On the Court For A Good Cause

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/09/19/sports-rush-court-sports-for-a-good-cause/

Donald Young, 28, won a tennis tournament Saturday. He and doubles partner Justin Whitman triumphed in the final and received trophies. Young has played on the ATP Tour since 2004 and won 115 professional matches, but this performance earned him no ranking points. So why did one of the top American players – a man who’s been ranked as high as 38th in the world – come to Dallas to play this event? He did it for basketball and a good cause.

Saturday at SMU, the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation held its second annual Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic. The fundraiser began with a dinner event and auction the evening before and continued with the open-to-the-public tennis tourney Sunday. A group of celebrities  included non-tennis professional athletes like J.J. Barea and Mike Modano; former tour players like Mark Knowles, Andy Roddick, and Benjamin Becker; and, for good measure, actor Owen Wilson (who has a decent forehand). A dozen amateurs made sizable donations to the foundation for the privilege of playing with and against those luminaries. Each amateur and pro accumulated wristbands as they won tie-breakers with different partners, with two of each with the most bands meeting in the final. Young and Whitman defeated Barea and Jim McKinney in that last match.

In this video interview, Young talks about the whys and hows of playing in such a setting, and also touches on what the U.S. women’s showing at the recent U.S Open (four Americans reached the semi-finals) means for the sport in this country.


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, Mint Farm Films, and FourNine Productions.

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

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.



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

Could This Sport Help You Keep Your Resolutions?

This post originally appeared on the Blotch page at the Fort Worth Weekly. To read it on that site :http://www.fwweekly.com/2015/12/29/resolve-to-pickleball-in-2016/

Photo courtesy of Richard Kaiser

You’re about to make a New Year’s resolution, aren’t you? This is the year you’re going to start exercising, right?

Maybe you’re thinking you’ll get back into tennis or racquetball, but you’re not sure your older joints will take the pounding as well as they did when you were 22. Also, you might have sold your racquets at your mom’s garage sale and are leery of the expense of acquiring new ones. I recently played a sport that might solve your problem. It’s called pickleball.
Now, to be clear, I don’t want to discourage you from getting into tennis, racquetball, MMA, or whatever you want to try. Those are all great sports, and whichever one helps you keep that resolution is fine by me. If you already like racquet sports, though, or think you would, it’s worth exploring pickleball, too.

If you’ve ever played another racquet sport competitively, you’ll pick it up quickly. I played high school tennis, but I haven’t played the sport regularly since then (and I wasn’t that good back in the day –– just ask my former double partners). Within minutes, however, I was keeping rallies going and playing games. One of my playing partners, defending senior (50-plus) national singles, doubles, and mixed doubles champion Scott Moore, says a short learning curve is not terribly unusual for former tennis, racquetball, squash, badminton, and table tennis players.

Did you notice how I casually worked in that I was playing with a national champion? I played doubles with Moore and his family and the points and matches were competitive. Do I think he pulled out all his tricks? No way. But my ancient racquet-sport muscle memory allowed me (and him, I am pretty sure) to have a rewarding pickleball experience the first time I played. In fact, Moore said one of the sport’s appeals is that even a player of his level can have a good time playing with partners of varying ages and abilities.

You actually use a paddle, not a racquet, and the ball resembles a wiffle ball. You can lay four pickleball courts out on a tennis court at one time, though you do need to add a few lines to make it just right. The net is basically a small version of a tennis net.

Photo courtesy of Richard Kaiser

The court’s smaller size means you’ve got a lot less ground to cover than some other sports, especially if you play doubles (as most pickleballers do). The rules and scoring are simpler than tennis’s (no loves, deuces, or tie-breakers to worry about).

Are you considering making pickleball part of your resolution planning? It turns out that a New Year’s resolution from a couple years ago is what got Moore serious about pickleball. He had grown up in Fort Worth playing tennis and later tried other racquet sports, too. He discovered pickleball a few years ago, and when he started playing it a lot, he found he had natural talent. As 2013 turned into 2014, Moore resolved to get good enough to win on a national level.

“I embarked on a year-long journey of working out, eating healthier, and practicing and stretching 5-6 days a week, all with the end goal in mind,” he said.

He trained hard enough to lose 20 pounds, and became a world-class player.

Eventually both he and his son/training partner Daniel won regularly in singles and doubles at the biggest competitions in the country.

They are now professional players, and Scott Moore, who currently lives in Colorado Springs, said they earned about $5,000 each in 2015. His own results were remarkable.



“I became the first ever trifecta winner at the Tournament of Champions, and at nationals as well,” he noted. Daniel Moore won big, too, and the father believes his eldest son to be the best pickleball player in the world.

The USA Pickleball Association hosts tournaments and bills the sport, which has been in existence since 1965, as one of the fastest growing in the country. It has proven especially popular in retirement communities, and pickleball seems to be seen as a more viable lifetime sport even than tennis because of its lower movement requirements. I also think younger children might find it an easy entry into the world of racquet sports because of the smaller courts. The cost of entry is often lower than some other sports, with a good paddle costing $70 (and cheaper ones less) and durable balls upwards from $3. Net systems, if needed, are under $200. Scott Moore represents paddle manufacturer Paddletek, and more firms seem to be getting into the sport, as global brand Wilson did in 2013.

Tennis clubs have started to embrace pickleball as a way to retain and recruit members. Some of Fort Worth’s private clubs have lined courts (we played at Rivercrest), but the sport hasn’t taken off in Texas yet. Perhaps your resolution will jumpstart it.

By the way, actual pickles have a lot of nutritional value, if you don’t have a dietary issues with salts and avoid the ones with substantial sugar. So a resolution that involved eating more pickles and playing some pickleball might really make 2016 a happier new year.




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.


RushOlson.com

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

Facebook.com/RushOlsonCreativeandSports

Sports Stuff You Should Do

This post originally appeared in my Blotch blog at the Fort Worth Weekly. To read it on the Weekly's site, go here : http://www.fwweekly.com/2015/06/23/sports-stuff-you-should-do/. I wrote it to appeal to those in Fort Worth-Dallas, but the tips will enhance anyone's sporting life.

You look to this space for sports insight. Today, we’ve decided to offer information you can use to enhance your sports life. Herein lies a bevy of experiences anyone would enjoy.

Sit on the Glass at a Pro Hockey Game
OK, I don’t mean actually “on” the glass. One slip and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men would have no chance of reassembling you. We use the term “on the glass” to mean seats next to the plexiglass mounted on the dasher boards that surround the ice. In other words, you can get no closer to the game unless you’re a player, official, or rogue Ice Girl. Now, I don’t consider these seats the best in the house. It’s often hard to see what’s happening at the other end of the rink and you may have to crane your neck to see replays. But the first time some hulking power forward finishes a check in your face, you’ll agree that you really needed to do this at least once in your life. These seats lean toward the expensive side of the ledger, so you’ll need to raid the piggy bank or do unsavory favors for the right people. Luckily you have both NHL and minor league hockey options in North Texas.

Go to a Sports Bar at an Off-Peak Time
We all think to meet buddies at a sports bar for the big game, but libations and bar food go well with multiple big screens in the middle of the afternoon, too. Thanks to the proliferation of sports channels and availability of international programming, you can almost always find one or more live games on the tube(s) no matter what time you stroll in. You get your drinks quickly and usually have your choice of where to sit. The next time you call in sick because you’re ticked off at the boss, don’t stay at home. Enjoy your holiday with some day baseball, Europa League soccer, or early-round LPGA golf.

Read One (or Two) Book(s) About the Fort Worth Cats
If you live in Fort Worth and you like sports, you should know about the legendary Fort Worth Cats baseball team. The revived Cats franchise made a real effort to celebrate its history, but with them regrettably out of the picture now, you’ll need another source to learn about the team that dominated the Texas League in the 1920s and employed the likes of Duke Snider and Maury Wills in the 1950s. Luckily two informative books exist on the subject:

When Panthers Roared: The Fort Worth Cats and Minor League Baseball by Jeff Guinn and Bobby Bragan

Baseball in Fort Worth by Mark Presswood and J. Chris Holaday

Attend a Rugby Match
You may not know the rules. In fact, if you fake it and tell someone you know the rules, you’ll give yourself away because they call them “laws.” It doesn’t matter. Go and watch people run and hit each other and then enjoy the socializing afterward. The rugby culture encourages players who just beat the heck out of each other to share fellowship and a cold (or at least room-temperature) beverage after the match. I’m not sure any other sport duplicates that rugby ethos.

Find Your Tennis Racquet
Go hit a few balls around, even off a backboard or the walls of a nearby church (watch the stained glass windows) or office building. You need some exercise and the U.S. needs you to discover a hidden talent so someone can win Grand Slam tournaments when Serena retires.

Go See Some Sporting Event at AT&T Stadium
Look, it doesn’t have to be a Cowboys game, but it does need to be an event where they turn on the video screen. That TV is just enormous and it’s big and, um, it’s really, really big. You need to see it.

Eat Some Crazy Food
Sports venues have added all sorts of Kong-sized creations to their menus and you should try one. I’m not saying you have to finish a 2-foot-long chili cheese dog by yourself (although I promise I would still respect you afterward). Split it with your girlfriend or boyfriend or both. At all costs, make sure you get a selfie proving your gastronomic moxie.

Develop a Superstition
I once created a whole ad campaign based on how fun it is to participate in this activity. If your team has won five in a row, something you’ve done may well have fueled the streak. Figure out what seemingly mundane act has pleased the sports gods and continue to do it until the luck has seeped out of it. Eat corn dogs for every meal, wear the ballcap to prom, re-enact the same one-night stand no matter what he looked like the next morning –– do whatever it takes. We’re counting on you.

You can accomplish all of these feats within the area. Feel free to suggest your own in the comments section or on social media. Please restrict your recommendations to activities that are either legal or totally worth the minimum sentence.

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.

RushOlson.com

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

Facebook.com/RushOlsonCreativeandSports