Monthly Archives: June 2011

The Stars Come Out…in Rockville

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On Sunday night my wife and I entertained Fox News’ Chris Wallace and his wife at Stella’s, a fine new dining establishment in Rockville, Maryland. Ironically, while we were eating, Chris’s show was being played in the bar as a rerun on Sunday night. The owner of Stella’s was so happy to see Chris in his establishment.

What did Chris and I talk about? The Stanley Cup Finals; the NBA Finals; the overall business climate; and the upcoming NBA draft.

Last night, Ernie Grunfeld and I took John Wall to dinner in Rockville at Cava in the same neighborhood. What did we talk about? The Stanley Cup Finals; the NBA Finals; the overall business climate; and the upcoming NBA draft.

It was John’s first visit to an authentic Greek restaurant. John is working out here in DC. He is attending some of the workouts by potential draftees. He is watching the Mystics practice. He is watching film.

We talked a lot about basketball trivia. John is a real – and I mean a real – student of the game and its history. I am very impressed by his level of respect for the game. He loves it. He understands the importance of not just hard work but of paying homage to the past stars of the game. And the past great teams as well.

John is a very nice young man and he is very committed to our rebuild. He looks like he has already grown an inch this off season. He is working on his strength and his jump shot and is watching hours and hours of film. He enjoys it all too. He loves the game.

He is uber smart; very polite; very intense; and focused. I enjoyed the dinner very much and it was fun to see diners at Cava do double takes as John walked in and out the establishment. He was very nice to sign autographs and pose for photos as well with some of our neighbors. John was wearing some new Wizards merchandise too. He loves the new designs and color schemes.

John attended this morning’s work out, too.

A strip mall in Rockville – where the stars come out to shine. :-)

More Interest in Women’s Sports

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It is up to us to help drive awareness of women’s sports. As you all know, I am an advocate for the WNBA and the Washington Mystics. I attended the home opener this past Saturday night with my family and had a wonderful time. We believe in women’s sports.

Our sports partnership, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, has two owners as full partners who are women-Sheila Johnson and Michelle Freeman. Sheila is a Vice Chairman of the entire enterprise too.

See this article about press coverage of the game and local teams in general. The Washington Post is also committed to more coverage and equality.

Here is what I do find NOT acceptable. If I hear a radio station sportscaster again say, “I didn’t even know the WNBA season had started”; when we buy advertising on that station; or we do promotions on that station for the team then we will simply take our business elsewhere. Pretty simply, we will spend our money where we get respect and a shared commitment to grow the game.

There is no reason to demean women’s sports in any fashion. We should be celebrating the game and the players!

Growing interest is the right thing to do; and it is the good business move too; double bottom line. Thank you for caring.

Empathy vs. Evil

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As I noted in my book, “The Business of Happiness” tuning up your levels of personal empathy is a sure fire way to find increased levels of happiness. And self actualize. Companies that are empathetic tend to be more successful than those that aren’t.

And according to this NY Times article the opposite is true. People who lack empathy are “evil”.

Read this one please. Very important societal implications here. Take a look within. Do you like what you see? Feel? Empathy. The least understood human emotion.

Congratulations to Mark Cuban

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And the Dallas Mavericks.

Patience. Hard work. Dedication. They never quit.

It took almost a decade.

Lots of frustration.

Lots of angst.

Lots of wins. And joy.

They never lost sight of the big picture. They stayed the course.

Finally a deserved NBA championship and a title. Their place in history.

I am very happy for Mark.

The Mavs played great. They were clutch. They were on a mission.

An NBA championship. A ring. Way to go!