A Fool and his Words are Soon Parted

Sunday night, my family is watching the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. One of the Giants’ receivers, Amani Toomer, went out for a pass, which fell incomplete.

My youngest son sat upright on the couch as if he’d been shocked by electricity. Without warning, he shouted out (in a perfect Schwarzenegger voice), “It’s not a Toomer!”*

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.

* My son was parodying this scene from “Kindergarten Cop”:

Once again, we’ve taken our oldest son back to college, moved him in, and said our “goodbyes.” Though I would have presumed that sending him off to school would be easier this year, it wasn’t.

What made it harder? The myriad of ways we spent time together this Summer. (more…)

In what appears to be the second major PR faux pas of the 2006-2007 season, the National Football League has (for all intents and purposes) said that viewing their games in a bar is acceptable, but watching in a church is not. Now, to be fair, Fall Creek Church in Indianapolis was being pretty stupid. They were charging admission to come to the church to watch the Super Bowl at their “Super Bowl Bash.”

vs (more…)

Last night, WHAS-TV ran one of those 5-second “Congratulations to UofL and Coach Petrino for winning The Orange Bowl. I had to laugh though.

While the still frame of the team & coach were being displayed under this voice-over, a news blurb was running at the bottom of the screen:

Special Update: Coach Bobby Petrino to leave Louisville as Head Coach to lead the Atlanta Falcons.

I think Petrino’s making a mistake, and would have done well to have discussed this with UofL’s Men’s Basketball coach, Rick Pitino (Pitino had a… shall we say “less than successful” transition from UK to the Boston Celtics). On the other hand, Petrino’s worked in the NFL before (as a quarterback’s coach), so he should know what he’s getting into. In addition, his past behavior has not exactly shown him to be a man who felt obligated to stand by a written contract or his verbal commitment to the community, so this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to the community.

In the end, like it or not, college football is a business, just like the NFL, and the reality of this is that “business ethics” is generally an oxymoron. It’s a lousy message to send young men (both players and recruits), and I wish it weren’t that way, but that doesn’t change the reality.

Grace.

It’s a simple word, and one that takes on a variety of meanings in today’s culture. For instance, we may “say grace” or say that someone “exhibits a certain grace” when they move.

Or, we might experience the strange wonder of undeserved forgiveness. This is what the Apostle Paul talks about in the New Testament book of Romans. Typically, parents expect to be the “givers of grace.” A more amazing grace is that which can be delivered by your child. (more…)

In the first half of this essay, I talked about ways to give effective negative feedback. This is difficult, because we’re conditioned to be negative in unhealthy and destructive ways, which encourages some to abandon negative communication altogether.

I’m convinced that negative feedback has been given a bad rap. Regardless of whether it’s in connection with correcting the behavior of children, players, or subordinates, I’ve seen evidence that some of the greatest in any particular field seem to draw inspiration and strength from past failures. Ultimately, where’s the balance? Why is it that negative feedback has such a positive effect on some, but such a negative effect on others? How much is it dependent on the recipient? (more…)

In electronics, taking the output from a circuit and sending it back to the input is called “positive feedback.” This configuration tends to find an optimum mode or frequency, and reinforces it. However, if left unchecked, positive feedback can “runaway.” Even if you’re unfamiliar with electronics, you’ve probably experienced the downside of this phenomenon when a microphone starts picking up the output from a speaker (even in a hearing aid), and you get a telltale “squeal” (more formally called “oscillation”)

In contrast, changing the polarity of the signal and doing the same thing is called “negative feedback.” Done properly, this tends to reduce distortion at the output, and makes the amplified signal more closely resemble the input. Though not as susceptible to “runaway,” too much negative feedback in a circuit can be bad too, as it can completely negate any gain of the circuit. Nature abounds with systems that depend on both positive and negative feedback, and social systems are no different. After looking at the nature of both, I’m going to share three ways that I’ve found to make the most of negative feedback. (more…)

This afternoon, a friend and I were talking about “Fall Ball” in a local recreation league. She was complaining that an obscure rule (no infield plays made by outfielders) made this league very frustrating for her son, who plays in several other leagues. Due to scheduling issues (she’s a single parent), it’s not practical for him to participate in the more competitive leagues.

This reminded me of when my sons played YMCA Basketball (where the players were required to stand on “X” markers placed on the floor), and other youth leagues where the already confusing rules of adult game become even more complex when the adults try to “help” younger players learn the game by coming up with countless variations of the rules. (more…)

If you’re a fan of American Football, it’s hard to have missed Reggie Bush’s performance in last weekend’s preseason game against the Tennessee Titans. Beyond some deft moves on the field, Bush demonstrated that his marketing team is just as agile at dodging NFL marketing rules as he is at dodging would-be tacklers.

By wearing cleats that show a logo other than Nike or Reebok, Reggie Bush has violated one of the most important rules in the NFL: Thou shalt not market brands outside of our established relationships. (more…)

I have an ecclectic collection of friends. Some of them are “into” sports, but many are not. Invariably, the friends who are not involved in sports (either themselves or by way of their children) are baffled by my love and passion for most any type of sport.

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