Sir Isaac Meet Bob

In 1665, Isaac Newton retreated to his family’s estate after classes at Cambridge were cancelled because of the bubonic plaque. In the year that followed, he wrote the papers that became the basis for early calculus, began theorizing about optics, and as Mental Floss put it, “was also the time when his theory of gravity germinated.”

Yep. Guess he earned that Sir in front of his name.

In April, I, too, have been productive during the COVID-19 Pandemic. I caught up on the second season of Succession, spent focused time coming to a ‘working conclusion’ that the Birthday Paradox is a hoax and even disciplined myself to type the word camaraderie correctly without relying on spell check.

But would Sir Isaac be proud? Am I pushing myself hard enough? What could I accomplish in May if I focused?

My first idea was to write about the relative strengths and weaknesses of Euclidian and non-Euclidian geometry. But I’m also a bit wary of writing over my audience (no offense).

Oh, who am I kidding? Just because I threw around some big (or medium-sized) words there, I’m still the guy who struggled with 'The Given.' Let a different blogger take this on.

OK, what else am I passionate about?

I’ve read there is a robust debate in contemporary physics about realism vs. constructivism and how that impacts the way people think about the understanding of quantum theory and its instructional process.

Hmm, tempting. But, frankly, not sure it’s worth my time. After an initial perusal, I find most of the arguments weak and ineffectual. 

Really want something with more intellectual rigor. No fun in punching below your weight, right?

The third option is taking the idea of three-dimensional chess to the next logical level. Since four is greater than three, is four-dimensional chess actually what people should strive for from a strategic standpoint? If so, what percent better would it be? Why isn’t there more research on this?

I know I’m on to something here, but it seems a touch outside my wheelhouse.

Then, it hit me. 

ESPN may have the copyright for “30 for 30,” but after a cursory check I didn't see a patent for 31 blogs in 31 days in May.

The next logical question is a fair one. You do realize you’ve only written 15 blogs in 18 months? 

True, but I was just getting loose. Time for a blogging streak.

Be sure to read each of the 31 posts carefully as there may be a quiz at the end, and it will count toward the final grade.

However, I can be bribed.

Address me as Sir Bobproof or the blogging-incarnation of DiMaggio and your grade will almost certainly feature the first letter of the alphabet. 

The Times We Live In

I worked late – as I always did in those days – on 9/10/2001. As sports editor of the now defunct Boca Raton News in Florida, I came into the office in the early afternoon and didn’t leave until printing presses were humming around midnight. High school football had just started and the Florida Atlantic University football team was one game into its inaugural season.

Woke up the next morning, turned on the TV and realized everything had changed. So suddenly, so jarringly. Was in awe (and still am) of first responders such as the New York Fire Department.

We’ve lived through plenty of history since, but the COVID-19 Pandemic – while very different than 9/11 – is the first that seems to carry some of the same weight and significance. There is no one specific date in this Pandemic that will resonate the way 9/11 did and does, but this period is one my son Liam will tell his grandchildren about.

I wore an NYFD hat after 9-11 and today I would gladly wear one for the essential workers. The doctors and nurses – of course – are heroes. So are others – delivery drivers, grocery store employees and the like – who help people buy and receive necessities and keep at least some semblance of the economy going.

Since my wife Xiaoli’s mom and sister live in China, we were more familiar with the virus than many. We knew how strict the social distancing was, and is, even in areas such as Shanghai which fortunately have not had a lot of cases. With that said, we never would have thought the virus would have impacted America the way it has. In New York City alone, there have been more than 11,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Like so many of you, we are grateful for our health, trying to stay positive and determined to make the most of each day.

So far, Liam and I have had quite a run playing football. We were halfway to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game streak before we took a day off.

Liam, 8, is at an age where, really for the last year or so, his vocabulary and expressions seem to expand each day.. Just yesterday, I asked him if he was ready for football and without missing a beat, he said, “I was born ready.”

While these are trying times for everyone, I liked Liam’s approach.

Let's give Liam the final word.

The Five for Feb. 23, 2020 -- Everything Coming up Liam

1. The best basketball player in the world plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, and yes, it is still a bit surreal to write that sentence.

His name, of course, is Giannis Antetokounmpo. In addition to Giannis’ remarkable skills, charismatic personality and wit on social media, the man – and his girlfriend Mariah – have impeccable taste in names.

Soon after announcing the birth of their baby boy, my brother texted me asking to guess the name. Given that Giannis is Greek and my brother has a son named George, I went with the obvious guess. Nope. Turns out, Giannis and Mariah followed the lead of my wife and me and named their son Liam.

Soon, my phone was blowing up with calls and texts from reporters asking for comment. They wanted to know if Giannis had consulted with us about names. Was naming our son Liam a catalyst for Giannis and Mariah? I didn’t play favorites with the reporters, whether they were of the ink-stained variety or "digital content specialists.” My answer, each time, was always the same.

I told them I understood and respected the question, but it wasn’t about seeking credit. And I closed by paraphrasing the Billy Tubbs line about his resemblance to Jack Nicholson. “If Giannis can get a little pub out of it, that’s just great.”

2. I just about lost it laughing when I heard this story from Sonny Amato, my college friend and colleague at the Indiana Daily Student. During a water break in a recent basketball scrimmage, his 7-year-old son Kieran told him that Kieran’s opponent thought he was on defense when he was on offense. Kieran said: “The best defense I can do is just not telling him he’s on offense.”

Kieran wasn’t done with the one liners. He recently told his dad, “When he goes on a date it won’t be to Dave and Busters because it’s too loud. Probably Eat N Park because it’s quiet and you can talk more.”

Perhaps he’s auditioning for the role of Lucas Scott’s son on the inevitable One Tree Hill reboot a decade from now.

3. Andy Jacobson, my friend and colleague at Trustmark, writes a great blog. You should consider adding it to your blogroll -- and after reading this post -- you’ll realize why his blog is not called “Andyproof.”

What type of guy is Andy? Two years ago both our families were in Florida and my family drove from Boca Raton to Miami to meet up with the Jacobson clan. Knowing how tough parking would be, Andy scouted out a parking spot on the street and stood there in the pounding Florida sun until we arrived.

4. Speaking of blogs, my friend Johnathon Briggs (who I worked with at PCI), was selected as one of five Dad bloggers to speak at the 2020 Dad 2.0 Summit in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 28. Johnathon has lived a remarkable life and his range of skills and experiences would make him a natural for a Dos Equis commercial (and hopefully a more in-depth look in a future Bobproof post). His blog, “Fatherhood At Forty” is warm and wise and never fails to move me. This post might be a good one to start with.

5. When I checked who else was speaking at the Summit, I saw that childhood friend Dan Kois is also on the docket. I really enjoyed Dan’s recent book, How to Be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together. His family even got the Today Show Treatment.

The Five for December 16, 2019

A sports and entertainment themed version of The Five.

1. The Milwaukee Bucks are rocking an 18-game winning streak. Now that is a fun sentence to write. In 2014, the Bucks won 15 games for the entire season. Even though the ultimate measure of the season will be what happens deep in the playoffs, got to enjoy and savor this. Many more Bucks thoughts to come throughout the season – some hopefully quite trenchant about the majority owners and management.

2. News of an upcoming Harvard Business School’s Case Study on the Milwaukee Bucks was released to large fanfare right before the start of the regular season. Since then, crickets. Surprised that to my knowledge no journalist had tried to get an update on when it would be published, Bobproof sent an email to the lead author, Anita Elberse, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. We heard back from her assistant that “our office is expecting the case to be published in the next few weeks.” Stay tuned.

3. The first in-depth feature story I wrote for the Indiana Daily Student was on the great Erika Wicoff. Erika won three consecutive Big-Ten championships, a record that still stands. I can’t tell you how many times I checked to make sure that it was Erika with a “k” before submitting that article. Today, she’s a highly-regarded instructor in Indiana and she posted on Facebook that earlier this week she took advantage of the “warm” weather to sneak in another round of golf. Erika playing golf in December on the course owned by legendary IU golf coach Sam Carmichael is amazing.

4. Rarely Tweet but do enjoy going on Twitter several times a week to catch up with what people are saying. One of my favorite tweets – which has already been liked close to 800,000 times this week -- came courtesy of director Rod Blackhurst. He wrote, “In 1992 I was 12. My dad and I were in the Newark airport. I saw Joe Pesci and recognized him from HOME ALONE. I went up to him to ask for his autograph. Joe asked me who my favorite actor was. I said he was. He handed me a crisp $100 and said "That's the right answer, kid".

5. The Bears visited Lambeau Field on Sunday and the Packers triumphed 21-13. Can’t pass up the opportunity to reminisce about one of the most just outcomes in the history of the NFL -- the famous After Further Review Replay game between the two teams from 30 years ago. Enjoy.

The Five for Sept. 21, 2019

After “The Five” debuted June 29, my staff and I took the rest of the summer off. Now, we’re tanned, rested and ready to go. There have been no shortage of disheartening stories over the past several months, so we’re going to focus on good ones here. Let’s get right to it.

The legendary Amy Liss, who was born three months premature, has severe Cerebral Palsy, and is unable to stand, feed herself or do so many of the things most take for granted, had another epic summer. In true Amy fashion, she inspired others and made lifelong memories in the process.

The highlight was her annual week at the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy. Amy descried it well on her Facebook page. “This is my week of endless joy as I work with some of the best leaders in sports to inspire girls to Choose to Matter! … I was privileged to work with fantastic staff in soccer, lacrosse and basketball. Blessed to share my story with 166 girls from 14 countries as well all learned about sports, leadership and life. Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy is where the magic happens!

                                                   Photo courtesy of Amy Liss

Amy also spent a weekend with Tamika Catchings and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. Again, she was eloquent, writing: “My heart is still full of gratitude. It’s always a good feeling to spend time with someone like Tamika Catchings who loves energy, smiles and hugs (just like me)! The best part of speaking to players before the game was their tradition of a hug line as they come in. We need more hug lines.”

We also need more Amy’s in this world.

2. The same could be said for my friend/colleague Melissa Hayden. Except cloning her is virtually impossible – she is, after all, only the 10^th person in the world to have FKBP 14-related Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which has meant 12 brain surgeries, three spinal fusions and more.

None of that, however, has culled her innate sense of optimism and zest for life. She recently penned this beautiful post and shared wonderful pictures from throughout her life for the blog at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. The headline is pure Melissa: “Have Hope Love Big and Be Kind -- One Patient's Life Lessons Learned at Lurie Children's.

3. If my friend/colleague Barry Aldridge wrote a blog, the title would not be Barryproof. The guy is a do it yourself wonder; he even spends some of his free time fixing and restoring arcade games in his basement.

His wife Jacqueline is a 5^th grade teacher at Crystal Lake Elementary. I’ve only met her once but we hit it off right away. I’m already hoping that Liam will have a 5^th grade teacher like her someday. She is dedicated and passionate about her profession and each of the kids in her classroom.

This year, while the school is being remodeled, she is teaching out of a mobile classroom. It was inspiring each day in August to hear from Barry about the early and extra work she put in to make the classroom seem like home to her soon-to-be arriving students. Some of the classrooms charm will come from Barry’s handyman talents.

Here’s to a great year for Jackie and her lucky students.

4. For the second consecutive year, the Brewers are providing their loyal fans with one of the most remarkable seasons in franchise history. Despite losing MVP Christian Yelich to a season-ending injury, the Brewers are stringing victory after victory together. In fact, the Crew have won 13 of their last 15 games and remarkably if the season were to end today would be in the playoffs.

Of course, the season doesn’t end today. The Crew have eight more games to play and are three games out of first place. Everything from a division title, to a Wild Card, to a play-in game, to missing the playoffs entirely is in place. Meaningful baseball in September and October is so much fun.

5. This might not be the last word on curating or not curating but at least it’s an update.

I know I "proudly curated" the debut version of “The Five” along with my “talented team of curatorial consultants.” Given – despite my best efforts – the way the word curator continues to be degraded, abused and inflated pretentiously by people and society at large, I can no longer in good conscious take credit for “curating” this blog, even if my intent was to be lighthearted and semi-amusing.

With that said, I pledge to continue to use this platform – as a bully pulpit if need be -- to help us live in a world where the word curate reverts to its original meaning.

Blogger's Note: This edition of "The Five" Presented by Bobproof was proudly compiled and developed by Bobproof along with a talented and dedicated team of compiling consultants.   

The Five For June 29, 2019

Welcome to the debut of "The Five" Presented by Bobproof. Let’s get right to it.  

1. Melissa Hayden – my friend and colleague who has a rare genetic condition and has endured 12 brain surgeries and three spinal fusions – had an absolutely epic honeymoon. Melissa and Matt recently returned from cruising and traveling through Alaska.

They watched wales, hugged sled dogs, walked to waterfalls, savored the beauty of glaciers, rode a train with glass ceilings and enjoyed delicious food (which included reindeer hotdogs and some of Alaska’s famous salmon and halibut).

The highlight of the non-cruise portion was Denali National Park. Melissa wrote this on her Facebook page: “There are not enough words to describe the beauty in this park. It needs to be on everyone’s bucket list ASAP! We left Denali with tired feet, fresh air in our lungs, and a big bite from the travel bug. There is so much beauty to be found in this crazy world.”

Soon after she returned home, Melissa – being Melissa -- traveled from Green Bay to Chicago to spend a day with Ingrid and her family at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Melissa and Ingrid are two of only 30 people in the world with the same genetic condition and it was the first time in Melissa’s life that she was in the same room with one of them. Melissa and her mom played with Ingrid, talked with the family and then they capped the day off with deep dish pizza.

2. Wow, I have some amazing and talented colleagues (past and present). I worked for several years with Amanda ReCupido at Public Communications Inc. and she wrote this hysterical version of how the movie “When Harry Met Sally” might have played out in 2019. Her story, "Woke Harry Met Sally" was published by McSweeney’s and even was mentioned in the Sunday Long Read, a weekly compilation of the week's best journalism. One of Amanda's best lines from the piece. “A woman seated nearby orders whatever she damn pleases without worrying what anyone else thinks.”

Earlier this week, she also penned "Famous Writing Advice Updated for the Social Media Age." My five favorite lines:

·         “Substitute a GIF every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

·        “Write drunk, edit while only vaping.”

·        “Immature poets imitate; mature poets go to law school.”

·        “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold content vertical inside you.”

·        “Write what you Google.”

For more from Amanda, she is active (and funny) on Twitter and also the co-author with her husband Matt of the children's book Anthony Rizzo Is A Good Italian Boy 

You can be sure this will be the only time I will ever recommend a book having to do with the team that plays south of Miller Park.

3. Sunday’s Prince Fielder Bobblehead Day at Miller Park gives me a perfect opportunity to tell my Prince Fielder story.

I think it was the spring of 2000 and I was writing for the now defunct Boca Raton News. Pope John Paul II (PJP II), one of the schools we covered, had an away game against Prince and Florida Air Academy. It was a long ride to Melbourne, about 120 miles, but seeing The Prince in person was too good an opportunity to pass up.

I really wanted to get there for batting practice. Even though he was still in high school, Prince was something of a legend already. At age 12, he blasted an upper-deck home run at Tiger Stadium. Unfortunately, I was working on another story so I only was able to arrive a few minutes before the first pitch.

I have one dominant memory of the game. PJP II had an excellent, young pitcher who threw pretty hard. He was only a sophomore but a really big kid and I mean he looked like a shrimp compared to The Prince, who even then had to weigh at more than 250 pounds. His fastball caught way too much of the plate, and Prince hit a line-drive to center. This was anything but your average single, though. It was, to this day, partly due to an aluminum bat but mostly due to The Prince, the hardest hit ball I have ever seen live.

To my delight, Prince was drafted by my Milwaukee Brewers and would go on to have a stellar MLB career, which was cut short at age 32 by injury. But not before he belted 312 career home runs (the same number as his father) and helped the Brewers reach the postseason for the first time in more than a quarter century.

4. I have really enjoyed helping coach Liam’s baseball team this season. In Northbrook, for some reason, the teams are not given names like Brewers, Tigers, or Pirates. Instead, the name of the team is the name of the sponsor.

That means Liam has been wearing, with pride, the jersey for Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa. Rolls off the tongue, huh? And, of course, throw the records out the window when Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa faces rivals such as North Shore Pool & Spa or the good folks from AA Service Company.

5. I had some fun with the explosion in the word curate in my last blog post. For those looking for
a more scholarly, sophisticated, pretentious and far less enjoyable article (hopefully) on the topic, well, give three cheers for The New Republic. The article covers curate from every angle, dives into “prestige appropriation,” and features this paragraph: “In bestowing great importance to just picking stuff, curation in its contemporary, ecumenical sense reinforces many of the personal values promoted by neoliberalism: atomized individualism, the thrall of personalization, aestheticized control, and, of course, consumption-as-authenticity."

If you understand anything in that sentence after the words “just picking stuff,” please let this public school educated blogger know.

Blogger's Note: This inaugural edition of "The Five" Presented by Bobproof was proudly curated by Bobproof along with a talented team of curatorial consultants.

To Curate or Not to Curate

When I conjure up the image of a curator, it’s someone who analyzes a variety of French Impressionist paintings and then selects the most compelling and important ones to captivate an audience at the art museum. Someone who spent years toiling away in graduate school to earn this distinguished title.

The all-knowing and infallible Wikipedia defines curator this way: “Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist charged with an institution’s collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material.”

By that traditional definition, I am anything but a curator. Sure, I am a content specialist of sorts,
but everything else about the definition screams antonym.

Apparently, I wasn’t giving myself enough credit.

Today, everyone is a curator. For example:

·        Travel no longer is planned - it is curated

·        Menus aren’t selected - they are curated.

·        Experiences aren’t researched – they are curated

What about choosing music? Building a network? Designing a wardrobe?

Curated, curated, curated.

The curator movement has even infested my former field of journalism.

For example, it’s become increasingly popular for publications – especially online – to select a number of articles they recommend and write brief descriptions of each article with a link to the full story.

How is the work attributed? You guessed it. Reporters now proudly curate lists instead of editing, selecting or compiling them.

Curate has been on my mind because I’m excited to start a weeklyish feature with a working title of, “The Five.” Essentially, five things that I’m thinking about, reading, watching or listening to. Look for that to debut soon.

But how should this work be attributed? Should these blog posts be compiled or crafted, or should I bow to the pressure, take the same liberties that so many others enjoy, engage in blatant curator inflation, and bestow upon myself the sophisticated, somewhat pretentious and wholly undeserved title of curator?

Stay tuned.