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La Russa Debacle: Another Reinsdorf Disgrace

“At some point, America will grasp that the inept Chicago sports owner was lucky to stumble upon Michael Jordan and, otherwise, will be remembered for a series of historically bad decisions.”

Jay Mariotti

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This is the commentary that should be delivered in Chicago but won’t be. That’s because media in the city fear Jerry Reinsdorf, who isn’t significant to the planet in 2020 but represents all that’s wrong with sports ownership in America. Writers and talk hosts don’t want to incur his wrath. Heads of media companies prefer to curry his favor and make money off his teams. Even national baseball reporters protect him as a source.

Jerry Reinsdorf, the boss of the Bulls and White Sox, is having quite the  crazy week - Chicago Tribune

Me? I never cared in my 17 years as a Chicago columnist, figuring it was important to tell the truth about the chairman of the Bulls and White Sox and suffer the political consequences, even as Reinsdorf tried repeatedly to land me in trouble wherever I worked. One of my former radio bosses, Bob Snyder, told The Athletic that Reinsdorf was the kind of crank who called Disney boss Bob Iger to complain about me when I worked for ESPN. If it didn’t faze me then, it sure doesn’t now. Heretofore, Reinsdorf’s numerous management sins have been unsound and clumsy — none more foolish than dismantling the Michael Jordan dynasty before its rightful expiration date, as “The Last Dance” docu-series recorded powerfully for posterity.

But his recent appointment of a longtime crony, Tony La Russa, as White Sox manager is becoming the sealant that fastens Reinsdorf to a place in sports disgrace. As if the move wasn’t dubious enough for several reasons, including the fact La Russa is 76 and hasn’t managed in nine seasons, now we have this: Reinsdorf made the hire official one day after La Russa was charged in Arizona with driving under the influence.

Near midnight on Feb. 24, according to police records obtained by ESPN, La Russa drove his SUV into a curb near Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport in a collision that left the vehicle smoking. When police arrived, La Russa refused to take a breath test, requiring an officer to obtain a warrant and draw blood samples. A field sobriety test led to his arrest, during which La Russa became “argumentative,” police said. If it’s peculiar that more than nine months passed between the arrest and the filed charges — a gap that Reinsdorf, an Arizona resident for years, surely will contest with his legal team — the issues surrounding La Russa are much more disturbing.

This wasn’t his first DUI bust, you see. In 2007, when he was managing the St. Louis Cardinals, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in Jupiter, Fla., where he fell asleep at a traffic light with an illegal blood-alcohol level. In a statement at the time, La Russa said, “I accept full responsibility for my conduct, and assure everyone that I have learned a very valuable lesson and that this will never occur again.”

Well, it apparently occurred again. And now, a young, rising ballclub that needs firm guidance is caught in another messy La Russa swirl, thanks to an 84-year-old owner who allowed his emotions to sabotage common sense during the managerial search. Reinsdorf always has regretted allowing his circus-act general manager at the time, Hawk Harrelson, to fire La Russa as White Sox manager in 1986. Thirty-four years later, he actually thinks La Russa — who won three World Series titles in Oakland and St. Louis but has faded into executive-suite irrelevance since his last championship in 2011 — was the best idea for the 2021 dugout. Already, months before Opening Day, this has become a regrettable farce.

It was disturbing enough that the owner either disregarded or wasn’t aware of La Russa’s dinosaur views concerning police brutality and social injustice. In 2016, he again made the wrong headlines when speaking about the kneeling campaign of Colin Kaepernick: “I think that’s disrespectful, and I really question the sincerity of somebody like Kaepernick. I remember when he was on top. I never heard him talk about anything but himself. Now all of a sudden he’s struggling for attention and he makes this big pitch. I don’t buy it. And even if he was sincere, there are other ways to show your concern. Disrespecting our flag is not the way to do it.” Did Reinsdorf even consider that several players and coaches — including core team members Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez and Lucas Giolito — knelt during the national anthem on Opening Day this year?

Even that could be set aside as a generational hiccup when La Russa, in his introductory Zoom conference last month, issued an update on his tone-deaf self, saying, “There’s been a lot that’s (gone) on in a very healthy way since 2016, and not only do I respect but I applaud the awareness that’s come into not just society, but especially in sports.” Yet there can be no explaining away of a second DUI. And it looks worse when he hung up on an ESPN reporter Monday after saying, “I have nothing to say.”

Tony La Russa charged with DUI stemming from February arrest

Why would he be so defiant? Reinsdorf has his back, of course. One of the owner’s trusted writers is USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, whose news story about La Russa’s arrest included a quote from the team publicist that the White Sox “were aware” of the charges, followed by this alarming exclusive from the mouth of You Know Who: “A high-ranking White Sox official told USA TODAY Sports that La Russa is in no danger of losing his job, or receiving any discipline by the club.”

That’s Jerry, who once had a manager, Ozzie Guillen, who referred to me as “a f—— fag” and later admitted to a Miami reporter, “I’ve got my routine. Game’s over, stay in the lobby of the hotel, the hotel bar, get drunk and go to sleep. I get drunk because I’m happy because we won or get drunk because I’m very sad and disturbed because we lose. Same routine … for 25, 28 years. It hasn’t changed.” Guillen somehow is shocked he hasn’t been re-hired as a major-league skipper, though, thanks to Reinsdorf, he remains gainfully employed as a Sox analyst at NBC Sports Chicago when legitimate media people nationwide are being laid off.

In Chicago, I was accused of picking on Reinsdorf and ignoring the seven championships he brought to the city. My counter: In almost eight collective decades of ownership — he bought the White Sox in 1981 and the Bulls in 1985 — he has produced exactly one championship (White Sox in 2005) unconnected to Michael Jordan. And he inherited Jordan, buying the Bulls a year after the previous ownership group drafted him. Chicago is supposed to be a major market, right? Imagine such a winning percentage in Boston, where the four major teams have won 12 titles since 2001, or Los Angeles, where the Dodgers and Lakers just won two titles in the same month. In New York, they’d have run Reinsdorf out of town after his abysmal post-Jordan results with the Bulls and his dismal record with the Sox, who finally reached a postseason for the first time in 12 years.

His blunders aren’t limited to the fields and courts. In the late 1980s, Reinsdorf leveraged a threatened move to Florida to win state money to build a new ballpark on the South Side. When he insisted on helping design the park, it became almost instantly obsolete, too steep and hulking with multiple decks of suites, a dud amid the retro building boom of classic, intimate stadiums that transformed American downtowns. An architect with the design firm told me that blueprints similar to Baltimore’s Camden Yards were offered to the White Sox. They had no use for them.

In that period, Reinsdorf had what appeared to be a young White Sox powerhouse, as he has now. How did that turn out? In 1994, he prioritized his anti-union views over his first-place team’s title hopes, vowing to be “a hawk” after running the independent baseball commissioner, Fay Vincent, out of power. His hawkness led to a work stoppage and a canceled World Series, and the Sox underachieved and faded away, though Frank Thomas did go on to make the Hall of Fame and star in Nugenix commercials. 

I could go on. I think you’re getting my drift, especially if you saw the end of “The Last Dance.” At least Reinsdorf, whose wide cast of cronies like to vouch for his integrity, didn’t hire A.J. Hinch or Alex Cora, two lead villains of the Astros’ electronic sign-stealing scandal. In retrospect, could either have been worse than La Russa — who, remember, also enabled the steroids-fueled exploits of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco?

Through the dynasty he created and sustained, Michael Jordan guarded Reinsdorf from criticism far longer than he deserved. But almost 23 years have passed since a stubborn owner said goodbye, deciding he didn’t need the greatest athlete and resource known to basketball and sport, that he could build his own dynasty.

Jerry Reinsdorf says Michael Jordan was wrong, Bulls wouldn't reunite -  Insider

In that Jordan wore the number 23, I think what’s happening now must be karma.

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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