Football Takes More Courage Than You Realize

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there: https://www.fwweekly.com/2020/01/14/sports-rush-a-courageous-tackle/

It takes a certain degree of courage to play the sport of American football. On every play, you know an opponent will likely attempt to ram into you traveling at a high rate of speed. If you’re a receiver going over the middle, or a quarterback looking downfield, or a linebacker unaware of a pulling guard, you might never see it coming. But since the 19th century, enough men have braved the violence that football has become this country’s most popular sport. The game has a rich history, full of dramatic hail marys and clutch third-down tackles.

For Brenda Tracy, it takes courage just to think about football.

Tracy came to Fort Worth last week to speak to a group of football players at the College Gridiron Showcase. Her audience consisted of some 200 former college standouts looking to impress NFL and CFL scouts with their physical and mental skills. In addition to providing on-field opportunities, CGS tries to address off-the-field situations the prospective pros may face. The attendees receive instruction in financial planning, the draft process, and, from Tracy, lessons about a side of their sport’s history they need to know about. A vile, putrid, unacceptable side.

In the late 1990s, a group of men that included major college football players gang-raped Brenda Tracy. She tried to address the horror through legal channels, but the authorities, both at the local district attorney’s office and the large state school whose players perpetrated the crime, prioritized the football team’s success over proper legal processes and the young woman’s unimaginable suffering. She remained anonymous and dealt with the psychological ramifications for her and her two sons as best she could over the ensuing decade and a half.

in 2014, however, she went public with her story, and decided to try to change the landscape for other women who might find themselves in situations similar to the one she had experienced. Her activism helped alter the legal environment regarding such cases. And meanwhile, she also turned her attention to football.

A sport played mostly by men that necessarily glories strength and toughness has historically generated more than its share of cases where its participants carried the “strongest men take what they want” mentality outside the stadium. From the recent Baylor scandal to the multiple NFL controversies, the game has basically been a #MeToo franchisee. Tracy’s nonprofit, Set The Expectation, aims to change the sport’s mentality, and, indeed, use it as a vehicle for a broader update of attitudes men have toward women.

She speaks to football teams (and athletes from other sports) about her experience. She invariably cries when she describes her rape. It’s still hard for her to talk about it. But she fights through it because she knows the platform football possesses, and if she can get more of its participants to embrace a mindset that respects women, it would go a long way to influencing the substantial portion of the public who devote their Saturdays and Sundays to the game.

One of the players with whom I chatted at the CGS talked about needing to “flip the switch,” referring to leaving football’s violence on the field and not bringing it into his off-the-field conduct. Another player (a big-time NFL prospect) talked about using his platform to influence others, and not just publicly. He also referenced being the guy who, when he sees a developing situation at a party, steps up to say something, because, as an influential football player, “you have enough power to stop it.” If Brenda Tracy can get more players and coaches to buy in like they did, she’ll make progress toward reversing the sport’s sorry history of objectifying women.

Another player and I talked about some of the aspects of football that could make it part of the solution. The game does reward good decision-making, concern for teammates, and, yes, courage. It takes courage for a player to step in when a buddy might be about to do something improper. Brenda Tracy puts aside her own fears every day to try to empower them to do so and write a new chapter in the game’s history.

Rush Olson has spent more than 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, Mint Farm Films, and FourNine Productions.

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Of Tex and Texas

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : http://www.fwweekly.com/2016/08/10/sports-rush-of-tex-and-texas/


The Yankees announced last week that the last reason a Rangers fan might reasonably have to cheer for them to win a ballgame will go away at the end of the season.

Or at least that’s the way it is for me. I supposed, technically, a Texan might need to pull for the Yankees to defeat a wild card rival this September. And if that uncomfortable circumstance does occur, I’ll hope the Bombers do win and all the runs score due to Mark Teixeira’s first career four-home run game.

Tex declared last week he would end a 14-year Major League career at season’s end. He has been gone from the Rangers since the mid-2007 trade that many fans likely consider his most lasting legacy with the club. Indeed, the deal Atlanta made for the talented infielder placed contributors Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, and Neftali Feliz on two Texas World Series teams.  Feliz’s 2010 ALCS strikeout of another newly retired Ranger-turned-Yankee, Alex Rodriguez, arguably ranks as the best moment in franchise history. An injury-hampered Teixeira went hitless in four games that series. But his contributions to Texas go beyond the indirect ones he made to the franchise’s only World Series berths. He did a lot more.

Doug Melvin drafted the Georgia Tech junior with 2001’s fifth overall pick. Teixeira got to the big leagues by 2003. In 2004, he combined with Michael Young, Hank Blalock, and Alfonso Soriano in a formidable young infield. That club gave Texas fans plenty of thrills as they unexpectedly stayed in the race all year before falling just short of the postseason. We remember Michael Young having switched positions to accommodate Soriano’s arrival, but do you recall Teixeira moving to first base the previous year because of Blalock’s presence at third? Teixeira would go on to earn five Gold Gloves at his new position. Tex led the team in OPS in ’04 (a robust .929) and became only the second Ranger (at the time) to hit for the cycle.

In 2005, he led the league in total bases and drove in two runs in his first All-Star Game. He also took home both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards. The batsman continued to put up big numbers for the Rangers until, in July of 2007, the club traded the then-Scott Boras client. He probably left a couple years shy of consideration for the Rangers Hall of Fame, but you saw him play a lot of superb baseball at The Ballpark in Arlington / Ameriquest Field in Arlington / Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (he lasted through three different stadium names).


He had a legacy beyond the field, as well. In a duet with pitcher Rosman Garcia, Tex sang the first rookie song at the inaugural Park Place Dealerships Triple Play game show night. His singing set the tone (in a nearly-on-pitch sort of way) for all those who followed. When Rafael Palmeiro departed after 2003, he embraced the event as its player spokesperson and helped build it into what has become a substantial fundraiser for the worthwhile programs of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. He did a lot with the team’s foundation, and he and his wife Leigh started their own, as well.

Teixeira was intelligent and had a head for business, but he also had a sense of humor and didn’t mind cutting up on camera. One year, he even came up with the idea for a TV spot and didn’t mind putting on fake tattoos to execute it. Making the commercials was my job and I certainly enjoyed working with him on set.

When you’re fan of a team, you develop an affection for its players, and you often retain it even after they stop wearing the home colors. When you’re employed by a club, and work with players, as was the case for me during Tex’s Ranger years, it magnifies the experience. So when a guy you like goes to another club, it’s hard to stop hoping he does well – even if his eventual destination is the team you’ve been conditioned to find most distasteful. That’s happened to me a lot, with guys like Mike Napoli, Carl Everett, Ian Kinsler, David Murphy, and, for sure, Mark Teixeira. There’s a lot to like about him, and hopefully his life’s next chapter produces as many good things as his Rangers years did.


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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Delectable Hockey Made From Scratch

This post originally appeared on the Blotch page at the Fort Worth Weekly. To read it on that site : http://www.fwweekly.com/2015/12/08/delectable-hockey-made-from-scratch/

Dallas Stars fans have had a lot of reasons to take pride in their team this season. They’ve played exciting hockey, hovering at or near the league lead in goals scored all year. Supporters have no doubt loved the team’s moxie, demonstrated most recently by taking six points from four road games (including three in the Pacific time zone) in six days. And they’ve certainly enjoyed seeing the Stars compile the National Hockey League’s best record while featuring a number of guys who’ve never played for another NHL team.

The Stars drafted their leading goal scorer in the fifth round in 2007. They took their top-scoring defenseman in the same round three years later. Jamie Benn and John Klingberg join nine other men on the current roster whom the Stars either drafted or signed after the player went undrafted.

That Dallas would see success from homegrown players comes as no surprise to Stars fans who have expected a wave of young players to move the franchise forward for a few years now. The team’s top minor league affiliate, the AHL’s Texas Stars, have been to the Calder Cup finals twice this decade, winning the title in 2014. The ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads have not missed the playoffs as a Stars affiliate and won their league’s Kelly Cup in 2007.

This Stars team may end up being really good. Really, really good, even. The Stars have had a number of strong teams since coming to Dallas, but one can make the case that this is the most homegrown good team they’ve iced.

By way of comparison, I looked at the six Stars teams that have made the conference finals since homegrown Hall-of-Famer Mike Modano joined the team in 1989. The era had the draft remaining as an established commodity, Eastern European players becoming easier to import, and free agency in place. The rules for building a team changed over that period, but not so appreciably as to make comparisons irrelevant, as they would have been during the Original Six or WHA periods.


To calculate, I looked at the top 22 skaters as measured by playoff games played, plus the top three goalies in the organization. I figured that playoff participation let you truly know who the core players were, and that criterion also takes into account the trade deadline deals that impact a team’s finish. I made exceptions to add crucial performers who missed significant parts of the playoff runs, including the likes of 1998 Joe Nieuwendyk, 2000 Brian Skrudland, and 2008 Philippe Boucher. For this year’s team, I looked at the current roster plus the top three goaltenders.

We can start with the late 90s Stars teams. From 1998-2000, Dallas went to three straight conference finals, skated the Stanley Cup in 1999, and lost in the finals in 2000. General Manager Bob Gainey built those groups with savvy trades, money from Tom Hicks, and between seven and nine homegrown players a year. The free agents in that pre-salary-cap time included Brett Hull, Ed Belfour, and Pat Verbeek, and we should probably also note that a large contract kept Nieuwendyk from testing free agency. In addition to those high-dollar signings, trades matched the talent of Sergei Zubov and Daryl Sydor with the grit of Cup-winners from Gainey’s old Montreal organization, like Skrudland, Craig Ludwig, Mike Keane, and Guy Carbonneau. Those players combined with organizational products in their primes, like Modano, Jere Lehtinen, and Derian Hatcher, to produce the greatest era in franchise history.



The first team to make it to the finals in the Modano era came when he was 20 and the franchise had not left Minnesota. GM Bobby Clarke gave first-year coach Gainey 10 homegrown players with which to work, 12 trade acquisitions, a pair of veteran free agents, plus Stew Gavin on a waiver draft claim (the waiver draft got eliminated in the 2005 labor agreement). Dallas fans might recognize Stars draftees on that team like Neal Broten, Modano, Mike Craig, and Shawn Chambers (a supplemental draft selection who left the organization but returned as a free agent to win the ’99 Cup). That group, which also included former first-rounder Brian Bellows, lost to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals.

2007-08 provides this year’s version the best competition for the title of “Most Homegrown Good Stars Team.”  They had 14 guys who had never played for another NHL franchise. The four free agents included defensive stalwarts Philippe Boucher and Stephane Robidas. The seven trade acquisitions were headlined by trade deadline pickup Brad Richards and the stalwart Zubov. They posted 97 points and lost the conference finals in six games to Detroit.
There’s a case to be made that the ’07-’08 Stars were more indigenous than this ’15-16 batch, since they had the 14 draftees (all but three from the top two rounds). Heck, a third of their general managers that season were kind of homegrown (Brett Hull played here before sharing GM duties with Les Jackson after Hicks let Doug Armstrong go). But a development pipeline shows its depth not only by the players who come through it to play a key role for your team, but also by how effectively you can use it to acquire other talent.  Here current GM Jim Nill and his predecessor, the former Star Nieuwendyk, have made a real impact on this year’s success.

The Stars traded a total of 13 players (plus three draft picks) to acquire top-six forwards Tyler Seguin, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza; solid defensemen Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski; and co-number one goalie Kari Lehtonen. Of the 13 traded players, all but one had never been the property of another NHL team. The lone exception, Seguin trade inclusion Joe Morrow, came to the Stars in a deal for former top pick Brenden Morrow.
Those other Stars teams had some success dealing players who came through the organization. Jackson (who had a hand in shaping all these teams in some front office position or another) and Hull’s package for Richards included draftees Jussi Jokinen and Mike Smith. Dave Gagner’s 40 goals and strong playoff run in 1991 made the deal for Jari Gronstrand and Paul Boutilier look pretty good. And even in hindsight, no Stars fan would undo Gainey’s swap of Jarome Iginla for Conn Smythe Trophy-winner Nieuwendyk. But the 2015-16 Stars have benefitted from using young talent to acquire top-caliber performers more frequently than any of their predecessors.

Speaking of youth, only one of the 11 homegrown Stars this season is older than 26 (Benn’s brother Jordie, 28) and there’s more talent waiting in Cedar Park. This team could be good for a while.

Nill no doubt understands how the draft-and-develop approach can win. The Red Wings team that beat the ’07-08 Stars group went on to win the most recent Motor City Stanley Cup. Eight of their top ten playoff scorers were guys the longtime Detroit Assistant GM helped draft. Stars fans hope a playoff leaders list that includes names like Benn, Klingberg, and Nichushkin brings the same hardware to North Texas.



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


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