Promised Land

When I was nine, the Texas Longhorns won the national championship running the new Wishbone offense. I listened to all their games on the radio – every gridiron clash wasn’t on TV in 1969 – and came to revere the quarterback… James Street. He was my boyhood hero. About 25 years ago, I met him at a dinner, and found myself completely in awe and speechless.

The only other celebrity I hold in the highest esteem is Bruce Springsteen. (And if you’ve read any of my newsletters over the last nine years, you already knew that.) It’s not Springsteen the man I admire… for he has plenty of flaws and is the first to admit them. It’s the poet and rocker who looks at the canvas of our world and artistically comments on what he sees. Of course, you can’t mention The Boss without including his incredibly talented E Street Band. I’ve seen them play at least a dozen times since 1978.

In the last few years, Springsteen’s keyboardist Danny Federici and saxophonist Clarence Clemons passed away. Imagine losing two people you stood beside on stage for more than 40 years. That must create a deep hole in your heart and big talent gap in your performance.

The redesigned E Street Band, featuring new members including Clarence’s nephew on sax, just embarked on a worldwide tour. On the first night, during Tenth Avenue Freezeout, at the point where Springsteen normally sings, “When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band,’ everyone went silence in a tribute to their departed mate.

“We spent a lot of time thinking about this show and talking about it,” guitarist Steve Van Zandt told Rolling Stone this month. “The horn section was a good answer to the unanswerable: ‘How do you replace Clarence Clemons?’ Well, you don’t. It’s real simple. The same way you replace Danny Federici. You don’t. You have somebody else playing those parts, but you have to do something else, you have to morph it into a hybrid of what you were. It’s not going to be the same.”

Every team – sports, music and business – loses members… whether by trade, termination or death. While those times create difficult challenges, there is always someone new ready for his/her opportunity. As a leader, your job is to give them a chance to shine. When it happens, remember the wisdom of Born to Run: “Someday girl I don’t when we’re gonna get to that place where we really want to go and we’ll walk in the sun…”

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Unique Opportunity

Listening to ESPN Radio in the lead-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl, I heard several former players talk about their career experiences. The Patriots’ All-Pro linebacker Teddy Bruschi mentioned playing in five championship games over 12 years. When he said it was no fun losing two of the Roman numeral classics, an ex defensive tackle – who never got there in a decade of chances – said, “I’m not feeling sorry for you.”

The Super Bowl, of course, is the biggest thing in American sports, with the nation – and many around the world – stopping to watch the plays, see the halftime performance and check out the new commercials. It’s become a tradition to gather with family and friends each February for cheering, celebration and critiquing… and a lot of good food.

My personal brush with greatness that is the Super Bowl happened 30 years ago this month. As a 21-year-old producer of sports at a local television station in Dallas, my heart was ripped out when Dwight Clark out-leaped Everson Walls to beat the Cowboys in the NFC Championship and send the 49ers on to Detroit where they won the first of their five titles. I was standing just yards away when he made what came to be forever known as ‘The Catch.’ Unfortunately, that’s the closest I’ve come to making it to football’s summit.

So when you watch the Super Bowl, regardless of which team you’re rooting for, think about all the players who will only have this one opportunity to perform on that stage. It takes years of hard work and dedication to make it in the NFL, and a few athletes will never again experience such lofty heights. Here’s hoping it’s a great game… and some unheralded player turns in the performance of his life.

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Lessons Learned – #7

This is the seventh most important thing I learned in 2011:

Musical Interlude – As Rudy Vallee began crooning over the new medium of radio in 1929, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday were 14. When Elvis Presley recorded “Heartbreak Hotel,” Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Joan Baez, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Carole King and Brian Wilson were 14. When the Beatles appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Gene Simmons and Billy Joel were 14. Music tastes are greatly influenced at that age. Our youngest hits 14 soon. She prefers Lady Gaga over Justin Bieber. That’s good. I think.

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Winning Formula

Since we moved to Houston in 1998, the only local sports highlights were when the Astros played in the National League Championship Series twice and made it to the World Series once. Rockets? One playoff series win in 13 seasons. Texans? Still mired in mediocrity after nine years. Meanwhile, in the past eight months, my hometown – DFW – has seen the Rangers play in the World Series and crowned the Mavericks as NBA Champions. That’s great for my family and friends there… and I’m enjoying it from afar.

Listening to and reading commentary of media experts this morning about what happened to the South Beach dream team – for instance, Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio said, “I honestly thought Miami was better last night with LeBron James on the bench” – it’s clear Dirk Nowitzki and the deepest roster in the league outplayed the Heat’s three highly paid All Stars.

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron joined together last summer with the goal to win multiple championships. Number one will have to wait another year. As Michael Rosenberg wrote on SI.com: “The self-proclaimed King wanted it to be easy. His company’s logo should be a cart in front of a horse.” LeBron disappeared in the fourth quarter of every game. He’ll have the next four months to develop his post play and figure out how to do more when the basketball is in someone else’s hands

The Heat proved it’s hard to buy your way to success. Its travails serve as a lesson to business leaders that you need everyone on your team working together to become a champion. It took Dirk 13 years to lift that trophy. Time will tell whether the Big Three ever stand on the podium with smiles on their faces… or if this great experiment turns out to be the Big Mistake.

Note: Tomorrow at 1 p.m. EDT, I’ll appear on Insights Live, an Internet radio show, to share how to get everyone on your team pulling in the same direction. Here’s a link if you’d like to join us: http://bit.ly/keUIj4

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Unfavorable Support

A sports radio show here has a recurring segment titled, “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” about items in the news. For instance, when Charlie Sheen announced that instead of heading into rehab he would be handling drug and alcohol dependency on his own, the host asked listeners to weigh in with thoughts on how badly that idea could turn out.

When I heard last night the Texas Senate approved a ‘highly controversial bill’ to allow licensed citizens to carry concealed handguns inside buildings at public colleges and universities that same question immediately jumped into my head.

Proponents say it would enhance the safety of licensees – who have to be 21 or older – and their fellow students. They suggest the next time there’s an incident like Virginia Tech someone other than the shooter would be armed. Opponents, including regents and officials of the universities, believe academic institutions should remain gun-free. They mention the confusion that could occur when campus security and local law enforcement arrive on the scene and try to determine the good guys from the bad.

With a daughter who will be a senior at the University of Texas and two more kids to follow her over the next nine years, I have concerns should this bill pass the House and the governor sign it into law. My biggest worry is on any given Saturday night – following much alcohol consumption – the ‘testosterone effect’ greatly enhances the likelihood of altercations.

What could possibly go wrong?

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