GAGA Sports & Entertainment--Smarter Data + Targeted Fan Engagement Equals Revenue

With social media the dynamic of fan engagement has changed. It takes much more than the tired concept of put a winning team on the field and the fans will come. Sure, winning still is a piece of the equation, but today it takes more. And, teams know this.

They talk directly to their fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, streaming video, etc. But, how do they develop their messages and the content they are sharing? Does their messaging fit their audiences? How are teams measuring what works, what doesn’t? And, what do they know about their fans?

Sports teams aren’t the only ones who struggle with these questions.

Jamie Pardi, CEO & Co-Founder of GAGA Sports & Entertainment, has been working in this this space for quite some time. In 2004, Jamie was one of the first to develop a hosted technology platform for professional sports teams, providing a global scalable infrastructure for increased data acquisition, fan engagement, and incremental sponsorship opportunities.

Today, he takes it to another level. Partnering with Patricia Roller, former frogdesign owner and Co-CEO, they have developed a new solution: the GAGA Social CRM Platform™ and Influencer Tool™. These tools not only help companies understand their fans, but also helps them in providing the right messages and content towards monetization.

The Social CRM Platform™ gathers information including a fan’s demographics, interests, and behaviors. This information helps drive the right content to the individual fans and helps teams generate leads.

The Influencer Tool™ allows teams to dig deeper, analyzing how fans share data (frequency, and their network). Most social sharing analytics only show who is clicking and sharing, while GAGA’s tool shows multiple levels of sharing. This allows teams to create campaigns not only around that first fan, but encourages them to share for more rewards.

When you put something out into the social media space, typically you can only measure readership or engagement by who is commenting, what links they are using to get to your page, what referring links, how many people are visiting your page, what specific content they are reading, maybe even what country or region of the country they are from. That’s about it—you don’t always know who exactly is reading or what is resonating with them. These tools help in understanding the fan, what content they want, how to market or sell to them, and how to truly engage.

Recently, I sat down with Jamie, who is considered by his peers as a thought leader in sports media, to learn more.

PJ: How did you recognize there was a need for better engagement and take it to the next step of developing this technology?

Jamie: I was working with some of the largest brands in the world of sports. I thought there was a disconnect between the fans and their teams, between alumni and their schools. It’s been documented that more than 93% of sports fans will never step into the arena of their favorite teams, yet they stay passionate about their teams.

It is tough to get qualified leads for ticket sales opportunities and leads for alumni donations. With social media teams don’t own the data and so we need to make them smarter about what to do with their data. There is a big need to make teams more profitable and efficient with the data.

Teams need to engage their fans. They are not leveraging their assets—using access and content to bring more people in the fold and “humanizing” it. We realized we could build more revenues for sports teams.

PJ: Let’s get back to that stat—I can’t believe that more than 93% of sports fans don’t step into the stadium.

Jamie: Take the 49ers. They have around 500,000 in attendance for one season. Most of those fans are repeat visitors—season ticket holders. So, safely around 200,000 might be unique, one-time visitors. The overall fan base of an NFL team is 8 to 10 million, depending on the market. So, there is a large group of people who never see their team play in person.

Another example is the LA Lakers. They have 19,000 seats per game and they have more than 19,000 fans—they have 15 million fans. So, again, most of their fans aren’t attending games, yet remain passionate and loyal to their favorite team.

PJ: Recently you worked with the Oakland Raiders on a project. Tell me about the project and how you measured your success.

Jamie: After providing the Raiders with three concepts, they liked the “Bring a friend to a Raiders game” campaign. We had 9 winners or 18 people in a suite. In just under four weeks we had 27,000 fans in our database, which broke both NFL and Raiders records. This was a function of technology and a digital strategy. Now we are building a strategy going forward to understand their fans better.

Part of our measure was getting leads. We found 15,000 people were interested in purchasing tickets. The measure of success for us is based on revenue, not on building a brand. For us, it’s all transactional.

PJ: You launched a little more than two years ago. Who is on your current roster of clients?

Jamie: Los Angeles Clippers, Stanford University, University of San Francisco, Oakland Raiders, Houston Dynamo, and Los Angeles Lakers.

Sports teams are slow to adopt new technology and don’t want to be the first one. Although, as you know, once you are in the club, you are in the club and providing meaningful case studies accelerates the sales cycle.

The Los Angeles Lakers were our first client.

The goal was to increase the waiting list for season tickets. They had 800 people on the waiting list and this increased to 50,000. They are in good shape now. It is a long-term strategy. We are moving to a new platform this spring that will help us grow the population.

PJ: Do you have a project that has been more challenging than others?

Jamie: For every customer I’ve felt good at their launch. None of them were challenging. It is so fun to build databases and communities to increase revenue. It’s fun and I can’t believe I get a paycheck every two weeks for this. It’s very cool what we do and the value we provide to our customers.

PJ: What makes your product and technology unique?

Jamie: Our understanding of sports media, marketing, and the stakeholders in the space. We are more of a technology and product company based in Silicon Valley. No one else has the technology expertise and experience that can do this. Our product was built by the former Yahoo! Fantasy Sports engineers. They get data, product, and usability we are bringing a high level world class product to the industry.

The analytical on the back identifies influencers, trends, demographics, and which content people are interested in…and gives detailed reports.

PJ: What’s next?

Jamie: We have great products coming out over the next three months to help shape the college landscape and ties into ticket sales and donations. It’s a smarter, analytical donation tool with personalization components. And, we will be hiring more sales and marketing folks, too.

For more information on GAGA Sports & Entertainment, check out their website http://www.gaga-inc.com/

Andy Dolich...and the Business of Sports

As some of you know, I was not the greatest student in college. I would have rather done just about anything than go to class and study.

But then a funny thing happened after a few years out of school…all I wanted to do was be in school and learn!

I started by taking writing classes in Chicago—everything from short stories to plays. And, then I took art history and classical music classes at the University of Chicago’s continuing education program. At UCLA I took a writing class. And, since I’ve been in Northern California, I’ve taken at least one class a year at Stanford’s continuing education program—from modern history of China and great cities throughout history to philosophy.

Last spring was the best class of all—Biz Ball, sports as a business, taught by Andy Dolich.

Andy is an inspiring teacher--bringing invaluable insights and a perspective that only someone with 40+ years in the business can share. While he currently has his own consulting firm, Andy has spent time in the front office of many professional sports teams including the Oakland A’s, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Capitals, and SF 49ers.

Not only did Andy share his views on hot topics in the news, he brought in speakers each week from different aspects of the business, including sponsorships, ticket sales, operations, and marketing. And, to a speaker, they gave us a glimpse of life working inside the world of sports.

To top this off, our class project/competition was moving the New Orleans Hornets basketball team to Pittsburgh. Each team was charged with coming up with the actual game plan…uniforms, team name, sponsors, media rights, marketing, personnel, etc.

And, besides the fact that my team ended up the proud owners of the Pittsburgh Swarm, it was an amazing experience!

This spring, Andy is teaching another course at Stanford—Current Business Issues in Sports.

This course is slightly different as it will feature weekly roundtable discussions with leading sports decision-makers on the major issues facing the sports industry. Some of the topics Andy plans to discuss include labor issues in sports; the economics of new sports venue construction; sports technology; the impact of sports on popular culture; pro sports star athletes (are they role models?); the big business of college sports; sports talk radio; the future of women’s pro sports; sports and gambling; and sports as a cross-cultural vehicle. And, the agenda is flexible to include hot topics in the news that unfold during the course.

The guest speakers include Ted Robinson, 49ers radio voice; Michael Lynch, head of Global Sponsorship Management at Visa; Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle columnist; Pat Gallagher, former San Francisco Giants executive; Jamie Zaninovich, Commissioner of the West Coast Conference; Tracy Hughes, Cisco Sports and Entertainment; and Dwight Clark, former San Francisco 49er.

The class is on Tuesdays from 7:00pm to 8:50pm and runs for 10 weeks, starting April 3. Registration begins February 27, and I’d sign up quickly for this one. With this lineup, it’s going to be a sellout.

I’ll see you in class, and I’ll save you a seat…up front!

Toradol...the NFL's next dirty little secret

This past week leading up to the Super Bowl was a celebration of everything NFL. Not even an interesting report on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel about a little drug called Toradol could upset King…er…Commissioner Goodell’s celebration last week.

I’m sure most of you still don’t know what Toradol is or the risks--as this was swept under the rug…again…so as to not interfere with the celebration. That’s not to say that some media outlets (especially in Chicago) wrote about it, but it was just one of the stories that you had to look for if you lived elsewhere. And, why did it play in Chicago? Brian Urlacher, defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears.

Yes, Urlacher was interviewed for HBO’s Real Sports and admitted to using Toradol 40 to 50 times in his 12 year career, although he didn’t use it last year.

Let’s back up a second…Toradol is the drug of choice for many NFL players who are injured and want to keep playing. According to Jeremy Newberry (a center who played 10 years for the 49ers, Raiders, and Chargers) and was really the main subject of the Real Sports report, Toradol makes you “feel like Superman.” For three hours it takes away the pain and lets you play with abandon. It is this generation’s wonder drug. The last wonder drug was cortisone. We now know that continued use of cortisone leaves you with tissue damage, bone degeneration, and even bone death.

Toradol is a blood thinner. The risks of continued use are stomach bleeding, kidney failure, and the possibility of more concussions and more severe ones, because you cannot feel anything.

Newberry has been diagnosed with Stage 3 kidney failure and the doctors have said that the excessive use of Toradol is the cause. He said in the interview, as a football player you expect to walk away with certain injuries, but not with this.

Another issue is that players have not been informed of the risks…although, as Urlacher said after being told the risks he would still use it because he wants to play every down.

This mindset is one that many NFL players have…after all, they are our gladiators…hitting other players and trying to stop them from scoring.

From all accounts this drug is widely used…with as many as 30 players on a team lining up for a shot before a game.

Urlacher and Newberry are not the only players who did not know the risks of prolonged use of this drug. Super Bowl champs NY Giants just put up a notice in their training room this year about Toradol’s risks and in the postseason were thinking about banning it. Sounds like a good move by the Giants…but where were they 12 or 15 years ago?

Here’s another news item we didn’t hear too much about--at the end of last year 12 former NFL players filed a suit against the NFL. They say their concussions were worse and they claim they might have had more concussions and not felt it. They claim that Toradol helps masks traumatic concussions.

Oh, and while the owners locked out the players last summer, one thing they didn’t work on was the health insurance for former players. Did you know that the NFL’s health insurance does not cover collision-related injuries? So, the entire sport is hitting and collisions…and the NFL is still not taking care of its own? I think it’s safe to say that every player gets at least one concussion during his playing time. And, we’ve seen the significant long-term effects of these concussions. And, now, they don’t have care…they are faced with significant medical expenses for these significant medical issues—with debilitating anxiety, depression, short-term memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness, and changes to their personality.

We are hearing more and more about former players and the effects of concussions on them. And, as we move forward even more will be coming out. The NFL has slowly moved to become aware and start working on this. They did form a Head, Neck, and Spine Committee in 2010 to advise teams and research best practices for concussion prevention and management, as well as for avoidance or protection against other head, neck and spine injuries. So, to allow players to use a drug that contributes to more severe concussions doesn’t make sense.

Even a neurologist, who is an advisor to the Committee, said that those using Toradol should not be playing a contact sport.

The NFL’s medical advisor, Dr. Lawrence Brown, does not think Toradol is an NFL issue, he thinks the decision to take it is between the player and the team doctor. And, he was happy that Real Sports was informing players on the risks—not owning up to the fact that maybe this responsibility belongs to the league.

This mindset reminds me of when former players first started talking about concussions. And, we all know that we still haven’t even scratched the surface on concussions—not with so many still suffering. Not with good men like Dave Duerson taking his own life. The late Dave Duerson, former Chicago Bear, was an intelligent, kind-hearted, level-headed man with a good sense of humor. That’s how I remember him. I interviewed him while he was a Bear during a summer camp for kids. He knew football wouldn’t last forever and he had a plan for his life after football. He had a spark and was charismatic.

He shouldn’t have gone out like that. He and his family should not have suffered in that manner.

The NFL has a long way to go in taking care of their current and former players. It’s time to stop sweeping it under the rug and facing it head on. These men deserve better.

Step up and do the right thing. Do what they would do for you.

Tickets for sports events...how much is too much?

I took a class at Stanford last spring call Biz Ball, on sports as a business. It was taught by Andy Dolich, a top sports executive who currently runs his own consultancy firm. Andy previously worked in the front office for teams across professional sports including the Oakland A’s, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia 76ers, San Francisco 49ers, and the Golden State Warriors.

One of the topics we discussed was where is the breaking point on ticket prices? How high can they go before fans stop going to games?

Unfortunately, we didn’t come up with the answer and as a fan and now a blogger this is a topic I can’t seem to stop thinking about.

Given that it is Super Bowl week and the San Francisco (SF) 49ers just announced the first phase of pricing for their new stadium, I think it’s a good time to focus on NFL ticket pricing.

Since I moved to the Bay Area about six years ago all I’ve heard about is a new stadium for the 49ers. The City of San Francisco offered certain parcels of land, but they could not reach an agreement. The 49ers decided to move to Santa Clara, where their headquarters and training facility are—an hour south of the City. After propositions on the ballot and fighting on both sides of the issue, the 49ers are set to break ground on the new stadium this spring and plan to play the 2014 season there. And, they just lined up the funding and all the land recently…after at least six years of trying.

Although, they still need a company to buy the naming rights on the stadium.

Funny, LA doesn’t have a team yet. They are building a new 100% privately-funded stadium. And, Farmers Insurance bought the naming rights for $700 million for 30 years.

It seems to me like the folks in LA know how to get things done. Maybe Jed York, CEO of the 49ers should ask them how they did it.

Here’s another thing Jed York and the 49ers don’t understand…their fans. Most of their fans and season ticket holders have been going to games for years. York was quoted as saying that he expects the stands to be filled with “working class families.”

Let’s see if working class families can afford these prices:

Between $3,250 and $3,750 for tickets each season…and a stadium builders license ranging from $20,000 to $80,000, with most being either $20,000 or $30,000. Oh, and the 49ers are offering a 10-year financing plan on the license fee, if you don’t pay it off by the time the stadium opens, in about three years, you get to pay interest fees of 8.5%.

Now, that’s a deal!

And, just to give you some perspective, 49er fans are currently paying $1,790 a season for a first row seat on the 49 yard line and of course, no license fee.

This past season the highest Fan Cost Index (cost of taking the average family of four to a game) was $628.90. This was to go to a NY Jets game. The second highest was in Dallas ($613.80) where parking costs $75.

With the advent of these new stadiums (the Dallas Cowboys opened in 2009) and the combined NY Jets/NY Giants stadium in 2010, ticket prices have soared. And, the 49ers are pushing it even higher. They are passing along the cost of these $1 billion stadiums to their fans.

They will be losing many long-time season holders. I’m not saying that they won’t sell these seats, but that working class family that Jed York thinks is going to be sitting in those seats isn’t coming back. He is helping to change the demographic of who is attending NFL games. And, I imagine this change has been going on for a while. This is just in my backyard this time.

Personally, I have not attended an NFL game in years. No, I have not ventured to the ‘Stick and sat through the winds. It hard for me to admit this as a Packers fan, but I think the last game I went to was a Bears game at Soldier Field. And, yes, that was cold and windy, as all games are there. Tickets got too expensive for me years ago. And, besides if I can’t be at Lambeau watching my beloved Packers, just not interested.

The SF Giants are the last professional team in the Bay Area to build a new stadium. And, unlike them, the 49ers did not keep their season-ticket holders in mind when developing this pricing strategy. As Russ Stanley, Giants VP Ticket Services and Client Relations told me for my post on dynamic pricing, the Giants “are always looking to make the season ticket experience better for their customer.”

For the 49ers it is obvious that it’s all about the bottom line. They are hoping that 49ers will become the new darlings in the South Bay and that Silicon Valley companies will buy up these seats.

When the SF Giants moved into the new ballpark, the licenses ranged from $1,500 to $7,500. They had very few at $7,500, just the first five rows between the bases.

So, let’s get this straight…

SF 49ers: $3,250-$3,750 per season and $20,000-$80,000 for the license. That’s for 8 home games, plus two playoff games…if they get there.

SF Giants: Last check $3,175 for lower box for the season. Less than $7,500 for the license. That’s for 81 home games.

Hmmm…which one seems like the better deal?

Hey Russ, how about two seats down the first base line…

Karen Chen...and the Two-Minute Drill

At nearly 12-and-a-half years old and one of the youngest competitors in the Novice Ladies competition at the US Figure Skating National Championships in San Jose, CA, Karen Chen wowed the audience with two amazing performances last week. She was the only novice to try six triple jumps en route to her 10-point win.

Karen, who is a local Bay Area skater, from Fremont, CA, is coached by Sherri Krahne-Thomas and Gilley Nicholson.

Karen doing a spin

As a few reporters were waiting as Karen was tying and retying her skates at Sharks Ice, the Practice Ice for the competition, we learned that it typically takes her a while before she gets on the ice. According to Gilley, “It just how long it takes. She only has one pair of skates and they have to feel just right. She warms up the same way, has a special routine…warming up and stretching, which is needed for the spins. Otherwise, there could be injuries.”

The maximum skating time for a pair of skates for Karen is six months. They just break down from the impact of landing. New skates cost $1,000 pair.

Karen practices six days a week, two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. She is home schooled, which gives her a little more balance in her schedule (not having to wake up so early for practice!). She does miss playing with her friends on the playground, but keeps up with them through email. However, Karen was quick to add that she loves what she is doing.

I talked to Karen after she won the 2012 Ladies Novice Championship and here is what she shared.

PJ: How did it feel winning your first US Nationals?

Karen: I was excited. I put in lots of effort for this, tons of hard work. When I won, I was partially shocked. I did not perform as clean a program as I would have liked. Yet, I still hung on for the gold.

After I landed my first three jumps [in the long program], I felt so far, so good. I was enjoying it and got momentum and tried to keep it.

PJ: Which program, long or short, did you like the best?

Karen: I really like my short program. It’s much easier. It’s more graceful. The Tango has sharper movements, a different facial expression for the music [more serious] and it’s harder.

PJ: What is your favorite move?

Karen: I like the spins. It’s hard work to get them and I finally got back to where I feel good. I look up at the ceiling and it feels…it’s what I want to do. I try not to think of too many things or I lose focus. I am concentrating on the current position I am doing and try not to get ahead of myself.

PJ: What is it like to have Kristi Yamaguchi as a mentor?

Karen: I appreciate her help. She gives suggestions, answers questions. [For example] she said, for the butterflies I get right before I step on the ice, ‘pretend you got an invitation, like to a party…go out and have fun out there.’

It’s exciting and feels almost unreal to skate with an Olympic champion. It feels like a dream.

PJ: What is the most important thing you get from your coaches?
Karen: I appreciate their help very much. I’m not perfect and there have been lots of times things are not working. They are always there to help me.

PJ: Do you have a special place at home for this gold medal?

Karen: Yes, I do. I have some trophies on a specific corner of a table. When I look at them, I feel proud of myself.

PJ: I saw all the stuffed animals that were thrown on the ice after your performances. Do you have a favorite one?

Karen: I got a huge cinnamon roll. I love it so much! One of my friends made it. The ones I like the most I keep on my bed and some on a shelf. I like Snoopy and I love the rink in Santa Rosa with Snoopy on the Zamboni.

A kindred spirit—we are both Snoopy fans. The rink in Santa Rosa, California, is the one built by Charles Schulz, Snoopy’s creator.

Remember this name…Karen Chen…she will be on the US Olympic team one day.

Sights and sounds from the US Figure Skating Championships

A skating fan’s dream: to be in a crowded elevator stuck between Peggy Fleming and Brian Boitano.

The only thing is…it isn’t a dream.

It really happened to me last night after the Opening Ceremonies at the US Figure Skating Championships.

I guess I should back up a bit to share with you all how I got in that corner of the elevator squeezed between these two all-time greats.

As the co-captain of the media room many different activities get thrown my way during any given day. I joke that I never know what my day will look like when I walk through the black curtain separating the media relations and communications team of the US Figure Skating Association and the media or the curtain separating the skaters’ lounge from the copy center. The other day I had to make the Sharks Ice run—taking the draws, judges sheets, and results to get posted at the practice ice.

On Thursday night my co-captain, Ginna, and I got the plum assignment of escorting former skating champions from the Bay Area to the press for interviews prior to the Opening Ceremonies.

And, yes, I did have the honor of escorting Peggy Fleming and her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins. And, if you read my post from the other day, you will know that Peggy is in my top three all-time favorite women skaters. So, as you can imagine, it really was special to meet her. And, no I am not one to be star struck. After all, I have interviewed numerous athletes as a sports writer from Grant Hill to Edwin Moses. But, for a moment or two, I couldn’t believe this was actually happening and I just had to compose myself.

The other skaters who were honored were Brian Boitano, Debi Thomas, Rudy Galindo, Charlie Tickner, and Kristi Yamaguchi. Kristi had a prior engagement and wasn’t able to attend, however she was at the event earlier in the week watching the Ladies Novice competition.

At the Opening Ceremonies Rudy Galindo was the only one to skate a short routine. The others skated to center ice and to their spots. Karen Chen, the 2012 US National Ladies Novice Champ skated on Kristi’s behalf. Many young kids from the area also skated. Afterwards, I caught up with Rudy and thanked him for skating for us. He lit up, as only Rudy can do, and shook my hand. Clearly, he appreciated being recognized. He coaches now and doesn’t skate too much these days. You couldn’t tell by the way he performed. He was great.

So, we are almost at the elevator.

As I was getting ready to head up to the seats to watch the senior women’s short program competition, a coach needed to be escorted to the area where the skaters were who performed in the Opening Ceremonies. A job of a volunteer captain is never done. As we walked just about all the way around the ice, near the Zambonis, we found them. The kids were getting group photos taken with the former champs. I stood and watched for a while and as they broke up, I headed back around to the elevators.

As I came up to the elevator…there they were…Debi, Brian, and Peggy. We must have squeezed 15 people in a 10 person elevator. And, I was in the back next to Brian with Peggy and her flowers squeezed in tight. With Brian joking about getting stuck in elevator…

...and I was thinking…so this is what Brian Boitano does!

Brandon Marshall...back for the Two-Minute Drill

Last time we talked to Brandon, that Olympic wrestling hopeful, he was doing rehab and hoping his ligament in his elbow would grow and get stronger without surgery.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

After a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, of the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Brandon and his parents knew that surgery was the only way to heal the bad tear—he had to have Tommy John surgery. Dr. Andrews has done more than 2,500 of these operations with a remarkable success rate. This surgery will help stabilize his elbow, replace the ligament, and is the best option to preserve the integrity of the nerve in the process.

After his surgery in front of 
another Marshall's football jersey

An interesting fact about Dr. Andrews is that he is the first call a professional athlete makes when there is a possibility of needing surgery on their elbow, shoulder, or knee. Athletes he has operated on include golfer Jack Nicklaus (his knee in the 1980s, and, btw, Jack won a Master’s after his surgery), quarterback Drew Brees (shoulder, and yes, Drew won the Super Bowl after his surgery), quarterback Donovan McNabb (knee), pitcher John Smoltz (three shoulder surgeries), quarterback Brett Favre (shoulder, ankle), and pitcher Tim Hudson (elbow).

So, on Thursday, January 5, at Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Brandon underwent a surgery that lasted an hour and a half. It took 15 minutes to replace the ligament and his parents were allowed to be in the room taking photos of that part of the surgery (and, yes, Brandon thinks the photos are “cool”). The very next morning he was in first therapy session.

I talked to Brandon Saturday to learn more about his surgery and next steps.

PJ: How rough was the surgery?

Brandon: The only time I was down was when I first woke up. I walked everywhere and started school the following Monday. They wanted me out and moving to get it back to where it needs to be. In my first therapy session I did things to get my shoulder stronger, because I was in a sling they didn’t want that to weaken. I did wrist movements and tried to keep muscles moving so they didn’t get stiff when the cast came off. My first session was about 20 to 25 minutes.

There were a few athletes in therapy while I was there and they treated me the same, which was nice. A number of them just had surgery like me. There was a football player from Purdue, a guy from the Kansas City Chiefs, and someone from Army Flight School.

PJ: What was your next stop?

Brandon: Athletes Performance. This is a training facility that has an association with the Institute. They give you safer ways to lift and tell you what to eat to get your peak performance. They were a lot of college football players there training for the NFL combine, including a senior from Notre Dame who was a running back. And, there was someone from the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

PJ: You are three weeks in, what’s next?

Brandon showing his Wisconsin spirit

Brandon: I was in the cast for one week and my stitches were removed last Thursday. Now, I wear a brace all the time except when I am icing my arm and taking showers. Everyone who knows me calls me Robocop because of the brace.

I am doing rehab at the nursing home where my mom works. I go three times a week. This [past] week I went Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a day in between to rest a bit.

They wanted me to have therapy, get my stitches out, do more stretching—get my arm out and moving. The goal is to move my arm all the way out and back without a lot of pain in six weeks. That’s when the doctor will check it again.

After six weeks if I can move my arm all the way out and back, then I can get rid of the brace and start a little wrestling-related work and get my strength back—not just my motion.

PJ: You’ve gone through a lot in a short time.

Brandon: Yeah…it was kind of just settling down, then it was Christmas break and we learned I had to have surgery. I had hoped I didn’t have to get it, but it was worth it.

OK…another shot at your favorite movie: I used to watch True Lies all the time.

Favorite wrestler: I admire Anthony Robles. He was the NCAA National Champion this year [going 36-0 for Arizona State University and wrestling in the 125 lb. weight class] and wrestles on one leg. Now, I can kind of understand what it feels like, although it’s really not the same thing.

Keep reading this blog for updates on Brandon and his journey.