Here's An Idea...Does It Have Merit?

While catching up on my daily reading list with the Celtics-Lakers broadcast playing in the background, I overheard Jeff Van Gundy call for a technology (in a seemingly joking manner) that could identify when a player commits an offensive goaltending violation?

Forgetting JVG's banter for a minute, do you think such an idea has any merit? How would it work? And would it serve the game well?

Please leave your thoughts below. Satisfy my curiosity. Don't worry, I won't be inventing it.

Exclusive: Manu Ginobli's In-Season Workout

I know this is off the social media and marketing topic, but my good friend Paul Schmidt of BAM Testing (2009 & 2010 NBA Combine Testing Providers) shared with me a copy of Manu Ginobli's (San Antonio Spurs) 3-phase in-season workout courtesy of Spurs Strength and Conditioning Coach, Mike Brungardt.

Generally in-season workouts are designed to maintain strength, power and flexibility throughout the rigors of an NBA season. Each of the three phrases are repeated to cover the whole season. If you have any questions or concerns about the workout, please don't hesitate to reach out to Paul, paul@bamtesting.net.

PHASE ONE (4 WEEKS)

Warmup 1. Reebok Board Med Ball Wall Throws

Ballistic

Hang Clean (Blocks) X5_____

Hang Clean X5_____ X5_____ X5_____

One Arm DB Snatch

X5_____ X5_____ X5_____

Legs

Squat X12_____ X10_____ X8_____

Leg Curl X12_____ X10_____ X8_____

Leg Extension X10_____

Stiff Leg Dead Lift

X8_____

Straight Leg Calf X20_____

Chest & Back

Incline DB Press

X12_____ X10_____ X8_____

Seated Row X12_____ X10_____ X8_____

Shoulders & Arms

Push Press X5_____ X5_____ X5_____

DB French Press

X10_____

DB Curls X10_____

Abs & Lower Back

Hanging Leg Raises

X15_____ X15_____ X15_____

Hanging Knees To Chest

X15_____ X15_____ X15_____

Ab Dolly (Handles/Forward) X20_____

Russian Twist X30 each side_____

Ceiling Reaches X50_____

Back Extension X15_____

Back Rotation X10 Right_____ X10 Left_____

Donkey Kicks X15_____

PHASE TWO (4 WEEKS)

Warmup 1. Reebok Board Med Ball Wall Throws

Ballistic

Hang Clean Complex

X5_____ X3_____ X3_____

(Hang Clean to Front Squat to Push Press

to Stiff Leg Dead Lift)

One Arm DB Snatch

X3_____ X3_____ X3_____

Legs

Leg Curl X10_____

Leg Extension X10_____

Straight Leg Calf X20_____

Chest & Back

Seated Row X8_____ X6_____ X6_____

Shoulders & Arms

Lateral Raise X10_____

Post Delt RaiseX10_____

DB French Press 1 set 21’s_____

DB Curls 1 set 21’s_____

Abs & Lower Back

Hanging Leg Raises

X15_____ X15_____ X15_____

Hanging Knees To Chest

X15_____ X15_____ X15_____

Ab Dolly (Backward)X20_____

Russian Throws X30 each side_____

Crunch Throws X30_____

Back Extension X15_____

Back Rotation X10 Right_____ X10 Left_____

Donkey Kicks X15_____

PHASE 3 (4 WEEKS)

Warmup 1. Reebok Board Med Ball Wall Throws

Ballistic

Hang Clean Complex

X3_____ X3_____ X3_____

(Hang Clean to Push Press to Behind Head

to Lunge Each Leg to Push Press to

Stiff Leg Dead Lift)

One Arm DB Snatch

X3_____ X2_____ X1_____

Legs

Leg Curl X10_____

Leg Extension X10_____

Straight Leg Calf X20_____

Chest & Back

Seated Row X8_____ X5_____ X3_____

Shoulders & Arms

Lateral Raise X10_____

Post Delt RaiseX10_____

DB Reverse Grip Pushdown X10_____

DB Hammers X10_____

Abs & Lower Back

Hanging Leg Raises

X15_____ X15_____ X15_____

Hanging Knees To Chest

X15_____ X15_____ X15_____

Ab Dolly (Double - Circles) X10 each way_____

Gym Ball Foot On Knee Cross Crunch X20 each side_____

Reverse Situp X30_____

Back Extension X15_____

Back Rotation X10 Right_____ X10 Left_____

Donkey Kicks X15_____

Jeremy Lin: Standing Room Only

(photo credit: Damon Winter / NYT)

I have not seen the words 'standing room' (in sequence) appear in an email since my wife last invited friends over for dinner to our 200 sq. ft. apartment. This morning's message, however, had nothing do with dinner, friends, or our apartment; and it wasn't from my wife.

We're talking about Columbia Men's basketball here:

Harvard Game is Sold Out!

Dear Columbia fans,

The Columbia's Men's Basketball game vs. Harvard on Friday, January 29 is sold out. A limited number of $10 standing room tickets will be available for purchase at gametime at the box office window located on the second floor of the Levien Gymnasium lobby.

The first two Columbia Men’s Basketball Ivy League games have sold out. A select number of tickets are still available online for future men’s and women's basketball home games including Saturday’s men’s basketball game vs. Dartmouth. Be sure to purchase tickets for the remaining Ivy League games now before they run out!

Sold out? Twice?

It would be great to say that fans are legging it to Levien Gymnasium in droves because the Lions are playing exciting basketball or because the team has a shot at the conference crown. But, that's simply not accurate. Columbia is 6-10 overall, and 0-2 in Ivy play.

The first sell out can be accredited to the stellar play of defending Ivy League champions, Cornell University. Tonight's 'standing room' only situation is a direct result of two other important words not included in the Columbia Athletics email: Jeremy Lin.

Harvard's recent success is a draw, yes. Harvard without Jeremy Lin, however, does not provoke an email pushing tickets that will reach the gymnasium's fire safety capacity limit.

Lin is a movement.

Don't just take if from me, though. Read the SI piece. And the ESPN article. Or just watch this YouTube clip below (sorry for the bootleg copy).

And if you really don't believe me, check the attendance figures at tomorrow's Columbia-Dartmouth game. Numbers will drop off like pounds on The Biggest Loser.

Lessons From March Madness: Becoming an Irresistible Personal Brand

I recently contributed to the February 2010 issue (Volume 3, Issue 3) of Personal Branding Magazine, founded by Dan Schawbel. My article, Lessons from March Madness: Becoming and Irresistible Personal Brand, talks about the brand characteristics that make March Madness uniquely compelling and how they relate to your personal brand.

You can subscribe to the magazine here, or download a sample copy here (my article's not included).

Here's a summary of the latest issue.

Volume 3, Issue 3 is about becoming so important to your company, your customers and the people around you, that they can’t live without you. When that occurs, you’ll be making more money, have better relationships and wield a powerful personal brand. In this issue, Seth Godin reveals his hope for career revolutionaries who want to remain relevant in a world that is being transformed by the internet. Also, in this issue we explore how Guy Fieri has built his personal brand as a television personality on the food network and how NFL football player Jarvis Green has taken the leap into entrepreneurship.

Thank you, Dan Schawbel, for letting me contribute!

Basketball Instruction Done Right

Unless you're a basketball junkie like me, it's probably safe to say that instructional videos have never been a fixture in your Netflix rotation or DVD library.

But, that's for good reason.

Save for Better Basketball or Pistol Pete's Homework Basketball, most instructional videos are not put together well. Or, they're just dry.

Passion and sweat never get old, but DVDs are too 1.0 for today's youth audience. Instruction should be mobile or web-based; preferably both.

We've seen iPhone apps that cater to the drill-hungry teenager trying to his or her skill set. I haven't been blown away. Yet. I would like to see the bar raised, and do feel it's only a matter of time before someone owns this niche.

If we're talking YouTube, however, we have a great example in the team at Shot Science. These guys know how to maximize shareable video content. In 14 months, they've amassed over 3,300 subscribers and 65K+ channel views and over 430,000 upload views.

Take a look at their work. Shot Science combines quality, interactive teaching with well-produced video. And they know how to keep you on the site, or they channel you to their online social properties.

Know someone else that's doing it right? Please leave the link in the comments section below. All feedback is welcomed.

Foursquare Basketball Marketing

Oh no, not another social network to learn and spend time on. I know that's what you're thinking. Relax....what follows is only a suggestion (albeit a serious one for those programs looking to creatively connect with and reward their fans).

What is this foursquare I speak about?

At first glance, it might as well be Farmville, but detached from Facebook. A mere game consisting of points and badges. Before you discount or write off what sounds like an old school stalling tactic, remember your initial thoughts about Twitter.

"Going to practice."

"Home from practice."

A platform to share daily minutiae. A waste of time.

Do you also remember when the 140 watt light bulb went off? Game and team updates. Ticket promotions. Fan engagement. Sponsor mentions. Behind-the-scenes access. Marketing activation. Feedback. Breaking news. Driving traffic to your website.

Value. It's why you joined, right?

Anyway, back to foursquare. If you haven't heard of it yet, you soon will; and it's likely to hang around awhile. Before your conference rival leaves you behind, I urge you to sign-up, add some friends and take a good look around.

foursquare is a mobile application for smartphones that allows you to "check-in" to places to let 'friends' know your whereabouts. When you check-in someplace, the service tells your friends where they can find you and recommend places to go and things to do (i.e. attend your team's games).

You can also share those experiences with friends: "Cameron Indoor Stadium is the greatest venue to watch college basketball. Period." How's that for free promotion? If tickets are overpriced or the facilities are untidy, you may see that too. As you check-in around the city, you'll start finding tips that other users have left behind. Every tip created is discoverable by other users just by checking-in.

Hey, it's a transparent world.

Every time you check-in, you earn points. "Find a new place in your neighborhood? +5 points. Making multiple stops in a night? +2 points. Dragging friends along with you? +1. Points unlock badges." foursquare also keeps tabs on who's the most loyal of all the regulars. If you've been to a place more than anyone else, you'll become "the mayor"... until someone else comes along and usurps your title.

(It's named after Looie, but you could be Mayor!)

Mayors can earn rewards, which is why I think it's vital for NBA teams and college basketball programs to get on board.

Why wouldn't you reward the mayor with free team apparel, extra tickets or some other gift from one of your sponsors? Rewarding repeat attendees to your games is a great way to build loyalty, connect with fans, and show that you care; particularly if your team isn't performing so hot on the court. foursquare can let you know who's attending your games, where they go before and after the games, and what they think of the experience. The information that fans leave behind can be very useful for making decisions.

What do you say? Can you extract value from this service? Is it too new and untested? Please leave your thoughts below.

Please visit foursquare for businesses should you want to reward mayorships. The BlackBerry Beta application just launched today, so you'll soon see a lot of my footprints on foursquare.

What's Your Hustle?

I love history. But even more so, I love the history of basketball. In reading Peter C. Bjarkman's Biographical History of Basketball, it's hard not to develop a fine appreciation for the cast of cagers that performed during pro basketball's infancy.

You know, way before 'Amazing' (resources) happened;

Teams criss-crossed the country on trains. Fans were few and far between. The money, though well above average at the time, was very much bush-league by today's standards. And all of the players hustled, on and off the court.

If you moonlight as a basketball blogger (dare I use that word?), you'll enjoy the story of Tom King.

As a player for the Detroit Falcons in 1946-1947, King commanded a salary of $8000, plus a $500 sign-on bonus; a hefty sum at the time. That was his day job. Granted, playing hoops for a living even if it entails 1,000 mile weekly train rides, still beats (insert your day job here).

Right?

But, if you're like most digital natives, it's what you do at night that satisfies your passion. Tom King was no exception.

In his autobiography, King states,

"When I reported to the Falcons training camp, it was obvious to me they had a coach, a gym and that the uniforms were ordered. What they didn’t have was a publicity director or business manager. I had a B.S. from Michigan University in business administration. I knew how to write and type. In high school I’d been a stringer for the Lansing, Michigan State Journal Newspaper – and I knew how to keep books. So I asked for the jobs of publicity director and business manager of the Falcons and was hired by Arthur Wirtz and James Norris, who owned not only the Falcons Olympic Stadium but also the Chicago Stadium and St. Louis Area, home of the Chicago Stags and St Louis Bombers (two other BAA teams)."

King's night act earned him another $8,000 on top of his hoops salary. According to Bjarkman, "He carried his typewriter on road trips and banged out game reports and press releases while still clothed in his dripping uniform."

Tom King went on to become a wealthy businessman and worked his way up to become President of Merchandise Mart and Appeal Center in Chicago. There's no question his hustle helped him.

So, what's your hustle?

1050 ESPN New York's Brandon Tierney to Host College Tour

1050 ESPN New York's Brandon Tierney is ready to embark on a college tour in the Tri-State area. For more information, check out my HuffPost piece or visit the 1050 ESPN website.

2010 College Tour Schedule:

All Broadcasts are scheduled from 10:00AM-12:00PM

Thursday, January 21 - Seton Hall University - South Orange, NJ
Thursday, January 28 - St. Peter's College - Jersey City, NJ
Friday, January 29 - Marist College - Poughkeepsie, NY
Friday, February 12 - Iona College - New Rochelle, NY
Wednesday, February 17 - St. John's University - Queens, NY
Friday, February 19 - Hofstra University - Hempstead, NY
Friday, February 26 - Columbia University - New York, NY
Wednesday, March 3 - Fordham University - Bronx, NY

A New Proposition 48 for the NCAA

While reading the Division I Men's Basketball Championship Credentials Criteria, I came across two interesting NCAA-ascribed definitions:

Media agency and Immediate news coverage.

"A "media agency" for purposes of these criteria shall mean a daily or weekly publication, cable system, radio station, television station or television network, or online entity requiring immediate news coverage."

"Immediate news coverage" for purposes these criteria shall mean that the editorial, audio and/or visual deadline for the tournament action being documented occurs not later than 48 hours after the competition at the site has been completed."

Twitter's an online entity and it's fair to say the average tweeter can replace 48 hours with 48 seconds when it comes to pumping out editorial content.Would the bird qualify? I'm just sayin'.


Are we connected on Twitter yet?

Sponsored Basketball Tweets...Your Thoughts?

Ultimately, all [serious] social media talk circles back to ROI--return on investment--and it should for good reason.

As brand enthusiast, Olivier Blanchard, clearly points out, social media is not FREE.

It takes:

* People
* Technology, and
* Time (lots of it)

Olivier Blanchard Basics Of Social Media Roi

View more presentations from Olivier Blanchard.

All of which are finite resources. Creating content is fun, and it can yield a lot of qualitative benefits: trust, loyalty, authority, brand awareness, brand equity, influence and engagement, to name several.

But the seemingly *dreaded* question (beyond any general metrics query) for content creators remains, "How do you monetize your content and produce a return on your investment?"

It's a dreaded question because most digital dabblers don't know how. Or, they consider the space to be holier than making a profit. There's more of the former than the latter, but I digress.

The blogosphere appears to be comfortable with publishers displaying ethical and tasteful advertisements (one way to monetize content) as long as it doesn't overwhelm or disrupt the valuable content you came calling for.

How about Twitter, though? Is in-stream advertising a technical foul?

Copyblogger's, Darren Rowse, doesn't think so if it's transparent, relevant and infrequent. Neither does Nathan Hangar.

But, what about you?

If Ty Lawson or Mark Cuban tweet out a link (with open disclosure) about a product or service in exchange for money, is it inauthentic? Does it violate your trust? Would you unfollow them?

Ad.ly, a relatively new in-stream advertising platform, "matches top-tier Twitter publishers with top-tier brands." Out of curiosity, I signed up for the service to see how much a sponsored tweet goes for (which, of course, depends on the relevancy and size of your following). While Ad.ly gives you a recommended price per tweet to charge advertisers, they also allow you to set your own price.

While I haven't approved any offers (3 to date), I did comb the list of publishers to see if any basketball community members were 'on board.' That's where I found Ty Lawson and Mark Cuban.

So, may I reintroduce the questions above:

If Ty Lawson or Mark Cuban tweet out a link (with open disclosure) about a product or service in exchange for money, is it inauthentic? Does it violate your trust? Would you unfollow them? Does in-stream advertising on Twitter cross the halfcourt line?

Please leave your comments below. Your opinions are appreciated.

The Game Has Changed...Now Adapt

Basketball's history is filled with larger than life innovators that have induced game-changing legislation and dynamics.

Bob Kurland and George Mikan's inside dominance led to a widened free throw lane and defensive goaltending being outlawed. Wilt Chamberlain single-handedly stimulated the offensive goaltending rule, while Kareem Adbul-Jabbar's dunking ability provoked a 10-year ban on stuffing the ball through the rim. Yale's basketball team conceived the dribble, and founding owner of the Syracuse Nationals (now Philadelphia 76ers), Danny Biasone, devised the 24-second shot clock to prevent stalling.

We can go on for a while here, but you get the point. Dr. Naismith's original creation has been forever altered.

In a unique parallel, the media we use to watch, listen to, read, and write about basketball, has changed as well. Television, newspapers, and radio stations are at a center jump with live streaming, podcasts, blogs, vlogs, micro-blogs, online forums, chat rooms, social networks, and wikis.

A wider lane didn't strangle Kurland and Mikan's stardom. Kareem countered the abolished dunk by developing the best sky hook in hoop history, and Wilt fared just fine scoring the ball when it was not above the cylinder.

They adapted, and journalists can too.

Here's the reality:

It's time to take your game online. Familiarize yourself with the social web. Make it a resolution for 2010.