HAVING SOMETHING TO SAY BUT NOBODY IS LISTENING

SPORTS HEADLINE-Dallas Cowboys WR Terrell Owens expressed frustration with his team's offense in an interview airing on NFL Network. Among the things Owens complained about were the predictability of the offense in recent weeks, the inability of his QB to get the ball to him and in inflexibility of the team's offensive scheme to adjust to what defenses are doing. Heavily favored in the pre-season, the Cowboys are 6-4 and have lost 3 of their last 5 games.


PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT-The ironic thing is that Owens is probably right. The statistics back up his claims that when he is a larger part of the offense the team does win a larger percentage of their games. Here's the problem though. Owens has a long history of complaining in the press, putting his desires over the overall goals of the team and generally being a pain. It's a classic example of picking your battles. When things aren't going the way you envision them or how you see they can be better, is it always the best tactic to speak out at the top of your lungs? Sometimes you're much better served in the long term by buckling down to do all that you can and give a little extra to those around you to try to improve the situation. You'd rather be the occasional voice of concern than the constant source of negativity.

Dolezar (MLB.com) Interview Part II

Part II of my interview with MLB.com Editorial Producer Jon Dolezar..

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3. Jon, we used to work together at CNN Sports/CNNSI, what lessons were you able to draw from that experience to apply professionally as you developed your career?

Considering that it was my first job out of college -- and, in fact, you hired me as a post-graduate intern at CNN Sports for the Summer of 1996 while you were running the intern program -- I guess a great deal of what I continue to practice to this day in my professional life was shaped both during my time as an intern and then as a full-time employee there, too. That was the summer of the Atlanta Olympics, so there was obviously a great deal going on around town. It was thrilling to be a part of the launch of CNN/SI in December 1996, and to see how much hard work goes into getting a fledgling network off the ground. Unfortunately for us, it was never able to gain much traction and couldn't slay the ESPN giant.

But working at CNN was an amazing experience that taught me so much. Journalism is a pretty cutthroat and intense business, and I learned that focus and discipline are required to last in this business. I also learned from a lot of negative things that I try to avoid now that I'm in the position of helping out younger folks who are just starting in this business. The negativity, backstabbing and just general lack of respect that some people have can really turn folks off to a career, and they aren't going to want to go to war for you if that's the case. So I guess I took both positive and negative examples that I continue to carry with me to this day.

Mostly, though, I fondly recall the many enjoyable people that I met and got to work with there, and how much fun we had on a nightly basis. That taught me that an enjoyable attitude in the workplace goes a long way, and the close relationships that you form with your co-workers can get you through tough times (of which there were many at an upstart cable sports network that ultimately only lasted six years).

4. Talk about the role you think organized sports plays in developing winning characteristics in young adults and into their adulthood.

This is a particularly timely subject for me since my two boys are now both getting involved in youth sports. I've helped coach their teams in both baseball and soccer, and few things that are more rewarding and enjoyable to me than to share my love of sports with youngsters. I love the friendships that form through sports among the kids, the confidence-building that takes place, obviously the physical conditioning element of it, but the most important part for me is just getting to spend quality time with my kids. So many of my best memories from my childhood revolve around moments in sports that I got to share with my parents, and the chance to be there to build similar moments with my two boys is so valuable and moving to me.

As with most kids, I played sports throughout my adolescence and high school years, and those memories and experiences continue to shape me to this day. I still vividly recall sayings that my high school football coach used to use regularly, and I try to apply them to my everyday life. Sports is definitely a metaphor for life, but I've always been surprised by how easily I can apply those lessons of teamwork and leadership that I learned in middle school and high school to my current life working as a journalist.

GOING OUT ON TOP

SPORTS HEADLINE-Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina decided to retire after an 18 year career spent with the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees. Mussina had one of his finest years in 2008, winning 20 games for the first time in his career. Mussina retired with a career record of 270-153.

PERSONAL FINANCES-This is a great lesson that many of us learn too late. We've all had a stock, CD, bond or real estate investment that we held on to just a little too long. It's impossible to know when an asset is at it's peak but even when we've gained immense return on our investment we often times want just a little more. We get greedy when we've already gotten more than we had initially hoped for. Be smart and get out while the getting is good when it comes to your money. You'll always be a winner when you opt to get out ahead of the game.

Format Update-Jon Dolezar (MLB.com) Interview Part I

Thank you to the loyal followers of my Daily Game Plan For Victory Blog. In keeping up with efforts to provide fresher and different content I am adding a couple of features. I will be resuming the traditional format once a week starting next week and also adding 2 new features. I will do more 'mini blogs' that will focus on just one aspect (personal, professional, financial) that reflect daily events and also posting interviews with members of the sports world.

Today I have an interview from Jon Dolezar, an editorial producer for The Official Website of Major League Baseball, MLB.com. Jon is a former colleague of mine and has lived and worked in the sports media for more than 10 years with previous stops at CNN Sports, CNNSI and SI.com. Please enjoy part one of my two part interview with Jon.

1. When/how did you develop your passion for sports?

I've been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. I would say that my passion was developed at the first pro sporting event I ever attended -- a Milwaukee Bucks game against the New Orleans Jazz (dating myself, clearly, with that mere fact) on March 14, 1979, which the Bucks won 158-102, their highest-scoring regulation game ever and largest margin of victory ever. My father likes to recall that I spent most of the game asking (I was 4 1/2) "What's the score now, Daddy?" Just his luck that it would be the highest-scoring Bucks game ever! Seeing the speed, grace and fluidity of an NBA game (words that were applicable to the late-1970s NBA that surely wouldn't be used to describe today's version of pro basketball) just captivated me so much, and I pretty much worshipped all things Bucks during most of the 1980s, as they were on their run on nine straight Central Division titles.

Even before I had attended a game, though, I enjoyed listening to them on the radio. In fact, when my parents asked me when I was 3 years old what i wanted to be when I grew up, I replied: "Jim Irwin." Mr. Irwin was the play-by-play announcer for the Packers and Bucks games on WTMJ Radio in Milwaukee, and even by age 3, I was already obsessed with sports. Most 3-year-olds played with blocks and balls, I listened to sporting events on the radio. So from as early as I can remember, I've followed sports and wanted to be somehow involved in it. That led to me majoring in journalism in college and working toward becoming a journalist, which was the best way that I could stay involved in the game given my inability to hit a curveball, knock down an open 3-pointer from the wing, outrun a linebacker or skate with a speedy goal-scoring forward.

Additionally, growing up in Wisconsin in the late 1970s and early '80s, I saw some pretty awful football, but witnessing the dedication of Packers fans -- even through those terrible David Whitehurst/Lynn Dickey years -- made me realize that the passion and the camaraderie of sports were almost as important as the outcome itself. Note I said almost, since once your team starts to get decent, your mind-set changes a bit. It turned out to be a heck of a lot more fun when the Packers got decent in the late '80s and early '90s, but at the time, we didn't know any better back when they stunk every year, so we still cheered our hearts out for those terrible Packers teams anyways!

2. Is there something or someone from pro or college that you draw inspiration from on a regular basis?

I draw inspiration from any athlete who is passionate about what they do and goes about their business in the right way. Having covered sports for 14 years now dating back to my college newspaper days, you begin to get a bit jaded about the games/results after awhile, and the stories and the personalities begin to shine through. So I'd much rather watch a great Tom Rinaldi piece (shoutout to a former CNN/SI co-worker of ours) on some no-name athlete with a great backstory than to watch a puff piece about a famous athlete that most sports fans already know plenty about.

ESPN ran a piece the other day (http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3696478&categoryId=3060647) on D.J. Gregory, a man who has cerebral palsy and had a dream to walk every hole of every PGA golf tournament this season. Stories like that are the essence of sports to me, as great or likely even greater than watching what Tiger Woods did on Sunday at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines this past June. You can clearly draw inspiration from watching an amazing once-in-a-generation athlete like Tiger perform his craft at the highest level, but seeing someone like D.J. Gregory achieve a dream of his own and overcome some serious physical limitations is a much more inspirational story to me.

I still love to watch the games, obviously, but as I get older (and now that I have two boys of my own), the backstories of athletes intrigue me much more, both from a personal or a professional standpoint. I guess I'm getting soft in my old age.

(Part II to be continued on Friday)