What I learned from sports this weekend.

Nothing makes me happier on a Fall weekend than to embrace the cooler weather and cozy up for a weekend full of sports. I get this love of all things sports from my parents who were/are sporty people both from a viewer perspective and from a participant perspective. My dad was a scratch golfer into his 70s and my mom played tennis until she turned 80, so I come by this all so naturally and my mom and I will do an end of day recap on the sports-o-the-day. It is a natural love for me.

When I was thinking about the sports I watched this weekend, I couldn't help but think about the leadership lessons to be learned from each of the events. Let's explore the five leadership lessons apparent from five big sporty events from the last few days.

Event #1 - The Mike Tyson/Jake Paul Fight

Was I the only one who had trouble staying awake for the title fight Friday night? On the one side, we have 58-year-old former heavy weight champion Mike Tyson; on the other we have YouTuber Jake Paul. To be honest, the women's fight prior to the Tyson fight was more compelling (and resulted in me covering my eyes for minutes at a time - gosh cameraman, back it up!). Did Tyson do it for money? or pride? or did he want his kids to be proud of him? Who knows the underlying reasons, but the fight was a bit ho-hum, and I found myself hoping that Tyson didn't get humiliated or hurt. But Tyson looked fierce and in all the training videos he looked so fit and confident. When he slapped Paul in the pre-weigh-in I gasped and worried that Paul was going to kill him! What is my lesson learned from this? Two lessons really:

1) Marketing is everything and people were so hyped for the event and cheering for the underdog. You have to hand it to the new generation of Jake Paul for understanding the demand for a fight like this and how it could be a payday for both parties.

2) Your career isn't over until you say it is over. I applaud Tyson for challenging himself and pushing himself ---- especially when you can get beat up! We all can learn from this --- how can I challenge myself and when am I ready to throw in the towel! You got the feeling that everyone was pulling for Tyson to do great --- I hope we all pull for each other to continue the good fight!

Event #2 - Men's Tennis and the ATP Finals

At the end of the tennis season, the top men players get together for one final tournament that is worth a whole lot of money (the winner received $4.8 million). The final occurred on Sunday with Jannik Sinner (Italy) and Taylor Fritz (USA) competing for the big jackpot. They are both playing great and hit the cover off the ball (my shoulder was hurting just watching them!), but Jannik prevailed and beat Fritz in two sets. Even though Fritz only lost one serving game per set, that's all it took because Sinner was just too good ---- too strong ----- too much of an Ace machine ----- too accurate in the corners ---- just too much of everything. And that's the lesson:

Sometimes, you just get beat. Sometimes, your opponent is just too good. Fritz played great the whole tournament and, in the finals, but it didn't matter because Sinner was just too good to be beat. It was definitely his day.

Event #3 - WNBA Dallas Wings Get the Number 1 Pick

You may have missed that the WNBA lottery was on Sunday afternoon and the poor teams who did badly this year got together to draw straws and see who would get the top picks in this year's draft. I live in the Dallas area and while I have wanted to cheer for the Dallas Wings, it has been hard to do because they weren't competitive most of the time. At the lottery, Dallas came out number one which means they will get the top choice when the draft happens in the spring ---- they will get this year's "Caitlin Clark" so it's a big deal.

But what can we learn from this? Here it is --- sometimes being at the bottom can be a turning point. That is certainly true for the Dallas Wings. New front office, new coach and now the number one pick in the draft --- the sky is the limit in 2025 for the Wings. Just when you think you have bottomed out ---- opportunities can abound!

Event #4: College Football: SMU v. Boston College

I am an SMU Graduate and suffice it to say that most years, it is hard to cheer for a football team that is rarely in contention. But not this year people!!!!! SMU changed conferences (I still think they are in the Southwest Conference, so I'm still getting used to the AAC!) and people were worried they would get killed in their first year amongst the new competition. Coach Lashlee has led the team to a 9-1 record, and they are close to clinching the championship game for the conference! They are fun to watch, and football has returned to the hilltop where they are selling out games and where people are once again proud to be a Pony. My lesson from this effort:

Trying new things can really pay off! When the SMU football coach left SMU to go to archrival TCU a few years ago (you know who you are Sonny Dykes!), it was all doom and gloom over at SMU. But look how things turned out!?!?!!? Great coach, competitive team, young quarterback, fans over-flowing. Sometimes new beginnings can be the best thing that has ever happened!

Event #5: Dallas Mavericks v. Oklahoma City Thunder

Last year the Dallas Mavericks went all the way to the NBA finals so we have big expectations this year ---- and yet, the Mavs have struggled a bit. They recently lost four games in a row by a one basket margin, and frankly they have been hard to watch. They played Oklahoma City Sunday night, and it went down to the last few seconds before they won ---- here's the interesting part: They beat the Thunder without Luka Doncic even though OKC has had a great start and is one of the best teams in the country. Lesson Learned: It's all about the team!

Without Luka, the team had to step up and fill his 30-point shoes and step up they did. Haven't we all had work situations where someone is going through a rough patch, and others need to step in? For the Mavs, it was PJ Washington who burned it up at both ends of the court and frankly saved the day for the team. It takes everyone to be consistent winners, and we know this in business just like Jason Kidd knows it with the Mavs. The team effort is greater than the individual performances on all winning groups!

Don't you love how sports bring everyone together? What a great weekend ---- I've already looked to see what time SMU plays on Saturday --- kickoff at 11:00 a.m. CST!