It's good to talk

People are looking forward to July 2 when David Haye faces one of the Klitchkos in one of the biggest heavyweight bouts for a long, long time....  Interest on both sides of the Atlantic and across Europe will see big audiences see these monsters colide.

What is surprising though is that so many experts (and no doubt many folk swayed by these experts) believe that the Hayemaker has ‘talked’ his way into the fight.  The current WBA champion (and former Ring cruiserweight unified champion a la Evander Holyfield) has certainly talked a lot (more of that later), but who should Wlad be fighting instead??  Another of the likely lads from his past record - certainly no more talent on that list...  

Three Little Words

Having just watched a pretty exciting Super Bowl between two of the games great teams - thoughts turn to what exactly makes a great team, and more importantly - what turns a great Club (one season wonders) into a CLub for the ages....

Pittsburgh and the Pack have a huge number of Championships between them, whilst some (presumably) equally funded teams have yet to get off the mark (championship rings wise).  The word dynasty is used for teams that transcend time, and that leave a mark on history - and the Steelers and Packers are about as close as you can get to dynasties in the current game.  (British viewpoint!!).

As a sports administrator - being involved in, and leading a club towards being a dynasty is what it should all be about.  The ‘3 little words’ that mean so much to me are - Impact, Legacy and Dynasty....

Maximization vs Aggregation

With the 6 Nations about to kick off and 6 nations about to charge into each other at maximum throttle, I wanted to look at a concept that has been flavor of the past few years.

England RWC winning mantra to add up 100’s of little 0.1% improvements, Team Sky/GB cycle teams fight to nail down every little advantage as two examples - is known as the “Aggregation of Marginal Gains”.  The theory being that if you get lots of little things right - you will make a huge improvement.

And for sure - what’s not to like when targeting constant improvement - everyone is in for that I am sure.

THE POWER OF PERSONALIZATION

A few years ago I remember chatting to a mate about how websites would become more and more personalized (or indeed were already).  Think Amazon knowing that you buy John Denver DVD’s and recommending Johnny Cash as your next purchase option.

We wondered how we could take that progression into our sports clubs - as for sure there is a belief that you need to give people what they want (see earlier blog) - and as personalization becomes more and more available.

Unfortunately - my club’s resources prevented any real progression in my then role, and it seems that the sports industry as a whole has failed to make much effort to follow these trends - with bland belief that supporters will just ‘support’.

No I in TEAM

We (that’s you and me) are often told that there is no “I in team”....  This well-worn phrase is used to highlight the importance of the team to the club or indeed to the team....!!  Individuals are educated to understate their own individual importance but more to focus on their collective input to the whole.  Neat huh!!!

Recent events (and a few from a more historical time) may well however give that particular saying the ‘boot’.  Let’s have a look....