Generation J.D.

Ah, Super Bowl Sunday. The fierce competition of rival athletes. The camaraderie of dedicated fans. The nail-biting, last minutes of a game where anything could happen. The off-hand comment, “So, who won?”

Yeah. That was my comment. I was working on the computer in the kitchen when my wife came down and said that it was over. It gets worse — she told me the answer, and my attitude was probably best described as indifferent. I am one of five brothers and the only one who has any consistent interest in sports is the oldest. The rest of us just didn’t get that gene. (My dad doesn’t have it, either, though I suppose he’s a carrier.)

I spent more time Sunday reading about football than actually watching it. I came across this article on CNN, “The president who saved football.” It seems whether you like football or hate it, you have Teddy Roosevelt to thank/blame.

Apparently, football was a very violent and unregulated sport back in Teddy’s day. In 1905, before the advent of the NFL and professional football, 18 amateur and college players died because of injuries associated with the game. Fans loved the sport with all of its raw brutality, but it had powerful detractors and was at risk of being banned.

Roosevelt called a beer summit (I can’t say that there was beer there, but one could easily imagine Teddy drinking a brew and bringing folks together) and helped influence changes to the sport that would save it while appeasing the more pacifistic opponents. No more gang tackles, 10 yards needed for a first down and the advent of the forward pass. It’s hard to believe that passing is such a relatively modern addition.

A bunch of grown men in costumes playing war games — it sounds like a Star Trek convention. Actually, how is fantasy football any different than Dungeons and Dragons? Maybe I should like it more than I do…

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This Christmas day, sports fans will welcome the beginning of an abbreviated National Basketball Association season. The season, much like the National Football League season, was saved from a lockout and protracted litigation — no thanks to some of the lawyers involved who stereotypically seemed only to get in the way of parties who were otherwise desperate to come to an agreement. In the end, it took a lockout of the lawyers in each dispute to get an agreement done.

Execution of a new NFL collective bargaining agreement depended largely on the owners and players agreeing how to split the league’s $9 billion revenue. Other issues included a proposal to extend the regular season, establishment of a salary cap and the implementation of health and safety measures. The owners claimed they were losing money due to player salaries, while the players believed some owners simply wished to renegotiate their own revenue sharing agreements.

Unfortunately, negotiations on a new agreement broke down, the players union decertified and a group of players took the league to court. Most reports seem to indicate a deal was inevitable and a compromise would be worked out. But those same reports indicated lawyers involved in the negotiations were not helping the situation. NFL Players’ Association executive director DeMaurice Smith at one point had to tell lawyers for his side to “stand down.” Both sides eventually made a point of meeting and negotiating “in secret” and without the lawyers in the room.

Litigation in federal court and an appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals only frustrated negotiations. A deal was finally reached to save the NFL season, but probably no one would agree that the lawyers helped.

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Being consistent is important in the professional realm, be it law or sports. It’s important in work product, timeliness, communication and client/customer service in general.

It’s something I struggled with as a lawyer and something I currently struggle with as a recruiter. Consistency problems are particularly apparent to me as a recruiter. In a sales-type environment, I see examples every day of what happens when someone is and is not consistent, and the results are pretty astounding.

When a recruiter takes the time to be honest, straightforward and do all she can to help a person, she can expect referrals and future business even if she couldn’t help the person at the time. The benefits are not always immediately apparent, but they do come and it’s the way successful recruiters bring in business.

When a recruiter does not take their time with candidates, leaves them hanging or blows them off, the effects can be devastating. The recruiter doesn’t get referrals and word gets out not to work with him; the recruiter may never know that’s why he can’t grow his business.

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On Saturday, I will be in Bristol, N.H., to run my eighth marathon. The past few months have been a truly difficult balancing act between finding time to train, meeting the needs of clients and trying to spend time with my family.

This week has been especially brutal, because of a mid-week arbitration in New York and a couple of evening events earlier in the week. (In all honesty, I’m barely getting this blog written in time, but a commitment is a commitment.)

Attorneys are on the high end of Type A personalities. I make lists for my lists and continuously analyze everything. For example, when I started running, I decided to run a marathon. I had never run long distances before making this decision. But I couldn’t settle for a 10K or a half marathon or anything less than 26.2 miles.

In order to be successful, I had a training program to get in shape so I could do the actual marathon training program.  At some point during my first marathon, in Baltimore, I knew that I was going to finish and a sense of relief came over me. Relief and joy (to know that I would finally be able to stop running).

What’s my point? I don’t really know. It could be that everyone can do something if they put their mind to it. Maybe it’s exercise is good for all of us and when you find something that you like to do, you should find time to do it.

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After months of work, Baltimore finally hosted the Grand Prix. Those of us who live here have survived the road work and other preparations — minor inconveniences. The past few days, however, we faced the major inconveniences.

One of the legal listservs I subscribe to had a number of comments from Baltimore-based firms on Thursday, most of them following a simple formula: “It usually takes me X hours to get to work in the morning, and today it took me X+2 hours. We’ve closed the office for tomorrow.”

I live in Hampden and usually go through the city to get to my office in Columbia, but since Thursday I’ve taken back roads to get to I-70, then to Route 29. Out of my way, but better than dealing with traffic.

I hope Baltimore got a lot of money out of this deal, because there has certainly been a lot of lost income for businesses in the city. I’m sure we will come out ahead, especially with all the construction and the good advertising our city is getting.

I feel a little bad I wasn’t more interested in the Grand Prix. On Saturday, my family fled the Baltimore (by an alternate route, of course), and went to the D.C. zoo with a stop by the Bethesda-version of Georgetown Cupcakes (shorter lines and oh-so-worth-it). I caught the last 30 minutes of the qualification (or whatever they call it) on TV when we got home. Sunday, I spent an hour watching it, really trying to look for a reason to keep watching.

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Sometimes you just can’t win. My fantasy football team is a prime example.

I lost again this week, despite having the second-highest score in the league. Granted, this is the first season I’ve played fantasy football, so I’m cutting myself some slack (or so I keep reminding myself).
Next year, they’d better watch out.

But for every winner, there has to be a loser. Except in the peewee baseball league that my little brother played in. At some point in each of our lives, we will each inevitably find ourselves in the losing position. Sometimes it will be deserved. Sometimes it won’t. Most of the time, you will be able to convince yourself that something went terribly, terribly wrong and you should have won. But it will still be a loss, and you will have to deal with it.

While I was clerking, I heard many stories of wins and losses, some of which came from attorneys with the federal public defender’s office.

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