Think Outside the Bowl

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2016/12/28/sports-rush-thinking-outside-the-bowl/

Most folks attend a football game to enjoy themselves in the moment, whether by playing or watching. The game can have a purpose beyond the immediate outcome, though.

Watching Army play North Texas in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl certainly proved entertaining, as the Black Knights defeated the Eagles in a back-and-forth overtime contest. Beyond the Cotton Bowl, the organizers hope certain effects linger after that final whistle.

I asked Brant Ringler about those effects in this video interview. How might participation in a bowl game help the programs involved? What do the student-athletes get out of it? Is there a charitable impact? The ZHODB has historically included initiatives related to first responders and, through the Heart of Dallas nonprofit, awards monies to area charities. Ringler works for ESPN and serves as Executive Director for both the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl  and the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl held in Fort Worth.



Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.

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Gridiron Heroes : Leveling the Playing Field

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2016/12/20/leveling-the-playing-field/

Saturday in Arlington, AT&T Stadium hosted a big high school football event – a tripleheader of state championship games in Texas’s largest classifications. For DeSoto High School supporters, the trip from south of Dallas to Tarrant County would prove especially rewarding. Not only did their varsity squad win the school’s first state title that afternoon, a former player on the Eagles’ JV squad scored an important victory of his own.

A 2009 practice collision cost Corey Borner the use of his legs. When his devastating injury happened, a charity called Gridiron Heroes reached out to Borner. Eddie Canales and his son Chris helped the then-teenager and his family adjust to his new situation, as they steadfastly do for any high school football player who suffers a paralyzing injury playing the game they love.

On Saturday, the Canales clan, including mom and wife Pita, got to award Borner one of the most important items a family in his situation needs : an accessible van. They did so thanks to a fundraising drive orchestrated by the Texas Association of Sports Officials. Game officials and sponsors from across the state raised funds to buy a discounted van from Alamo Mobility. Borner’s previous vehicle had worn out and the new one will provide him and his family needed mobility and independence.

The Schertz-based Canales family has a special frame of reference when it comes to helping former players in Borner’s situation, since Chris has occupied a wheelchair since his own in-game mishap in 2001. They now use their own hard-won knowledge about facing such situations to ease other families’ struggles.

A big part of their message involves keeping a positive attitude and Borner provides an example to point to. In fact, the former DeSoto Eagle helps the charity out by showing off his optimistic disposition in making outreach appearances on Gridiron Heroes’ behalf when the Canales men find themselves spread too thin. You can get a feel for Borner’s outlook and his thoughts on Gridiron Heroes in the accompanying video interview.

I’ve written about Gridiron Heroes before, and I probably will again. If you work in the sports business, as I do, or if you love sports, it’s not hard to muster deep appreciation for the work the Canales family does. You can learn more about the Gridiron Heroes mission in my previous interview with Eddie Canales or at their website at gridironheroes.org.




Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.

RushOlson.com

Linkedin.com/company/rush-olson-creative-&-sports

Facebook.com/RushOlsonCreativeandSports

The Look of 2016 From Our Perspective

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2016/12/15/what-2016-looked-like-to-rush/

Every December, I choose a photo from the year gone by to use for my company Christmas card. If I like you and I have your address, you have probably gotten one whether you wanted it or not. Don’t be insulted if you didn’t get one. It doesn’t mean you were naughty, it just indicates my spotty address list isn’t up to date.
In any case, as I went through 2016’s collection, I thought some of them were either good images or had a good story behind them, or both. I could only use one for the card, so I thought I’d share some of the other interesting ones in this post. What did Martina Navratilova say when she realized we were shooting her video in a hotel room? What the heck are those men in shorts doing on the Dell Diamond baseball field? And, wow, showgirls? See it all here.
I took these photos unless otherwise credited, so any mistakes are mostly on me.

USA Rugby in Round Rock – February, 2016
In one of these shots, you see me with a microphone in front of a baseball stadium. But the day’s work had nothing to do with baseball. USA Rugby’s men’s XVs side defeated Canada in an Americas Rugby Championship tournament match. It was fascinating to see the pitch laid out on the ballfield. USA Rugby must have liked it, since they’re returning to the venue in 2017.

photo by Lori Gunter French

Fort Worth Weekly Celebrity Chef Chili Cook-Off – March, 2016
The Weekly held a chili cook-off earlier this year and I just loved this shot of a steaming pot of Fred’s chili. I also included a shot of the awards, not because it’s a great photo but because it includes a shot of Weekly associate editor Eric Griffey applauding and I’m attempting to shamelessly curry favor by including him in this no doubt critically-acclaimed post. Eric edits my stuff.

Texas Rangers – Spring/Summer 2016
I made it out to a few Rangers events this year, including the unveiling of the new food items you’d consume at the ballpark during the season. Pictured here is the Wicked Pig, a sandwich packed with more pork than an energy subsidies bill. There’s also a shot of Pudge Rodriguez, clearly coaching with the same intensity he displayed while playing. I also added a shot of Rougned Odor by the batting cages in Oakland just because I thought it was a cool shot.




LaGrave Field – Spring/Summer 2016
These baseball images are less cool than the Rangers ones. LaGrave Field, historic home of the Fort Worth Cats, sits abandoned. These photographs came from March and June, and unfortunately the little ballpark with the great view of downtown and the prestigious past still has an uncertain future.



Nancy Lieberman Charities Dream Ball - April 2016
These photos feature Toby Keith, one of a number of celebrities who were honored or appeared at this annual gala. One shows Keith conversing with Big Joe Walker, an on-the-rise Texas country singer. The other shows what many no doubt consider the highlight of the evening – the star jamming with the house band. His impromptu performance featured a powerful rendition of the Bill Withers classic “Ain’t No Sunshine” followed by Keith’s own “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” I will always remember how graciously he treated the local musicians backing him, praising the Jordan Kahn Orchestra by name and calling on the sax player to take a solo.
The fundraising event, by the way, has moved to February this year, with tickets available at nancyliebermancharities.org.


Taste of the NFL – May 2016
I found a shot of another country musician at a charity event, this time with a photo of Jack Ingram playing at the Taste of the NFL event at the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. In addition to the musical entertainment, the event offers attendees a chance to sample tasty morsels from many of the area’s most prominent chefs. The other photo shows me apparently amazed at something Jack Perkins (at the time the owner of The Slow Bone barbecue restaurant in Dallas) said. The other guy in the photo is my frequent collaborator Dave French. Despite the plethora of tech gear that seems to be protruding from his body, French is, in fact, a human and not a video production cyborg.

photo by Lori Gunter French

Dallas Wings – Summer 2016
I really enjoyed covering the WNBA’s Dallas Wings during their first season in Arlington. Here’s a photo from practice that shows members of the Wings and their male practice partners desperate to grab a rebound. I liked the intensity evident in this image.

C3 Cryo Club – May 2016
Yep, that’s me shirtless. I’ll do a lot for the Weekly, apparently. Back in May, I tried cryotherapy after an especially vigorous evening of softball and blogged about it.

photo by William Pruett

Presidential Press – June 2016
I do some work for the George W. Bush Presidential Center on some of the webcasts of their public programs. One that hit especially close to home this year involved an examination of how the presidency interacts with the media and popular culture. The Bush Center worked with the Pulitzer Prize Board and three other nearby presidential libraries to put it on. A highlight included actors from the Dallas Theater Center presenting excerpts from Pulitzer-winning plays, including the number from Hamilton seen in this photo.
 


Fashion’s First Down – June 2016
The Cowboys’ wives annual fashion show raises money for female-centric charities. Tony Romo’s wife, Candice, chairs the event, so we interviewed him about it. Afterward, he apparently shook my hand. You can’t see me in the photo, but, you know, who cares? That wasn’t who anybody but my mom wanted to see anyway.

photo by Dave French

photo by Dave French

North Texas Food Bank shoot – June 2016
We did a video this year for the North Texas Food Bank to help volunteers learn what to do and not do while at the facility. The video parodied a newscast and we’d like to think it was funny. This photo made the cut for this post because it features our good friend Anna Kurian in a banana suit. She was actually the understudy for the part, but gave a stunning performance when pressed into service. You’ll have to watch the video to see it of course (and go ahead and volunteer at the North Texas Food Bank or its counterpart in Tarrant County, too).


OfficiateTexas – July 2016
We worked with the Texas Association of Sports Officials and the University Interscholastic League on an event designed to let game officials from around the state learn from prominent figures in their profession. I liked this promo photo we shot from the Riverwalk in San Antonio.


Dallas Stars Media Day – September, 2016
We worked with the Dallas Stars to shoot elements they use on their AAC video boards and TV broadcasts throughout the season. Some of the coolest stuff happened on the ice with a high-speed camera capturing epic slow-motion images. My buddies Mike Traverzo and Renzo Torres tested the shots before the players came out (Traverzo is the artist behind the beautiful video you see on your TV screens).


Dallas Mavericks Media Day – September, 2016
We worked with Fox Sports Southwest on their promos for the season’s Mavs games. We were going to need a shot of Dirk Nowitzki pantomiming his famed fall-away jump shot. We got a short unathletic failed point guard to mimic it so we could set the shot.

photo by Hutton Harris

photo by Hutton Harris

 ACEP16 – October, 2016
As you might have guessed, not everything I do is sports. We worked with the American College of Emergency Physicians creating videos at their annual conference. They held it in Las Vegas, Nevada. I include this picture of my buddy Dave with showgirls just in case he “forgot” to tell his wife, Lori, about it. Lori’s a friend of mine.


Miami Trip – October, 2016
We had to take Frontier’s all-night flight from Vegas to Miami to shoot interviews for another project. We looked very sexy riding in coach. When Martina Navratilova (a former Fort Worth resident) walked in and saw we were shooting in a hotel room next to the bed, she said she hadn’t realized it was “that kind” of video. Um, it wasn’t. I swear.

photo by Dave French

photo by Dave French

Texas Motor Speedway – November, 2016
My lone Weekly cover story of the year involved the folks who do the radio broadcasts at the local racetrack. Radio waves move at the speed of light – nearly the velocity of their booth guest’s roundhouse kicks.


Virginia Trip - November, 2016
We covered basketball in Virginia. The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame has an exhibit about the ABA’s Virginia Squires. Do you realize that at one time their roster featured both Julius Erving and George Gervin? Also, the Richmond Spiders’ mascot is a real tarantula named Tarrant. They introduce him before every game.




Lagardère Sports presents the Heart of Dallas Fast Pitch Event – November 2016
This is a cool charity event in which non-profits compete to win funds to further their missions. Jamie Benn took part and we interviewed him. I include this photo because I like camera shots of other camera shots and because I think a lot of the female readers may find Benn hunky.

photo by Dave French

A Bright Future : West ISD Rises Up – Fall, 2016
Perhaps the professional highlight of my year came with the release of the documentary on which Dave and I had worked for three years, entitled A Bright Future : West ISD Rises Up. It aired in on KWTX Waco in October and on Fort Worth-based CBS 11 in November. We also showed it in the auditorium in the high school West built to replace the one they had to demolish after a 2013 fertilizer plant explosion. These photos actually both have sports tie-ins. The one in the theater shows David Woodard, the football coach and athletic director who had to rebuild his house following the blast. The young woman doing the recording is Julia Wernet, an outstanding outfielder on West’s state title-winning softball team. She and four of her fellow students narrated the film. A Bright Future : West ISD Rises Up will be available online sometime next year after it’s finished its broadcast run in other markets.

photo by Dave French

Conclusion
This post does not include the photo I ultimately chose for the holiday card. To see that one, I guess you’ll have to hope I got your address right.


Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.



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Linkedin.com/company/rush-olson-creative-&-sports
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The Lessons Sports Teaches

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2016/12/07/sports-rush-where-sports-takes-you/

When you scored a touchdown for your peewee football team or converted a penalty in the high school soccer playoffs or legged out an infield single in beer league softball, you helped your sports team win. But how did that sport help you?

My entire family has long held a belief, shared by many in the athletic profession and beyond, that playing sports confers benefits far beyond the enjoyment one receives during the game itself. A recent speech by a sports professional reminded me why.

Regular readers of this blog, such as there are, may have noticed that I sometimes write about sports industry events at which I work, many of them charity-related. When I do, it is usually because Carla Rosenberg brought me in to assist her through her company, Matchpoint.

Ms. Rosenberg is a superstar in the charity event field. I keep working for her because she is one of those rare people who can see the big picture while also remaining mindful of the thousands of details executing a substantial gathering requires. Plus, she’s a genuinely nice person who can apparently put up with me.

She also knows the sports business, which makes sense when you know her background. She and I met when we both worked for the Texas Rangers. Before that, she played collegiate tennis for the University of Illinois after emigrating from South Africa where she was a top-flight junior player. Following the Rangers, she went on to a successful stint running the Dallas Stars Foundation. Now she organizes events and/or operates foundations for the likes of Marty Turco, Nancy Lieberman, Dirk Nowitzki, and others.

Something got Rosenberg to the point where she is this successful, and it was clearly either in spite of sports or because of them. In a recent talk she gave to employees at the North Texas Food Bank, she explained the role sports, and especially tennis, played in her development as an executive.

“The tangibles that come through playing athletics stay with you,” she said. She turned those tangibles into a series of philosophies she finds crucial to success.

She started with “Understanding winning & losing,” with an emphasis on the latter.
“The biggest lesson that I’ve actually learned is not from winning. It’s from losing. I’ve lost tennis matches. I’ve made mistakes at events and I just realized I can’t stay down.”

Her point was that losing happens in life as well as sports, and experiences on the field or court teach one to deal with it.

One thing I enjoy about working with Ms. Rosenberg is that she aims to leave as little to chance as possible. Rosenberg says she prepares for every meeting, conference call, and event because it causes her to feel the same assuredness she did when she played.

“When I used to step out on the court, I felt very confident. I felt like that was my safe haven. I felt very secure and I think it was because of all the practice and all the training and all the repetition that allowed me to feel that way.”

It’s nice to go into an event feeling comfortable, thinking we’ve got everything ready to go. Live events, however, sometimes take detours one could never anticipate. Technical issues, no-show celebrities, last-minute auction additions – one has to know how to deal with the unpredictable.

“Playing tennis in real time, under high-pressure situations, you have to make decisions,” she said.

We hear analysts talk about “going for shots.” One has to be decisive and execute with confidence, relying on the technique one has refined in practice. It works the same way in events, where having a clear idea of what is supposed to happen and why helps you find alternative solutions when reality doesn’t follow the script.

Not that such situations don’t make one uneasy. But one of Rosenberg’s topic headings suggested “You grow the most when you are uncomfortable.”

“I’ll use tennis as the metaphor. When I had an injury, it wasn’t that I failed. I had an injury. It forced me to step back. When I got back out on the court, again, I was rejuvenated. I had a different perspective,” she noted. “Sometimes when you’re uncomfortable, it’s OK. It’s the growing time.”

Sports and business both have their bottom lines. One must grow to the point where one can win some games, sets, and matches. Rosenberg learned that lesson when she vacationed in South Africa during Illinois’ winter break her senior year instead of training. When she returned, her coach dropped her several slots in the team’s ranking, suggesting he would play her in the line 6 singles position. After a lengthy rant to her father, Mr. Rosenberg asked her if she were finished.

“He goes ‘win your matches and you’ll play number one again,’ and I learned that very quickly. Produce results and you don’t have to do the talking.”

Results matter in tennis, sales, and all other walks of life. It turns out style matters, too. I don’t mean fashion sense or decorating acumen, although Rosenberg has a flair for both. An organizer who manages live events must keep her cool when circumstances rejigger themselves without asking. Ms. Rosenberg always does. Her junior tennis coach taught her that lesson one day when she played less than her best and let it show. He told her “when I look over at your court, I shouldn’t know if you’re winning or losing. It’s called poise.”
A lot of times, a good coach makes the difference in how well sports’ lessons take root.
“I was very lucky,” Rosenberg said. “I had an incredible tennis coach. It wasn’t about being a champion tennis player. It was about what kind of person are you going to be.”

The North Texas Food Bank isn’t a sports organization, but they sought out a sports person to speak with them – to coach them. They did it because her athletic background had given her far more than knowledge of odd-man rushes and forehand technique. It had provided tools she could use to succeed in many areas of business and life. Sports does that.

Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.



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Dancing Around The Definition of Sport

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2016/11/30/sports-rush-the-fine-art-of-sport/


Ballet is a sports credit. At my nieces’ school, a student can use regular instruction in that traditional dance form to fulfill his or her sports requirement.

So it’s a sports credit. But is it a sport?

This column started because my 14-year old niece, who receives her own activity credits through volleyball, basketball, and tennis, insisted “Ballet is NOT a sport. It’s a fine art” (ALL CAPS were hers). This declaration came pursuant to a discussion on the matter with a classmate who disagreed because of how much physical exertion ballet demands. And indeed, I don’t think there’s too much argument that vigorous dance indeed carries many of the same fitness benefits as, say, stick-and-ball sports. But, yeah, is pirouetting and pliéing a sport?

Ballet offers competition for roles, so participants do experience some of the same pressures as an athlete trying to make the varsity. Teamwork would also seem a necessity in executing complicated dance maneuvers involving multiple cast members. But if you define a sport as needing a winner and loser (or at least some uncertainty in the outcome), as my niece contended, then choreographed routines don’t qualify. We all know how The Nutcracker turns out (spoiler : the prince gets the girl, like every other fairy tale).

Except, actually, while a pursuit might not have originally been designed as a sport, perhaps it can become one. In fact, competitive people will make a game of anything. Sure enough, ballet competitions abound worldwide (without agreement in the dance world about whether they are a good thing). Is it a huge step from ballet to figure skating? And that’s in the Olympics, which has a number of events whose outcomes rest on the decisions of the judges – kind of like Dancing with the Stars does.

We’re actually pretty good at taking stuff that its originators never dreamed would be a sport and turning it into one. Cheerleading never seemed like a sport, but then it morphed into Cheer and now it overruns convention centers with sparkly competitors trying to execute the best pyramids and dance numbers. And, yes, its organizers do want to get Cheer into the Olympic Games.

We can take sports the other way, too. Wrestling, an original Olympic sport (as in 776 B.C. original) nearly got booted from the games before an uproar fueled its reinstatement. Part of its problem is that the best-known form of wrestling is not a sport at all, but a show staged to look like a competition.

Pastimes like golf, bowling, chess, and auto racing have generated controversy about whether or not they constitute true sports. The debate constantly widens. How shall we treat eSports and drone racing? J.K. Rowling made up a sport and now people attempt to play quidditch without magic. By the way, speaking of chess, Wizard Chess could make a pretty good argument for being a sport. Expect the FIEM (Fédération Internationale des Échecs Magicien) to petition for a place in the next muggle Olympics.

Whether or not it’s a sport, ballet is for sure classified as a “fine” art. Some other blogger can take on the question of what is and isn’t fine, or, as the Old 97’s put it, “What’s so fine about art?”

Meanwhile, the next time you pursue an activity that involves some degree of motion or competition, ask yourself, “Is what I just did a sport?” The answer might surprise you.

Beer pong, anyone?




Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.



RushOlson.com
Linkedin.com/company/rush-olson-creative-&-sports
Facebook.com/RushOlsonCreativeandSports