It’s a theme that Nantz believes in because it’s the story of his life.

Arguably the most recognized voice in sports broadcasting today, Nantz is doing exactly what he aspired to do since he was a child. He didn’t just dream about being a sportscaster someday, he wanted specifically to cover the Final Four, the National Football League and the PGA Tour – most notably The Masters (more on this amazing story later).

I had the pleasure, along with my team at Premier Sports, to work alongside Nantz last weekend in New Orleans during college basketball’s biggest event – the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. He served as spokesperson for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which honors the top college basketball student-athletes in America for both on-court and off-court excellence.

Nantz introduced the 10 finalists and announced the winner – Purdue’s Robbie Hummel – on the Superdome floor during Final Four Friday and voiced the Senior CLASS Award feature on CBS that aired during the Bridge Show between Saturday’s two semifinal games. But it was at a Saturday morning breakfast attended by the award finalists and about 50 Lowe’s regional managers that Nantz shared his story about dreaming big.

Daring to dream, he said, is one thing.  But believing in that dream is what will drive it to fruition – having an absolute belief and resolve in it and then surrounding yourself with people who will be a positive influence on that belief, not a negative influence.

Here’s where it gets really good. With these senior basketball stars listening to every word, Nantz went on to tell the story of he and Fred Couples, one of golf’s great competitors of the past quarter-century.  The two were roommates at the University of Houston in the late 1970s.  Both played on the Cougars golf team.

During their time together at Houston, Couples dreamed of being a PGA Tour professional – and specifically of putting on the famous green jacket as champion at The Masters. Nantz dreamed of broadcasting on CBS—- and specifically of calling the action at The Masters. Together, they talked about the day that those two dreams would collide – Couples winning The Masters and Nantz being on that same stage with him as the CBS announcer while Couples was donning the green jacket.

This wasn’t a one-day-at-the-lunch-hall conversation. They talked about it over and over and over. Nantz even admitted they rehearsed it in their dorm room on multiple occasions. He would interview Couples with a fake microphone, asking him about winning this prestigious event and then pretending to put on the jacket.

They both believed. They were convinced it would happen.

In April of 1992, less than 15 years after they started rehearsing the scene, it played out in real life at Augusta National.  Couples won his first Masters.  Nantz was broadcasting it on CBS. You can imagine the moment when the two met face to face in the clubhouse for the famed jacket presentation. When the cameras went on, there was Nantz, interviewing Couples – just like they had practiced years back in their dorm room with nobody watching them – only this time in front of millions of television viewers worldwide. Filled with emotion, both struggled to get through the interview and then broke down as the jacket went around Couples shoulders.

Now that’s a dream come true!

Nantz has obviously continued on with his incredible broadcasting career and experienced many memorable moments in sports. But none will compare to sharing his dream with his college buddy.

It’s a wonderful lesson in the power of believing in ourselves and in each other. It’s a lesson for anybody at any age. It’s especially important for our young people – like the Senior CLASS Award finalists who all absorbed Nantz’s powerful message.

Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something, regardless of how big it may seem.  I’m sure had some of their classmates at Houston back in the day happened to walk into that dorm room and witness the Nantz/Couples dream “rehearsal,” they would have laughed.

Your dream may not involve a microphone or a jacket.  But if you can dream it….and if you believe in it….and pursue it with a resolve to achieve it…..anything can happen. 

Just ask Jim Nantz.

Having been involved in sports virtually my entire life – first as a young athlete through high school and then for my entire work career as a sports administrator – I thought I was pretty schooled in the word.

But the word took on a new meaning for me recently. And on a far bigger stage than any playing field.

My family recently made the two-hour trek to Joplin, MO to help in the initial clean-up stages as the city started digging out of the historic tornado that shredded what once was an Ozark Missouri town of 50,000.

What I learned about teamwork that day left a lasting impression. We joined forces with Samaritan’s Purse, a disaster relief team. We showed up without any real idea of what we would actually do. Hours later, however, I was amazed at how much a team of 20 people could accomplish together.

But first, let me paint the picture.

Actually, I can’t – there are no words to describe what I saw. If I had to come up with a description, it might be something like this….

The scene looked like somebody took the city of Joplin – the houses, trees, cars, stores, office buildings, billboards, schools – tossed them in a humongous, city-sized blender and pushed the “on” button and then poured it out.

It’s overwhelming.

But for one day, I was reminded about how a team can come together and do great things, whether it’s on the playing field or in life in general.

Most of the volunteers who showed up at the Samaritan’s Purse makeshift site at a Joplin church were a consortium of individuals and small groups. But with a proven system, organization and good leadership, these people were formed into teams that would become the most effective way to attack the job. 

Just like a sports team, it took a wide variety of people performing a wide variety of jobs.  There were the registration people, the trainers, the ones who assessed the jobs and gave the work orders, those who brought food and drink for the volunteers, others with trucks loaded with the necessary equipment and supplies.  And this was all before we even took to the streets.
Each team had a captain – ours was Mike from Arkansas. He traveled with Samaritan’s Purse and knew how to lead the team to get the most out of our time. Mike had recently been in Tuscaloosa, AL working on that city’s tornado clean-up and now turned his attention to Joplin. He was our coach.

Once on site, our team of 20 hit the ground running. Without hesitation, each one assumed a task that fit their size and capability.  There were guys handling the chainsaws – cutting limbs or whatever was left of trees (one even had to cut through what once was a deck). Rakes, shovels, tarps, hands – whatever it took – each person pitched in. It truly was amazing. Two hours after arriving to each location, we had cleared off an entire residence. We finished by presenting a Bible to the homeowner signed by each of our team members along with a word of encouragement and hope.

This was the power of teamwork at its finest.

Our team was quite the assortment:  from business executives to college students, from people who drove from Wisconsin to residents of Joplin who lived in unaffected parts of the city.

But we had one thing in common. We were there – on this team – with one purpose and one goal that day. Nothing else mattered. We were a bunch of individuals who bonded together to form something much greater than anything we could have done individually.

Of course, what we did was only a speckle of what needs to be done in Joplin. The rebuild job will be a major undertaking. It will take years, not months, to rebuild this city.

But we did make a difference in the life of an 87-year-old widow bound to a wheelchair whose home was salvageable.  And to a young family whose house was destroyed and faced the uncertainty of what lies ahead.

Twenty people who didn’t even know each other just hours earlier had come together to form a team that made an impact.

For a guy who has been around sports forever, this was one team experience that put all my others in perspective.

Premier Sports Management, in conjunction with the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, is teaming with American Red Cross to launch a campaign to raise disaster relief funds for victims of the 2011 spring storms. To participate, go to the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award American Red Cross Donation Site.

What football fans don’t realize is how much preparation, detail and scrutiny go into the highly successful replay system developed by the world’s most powerful sports league.  Every single play is watched, logged and discussed in the booth.  Even if there’s no coach’s challenge, the replay officials are actively analyzing every second of every game.

The NFL was on the leading edge of instant replay, adopting a “test” system way back in 1986.  Many people didn’t like it.  Even some of the owners, coaches and teams weren’t in favor.  There was much debate.

Instant replay was a huge change.  And, many people don’t like change.

The early years of replay were decent, but certainly had some glaring issues. The NFL studied it constantly, learned and tweaked the system.  Add in new and improved technology as it became available, and today you have a rock-solid system that has improved the game.  It’s not perfect.  There will always be a human element.  But it’s very good.

Bottom line, love it or hate it, instant replay is here to stay.  It’s become a staple of the fan’s game experience, both in stadium and at home watching the telecast.

The NFL was the pioneer in instant replay.  Now, it’s beginning to crop up everywhere. It’s in college football (although that system, in my opinion, has a long way to go).  Other major league sports are beginning to experiment with it.  Fans are demanding it.

The phrase “after further review” has become one of the most anticipated announcements in all of sports.  It’s actually quite ironic.  Years later, after further review, instant replay is one of the most important changes of the last 20 years to pro football – and now other sports.

Change can be hard.  But usually, change is good.

Parlaying that to the business side of sports, the change forced on sports marketers the past two years due to the economic climate has been difficult.  Corporate struggles have been well documented.  The sports world has taken a hit.  This has been a real life challenge!  But, “after further review,” I think it’s actually been good. 

Corporate sponsors are changing the way they spend their dollars.  More companies and brands are seeing the need to take their sponsorship involvement way past just landing the “official” status.  Strategic and efficient activation is becoming a must.  It’s forcing all of us to be creative and client-focused.  It’s forcing rights holders to produce.  It’s forcing sponsors to negotiate better deals so budget dollars are available to create platforms to maximize their spend.

Change is the instigator of improvement.  Sometimes we only make changes when circumstances around us give us no other choice.

I think that 5, 10, 20 years down the road, we will all look back on America’s economic crises as a turning point for the sports business (and certainly for life in general – but that’s another whole story!). 

Everyone from pro sports franchises, universities, conferences, coaches and players associations, major events – the entire sports world – is making a correction.  And, I think we’re finding out that we are better.  We’re finding new methods of reaching target markets, such as the amazing tool that social media is becoming to gain touch-points.  We’re discovering that tighter budgets don’t necessarily equate to less effectiveness – maybe just less clutter.  We’re seeing properties and sponsors come together in true partnership, leveraging each other’s assets, like never before.

Yes, it truly has been a challenging economic time for the sports world. But just like a controversial play on the gridiron, once that red flag is on the ground indicating a challenge, people and technology come together to make it right. 

That’s exactly what’s happening on the business side of sports too.  After further review, I’m confident the sports marketplace has adjusted and is headed in the right direction.