Rick Mirer….What he’s up to now.

When his professional career began with the Seattle Seahawks in 1993, Rick Mirer may not have dreamed of where he’d be today, in 2013, but the long road of professional football brought him this far, why not keep going? After playing college football at the University of Notre Dame, under the direction of Lou Holtz, and then playing in the National Football League for 12 seasons, Mirer enjoyed the activities life brought his way off the field. 

While still playing in the NFL, Mirer started the Mirer Family Foundation. According to the foundations website, MFF aims to “assist children in his hometown (Goshen, Indiana) and beyond and to provide Notre Dame scholarship funding for scholars in the surrounding area.” Once Mirer left the NFL, he decided he would put his college degree to use and started his own business in the wine industry: Mirror Wine Company was born in 2008 in the heart of St. Helena, California. 

“Wine making was not only something that I was interested in, but it was something I thought I could apply the marketing skills that I had been taught at Notre Dame and apply them to my brand, Mirror Wines,” Mire told NCB in an interview in 2012.

With little wine knowlegdge, Mirer needed connections that would allow him to start and grow a business based on expertise and quality of wine-making. While he lived in the bay area, Mirer decided to reach out to one of his connections that he met while playing football, Rob Lawson. According to Mirror Wine’s website, Mirer has adopted Lawson’s “humble approach to making the best wines possible.”

“I have surrounded myself with good people, and that adds to our success as well. Our expectations are not out of whack; we are just building out business one customer, one person at a time,” Mire told NCB. 

According to Mirror Wine Company’s website, the company has released six vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon and four vintages of Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. In 2012, the company introduced a third wine to its portfolio, and according to the website, the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Cimarossa Vineyard on top of Howell Mountain in Napa Valley, California did not disappoint. 

Oscar Robertson and Dick Barnett meet again

It may have been marked as a historical meeting between two National Basketball Association greats, but for Oscar Robertson and Dick Barnett, reuniting in Gary, IN, Thanksgiving weekend was more than historical. Both men were scheduled to speak at the CN Lakeshore Classic that consisted of a series of high school and college games. Gary’s Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chuck Hughes hoped the meeting would also be educational for the cities younger audiences.

“It’s a shame because there’s (young) people in the NBA who may not know who Oscar Robertson and Dick Barnett are,” Hughes told the National Basketball Retired Players Association. “When I was talking to TNT and some of our sponsors, I was telling them our kids need to know the NBA didn’t start with Kobe and LeBron.”

The two former NBA basketball stars, and current NBRPA members, participated in a ceremony that honored the 1955 Gary Roosevelt and Indianapolis’ Crispus Attucks basketball teams that were the United States’ first two African-American teams to play each other for a state championship title. According to school records, Robertson and the rest of the 1955 Attucks team beat Roosevelt’s team, lead by Barnett, 97-74 at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“At the time it happened, I was 17-years-old. It was a competitive game and I wanted to win,” Robertson said on Saturday, November 30. “When I got older, it meant a lot more then, because I thought about the game and what it meant.”

The tag-line for the weekend read: The men who played “the game that changed basketball,” and as Robertson and Barnett watched with their respective teammates from 58 years ago, this year’s Roosevelt and Attucks teams played the game both men shared and loved. Attucks again beat Roosevelt 75-54, but not before the 1955 teams posted for pictures at half court prior to the game. Barnett and his teammate, William Eisen,  both had their jersey’s retired and presented to them. According to NBRPA and Hughes, the meeting did not fall on round number anniversary date, but rather was coordinated because it was simply time to remember: Time to remember a historical moment in this country and for the basketball community.

One Last Time

As the final week of this semester begins in just a few short hours, I want to take a moment to reflect on what I have learned the most by taking J360 at IUPUI. This course has challenged me to use different social media outlets and to use them on a more regular basis. Although my use may not have been where it should have been, I would like to think that I learned a lot; I learned both personal and professional lessons. With the help of taking this class, I have found Twitter and blogging to be somewhat fun (more fun than I expected in total honesty). With blogging, I really like the idea of having a professional or even personal place to put my thoughts and ideas out there. With Twitter, I have come better understand the use of hashtags and have discovered that they can be extremely helpful and fun. They offer you a new way to connect with others besides just posting a tweet or picture. 

Prior to this class I was an passive Facebook user. I was the type of person to “creep” , if you will, on other peoples’ posts and pictures but not post much of either myself. Now, I find that I like to post more of my thoughts and things I want to share with others. One downfall of this has been that I have seen the bitter and dangerous side of posting your ideas and thoughts…Sometimes, certain people just don’t want to hear what you have to say and that can create conflict. But maybe that was my own doing or a long time coming: I can decide which yet. Either way, I have learned to get more out of Facebook and Twitter and the other social media outlets besides scrolling through the pages. 

My overall opinion about social media has not really changed much. I still see it as a way to connect with people and an outlet for which people can express themselves, for better or for worse (as my web video will demonstrate). I think this course was great for me and I was challenged more than I expected to be, because like I said, I probably fell short in the posting category of this class. But nevertheless, I did post more than I normally would have over the last three or four months. I plan to keep working and getting better with posting and with the content that I post and I plan to keep my blog going (because it’s FUN)! I truly do believe that social media is here to stay and the sooner we all embrace it, the sooner we can all start to best utilize it’s features!

 

 

Thanksgiving just isn’t what it used to be….

The upcoming holiday is meant to be a time full of thanks and family festivities, but unfortunately the meaning is slowly slipping through our fingers and no one seems to be willing to stop it. The highly anticipated day after Thanksgiving…Black Friday… seems to have slowly creeped its way into Thanksgiving day!! Two years ago, I was working for Bed, Bath & Beyond, and don’t get me wrong, it was worth the experience I received. But that was the year that the company decided to have a late night shift starting at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night and remain open through Black Friday. To a college student whose hometown and family was two hours away, this was devastating! Thankfully I didn’t have to work the night shift, but I did have to be back to work early Friday morning, making it difficult to enjoy any family time at all. I understand that people gear up for Christmas right after Thanksgiving, but could we benefit from toning the hype down a bit? My heart breaks for those that have to work on Thanksgiving, and thus, like many people I know, I am boycotting any type of shopping on Thursday! It is not fair to have these folks work and unable to spend time with their families! Thanksgiving is supposed to be about family and relaxation and stuffing our faces with turkey! NOT working so that other RUDE, SELFISH people can get their Christmas shopping fix done early. A co-worker of mine put it in the best terms:

“People have 364 other days to shop and get great deals. Why do they (people) need to take away Thanksgiving for others to shop one day early ?”

One Month Shy

I wanted to mix things up a little tonight and stray away from sports for a moment…

My husband and I are almost one month shy of our one year wedding anniversary. Even though we didn’t have a normal ceremony with the flowers and the music and even family and friends, I still look back on it and think: 

“That was the best day of my life…and this has been the best year of my life!”

I have enjoyed nothing more than being married to my best friend! I have a really appreciation for him and we honestly have had the very best first year of marriage I could have ever hoped or dreamed for. Come next week, we will have been together for four years. All of that time has just flown by! I can remember the day we met, our first date, when I knew I loved him, and the moment I knew I wanted to marry him. Now don’t let me fool you, we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, and even broke up for a short time. But even in that short time, we were inseparable! Our love has grown into the perfect shade tree to shelter us from the storms of this life! 

This morning I remember telling him how much I love that we are a team. When I am upset or angry or freaking out about something, he has the power to calm me down. When he is angry and wants to break knees, I have the power to calm him down. For lack of better words, he is my shot of whiskey and I am his glass of wine. I love my husband more than I ever thought I could love anyone! He is the first person in my life that has accepted me with all my flaws and loved me unconditionally! I couldn’t have asked for a better best friend or husband. I got both in him and I look forward to many more happy years! 

Why does the world of collegiate sports lack women athletics?

Collegiate sports are one of America’s favorite pass-times. Both the football and basketball seasons bring in more money than all other collegiate sports combined. But what makes these programs so successful? Now, take me for what my opinion is worth, but many of these programs, from UNC to Noter Dame to UCL, all have behind the scenes people that we don’t think about or give credit to: The Athletic Departments and Athletic Directors. However, what’s even more surprising (or maybe it’s not to most) is that almost all of Division I Athletic Directors are men.  

Now, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, but maybe there is room for possible change and growth. According to an article on the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators, “women occupy five of the 120 athletic-director positions in Division I-A.”  

With all the progress that women have made in the last century, and with the adaptation of Title IX by the NCAA, you might think that the number of women athletic directors would have risen steadily with the increase of women athletics in institutions across the country. Sadly this has not been the case. It’s not that women aren’t skilled or educated enough. But rather a popular belief stands in their way. Influential boosters of collegiate programs believe that women are not up to the task of leading programs dominated by men’s sports, nor can they handle the business aspect of the job. The NACWAA sees it in the way that college presidents and chancellors need to break the mold and hire a woman. 

Unfortunately, it is my feelings and beliefs that women will always be seen as inadequate in the sports world by some critics. Yes, we’ve come a long way since the women’s rights movements, but we still have a ways to go. There is still a stigma that women don’t have a place in sports, or don’t do much for the athletic programs. Even professional sports lack the respect for women’s sports, but that’s an argument for another day. 

Nevertheless, the five women that currently lead DI-A programs – “Sandy Barbour, at the University of California at Berkeley; Kathy Beauregard, at Western Michigan University; Cary Groth, at the University of Nevada at Reno; Lisa Love, at Arizona State University; and Deborah A. Yow, at North Carolina State University” – have earned all my respect. I hope the future finds more women athletic directors and less push-back, if you will, to the change and the skill-set of a women leader in sports. 

The Dangers of Football Hit Close to Home

As the main stream media, doctors and scientists dive deeper into the reality of traumatic brain injuries and football, I can’t help but realize just how close to home this is for me. I grew up in small town where football was what we lived on once we went back to school in the fall. We were a football town, through and through. But as I learn more about the dangers of the sport and the numbers of athletes that play with brain injuries, and injuries period, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about our admiration for the sport.

Of course I know that football by nature is a violent sport and that the men who play are trained to be as physical as physical will allow. But, when I sit back and think about it just a little more, I can’t help but ask the question: 

“How young is too young?”

The only reason this bothers me so much is because my little brother has reached the age where he can choose to play football. He can now partake in the community’s pee-wee league and that scares me a little. With society so willing to accept the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude, my brother is likely to learn the habit of not saying anything when he “get’s his bell rung.” 

According to the New York Times boys who play high school football suffered from 11.2 per 10,000 games and practices. Now I know that my brother is no where near the high school playing age, but if children are starting to play this game at an early age, how much higher is that number likely to be? I know pee-wee leagues are not as physical, but yet they can be pretty physical in comparison to the tiny bodies that are playing.

I don’t discourage the little tikes from playing the game. In fact I am one of those that thinks someone can learn a lot from playing a sport. I’m just wondering how many young players aren’t aware of the risks or are too afraid to say anything when they do get hit hard and suffer from a mild headache. The change in attitude towards concussions won’t start at the top level. It might have to come from the bottom and trickle up. Change might mean younger players aren’t faced with the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and concussions are treated properly without the fear or anxiety of not being able to play for a few days. Shame in protecting their minds and brains from injury should not be associated with this sport. It should be the exact opposite. 

Protect

Change

A Dangerous Game

A story that broke earlier this week could be what it takes to convince the NFL that concussions need to be taken more seriously.  In statements made to numerous news organizations across the country, Brett Farve admitted to having memory loss following his exit from the game that had been his career for 20 years. In 2010, Farve finished his career with 525 sacks and according to him, there is no way of telling how many concussions he had. 

This past week, Farve told a radio station in Washington that he couldn’t remember his daughter playing in a youth soccer league for an entire summer. He added that he remembers her playing basketball and volleyball, but not soccer. The former quarterback goes on to mention that missing part of his memory has him concerned…as it should.

This past August, the NFL settled a lawsuit that had been brought against the league by 4,500 former athletes, all of which were suffering from some form of brain damage, and agreed to pay $765 million to 18,000 of the leagues retired players. The NFL agreed top pay for medical expenses and further research related to the dangers of concussions. Unfortunately, since the NFL decided to settle, any previously obtained knowledge and research by the NFL may not have to be released. However, the fact that a well-known and respected quarterback such as Farve has now experienced the dangers of the injury sheds possible new light on the issue. 

Regardless of the money involved, the NFL should be taking every precaution possible to ensure that concussions are recognized and recognized early. If not, then more players will continue to play with the dangerous brain injury and not even know it. Isn’t that what they pay the sideline medics and doctors for?  At the end of the day, wouldn’t the NFL want to do everything possible to protect the leagues largest asset, or are these players seen as so replaceable that if one guy won’t play, the NFL will find someone who will? That to me is sad and reckless. Regardless of who is willing to play the game, there needs to be more done to ensure that players who receive concussions during a game are treated properly, or we will start to see more and more high profile players like Brett Farve with significant memory loss or worse. 

Shutdown

We’ve heard it before and we heard it again…

 

Government Shutdown

 

This has been called out so many times that I think the American public are beginning to become accustom to seeing it or hearing it. It’s like the little boy that cried “Wolfe” and then no one believed him when there actually was one. I’m not sure I actually believe that there will ever be this governmental shutdown that they keep threatening, and I don’t think I am alone on this. 

For months we’ve seen lawmakers on both sides engaged in this staring contest with neither side willing to blink. Shouldn’t people elected officials be willing to set aside their personal agendas and personal feelings to get something done? Why are they acting like children…willing to hold their breath until they either get their way or pass out (aka. shutdown)?

I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t feel represented. I don’t feel that my elected official is looking out for my best interest, nor do I have a voice. I doubt the government will shut down, but if it does, maybe that’ll be the wake up call our officials need to start representing their people again.

Ignorance

It has come to my attention through a family dispute that ignorance lies at the heart of all misunderstanding. But why has ignorance affected us so deeply? Why is ignorance still an excuse to say or think whatever we want? A lot of times, we has human beings don’t want to face the facts or deal with an underlying problem so we choose to be ignorant and bury the problem deeper into society. 

Unfortunately, the issue I speak of is deeply rooted within this country…racism. It was shocking to me how a person within my family was capable of such ignorance when they posted a confederate flag on Facebook with a late post saying that the confederate flag did not stand for slavery and that was not what the Civil war was about. 

Being the older sister of an adopted black brother, I quickly felt the need to rip him apart. However, I took a moment to analyze what it was that he actually had said and thought: “Maybe he just doesn’t really understand what he said.” So needless to say, my husband, being the more level headed one, stepped in and responded with a lengthy response; questioning and analyzing the post on Facebook. 

In the end, an apology came our way, but in the back of my mind, I still can’t help but think about all the hard work that has been accomplished, but all the hard work that is yet to come. As united as this country may stand, or not stand, we still have yet to weed out the deep seeded ignorance that minority races in the country have equal rights, too.  Admittedly, I see the confederate flag posted in the back of trucks and in yards more frequently than I’d like. The 13th Amendment may have freed slaves, but we have a long way to go for civil equality.

On top of this issue, I’d hate to point out the fact that it is possible that within our lifetime, the white race will become the minority race. And you know what I mean!! We are seeing more and more people marrying into other cultures. These couples get it!! These families see the potential and what this world and this country can become. Ignorance is slowly dying, but unfortunately, not slow enough. Ignorance is no long an excuse that a racist individual can hide behind. We need to call it like we see it and maybe that will spark a change. A penny is a penny; a mule is a mule; a racist is a racist.