Seth Reisig
Just before the Longhorns football team was scheduled to play the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in September, University of Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte received a phone call. Matthew McConaughey was scheduled to appear. The Hollywood actor and avid Longhorn fan needed help. Due to unusual traffic, Tuscaloosa National Airport was so congested that it was impossible to land.
Del Conte alerted University of Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne and promised that if McConaughey was able to get to Birmingham, local police would be there to escort him to the big game.
“It wasn't a police escort,” Del Conte said Saturday during the opening day of SXSW Sport Track. “He was sitting in the back seat of a police car flying down the highway… at that time. [the SEC] When we say “It Just Means More,” that's what we mean. It's about the passion of the fan base. ”
Being good is good: Greg Sankey shared the moment of his failure at his first press conference as SEC commissioner during the “Advancing a New Era in College Sports” panel discussion. Sankey, who plans to add the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma to next year's conference, expected to be asked about expansion at his 2015 press conference. Sankey meant to say that while expansion is not a priority, “excellence is attractive.” Worried that the word “fascinating” would be taken out of context by the media, he made a last-minute change of direction on stage. Instead, he came up with a safer but trickier alternative. “Excellence is good.”
Del Conte also spoke on the same panel about the development of NIL. “Names, images and likenesses are exciting and wonderful for children,” he said. “But what happens when a state takes a different policy? [NIL-related laws] than the other, it is [brings] Recruitment and disruption that affects everyone you know. Some kind of national law would save us some headaches and let them play the sport. ”
Injury or heartbreak?: The panel, hosted by UT Austin, focused on how college and professional sports teams use player training data and mental health checks to optimize performance. Sam Contorno, associate director of applied sports science for the Longhorns football team, said the athletic department's performance teams (sports science, sports research, medicine, training, strength and conditioning) meet as a group every day to develop a comprehensive He said he is making sure he is working on his health. . As an example, if a player is underperforming on a particular day, the cause may be physical (like a minor injury) or emotional (maybe his girlfriend just broke up with him). . “Surprisingly, if you look at the data, you can see that,” she said. “And sometimes you just want someone to ask you a question and say, 'Hey, how are you feeling today?'
Too much information: On the same panel, Phil Cullen, senior director of basketball operations for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, spoke about the challenges he sees at the professional level. Although NBA teams are only allowed access to data that players allow them to see, which is a benefit of players being employees with collective labor agreements, Cullen said the Spurs sometimes He said that he was hiding data from some players. “Here's an example: They had a bad night's sleep,” he said. “They might look at that and think, 'I can't eat tonight.' That's why our staff carefully curate what they need to know.”
Blake Griffin's next act: NBA All-Star Blake Griffin and former NFL player Ryan Kalil met in 2010 and founded media company Mortal Media in 2016. Since then, the two have been navigating the world of entertainment together. Former athletes share their passion for comedy and the film industry. “Sports has become much more binary,” Griffin said during the “Transition from Sports to Entertainment” panel discussion. “So you have metrics to determine where you stand. In storytelling, it's an art form, so it's more subjective.”
Recovery by Damar Hamlin: Hamlin nearly died last year after going into cardiac arrest during an NFL game. Since his recovery, the Buffalo Bills safety has been an outspoken advocate of CPR training and overall heart health. A featured speaker on the “Biohacking for Recovery” panel, Hamlin understands how important sleep is to recovery, especially as a professional athlete. Since the incident, his off-season schedule has become busier than ever, often turning his airplane seat into a bed. “I was out before I even got on the plane,” he said. “It's not the best way, but it's a way I've found in my crazy schedule to be the best version of myself in every room.”
Missed opportunities: Lamont Buford, vice president of games and entertainment for the Seattle Kraken, drew laughs during the “Storytelling in Sports” panel by sharing a dumb idea that never came to fruition. Buford mentioned how the NHL team considered how to reflect the city's damp reputation inside the Climate Pledge Arena, which opens in 2021. Buford and his team looked into ways to mist spray the crowd during Kraken games to provide an authentic Seattle experience. “But when we started thinking about it, we [realized] The air is flowing and people will get pneumonia. ”
Tara Hewitt, former assistant director of content strategy for the Cleveland Guardians, also weighed in on ideas left on the cutting room floor. She noted that more than 2,000 team names were being considered to replace the controversial Indians. The list included strange names from Ohio's state tree to Lake Erie's native fish. “I hope that list never sees the light of day again,” Hewitt said.
Pickleball celebrities: Austin Pickle Ranch founder Tim Critch noticed firsthand how celebrities like LeBron James can change. The co-owner of Major League Pickleball's Texas Ranchers said a social media post announcing James would become an MLP investor in 2022 generated 4 billion impressions. Critch said during a panel discussion on “The Rise and Domination of Emerging Sports Leagues” that James' nod brought MLP out of its “dark corner.” Kevin Durant is among other stars and celebrities who have invested in MLP.
“I've been playing [pickleball] I was with Kevin Durant before,” Krich added. “He's good at basketball.”
The second day of the SXSW Sports Track, sponsored by Stagwell, Austin FC, UFL, Everpass, Splash Sports and AFFL, will feature ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, Atlanta Falcons running back Bejan Robinson, and Angel City FC co-founder Carla Nortman. .
Asli Pelit and Eben Novy-Williams contributed to this report.
