Howard Bryant doesn’t believe the hall of fame voters should be punished for the actions of the MLB players who used PEDs.
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John Saunders discusses Nick Saban’s drive for success at Alabama.
Adam Schefter sees shades of Peyton Manning in Matt Ryan’s playoff struggles.
London Olympics Top 150 Million Tweets with Usain Bolt the Most Talked About Athlete
As the London Olympics come to a close, over 150 million tweets have been sent about the games. Usain Bolt was the most talked about Olympian, but the UK’s own Spice Girls set a new Olympic record of their own by inspiring 116,000 tweets per minute during the London 2012 closing ceremony.
Twitter has broken out the stats on its blog, noting that the 150 million tweets went out over the past 16 days. During actual athletic competition, Jamaica’s Bolt was the hottest topic, garnering 80,000 tweets per minute (TPM) during his gold medal-winning 200m sprint and 74,000 TPM during his 100m run.
Andy Murray brought in the third-highest count during the actual games by attracting 57,000 TPM after winning the gold medal in men’s tennis singles.
Michael Phelps and Tom Daley came in behind Bolt as the next most discussed athletes at this year’s Olympics. A total of 10 Olympians inspired more than 1 million tweets each.
The most popular sport on Twitter was football with over 5 million tweets. Swimming, track and field, gymnastics and volleyball also generated plenty of discussion.
The London Olympics have been described as the first “Social Olympics,” and Twitter’s new records confirm the active influence of social media on the games. The opening ceremony inspired 9.66 million tweets, and the first 24 hours of the games saw more tweets than the entirety of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. London 2012 also had a tweet scandal when a journalist was suspended for tweeting the work email account of an NBC executive.
Twitter wasn’t the only social service that Olympic fans took to. Chinese fans werehighly active on Sina Weibo’s microblog, posting 119 million messages about the Opening Ceremony alone. China also got its own tweet drama when a tech luminary posted the personal information of a US swimming coach in response to comments by the coach that a record-breaking Chinese swimmer may have used performance-enhancing drugs.
Adapted from Josh Ong
Every newbie professional wants a caring and supportive mentor who will usher him into his next role. But when you’re a rookie it’s a good time to take risks. Better to face criticism now so that you avoid it later on when the stakes are higher. Go out and find the most qualified and talented mentor, coach, or manager you can, and subject yourself to everything she can throw at you. Don’t run from the challenge, run towards it. If you’re terrified of a star manager in your organization, sign up to do a project with her. You may not love it now, but you’ll carry those lessons with you as you move up the ladder.
Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Get Ahead with a Mentor Who Scares You” by Jodi Glickman.
Want to surf a wave, start a business, speak Chinese? Meet six women who prove you’re never too young or too old.
Became a Firefighter at…66
Andrea Peterson
Firefighter
Quechee, Vermont
Her Dream
At age 5, Andrea Peterson was rescued from a fire in her family’s Los Angeles home. “I thought it was a great adventure,” she recalls. “I told the big firefighters that I wanted to be a fireman, too, and they laughed and said that little girls could not do that.” Still, when a car crashed on her front lawn several years later and burst into flames, Peterson trained the garden hose on the blaze. “The instinct was there, so I just did it!” she says.
Her Detour
Pressured by her parents to choose a more “gender appropriate” career, Peterson became a flight attendant. It wasn’t until 2008, after her husband passed away, that she finally started volunteering at a local fire station. At 107 pounds, she spent a year lifting weights and watching her diet before being approved for fire academy coursework. And when she began training in 2010 alongside men in their teens and 20s, she was ready. “At one point the department’s fitness officer asked me to pull him through the station in full gear and equipment—he weighed about 300 pounds,” she says. “I did as he requested, which perhaps surprised both of us!” In May 2011 she graduated, becoming the only woman on the department’s staff of 27 firefighters.
Her Passion
Peterson has now responded to more than 350 emergency calls, helping cardiac arrest patients, homeowners beating back a fire in frigid temperatures, and more. “The high point is the relief on people’s faces when we arrive,” she says. “I’ve always known that this was the job for me. It doesn’t matter how hard I had to work or how long I had to wait.”
Adapted from —Roxanna Font
Whether it’s an office rival or a well-intended colleague, someone will likely say something punitive or hurtful to you at some point in your career. When it happens, remember:
- Don’t respond right away. Resist the temptation to snap back. There is no use in getting angry or creating a nasty paper trail. Take time to cool off and then reply cordially.
- Determine if you’re overreacting. Ask yourself whether the comment was really that bad. Sometimes a thoughtful offer to help can seem like an insult.
- Forgive, but remember. Don’t hold a grudge, but keep in mind that if you are ever asked for a reference about the person, you can give a frank answer.
Adapted from “How to Deal with Critics” by Dorie Clark.
The average length of an elevator ride in New York City is 118 seconds. If you use that as a guide, it means you’ve got less than two minutes to deliver a winning elevator pitch for your amazing new idea — wherever you are. Start by grabbing your prospect’s attention in the first few seconds. Convey who you are and describe what your business offers. Focus on what’s in it for the person you’re pitching. Be sure to describe exactly what separates you from everyone else that sells the same product or service. If you hook her in, you might get to continue the discussion when you arrive at her floor.
Adapted from “Why You Need a Better Elevator Pitch” by Jeffrey Hayzlett.
Human performance is inconsistent–even world-class athletes have off days. Yet, most managers focus on their employees’ shortcomings when coaching and providing feedback. Sure we all have “opportunities for improvement,” but research shows that identifying and building strengths produces better results than focusing on faults. Next time you’re evaluating someone, remember that your goal is to raise their average performance, not critique a particularly good or bad day. Don’t hold back the praise because of a few missteps. It’s just as important to recognize and reinforce strengths as it is to point out where people fall short.
Adapted from “Why Does Criticism Seem More Effective than Praise?” by Linda Hill and Kent Lineback.
Name: Korrio
Quick Pitch: An all-in-one planning and organizing solution for parents or coaches of youth athletes
Genius Idea: Korrio offer a comprehensive platform where parents or team organizers can schedule games, communicate with parents, share team information and more, in one safe online location.
Your hustle should be on the field, not when it comes to planning the game. That’s why Seattle-based startup Korrio created a web tool for busy parents of young athletes or youth sports team organizers. The site is basically a sports administrator in your pocket: communicate with parents, schedule games, register for teams, host club and team websites and more — all in one platform.
“More Sport, Less Hassle” is Korrio’s slogan.
Steve Goldman, CEO and Founder of Korrio, says “Korrio offers an end-to-end unified platform which combines all the sophisticated administrative functionality needed to run a successful youth sports program — combined with family-facing benefits, including auto generated personal dashboards for every Korrio user to manage their sports life.”
Goldman founded Korrio in 2009 and launched the site’s Playflow platform in January 2011. Youth sports organizations using Korrio pay $8-$10 per player for an annual license.
Korrio says parents have no need to fear putting their children’s names on the web tool. Even though they can access Korrio from any computer, smartphone or mobile device, the information is kept safe and secure using top-notch privacy technology and full SSL encryption on every web page. Korrio also complies with COPPA and other state and federal laws requiring protection of the information of minors.
“Korrio decides what a visitor can see based on his role (i.e. parent, coach, team manager, registrar or teammate),” Goldman said. “We know who everyone is and how they are connected to the player. Protecting the player is our top goal.”
Even children that don’t have access to email can use Korrio to hold pre- and post-game discussions, share photos, compare game notes and plan events through the site, which is only accessible by teammates and parents.
Currently, Korrio is in the youth soccer market, but this year Goldman says the company plans to expand to include other major youth sports including football, baseball, basketball and lacrosse.
Do you have children in team sports? Would you use Korrio? Tell us in the comments.
Adapted from The Spark of Genius series ~ Kate Freeman
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