Category: Sports

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Lifetime Earnings

Part one of two: They appear on your TV every week from January through October – traversing the nation from Hawai’i, to California, to Florida and many stops in between. You might only pay attention to them four times each year, when the best from around the globe compete on the toughest courses to determine who among them handles pressure the best.

Players on the PGA Tour lead an enchanted life: making millions from prize money and endorsements. In 1995 – the year before a young Tiger Woods turned pro – Payne Stewart won the Shell Houston Open and received $252,000. The person who lifts the trophy later today will take home $1.1 million. Adjusted for inflation, Stewart’s winning would be $379,000, so the ‘Tiger Effect’ made everyone richer.

Current phenom – and heartthrob of young girls everywhere – Rory McIlroy turns 24 in May. He already has two major championship wins. In 2012, between the US and European tours, he pocketed $15 million in winnings. Of course, that pales in comparison to the contract he signed in January with Nike. Reports estimate the world’s best known brand will pay the world’s best known youngster $200 million over the next decade. That’s a lot of money for wearing the swoosh on your hat and shoes.

If you have a young son start him off playing soccer. The foot coordination is considered a great foundation for athletic success. Then when he turns seven steer him away from team sports. Introduce him to your local PGA Professional instead. The career of a pro football player averages four years. Pro golfers spend 30 years making outlandish money and segue to the Champions Tour at age 50. Bob Tway finished 44th on that money list last year and pocketed $300,000 in winnings. Not a bad retirement income.

Have a newborn daughter or granddaughter? Even better. Many college golf scholarships for women go unfulfilled. If yours happens to be talented, the future is bright. The leading players on the LPGA Tour earn just as much as the seniors. So get started hitting buckets of balls. There are years of practice ahead for your child to earn her playing card.

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Super Results

Yesterday, Joe Flacco awakened as simply another among the long list of quarterbacks who would start their first Super Bowl. Today, he’s going to Walt Disney World – at least that’s what he said in the commercial I saw at 5:22 a.m. on ESPN2 – then he’ll soon walk into Ravens owner Steve Biscotti’s office and say, “Time to pay up, sir.”

Reports are the Super Bowl MVP, who just completed the five-year contract he signed out of college, could warrant a new deal approaching $125 million for six seasons. Perhaps the only other person getting that big of a raise today is Beyoncé, who sold lots of songs and concerts tickets with her outstanding halftime performance.

Of course, the money to pay for all that talent comes from many sources, most importantly the always skyrocketing rights fees from network television. While the NFL is having a strong conversation today with the Superdome about what caused that 34-minute power outage, at least the 49ers’ comeback kept a bigger portion of the audience around to watch those $3.8 million, 30-second commercials late in the game.

One of the problems Super Bowl champions have is replicating success the following year. Businesses, too, struggle to continue to outperform expectations – quarter over quarter in the public sector and year over year among smaller companies. Sometimes, the best approach may be to go with proven strategies (i.e., don’t let the quarterback escape to free agency); otherwise, you might experience something like a ticked-off goat that’s frustrated by your change of plans.

For the record, the folks at our party laughed loudest at these commercials:

M&M’s – “I would do anything for love”
Audi – Prom Black Eye
Bud Light – Stevie Wonder Voodoo
Taco Bell – “We are young” Senior Citizens
Axe – Lifeguard/Astronaut
NFL – Leon Sandcastle
Tide – Montanaland

There was a lot of respect for the Jeep ad saluting the military and the Dodge Ram spot featuring Paul Harvey’s ode to farmers. However, the XLVII ad that brought the biggest response in our house was Budweiser’s Clydesdale reunion. You never go wrong sticking with the horses.

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Lessons Learned – #4

Lessons come from many places. Here is one from sports:

Youthful Wisdom – Awakening April 10, 2011, Rory McIlroy was four strokes ahead of the field at The Masters. Then he shot 80, the worst score ever by a leader in the final round, and finished 15th. The next day he tweeted a quote from Muhammad Ali: “It’s repetition of affirmations that leads to belief, and once that belief becomes a deep conviction things begin to happen.” Two months later, having learned his lessons well, McIlroy set the tournament record in winning the U.S. Open. This year the 23-year-old prodigy won four events, including his second major at the PGA Championship, and earned Player of the Year honors. A certain Churchill line about never giving in comes to mind.

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Lessons Learned – #5

Each year in December I reflect in my e-newsletter on the top lessons learned during the preceding 12 months. Here is #5:

Continuous Growth – My son is playing his last season of high school basketball. At ‘Meet the Cougars’ the coach told parents it’s important we allow children to learn from mistakes. “We try to teach our kids how to handle things,” he said. “Then when they mess up, we don’t let them handle things. That creates a lot of problems when they go off to college.” Amazingly, I heard the same sentiment from an energy company CEO a few weeks later: “A lot of leaders delegate, then jump in and try to fix everything. That makes it hard for people to improve.”

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Get Movin’

Recent research suggests those who sit at a desk for six hours or more each day are 40 percent more likely to die within 15 years than those who are stationary less than three hours. That should be a scary statistic for a lot of folks – including me sometimes when I have a full day of phone coaching sessions and then write a blog entry.

There are many ways to overcome a sedentary work style including getting up and walking around or visiting peers instead of emailing and calling. Exercise is good, too, which is why I awaken at oh-dark-thirty three days a week to swim. (Sidebar: The YMCA closed its indoor heated pool last week for three months to remodel. Until the weather gets too cold, they’re utilizing the outdoor pool. Monday it was an unseasonal 60 degrees at 6:45 a.m. That will wake you up when you hit the water.)

Perhaps the best solution would be to work in a field that doesn’t require sitting all day. There are certainly a lot of career options available – nursing, waitressing and lawn care come to mind. Postmen and policemen use to walk, but that was a generation ago.

This morning – sitting at my desk during a coaching call – I saw someone who combines the perfect wage-earning/exercising program. Outside my window a man was placing door hangers. What struck me is how he was dressed: dry-fit wicking muscle shirt, nylon shorts, running shoes, sun glasses and iPod band around his arm with ear buds connected. Then I noticed he was running, pretty much sprinting, door-to-door. And this was no spring chicken. He had gray hair.

I envision this gentleman spending all day running around neighborhoods. Certainly not getting wealthy distributing advertising materials, yet enjoying the fresh fall air and making his heart healthier. So, after you read this, get up and go for a walk. If you need inspiration, think of the ‘door hanger guy.’ Of course, if you’re really motivated, go for a swim. You can think of me while you’re doing laps.

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