Female-Friendly Firearms

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/11/14/sports-rush-female-friendly-fire/


Jeanie Almond shoots a gun well enough to have competed at this country’s top levels of competition. She’s also a mom, a grandmother, and runs a new shooting range near Texas Motor Speedway. Almond teaches all kinds of students, but especially loves educating women on how to use firearms for self-defense, for fun, and for sport. Oh, and she owns a big pink truck.

In this video interview done at one of her clinics at 505 Ranch in Mabank, we discussed her passion for what she calls Lipstick and Lead, a program created to introduce women to shooting sports. She trains women in self-defense, and many transition to competition shooting as well. Her decades of instruction have given Almond insight into how to teach female shooters – we find out about why she  might show them different techniques than she would a male student.




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

Stars in College Hockey Country

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/10/17/sports-rush-stars-in-college-hockey-country/

Brad Berry played in the Dallas Stars organization for a number of years, including a couple of seasons in Minnesota, several with the top farm club in Kalamazoo, and the team’s inaugural season in Dallas. The former defenseman has since returned to his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, as the head coach. He won a national championship two years ago in his first season as the man in charge and has his group off to a 3-0-1 start this season.

We interviewed Berry, who bore some stitches above his right eye thanks to a wayward practice puck, after his team had just finished sweeping a pair of games from the St. Lawrence Saints. Before the Saturday game, the program honored the 1986-87 team that won a national title. A number of the players from that squad had returned to campus to enjoy a reunion, including a pair who also won a Stanley Cup with the Stars: Ed Belfour and Tony Hrkac. That North Dakota team, in fact, became known as “The Hrkac Circus,” as they set scoring records and became the first college hockey team to record 40 wins in a season. 

photo by Tom Fireoved

Coach Berry commented on what it meant to have that team return to the ice, both for him and his players. I also asked him about the hockey experience at the Ralph Englestad Arena. It was my first time to visit the facility and it is a remarkable place to watch a game. Impressive physical features include marble floors and padded seats, and they have a row of suites and a couple of clubs with a view of the action. The crowd is into it, with chants and gestures and a band. In the interview, Berry compared it to a college football atmosphere and I agree with him. At the second intermission, the band even plays as they march around the concourse. A hockey fan might want to put a North Dakota game on his or her bucket list.

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

A Voice Lives On

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/10/03/sports-rush-a-voice-lives-on/

I only met the man in person once.

The meetup came at the Dallas Stars’ media day in September, 2015. The team had just hired Dave Strader as its play-by-play announcer and he had come over to Frisco’s Dr Pepper Arena to observe the goings-on. I chatted with him and his new broadcast partner, Daryl Reaugh. The whole conversation might have lasted a minute. I remember Dave being nice and then I went on to whatever other production duties had presented themselves.

I re-connected with Dave earlier this year. The Stars announcer was scheduled to join his radio counterparts from the Mavericks, Rangers, and Cowboys to swap stories and raise money for charities. I had taken on some producing duties for this event, called Talk of the Town, and needed to work with him on the show. What made it tricky was that we didn’t know if he would be there.

Since I had last seen Dave Strader, the Hockey Hall of Fame had honored his broadcasting excellence by naming him the 2017 recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. Dave had also contracted cholangiocarcinoma, a punishing cancer of the bile duct.

We had shot funny (I hope) promotional videos with Eric Nadel, Brad Sham, and Chuck Cooperstein to promote the event. Dave didn’t get to participate in those because he was undergoing treatment. But he retweeted and promoted and did everything he could to support his fellow broadcasters, the event, and the charity he had chosen to benefit from it, the Dallas Stars Foundation.

We had discussed trying to have him participate live via an electronic connection if we could work out the technical details, but I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect and what kind of strength he would have. Then, shortly before the event, we found out good news: Dave would be well enough to fly in and attend the event.

We needed to add his elements to the program. I had collected play-by-play excerpts for all the other announcers and now I got to ask Dave what he wanted. He asked for a Red Wings call, his last as a team broadcaster for that Original Six team. A connection helped me get that from Detroit. He also sent us a voicemail recording sportscasting icon Marv Albert had left him after the Foster Hewitt announcement.

Then, abruptly, Dave’s treatment schedule changed. He wouldn’t be able to make it to Dallas for Talk of the Town. But he felt he would be strong enough to join via Skype if we could make the technical details work (which, luckily, we could). And that evening, we dialed him up and found out he indeed was very much robust enough to connect and contribute.

I had Dave make his entrance in the middle of the program because I wasn’t sure of his stamina. I wish I had dropped him from the beginning, because he gave a fantastic performance. He told great stories, interacted with his fellows, and gave the audience one of the best memories of any charity event I’ve ever worked. I’ll never forget how moved the table of Dallas Stars employees seemed when he appeared on the video screen. When he signed off, they and the rest of the crowd gave him a well-deserved standing ovation.
Talk of the Town might have been the last time he got to use his voice in a live broadcast-style setup to entertain sports fans. It seemed to truly energize him and I think that makes all of us who took part in it feel pretty good.

I had one other regret from the evening. When we were talking about calls to find, Dave had written this: “I would love to have the call of Jamie Benn’s OT goal from Feb 18…my first game game back after my cancer diagnosis. I would also like the clip of Razor’s comment as the players skated over to salute me at the end of the game.”

In hindsight, I desperately wish I had made the extra effort to include that call, which due to exigent circumstances that week, was more of a challenge that it normally would have been. I remember thinking that I would for sure use it for next year’s event, when he would hopefully make a triumphant in-person appearance.

That won’t happen now. Dave Strader died Sunday.

I only met Dave the one time, and communicated with him via email, phone, and Skype a bit. Yet somehow his passing resonated deeply. It didn’t require much exposure to the man to see his passion for people and a deep-seated fervor for life.

Many Stars fans (and those of the other teams for whom he called games) never had the pleasure of meeting Dave even once, but I bet they could tell the same things I could, thanks to the zeal with which Dave broadcast hockey games (and the other sports he did as well).

Many in the hockey business called Dave Strader “The Voice.” Luckily, his voice will live on in the work he did and the calls you’ll be able to listen to online and in hockey shows for years to come. And in the memories of those who knew him, even just a little bit.



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

Sidney at 60 - Still Making Things Happen

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/09/27/sports-rush-sidney-turns-sixty-in-style/

Sidney Moncrief became a basketball legend helping the Arkansas Razorbacks to the 1978 Final Four and leading a Milwaukee Bucks team that was one of the NBA’s best during the 1980s. Moncrief could change a game in any number ways. He could hit the big shot. He rebounded as well or better than any guard who ever played. And the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year could have an impact when his team didn’t have the ball, too.

In retirement, he has had careers in business, in coaching, and in philanthropic pursuits. Moncrief had the latter on his mind as he celebrated his 60th birthday this past week. He created a series of events in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas revolving around the charity he and his wife, Takisha, have named Moncrief GameChanger. Friday, they held a gala fundraiser that doubled as a birthday party. The event at the Arkansas Arts Center included live and silent auctions and featured appearances by former teammates and coaches like Ron Brewer, Marvin Delph, Del Harris, and Junior Bridgeman.

The next day, they held a career readiness seminar for high school and college students at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. You’ll see images of the facility in the video interview that is the centerpiece of this post. It houses a museum of Arkansas’s African-American history and its dark wood interior provided a welcoming backdrop. Business professionals gave the young people tips on preparing for the workforce through various presentations and breakout sessions.

That afternoon, the Moncriefs and several local coaching legends joined a couple of Sidney’s brothers to put on a shooting clinic at Philander Smith College. They shared advice on basketball and life.
The Moncriefs will do more career readiness forums in Little Rock in October and December and plan to bring the program to North Texas as soon as possible.


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

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

Seth Curry on Golf, Hoops, and Entrepreneurship for Kids

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/09/13/sports-rush-seth-curry-on-hoops-golf-and-entrepreneurship/

In the last couple of seasons, Seth Curry has started to make an impact on the NBA and the Mavericks will count on him as a contributor when they begin play next month. Dallas signed the guard before the 2016-17 season after he had some solid games the previous year with Sacramento. One reason Curry improved as a King was coaching he received from assistant coach Nancy Lieberman. Tuesday, he visited her and other celebrities at her charity golf tournament. Proceeds from the Nancy Lieberman Charities Celebrity Golf Classic go toward scholarships, and Curry also started an education-related initiative to help young people learn about business and entrepreneurship.

In this video interview, we asked him about golf, including his brother Steph’s foray onto the Web.com Tour this summer. Check out the video of Seth’s golf swing – he looked pretty smooth. We also talked about his new charitable program.

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

Ron Thulin on the Dallas Wings

This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/09/05/sports-rush-state-of-the-wings-with-ron-thulin/

The Dallas Wings have made the postseason in their second year playing in Arlington. Ron Thulin has called their games for both of those seasons on Fox Sports Southwest and the play-by-play man is excited about the team’s prospects for the upcoming WNBA playoffs, and also the future.

In this video interview, Ron and I discussed the team’s youth, depth, and the possibility of acquiring Australian Olympian Liz Cambage.

The Wings will play the Washington Mystics in D.C. Wednesday, with television coverage by ESPN2. If they win that game, they’ll move on to play another single-elimination contest at either New York or Connecticut. Minnesota or Los Angeles await in a best-of-five series after 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, Mint Farm Films, and FourNine Productions.

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