Does the game love you back?

I was listening to the Bill Simmons Podcast with NBA commissioner David Stern. Years and years ago, Stern had decided that he would embrace Youtube and Twitter and social media in general. He thought it was going to be good for the owners and good for the NBA to get their brand out there by embracing Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. Give the fans more avenues to reach your product, and you'll have more fans wanting your product. Great decision, but not a simple decision, as we can see in the case of the NFL.

The NFL has gone the other route, by limiting Youtube videos, and limiting the avenues that the fans have to reach their product. The NFL may be underestimating social media and the business of sports.

In the NBA, after an awesome play, or monster dunk, you'll see that player trending on Twitter with video to prove it. It's so easy for us to search "Blake Griffin dunk" on youtube and find the latest play. Or we'll just look at Facebook or our Twitter feeds and click on the links of the Blake Griffin dunk someone posted from last night.

Do you ever see that for the NFL? Most of the time when an NFL player is trending on Twitter it is because he is having a monster fantasy game. The NFL is so bad at social media, that the fans have created their own meta game and care more about their fantasy game than the actual game itself. The fans love the NFL so much, they created their own product (fantasy football) because the NFL isn't providing them with enough of their product.

This is what happens when you have a revenue sharing system. Why provide a better product when the current product is making so much money? Television revenue is so important to the NFL, they've banned Youtube clips in order to squeeze out every dollar they can, when they should have been embracing Youtube and social media in order to grow their product. The NFL has a lot of room for growth, but the revenue sharing system really destroys any incentive to grow or innovate.

Despite the fact the the NFL stifles it's own product, the fans have taken it upon themselves to make it better through Fantasy Football. It always amazes me that there are more fantasy football magazines at the store than NFL magazines. Out of love, the fans created a product because the league wasn't giving them enough. Now that's love for a game that doesn't love you back.

Athletes and Kids

Everyday athletes like Shawn Kemp and Antonio Cromartie get condemned by the media for having lots of kids. Why?

I thought we wanted basketball players who could penetrate the lane with ease.

I thought we wanted football players who could run it up the gut into the red zone.

I thought we wanted baseball players who could play the field and get past third base.

I thought we wanted hockey players who could finish at the end of the period.

I thought we wanted tennis players who could make the top seed.

I thought we wanted golfers who could get it in the hole.

Apparently not, I guess the media just likes guys who always come up short.

NFL Combine

I'm not really a football guy. I've never even seen this guy play. But after watching Mark Ingram run through a few cone drills during the NFL Combine, I'd draft him first. This guy has to be legit. Just hearing him run scares me. Mark Ingram's grunts alone can break tackles.

One Nutty Cyclist

If Lance Armstrong retired then why is he peddling cell phones for Radio Shack? So much for riding off into the sunset gracefully. The guy already quit cycling once, guess he spoke to soon, makes me wonder if he'll end up backpedaling and returning to the sport again. I guess he's proof that indecision can be a vicious cycle.

Writing a Great Resume

When most people think of a resume they think of their education, employment history and responsibilities performed at their jobs. While these things are all part of a standard resume, they are not the things that will get you an interview and certainly not what will get you hired. The keys to writing a great resume are quantifying your performance, listing your accomplishments and always keeping your resume up to date. The groundwork for all of this begins before you ever sit down to write your resume.

Quantifying Your Performance:
The only reason a company hires more employees is to make more money. Sure they might hire someone to save time, but time is money. This is why it’s crucial to quantify your performance and prove your value. In order to prove your value, you need to track it. So many times workers go through the day, punch the clock and don’t actually think about what they’re doing. If you don’t know how you’re adding value to your employer, then you had better figure it out. Obviously this is easier to do with some jobs than others, but let’s say you’re a secretary/administrative assistant. How much time do you save your boss every day, every month, the whole year? Calculate it, and then try to put a dollar figure on it. Not only are you saving the bosses time, you are actually saving the company money as the boss is allowed to work on major projects instead of wasting time on a phone call from some idiot salesman. Look at the responsibilities listed below, which sounds better to you?

Answered incoming phone calls

or

Answered 50 phone calls a day, saving the CEO over 40 hours a month in time

The first one is boring, dull and tells the hiring company nothing. The second shows the company what you will be adding to their team. It also shows that you care enough about your job to track your performance.

Listing Your Accomplishments:
Some resume templates don’t even have an area for accomplishments, this is just plain stupid. Not listing your accomplishments is a huge mistake. Of course you can’t list your accomplishments if you don’t have any. Again the key to writing a great resume begins before you ever start writing. Does your company give out awards? If you win one, be sure to make note of it! Did you take over a project and improve the results? Write it down; highlight it on your resume! This is not the time to be bashful. When a company starts the hiring process they are scared of hiring the wrong person, by showing them that you have a track record of success you ease their fear and increase your chances of getting hired.

Keeping Your Resume Up To Date:
When people say their resume is up to date they’re probably lying. Sure it may have their current employment history and contact information, but this is far from ideal. A great resume is updated on a monthly basis with your new performance numbers and accomplishments. The ink on a great resume is never dry! When you apply for a job you should customize your resume by highlighting skills and accomplishments that best match what the employer is looking for. The hiring company lists these for a reason, the closer you are to matching their requirements, the more likely you are to get an interview.

In closing, the three most important things to a great resume are.
1. Track & Quantify Performance
2. List Accomplishments
3. Keep your Resume Up to Date (monthly at least)

Opening Tip.

We all say we are going to start a blog someday. We always say we're going to keep regular posts and updates. You've done it, I've done it, and I am doing it right now. Generally things are good for the first week, maybe even two weeks, but after that it becomes a chore.

Here's an idea. Let's start a group blog. We can post anything we want about any subject we want. The only rule is that we have to comment on each other's posts. That's it.

I can promise you that this blog is going to fail. It's going to fail because none of us have succeeded in our previous attempts at blogs. It's going to fail because we can't even get together for a round of golf more than twice a year. It's going to fail because it isn't going to have a focused topic. But that's alright. We'll figure out our focus a few months from now, we were never that good at golf anyways, and we'll always have the small audience of each other reading and commenting on our own stupid posts.