly since so many people wanted to work in this type of fun and entertaining industry).

So, I started interning for Brotman and Associates in ’89 (no pay) and then worked at WMAL radio a few nights a week as a producer, r.e. screen caller, for Ken Beatrice Sports Talk show (I think it paid $6.00 or $6.50 per hour).  And, then I DJ’ed on the weekends.  The internship turned into a job later in ’89.  It was a terrific experience – in particular learning about the importance of networking and relationship building.

In Sept ’90, I then had the opportunity to become the Promotion Manager for the CBS Radio owned and operation station, W-Lite FM, in Rockville, MD.  That also was a terrific experience — learning about the operations of running the marketing and promotions of a radio station in a major market.  I also met a number of friends who are life-long friends.  After 3+ years, I left to become the Marketing Manager at Home Team Sports (HTS), the regional sports network serving the Mid-Atlantic region.  We were the cable broadcast partner for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Bullets (before they changed to Wizards), Washington Capitals and a wide variety of collegiate sports programming.   Switching from radio to TV was not easy but it made me go outside of my comfort zone, learn a new medium and made another a number of terrific long-term friendships.

Those years were excellent for my personal growth as I learned in detail about the operations of two mainstream traditional mediums …. radio and TV.  But, as a marketer, I started to get frustrated since each year because the marketing plan didn’t evolve that much.   As I was told my management (not just locally, but nationally), “this is the way the business is done.”   So, year after year, we implemented the same type of marketing plan.  For a regional sports TV network, it was to run on-air TV promos, print ads in local newspaper, :15 and :30 radio spots, outdoor billboard ads, etc.

As a marketer, I totally understood the strategic marketing plans we put into place year after year.  But, I was looking for something different — for my company as well as for myself.  How could I / we differentiate our company?  How could I differentiate myself?  The career path for a marketing or promotions person can be fairly limited so one does need to think outside the box.  That’s when AOL and the internet came into play.  I will blog about the beginnings of this venture in the next posting.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 1,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 3 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Happy Thanksgiving — thank you to my mentors and mentees

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It’s a day spent with family and friends. And, it’s a day to take a step back and to think and to be grateful for what we have been blessed with over the years.

 

For the past five years, I have visited Arlington National Cemetery on the morning of Thanksgiving to pay respects to my heroes — my father, Uncle Art and General and Mrs Jack Guthrie (the parents of one of my closest friends). These are all people that have had such a deep and meaningful impact on my life.

 

In addition to my heroes, this day also makes me think of the deep impact that my mentors and mentees make on my life — each and every day. Two of my main mentors are Ted Leonsis and Mario Morino, who both have taught me the importance of mentoring, giving back, helping others, philanthropy, etc. They have done so not only with their words but also through their actions over the past 15+ years.

 

We have an informal “Pay It Forward” system in place. Those two men were mentored by others when they were young and in college and / or early in their work careers. They in turn have mentored many people from my generation. So, it’s on us to now to pay it forward by passing on our learning’s to the next generation.

 

I have been blessed to mentor so many wonderful people throughout the past two decades. The first group of mentees were primarily from my office — HTS and then AOL — as well as through the wonderful non-profits I worked with — Hoop Dreams Scholarship Foundation, Year Up, Posse Foundation, etc. Now, most of my mentees are from Georgetown University as well as other non-profits such as Asian-American LEAD and NFTE.

 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I do have a wonderful story to tell. As many of my friends know, I mentor two wonderful Chinese-American teenagers, Da-Zhi, who is 17 yrs old and a senior in high school and his sister, Sally, who is 13 yrs old and in 8th grade. Their parents are from China and moved to Washington, DC so they can provide an education and bright future for their children. I met them through Asian-American LEAD, where I’ve served on the board for over 5 years (we were one of the first non-profits funded by Venture Philanthropy Partners – co-founded by Mario Morino, Raul Fernandez and Mark Warner in ’00).

 

I have been mentoring Da-Zhi and Sally for over four years and I am 100% committed to paying for their college tuition and ensuring they will receive their college degrees.

 

This is where the Pay It Forward system continues to grow. I have four terrific Asian and Asian-American students from Georgetown University — two graduated recently and two are seniors now. All four students have embraced the Pay It Forward system. I’ve told them I will mentor them and help them over the years — in return, I asked if they would help me prepare Da-Zhi and Sally for college.

 

Da-Zhi is now a senior in high school and is writing his college essays for his application process. Since he is the first one in his family to go to college, this is a new experience for him. Thankfully, this has been a group effort as my 4 Georgetown students / friends and I have collectively helped Da-Zhi with is essays. I am grateful to Carlos, Morgan, Lily and Frank for their wonderful help and advice.

 

In summary, I am so deeply grateful for this network of mentors and mentees. I am “paying it forward” to my mentors by mentoring dozens and dozens of the next generation in the greater Washington, DC area. So many people tell me, “your mentees are lucky to have you in life.” My response is “I’m just as lucky and fortunate to have them in my life.” This is not a one-way street … it goes both ways. I don’t have my own children — but because I have so many mentees — it provides a great feeling in that I’m able to “give back” and to help others. In addition to Sally and Da-Zhi, there are so many other mentees — TK, William, Michael, Emily, Jeremy, Taylor, Rodney — this list goes on and on and on (and I’m sorry I’m not listing everyone). In fact, I just added two new mentees from Georgetown this week as part of a wonderful program called Georgetown Scholarship Program.

 

So, on this special day, Thanksgiving, I am thinking of my Dad, Uncle Art and Aunt June, General and Mrs Guthrie, for being heroes in my life. And, I deeply thankful and grateful for the mentors and mentees in my life. Each of you have made my life that much more meaningful. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Washington Nationals – enjoy the run!

The Washington Nationals are bringing joy and smiles to a lot us in the greater Washington, DC area.  A number of us have been season ticket holders since they moved here to DC in ’05.  Yes, they played in an old stadium, RFK, but it didn’t really matter.  After not having MLB here in town for over 30 years, it was so wonderful to watch baseball played in the Nation’s Capital.  It didn’t matter to me who the Nats were playing — it was joyous to have pro baseball played here in DC.

I also bought into their long term plans near the beginning of their tenure here — about replenishing the farm system and building the team with young talent and a long-term vision in place.  I’m fortunate to be friends with the Nats ownership group as well as the team president at the time, Stan Kasten.

I know Stan from our AOL / Time Warner days.  He’s the legendary sports executive who at one point was in charge of three professional teams at the same time — the Braves of the MLB; Hawks of the NBA; and Thrashers of the NHL.  He’s a true legend and visionary in our field.

So, yes we bought into the long-term vision, similar to what the Capitals have so successfully accomplished.  But, it’s been an up and down couple of years as the Nats struggled on the field.

We did start to see the improvement in play in the latter half of last season.  And, we know the team has drafted very well under the great GM leadership of Mike Rizzo.  But, none of my friends and I expected the fantastic success that Nats are displaying this year.  It’s getting near the end of August and they still have the best record in the MLB! 

I’m working out of LA this week so I’m missing the big series vs the 2nd place Atlanta Braves.  But, I’m following the games on my iPad.  And, I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming series against the defending world champion, STL Cardinals, next week and then the Cubbies.

The team is definitely built for the long run.  They have a great foundation in place and should be in contention for the playoffs for the next few years.  Pitching, timely hitting and defense — the keys to a winning team.  Of course, injuries can and will play a factor,  So, we’ll keep our fingers crossed as DC gets to enjoy its first pennant race in a long, long time in the coming months. 

As for the Strasburg issue, I could write an entire blog about it but I’m 100% behind the decision made by Nats management. 

Nats fan — enjoy the next couple of months — we haven’t experienced this in a long time and it will be fun.  Of course, the experiences at the Caps playoffs are through the roof.  Looking forward to some raucous nights at Nats Park!   Let’s go, Nats.

Brilliant 2012 Olympic Games

Congratulations to London and NBC Sports for a fantastic 2012 Olympic Summer Games.  London was a terrific host city — this was definitely one of the best run and most entertaining games (similar to the successful ’00 Sydney Olympics and ’96 Atlanta Olympics).  We were in London with 20 of Sports Industry Management students from Georgetown.  We toured the Olympic facilities and attended a swimming trials event.  There were a lot of people predicting massive traffic problems and security concerns but those were alleviated and the Games were a smashing success.

I also nothing but superb praise for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Olympics.  During my 14 years at AOL (’95 – ’09), we were constantly in discussions with NBC about a strategic partnership but we could never come to terms.  I was a strong advocate of NBC as well as the IOC doing a better job of embracing the internet.  I knew that we could create a win-win partnership where we could have helped drive our massive audience (in late 90′s thru mid 00′s) to the NBC coverage of the Olympics.

The first time this topic became an important was in ’00 for the Sydney Olympics.  The IOC hastily put together a New Media Summit for the Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland in Dec ’00.  I was on a panel at the summit strongly arguing that the internet can and will improve the coverage of the Olympics, including helping people find the events on TV (including cable networks), watching some of the sports that don’t prime-TV coverage, helping people track the medal standings, etc.

But, back in ’00, the TV broadcasters looked at the internet as  a threat and didn’t want anything to do with it.  They claimed as long as they were paying the massive TV rights fees that they would call the shots.

Well, it’s now 2012 and things have changed dramatically, especially the huge uptick in usage of Social Media and mobile devices.  Twitter and Facebook are obviously game-changers — just look at the increased usage from the ’08 (Beijing Games) to this year.  In addition to those two platforms, YouTube continues to also be a game-changer.  And, NBC did a great job in creating a partnership with Google’s YouTube for their NBCOlympics site.

Social media will continue to increasingly change the viewing habits of sports fans.  With Tweets, FB updates, text messages, etc, it’s no longer easy to try to watch a delayed broadcast of one’s favorite sporting event.  You now literally need to shut off the devices to try to watch your DVR’ed game or event.

I loved how NBC changed its strategy — showing events live on NBCOlympics,com ended up not hurting the TV ratings.  I know some people complained about NBC’s coverage during prime-time but I liked they way the packaged the events.  Also, if you watched it via your DVR, you could easily speed through events that were not of interests.

Although I knew the results, I still watched nearly every night.  And, I shook with excitement or shed a few tears watching so many great athletes perform so well.  My favorite highlights were Gabby and US Women’s team winning the gold, Mo Farah winning the two big running events, the joy of the Missy Franklin and her teammates, the US Women’s basketball and soccer teams winning Gold, Jessica Ennis joyfully winning the heptathlon, Kerry and Misty sweeping their matches, etc.  There’s too many to list. 

This.again reinforces to me the wonderful success of the Olympic Games.  Many Kudos to London and NBC Sports.  I am very much looking forward to the 2016 Olympics in my beloved Rio de Janeiro.  There’s only a 1 hour time difference from US EST so some of the tape-delayed and timing issues won’t be as relevant.  But the inclusion of Social Media will be that much more integrated in the ’16 Games.  What’s interesting is that there will very likely be another major social media platform that launches in for the those ’16 Olympics — it’s hard to say what it’ll be but surely some young and brilliant entrepreneur will develop the next big idea.  Cheers.

JLynn: Update

I have not done any blogging over the past few months … I got caught up too much in the ease and simplicity of Twitter as well as Facebook status updates.  But, the space is quite limited.  I get emails and texts from various friends and students about what I’m up to … so I figured it’s best to write a blog and point to it rather than trying to email a lot of different people. So, here it goes.

In regard to work, I’m focused on three specific buckets — JLynn Associates, Georgetown University and Human Equity.  Here’s the quick updates:

- http://www.JLynnAssociates.com — a strategic advisory business focused on Sports and Entertainment.  I’m now in my fourth year and things are going well.  Working with 15+ clients, including Under Armour, MicroStrategy, x2impact, Audax Health, SportsVite, StatSheet / Automated Insights, SpotLight Ticket Management, MTX Wealth Management, etc.   It’s primarily an advisory / connector role with a focus on digital, social, mobile, global, diversity and marketing.  Speaking of global, strategic partnerships and alliances have been formed or will be formed in Brazil, China, Mexico, Israel, UK, etc.

- Georgetown University — this upcoming Fall semester marks my the beginning of my 8th year at teaching at Georgetown.  I’ve taught a Sports Marketing Strategy course in the McDonough School of Business (MSB) undergraduate marketing program for the past seven years; I’m continuing my role as the Visiting Professional in our graduate Sports Industry Management program in the School of Continuing Studies; and I’ll start teaching a MBA course, Social Technology Marketing, in Sept.  I very much enjoy teaching, advising, interacting and mentoring so many wonderful students.  I’ve also struck a number of terrific friendships with faculty throughout the campus.

- http://www.HumanEquity.com — this is a new digital media solutions business we’ve launched earlier this year.  We have a terrific staff, based in NY and Washington, DC.  I’m very proud that our DC office is comprised of three of our former graduate students from Georgetown Univ.  It’s not easy launching a new business in these tough times but there’s clearly a need for social / digital media strategy help.  It’s an exciting venture with much upside.

So, those are the three areas of focus but I also do make sure to continue to spend a fair amount of time with philanthropy, mentoring and community service.  And, lastly, one of my long-time friends, Chris Tavlarides, and I are co-producing a boxing documentary that will be released this fall — http://www.thegoodsondocumentary.com/.  Much more info will be coming out soon about our movie project.

Georgetown University ’12

It was a terrific week on the Georgetown University campus last week since it was Graduation Week.  I attended the commencement ceremonies for the Sports Industry Management graduate program (School of Continuing Studies) on Friday afternoon and for the McDonough School of Business (undergrad) on Saturday evening.  In addition, I participated in the Tropaia ceremonies for MSB and SCS, attended the receptions for both schools and also went to a couple of families receptions throughout the weekend.

Each year, one of my personal highlights is attending the graduation ceremonies and then meeting the families of my students.  It’s great to meet the parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.  I think it takes on an even more personal nature for me since I still look back fondly at the look of pride on my parents’ face when I received my MBA over 20 years ago.   It’s particularly poignant since I lost my father four years ago.  But, I’m cheered up each year during graduation thinking of how proud the families are when watching their son / daughter walk across the stage to receive their diploma (it’s also one of the reasons I love serving as a “hooder” during the SIM graduation — to be able to personally congratulate our students).

This weekend also makes me reflect on my 7+ years at Georgetown Univ.  It’s been a wonderful ride and one I look forward for many years to come.   I’ve taught “Sports Marketing Strategy” in the undergraduate business program for the past seven years.  And I currently serve as the “Visiting Professor” for the Sports Industry Management program.  It’s a hybrid role of teaching (Sports Digital Media, Sports Leadership and Management, Global  Economics / Under Armour, Capstone, etc); advising students and faculty; and leading business development for the SIM program (we will be creating international partnerships as we strive toward our goal of being the world’s best sports management program).  This Fall, I will start teaching a MBA course, “Social Technology Marketing.”

It’s wonderful being part of the Georgetown family.  I’ve also been able to strategically connect my two businesses, JLynn Associates and Human Equity, with the programs and classes I teach.    The latter venture is a new digital media solutions company we just launched in April — and I’m proud to note that three of our former SIM students are part of the team.  Btw, many of my students know that I’m constantly preaching about the importance of Digital / Social Media — so it was terrific to have the CEO of Living Social, Tim O’Shaugnessy, deliver the commencement address for MSB as well as to have our MSB Dean, David Thomas, eloquently use five of his best Tweets, as important lessons for the graduating business students.

In addition to the business tie-ins, I’m also so very proud of philanthropic / non-profit work of our students.  As one who serves on a number of non-profit boards, I’m constantly telling my students about the importance of “giving back” to the community.  This is also part of my “Pay It Forward” promise to my long-time mentor and friend, Ted Leonsis, who is a proud Georgetown graduate and member of the GU board.  He was mentored by the legendary Father Durkin — Ted has taught my generation about giving back and helping others — now it’s turn to pass this on to our students.  I’m proud of my former and current students that are involved with “Teach for America,” our MSB partnership with Year Up as well as many other organizations.  I’ve also had a few students tell me they’re going to make the transition from banking / private finance to get involved with leadership of non-profit organizations.

In summary, I’m grateful to be part of this Georgetown community (most of you know I’m a proud AU alum but they don’t have a sports management type of program).   It’s great to see the growth of our Sports Industry Management program and I’m excited to be adding a MBA course to teach later this year.  But, most importantly, it was so wonderful to see so many students graduate on this special weekend.   Hoya Saxa.

 

J-Lynn writing about J-Lin

I just returned back to DC on Monday afternoon after attending the NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando (which is the best place to network and conduct business with sports executives).   The hot topic continues to be the unbelievable and amazing story of Jeremy Lin of the NY Knicks.

I’ve had lots of interesting discussions, emails, texts, Tweets, FB messages, etc since my long-time nickname has been J-Lynn.  Some of my fellow baseball and softball teammates have been calling me that for over 20 years (since it’s common in Sports to call the person with a combination of the initial of the first name and their last name).  Also, when I left AOL in March ’09 to start my own strategic advisory sports business, I had to come up quickly with a name — so I called it JLynn Associates.   So, my friends have had fun with J-Lin vs J-Lynn.

But, getting back to the real J-Lin, the story is simply spectacular.   The recent articles in Sports Illustrated are stating that his marketing endorsement deals could be worth between $100 million to $1 billion.  That is staggering.   Has this ever happened before in the history of Sports?  Or, even in Business?  When has a relatively obscure athlete / personality become so wildly popular in such a short period of time that his representatives can generate that type of income?  It really is amazing.

It’s also the perfect storm … J-Lin’s playing skills match almost perfectly to Coach D’Antoni’s system; he’s playing in the number one media market in the US; there’s a strong Asian and Asian-American segment in NY; the Chinese and Taiwanese have a love affair with basketball, etc.  Also, due in part to the massive popularity of social media, this has quickly become a global phenomenon.

If J-Lin played in Minnesota or Milwaukee … or, if this was before the explosion of social media, the story would not be as hugely popular.  But because of these various factors, this is indeed one of the greatest Sports stories in history.  It’ll be fascinating to track this story in the coming weeks and months.  The Knicks have already announced a deal with a Taiwanese tire company … there will be many more deals announced (for J-Lin, the Knicks and the NBA).

Speaking of the NBA, they deserve great kudos for their foresight … they are the American professional sports league that first fully understand the power of the global opportunities facing them.  They opened their first NBA office in Asia in ’92.   They laid the foundation and worked feverishly at over the years.  Having the “US Dream Team” play in the ’92 Olympics was a great start …. and they’ve smartly and strategically marketed this sport … and basketball and soccer (or football as many call it outside of the US) are the two biggest Sports played and watched in the world.

As one who is half-Asian, I do take great pride in watching the successes of J-Lin.  I’ve read that he’s been called racist names while growing up playing Sports as a youth.   I can certainly relate — I was called racist names while playing baseball, basketball and football during my youth years.  I used to laugh it off and sometimes it made me play harder.   Also, ironically, I went to the same high school, WT Woodson, as J-Lin’s terrific coach at Harvard, Tommy Amaker (who must have passed on the many lessons he learned from Coach K while playing at Duke).

So, from one J-Lynn to the real J-Lin, wishing you the best of luck.  There are many, many people rooting and cheering you.  Not only are you a very good NBA player, you are so well-grounded, respectful and authentic.  This is particularly refreshing in this day and age when a number of star athletes are so consumed with themselves and their individual stats.  You, J-Lin, are a great teammate and leader.  And, we will continue to cheer and root for your success.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year.  And, it really hit home to me this morning when I went to Arlington National Cemetery to pay respects to my father, Uncle Arthur and General and Mrs Guthrie, the parents of my close friend and brother, Kevin.

My father and Uncle Art are both interred at the Columbarium.   That’s also where they hold the burial ceremony, which is one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever witnessed.  I stood there for a few minutes this morning near the staging area and I thought back to the incredible service that the US Military puts on to honor its veterans — the flag folding, the firing of shots, the playing of bugle, the presentation of the flag, etc.   The ceremony is spectacular and solemn – and nearly renders one speechless.

As I stood there, I also remembered the outpouring of family and friends that were there to support my mother, brother and I.  I’m dumbfounded at the number of people that were.  Losing a parent and / or family member is easily one of the most difficult and painful periods one can go through.  But, I was there standing strong — riding on the shoulders of my cousins, aunts and friends.

So, it made me particularly think, on this Thanksgiving Day, how grateful I am.  I am thankful for the wonderful family I have — my mother and brother — and also my aunts and uncles, cousins and cousin’s children.  Fortunately, we stay in close contact.  On the Lynn side of the family, we had a family reunion in Oklahoma City this past May.  And, on the Tobari side of the family, we had a reunion in Tokyo less than a month ago.  I am so grateful for the Lynn and Tobari families.  And, I also have a third family, the Guthries — who I’m so fortunate to be a part of.

As I mentioned when I delivered the eulogy at my father’s funeral, I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful friends — ones that are there for you — not just in the good and joyous times but also in the hard and difficult times.  The names are too numerous to mention but they know who they are.  Thank you for the years of friendship.

I also want to thank my numerous co-workers / clients / friends — from the AOL days and across the Sports industry as well as to those now currently at Georgetown University, Under Armour, MicroStrategy, x2impact, Legacy Connect and so many more.

Speaking of Georgetown, I feel blessed to be part of the family.  I’m now in my 7th year of teaching there.  I have so many friends, students and mentees — literally over 100 — that I keep in contact with regulary.  As I write this blog on my deck, I’m looking clearly across the river on this beautiful directly at Georgetown Univ.  I am thankful to be part of this wonderful institution and family.

And, of course, I must thank my mentees.  Again, they are too numerous to mention — the list is in the dozens and dozens, but you all inspire and motivate me.   My friends say that my mentees must be lucky to have me as a mentor.  I think it’s the other way around — I’m blessed to have them in my life.  They give me pride, joy, laughter and passion.  In fact, tonight, I’m taking three of my mentees to a Thanksgiving Dinner in Koreatown — so we’re going to do an Asian-style Thanksgiving!

My best Thanksgiving wishes to all.  I am thankful on this holiday but I’m also grateful and appreciative each and every day of the year.  Peace.