"L" formerly known as Trump

I'm breaking my rule of not creating posts about politics due to breaking news of my own (isn't everything 'breaking news' on Cable News in 2024?).

Going forward, I will refer to the ex-president as "L" ~ formerly known as Trump. Taking a page from Elon Musk's playbook with Twitter.

I selected the letter L because to me it embodies so much of the ex-president's character (well, okay, lack of character). Just think liar, lunatic, loathsome, libelous and lewd... need I go on?

I'll turn to a poem I wrote four years ago after L encouraged his supporters to try and upend the democratic process by attacking out Capitol and threatening our elected officials. It reflects my long held image of this president as a cowardly little man, hidden behind a curtain, pretending to be bigger that he ever will be, pulling levers that create smoke and bluster and amplify a weak voice - compelling me to pen a few thoughts.

Saving grammar and rhyme for another day - rules cast aside as they were on January 6th, 2021 in our nations capital.

This too shall pass.

~ MAV

America Is Not In Kansas Anymore

Who knew when this tornado named Trump emerged

From the depths of the country that forged his character,

That this boasting dullard, would hypnotize many

But he was a wizard indeed - from Oz no less!

Seducing the party of Lincoln, he huffed, ranted and raved

Untethered from reality, principle or morality.

He cowered behind the religious right,

The NRA and White Supremacists.

And free from truth, he embraced deceit

Attacking the press, freedom and sanity.

All the while playing the embattled martyr,

He schemed behind a curtain of Tweets.

Finally caught in the web he weaved

Impeachment loomed.

But in a world turned upside down -

With allies out and enemies in.

His enablers circled,

He didn't do that - and so what if he did

Our Constitution protects him,

He cannot do wrong, he is our chosen one.

That straw argument is now reduced to a straw man

While the tin man weeps,

And the cowardly lion lives up to his name -

God knows we're not in Kansas anymore.

Please vote and encourage your friends and family to vote. 

It's time... for "L" to go.

Garage Band Music Lives On

Ten years ago, I posted about my summer garage/office setup. The goal was to make a little music here at TWS The Wright Stuff. We've had a few hits in that decade - Dancing at Wrigley Field, The Cycle For Life Long Road, World Hockey Championship Marathon and my favorite The Apple WTA Blues. It's never dull

This year I installed a small heater and extended the "outdoor" season from April/September to March through Halloween. Since we have expanded from sports consulting to include writing novels (okay, one novel) and not-for-profit business development, we need more fresh air!

During July and August, we actually move into the garden, rain permitting and add the sounds of the birds to our creative process. Formal Fridays have also been made optional over the summer, but hey, I like getting dressed up several times a year. I've surprised more than a few clients and prospects by joining Zoom calls in my Sunday best (do they still say that?). All a part of brand differentiation.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😎🇺🇸🐅🇨🇦

One other thing I really like to do is redesign my office space at least once each year. It's actually a tradition I began in 1986 while at IMG. I found that I am more creative when I have different surroundings, varying light and a changed perspective. I get bored if I don't change things up frequently.

For me, the most important thing is looking forward to sitting at my desk each morning. Whether I am writing a marketing strategy, posting on FaceBook, adding a chapter to the novel I am writing or researching potential new clients - I have to feel excited to get after it. I never want my garage band music to get stale. I take inspiration from U2 - now touring forty plus years, and The Who, now into year fifty-three. Better yet, how about Jagger and the Stones - touring for their sixtieth year in 2022.

Start me up baby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqp2stVMVjM

I Earned My Degree In Libraries

I've been building a library for half a century. I still have the first book in my office/library - How To Win Friends And Influence People. You might think of it as the first textbook in my own private university of life.

At the age of eighteen, I made a choice to eschew university and went to work full time. Books became my most valuable tool of learning. Winning friends and developing a network of mentors helped me surround myself with professors from all walks of life. 

Libraries became my classrooms.

I have always preferred to own books, which is not to say I haven't checked out hundreds from libraries - I have. With books I am learning from, I like to underline sentences and eardog pages I want to return to. I also had a romantic notion that when guests visited, I would let them select a book and take it home with them if they liked it. Over decades, I would estimate fewer than five people ever took me up on the idea.

Now, as we contemplate a smaller home with no real space for a 'library', I came up with a novel (pun intended) way to give some away. We have what are known as 'Free Libraries' dotted around neighborhoods beside sidewalks. Some are simple structures, some works of art.

As I cycle through the streets, I frequently stop to peruse the books in these miniature libraries. If I see a book that captures my interest, I take it home. The next day, I bring three books from my library put them on the shelf to replace the one I have taken. So far I have four new books and have given away twelve. The four new books have all been wonderful. I doubt I would have sought any of them out - they just caught my attention. 

I wonder where all my books will end up?

This post made me think of my friend Bert Hesse. I met Bert when we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1998. I was opening a new division for my agency and during the first year I was working from home (you guessed it, my first garage office - which was sort of prescient, since

I was building a division dedicated to NASCAR and motorsports 😉), but I digress.

Our first garage office. 🐅

I would spent one morning a week at the gorgeous SouthPark Library just for a change of scene. I noticed a guy there every morning reading the business newspapers on display, one day I asked him, "Are you one of the Microsoft millionaires?" He laughed, but later I learned that he was a tech entrepreneur who had built two companies, sold them both and now had the time to y'know, go to the library and read. 

Years later Bert told me this, "My success depends upon the books I read and the people I meet." That really rang a bell with me. I had been following that advice my whole life.  For the record, Bert won't take credit for the quotation. But hey, I heard it first from him, my blog, I'm giving him credit!

 

Books and mentors - any success I have I owe to them. One more thing for the record, don't skip the university experience.

I got lucky. Libraries. 

Love 'em.

Did Curiosity Actually Ever Kill A Cat? - You Be The Judge

Turns out I have been judgmental - of myself!

I set up this blog platform almost ten years ago with the intent of getting some thoughts of mine out there while sharpening my writing style. In those nine plus years, I have only posted seventeen times - less than twice a year.

Not exactly prolific. So I got curious. What is holding me back? I love to tell stories. I have a thousand of them (not all interesting). And I have time, or can make time. So what's really going on here?

There I go again, jumping to the conclusion that I am either (a) lazy, (b) undisciplined, (c) uncommitted, or any number of combinations. You get the idea - judgmental.

While watching an episode of Ted Lasso, it occurred to me that one of my weaknesses is what I will call overanalysis (I just made that word up), which can be paralytic. 

Paralysis by overanalysis is not a good trait for a person who defines his style as a combination of optimism and idealism. Those who know me will have heard me begin many a sentence with, "In my perfect world ..." It's also not a good way to garner the reputation of a maverick, of someone who challenges convention and marches to the beat of his own drum.

If I'm honest, I embrace the concept of being different, unconventional - even to the point of walking right up to, but not over, the precipice known as absurdity. 

I learned how to be an effective salesperson and leader by watching, observing and reading. Always asking myself, "Why?"

Why did he say that? Why did she react that way? Why did they do that? Why do it that way?

I have always been curious - willing to ask - why?

So when a scene came on in Ted Lasso involving his proficiency at the game of darts, and he quoted Walt Whitman as having said, "Be curious, not judgmental." a bell went off in my head. 

I am Ted Lasso. I have always been Ted Lasso. 

My management style is unpredictable, unorthodox, improvisational even to the point of eccentricity.

That is Ted Lasso. He is confident everything will work out, he believes in the 'good' in people and he is, well - corny at times. 

Me too.

In the show, Ted comes to the conclusion that all the people he met who underestimated him had very little curiosity and they judged him. He realized he had no control over what others thought, only over what he did. So he marches to the beat of his own drum, he defies convention and he kills with kindness. Asking why all the way to victory.

Turns out curiosity never killed a cat, however, it can be a great teacher in the school of life.

I'm going to work on being less judgmental of myself and others. 

Curious?

I've got that covered.

Post Script - I really wanted to read that Walt Whitman poem, so, out of curiosity, I searched for it. Turns out (according to scholars who study Whitman), he never penned those words - ever. How about that?

Ghost Leafs Go!

Tune in Thursday at half past seven,

Our young lads, Leafs all,

Get a boost from the heavens.

Embraced by a vision to bring Lord Stanley's cup home,

I thought it was past time,

To rewrite this poem.

An energy took over the ice rink that day,

Not Maple Leaf Gardens, 

Scotiabank Arena you say?

To any true fan, something strange was beginning,

That made you believe, 

"By God boys - we'll be winning".

Look down in that corner, it was uncanny, 

"It's Keon" they whispered,

Big M, Tiger and Lanny.

Back on the blueline, King Borje flew,

Number seven, Tim Horton,

Resplendent in blue.

Sundin was smiling as Sittler appeared,

With Dougie beside him, 

Lips curled as he sneered,

The face-offs are ours boys, this game we can win,

Palmateer offered his net up, 

"Put Bower in!"

A dark figure appeared to step onto the ice,

The Canadiens knew, 

This guy was not so nice.

Ice chips flying, full stride with no care.

Fans knew in an instant, 

That Wendell was there.

High up in the rafters, hovering there,

The audience peered skyward,

Was Foster up there?

Have at it young bloods, 

The legends did say,

We're skating beside you - at least for today.

The arena was hushed as if cut with a scythe,

Just behind the bench... 

The ghosts of Conn and Staff Smythe. 

The outcome uncertain, that we all know,

But the faithful will be chanting,

Ghost Leafs, Go!

Playing The Game Of Life

I don't make New Year's resolutions. Which is not to say I don't try and make changes in my life - alter patterns, try new things, ditch bad habits - I just don't feel the need to do any of those things on a prescribed day.

There is one thing I want to accomplish this year though, I want to write more. I have the time, I never run out of ideas to write about and I want to improve that talent. My children's story, The Last Maple Leaf, which I wrote in 1999 is now in final editing and the search for an illustrator is a work in progress.

I'll begin early in 2021 on my blog page - TWS The Wright Stuff. Looking back, I see I only wrote one post in 2020, one in 2019... and not a single post in 2017 or 2018. No wonder I have so few followers... not much to follow!

Here is a philosophy I have been pondering during the pandemic - the circle of life (the theme in The Last Maple Leaf), and the future. 

A couple of years ago while gazing into a night sky, it occurred to me that my life was being lived out in quarters... like a football game. Last year, I determined those quarters to be 23 years each. 

Call it the famous 23 Skidoo outside The Flatiron Building in Manhattan.

https://www.loc.gov/item/00694379/

The first twenty-three the learning years, the next twenty-three the driven/growing years. The third twenty-three the productive years. I have one year of my third quarter left before I take the ball and embark upon a final twenty-three years of writing, volunteering, traveling, mentoring and being a better friend to my friends.

If I am honest, with whatever time I have left... I want to make a difference... and I don't want to turn down any challenge I deem worthwhile. And no, I'm not predicting that I will live to 92. The game could be called early for weather - or maybe it goes into overtime. If it does, I hope I am fit enough to play it out!

A very wise man once suggested we could think about life as a sporting event. "What makes it exciting and interesting?", he asked. The answer: It is interesting and exciting because we don't know how it will turn out. What twists and turns will occur as the game nears the end? Excitement until the final whistle, the last at bat, the winning goal... are what keeps it interesting.

Now consider a game that never ends... just goes on forever. Neither interesting nor exciting.

Playing the game of life is playing a game that ends, make yours worth watching!

Right up to the final play.

It's In The Cards

In 1986 I joined the sports marketing agency IMG. It was equal parts exciting and scary (funny how those two emotions frequently travel together - think roller coasters). Exciting because being a lifelong fan of sports it had never occurred to me that I could combine what I loved, with my vocation. Scary because after a relatively successful career in the packaged goods industry, making a dramatic shift seemed risky... and that is an understatement.

So fourteen years into my career, here I was, running the event division at IMG Canada - my experience? I'd been to many sporting events - full stop.

In those early days at IMG I was flying by the seat of my pants and I did not think I was making progress quickly enough in my new position. One day I read, "Success is a journey, not a destination." It resonated with me so I wrote it on the back of one of my business cards and set it on my desk in a visible location. Interestingly, that simple phrase has served me well many times since that day.

A couple of months later, another quotation caught my eye so I pulled out another card and wrote the phrase down, noting the month and year - and a collection was born. I would shuffle the deck on Mondays and whichever quotation ended up on top would be my words of wisdom for that week.


"Only the mediocre are always at their best." 

I like them best when you have to give some thought to the meaning.


"You'll be amazed what you can accomplish if you don't stop to quiet every barking dog."

Stay focused, not every problem is your problem.



"The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang."

Watch any championship team and you'll see the coach and/or the captain sets the tempo. Everyone want to stay with the pack. If the leader is tentative and indecisive... so go the troops.



In retrospect, these business cards, fifteen in all (including numerous positions at IMG over twenty years), are a map of my business life. I can tell by the title on the card and the date I wrote the quotation, exactly what was going on at the time. 

I remember in 1993, on a gut feel, I took IMG into the wacky world of International Airport advertising. We had no expertise, no track record and very little in-depth knowledge of how that worked. I had a hunch we could remake the business model from one of selling individual signage positions, to a partnership/sponsorship model (which IMG had invented and was a global leader in). I had very few supporters and in the end, we gambled.

Among other 'firsts' - Harrods first branch anchored retail at Toronto T3.

"If you're going to walk on thin ice - you might as well dance."

We were, and we did... and we won.

I've been a fan of Katherine Hepburn's all of my adult life. Love her... maybe safer to say I had a crush on her... you know, movie stars.


So it was with delight I added a card with one of her quotations -

"Be fascinating."


So why not begin a Zoom slide presentation with a snowman you have kept frozen until May!

"I'm an idealist. I don't always know where I'm going, but I'm on my way." - Carl Sandberg (with a minor edit).

So, here are the cards... deck still growing.

"The great pleasure in life is doing what other people say you cannot do."



Deal me in!

Madness Reigns --- Bullying - Izzo Style

It took all of ten seconds to reveal the true Tom Izzo.

He is a bully.

In front of millions of fans, watching live and on national television, Tom Izzo lost control of his temper completely and bullied a student-athlete.

And we let him get away with it.

Not only did he get away with it, but apologists erupted in defence of his defenceless act. They called it 'tough love', they called it 'active coaching', they called it 'teaching' and laughably, 'motivating'. But make no mistake, it was schoolyard bullying at it's worst.

Most of us have seen bullying up close and personal. We have either been bullied, watched someone be bullied, or been a bully. Maybe all three... which I will cop to in high school. And I'm embarrassed to admit that.

Tom Izzo holds the ultimate position of power over his student-athletes. He makes (I refuse to say 'earns') $5 million a year coaching basketball. Aaron Henry is a teenaged student who plays for free - at the pleasure of his attacker. He cannot fight back even if he wants to, or lose his opportunity to compete.

What makes this worse, is that hundreds of thousands of kids who are playing basketball in hopes of making it to the college level, will somehow see this as 'normal behaviour' - it isn't. Perhaps worse, thousands of youth coaches across a wide spectrum of sports will see this as a normal coaching strategy- it isn't.

Maybe this can be a teachable moment. Check out this link -

No Bully

Izzo joins the ranks of Bob Knight and Woody Hayes and will never come close to the standard set by John Wooden. Izzo is a disgrace and embarrassment and he needs to own up and apologize. He needs to grow up.

But don't hold your breath. He's another symptom of a broken NCAA student athletics model.

There is far too much power and money fueling it to see it going anywhere soon.

How great would it be to see a referee 'T' the coach up next time his abhorrent behaviour rears its ugly head. I would buy a ticket just to see that!

And once again, madness reigns.

A King, An Army and Little Things

"The King is dead... the Army marches on...  and little things matter." - Anonymous




An umbrella seems like a little thing - until it rains. Seeing a 'thumbs up' sign might seem like a little thing - unless you're one stroke down, in the rough with one hole to play - and the sign comes from Arnold Palmer. And whether you call a man Arnie, Arnold, The King or some other popular moniker might be a small matter - but not if he deserves to be called Mr. Palmer.

I was a young executive with IMG when I first met Arnold Palmer in 1986. He was bigger than life and even nicer than his press clippings declared. I could see why they called him The King in an instant.

Here was a man, who could 'walk with kings and keep the common touch'. By now everyone knows Arnold Palmer was a transformative figure. Not only did he alter the game of competitive golf and shift the balance of power, but he did it while opening the game to a new generation of golfers. He did it by being the 'everyman' who walked into a country club setting and claimed his place - politely, with respect... but make no mistake, forcefully.



"Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated" - Arnold Palmer

My favorite story about Mr. Palmer is not about his golf prowess, his excellence as a businessman or the way he defined the American Dream. It is not about his overwhelming charisma, his humble nature, or how he helped invent modern day sports marketing.

My story is about the day he took time out from his very busy schedule to pose for a photograph with my wife Sally... and later signed it to her dad Ken, for his 75th birthday. Unbeknownst to Arnold, Ken had once golfed with his father Deke at Latrobe G&CC in 1960 (give or take a year or two).



But that's just a part of the story. Fifteen years later, I asked Mr. Palmer if he might send a note of congratulations to Ken on is 90th birthday. Arnold agreed, on the condition that I send him some information about Ken, so he could send a customized note.

True to his word, shortly before Ken's birthday a letter arrived on APE letterhead bearing the signature of one Arnold Daniel Palmer. In the long letter, he complimented Ken on his many holes-in-one (more than I have had!) congratulated him on continuing to play into his nineties and encouraged him to keep it up. "It will keep you young" he said in closing.

A man who is among the most famous sportsmen of all time, doesn't have to take the time to send a personal note. But to this man... it was simply a part of who he was.

Little things.

Arnold Palmer and Mark McCormack formed a team that created an entirely new industry. IMG was an audacious experiment in 1959 when it was formed by a handshake between these two men.  It became an amazing agency... one that created the opportunity for me to earn a living, doing things I loved, in an electric environment. I owe much that I have accomplished and the lions share of what I have learned in business to these two giants.




















So we lost a King last week, one that led an army of people into a new age of golf, leaving a legacy that transcends the game and one that firmly proves that "Nice guys can finish first."

To me he will forever be Mr. Palmer.

Just one of those little things.

Love One

The 2016 US Open Tennis Championships were, as usual, filled with surprises, upsets, winners and losers, joy and despair, great moments and small.

Y'know - Life!

I was fortunate to travel to New York City to attend a day at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center and to sit in Arthur Ashe Stadium, watching a Scot named Andy play the quarter finals.



But as I travelled 40,000 feet above the ground back to Oregon from the Big Apple - I wasn't thinking about Billie Jean, Arthur or Andy Murray. I was thinking about another Scot... Isabel Mary MacKenzie.

My mother.

To my knowledge, my mother was not a very athletic person. She was a cultured woman. She knew The Messiah by heart, loved classical music, played the piano, read great books, wrote with impeccable grammar, enjoyed art, had a beautiful voice and was a polished host.

But sports? - as a twelve year old I just didn't see it.

Then one day I learned that the parks department was offering free tennis lessons. All you needed was a racquet... everything else was supplied no charge. I asked if we might be able to afford a racquet... my mother replied, beaming, "You can have mine."

I was flabbergasted. "You have a racquet?"

And then there it was, neatly fixed into a press... a beautiful varnished racquet... just one problem. It had a wicked curve on it, much like the way a hockey stick blade was curved in the 1960's.



But for me... it was amazing... and mine.

I learned to play with that racquet, how to replace broken strings myself and I won my fair share of junior matches and a high school championship along the way.

I learned how to keep score. What deuce meant - that the game was scored love, fifteen, thirty, forty, game. That a Set was first to six games, win by two. That a Match was two of three sets.

I learned that you respected your opponent, never cheated on line calls, never used bad language on the court and shook hands win or lose... and that you meant it.

But I learned something else along the way, something more meaningful, something that stays with me today.

I learned that you could start with a twisted, hand-me-down racquet - you could win tournaments and lose them - you could even attend the Canadian Open and watch Borg and Chrissie, the US Open and see Connors and Martina or Wimbledon to enjoy Sampras and Steffi.

But those tennis life lessons really started with a mother who not only loved me, protected me, taught me - all the while encouraging me to live my own life. She once wrote to me "Be yourself - but be your best self."

I learned that keeping score is a good thing - particularly if you remember to start with-

Love - One.


"When the game is over, the kings and the pawns go back into the same box."