On June 23, the two teams revived the rivalry with the first game of the summer. Each side brought with them a few new faces, but many of the same individuals who had participated in last year’s matches returned. A stiff breeze blew from the northeast as both teams prepared for the competition.

PMI got off to a quick start, scoring three unanswered goals before the first half was over. XanGo responded with a goal of its own before the half ended. Half time was spent with most of PMI’s team catching their breath and regretting not exercising more during the winter months. After a quick break, both teams were back out on the field for the second half.

XanGo was able to score two more times, but it wasn’t enough for the onslaught of PMI who tallied a total of eight goals before the game ended with a final score of 8-3. (Each team also scored a controversial goal, neither of which were counted.)

Afterward, handshakes were exchanges and each team congratulated the other on a game well played. The next few months are sure to include more matches, and time will tell whether XanGo will see the same dominance as last year, PMI will be the better team, or if it will be a season of close, back-and-forth soccer.

Yesterday, PMI Coaching and PMI Marketing met in a regular season game in the American Fork Recreation League.  PMI Coaching is the defending league champion, but has gotten off to a terrible start to the season.  PMI Marketing, led by team manager Cody Smith, did an incredible job in the offseason and retooled the squad. They are now near the top of the league standings.

Last year the two teams met twice, with PMI Coaching absolutely crushing the PMI Marketing squad. The defeat was so bad that PMI Marketing was referred to as PMI JV. Would this year be a different story?

PMI Marketing started out a man down, yet was up by the end of the 1st inning. It looked like it could be a rout, but the coaches hung in there – keeping the score close until the last inning.

Going into the 7th inning, PMI Marketing led 10-9 before a fierce rally by the defending champions secured a 15-10 lead for PMI Coaching going into the bottom of the inning. PMI Marketing  got some runners on base but, were ultimately unable to score and were defeated by a 15-10 margin.

PMI Coaching was led by Brett “Baby Peach” Cobbley who had a double and a triple. Matt “Matty Ballgame” Walton went 4-4.  Ryan “Swisher Sweets” Beckstrom had two doubles and Andy “Diet Dew” Louder scored three runs. Others on the winning team were Rod “Pull-ups” Wolfley, Lance “No Nickname Yet” Duffin, Nate “Lebron” Payne and Casey “C-Pop” Poppinga.

Games are every Monday night and fans are welcome – though autographs are discouraged.

Members of PMI Marketing (or PMI-B) that are currently employed here are:

Cody Smith
Chris Brownell
Andy Macgilvray
Rob Peterson
Jacob Morris
Chris Ott

When the two teams meet again, PMI Coaching has gone on record saying they will all hit left handed to see if that gives PMI Marketing more of a chance.

Super Bowl advertising is a litmus test of sorts. When the economy is thriving, the slots are priced high and sell fast. When the economy stalls, special deals are more likely and some of the major marketing players bow out. 

2011 is an interesting year. While the country shakes off the malaise of the recession and takes strides toward recovery, it is still not a typical advertising year. For a variety of reasons, many major corporations like Dr. Pepper, Intel, Papa John’s and Monster are declining to advertise in this year’s Super Bowl. This is interesting to note, considering these entities have been Super Bowl staples for many years. 

At the same time, auto makers have bought ad slots at a high rate, indicating they feel economic rebound is on the horizon. With a price tag of up to $3 million for a 30-second slot, it is certainly a bold investment. 

One thing is certain – viewers across the country will tune in to the game and the commercials. Super Bowl ads have become an event in and of themselves, generating water cooler chatter and massive profits when done correctly. 

As for the litmus test properties of Super Bowl ads, it’s hard to tell what they suggest for the coming year. With car makers throwing their hats in the ring, is our economy ready to make a significant step forward? Or, as Dr. Pepper and other heavy hitters bow out, does it suggest that television ads are too archaic and limited in our social media-driven world? Only time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy what is sure to be yet another great installment in the annual Super Bowl Ad parade.

As with sports, business success only comes through focused effort. Without a specific goal in mind, our work is often erratic and inefficient. Even the best intentions rarely translate into accomplishments without the benefit of a predetermined result. In this way, sports provide a stellar blueprint for business success. 

Another element of sports success is working as a team. In football, soccer, volleyball, basketball and other sports, each player must fulfill their special role. When someone doesn’t contribute, the whole team suffers. On the flipside, teams that work together are able to reach incredible heights. The efforts of each player combine to elevate the team. 

Sports such as tennis, golf and diving are often incorrectly thought of as individual sports. While it is true that some competitions are done on a personal basis, without a team scoring system, they are still team sports at their core. These athletes get where they are through the assistance and coaching of others. They work with a team of mentors and trainers. So whether their competitions are linked to other players or not, they are the product of a team system. 

Similarly, business success comes most reliably through team effort. Each team member has their unique strengths and contributes in a specific way. While there is autonomy in the process, the cumulative result holds each team member accountable for their effort. 

By applying the truths of sports to business, we can work more efficiently and enjoy better results. Setting goals and working toward them as a team are the hallmarks of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.

PMI wishes you all a happy Thanksgiving! We hope that you have a wonderful experience with your loved ones, and that you can find some time to watch one of the stellar games taking place. If the NFL isn’t your thing, check in on the Texas-Texas A&M instate rivalry match. These games always provide plenty of fireworks and emotion. An unforgettable moment from the rivalry came in 1999, when the teams met only days after a tragic accident occurred at Texas A&M. On November 18^th, 58 Texas A&M students and former students were assembling the massive bonfire that is burned each year at this time. The enormous stack of wood toppled, killing 12 and wounding 27. When the Texas A&M team faced off against Texas, there was plenty of emotion in the air. Both bands performed tributes to the victims, with Texas’s band ending with Amazing Grace. It was a beautiful moment that reinforced the unifying power of sports.

I think that with a lot of hard work and dedication, I feel that I could be the best in the world. I’m still only 35 years old. I have a fresh start physically and mentally, and I feel that I can achieve my goal to be the best again. ~Mario Lemieux, coming out of retirement.

If you want to learn about a man who fought various forms of diversity and still succeeded – both on and off the ice – learn about the NHL’s Mario Lemieux.

A quick synopsis:

• ~Through his performance from 1984 to 1992, he was on pace to beat many of Wayne Gretzky’s scoring records.
• ~He underwent two back surgeries in 1990 and 1993 respectively, but played through much of the pain.
• ~In 1993, he announced he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, missing two months of play. He still went on to win that season’s scoring title.
• ~Upon retiring, the team he had played for – the Pittsburgh Penguins – filed for bankruptcy. The team owed Lemieux more than $30 million in deferred salaries, which he turned into equity when he bought the team.
• ~In 2000, at the age of 35, with the cancer and back pains somewhat under control, he returned to the ice (still as owner) and played five more seasons.

Professional Marketing International knows how important hard work and dedication are, both in the business world and in the sports world.

Real Salt Lake entered this year’s MLS playoffs with a lot of momentum and expectations were high. I had the opportunity to watch the second game of the playoffs from the press box and meet with the coaching staff and team afterward (I was covering the game for a sports blog). As I sat in the press conference room waiting for Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis, I wondered how he would react to the unfortunate loss and his team’s early exit from the playoffs. He finally entered the room and with emotion showing in his eyes, he described the “disgust” his team felt from the defeat. Asked about super-sub Robbie Findley’s equalizing goal from the 80^th minute, Kreis shook his head and said Findley was just as frustrated as everyone else and “doesn’t even have half a smile on his face right now.”

Kreis attributed his team’s mediocre playoff performance to their inability to handle the expectations which followed the best regular season in club history. “We were a victim of our own expectations,” he confessed. “We were playing with this angst of ‘what if we lose? What if we lose this series and don’t repeat as champions?’ We had this great season, we’re the Cup holders right now. We expected more of ourselves, and that’s different than it ever has been here.”

Dallas, on the other hand, was playing in a position that RSL is used to. “They had no expectations,” said Kreis. Standing there at the press conference podium, RSL’s coach almost looked envious of the dark horse role Dallas is playing this postseason. And why shouldn’t he be? For the past two years, RSL had played that same underdog role, with remarkable results. But this year was different. “I think we played a little tentatively and a little scared because we were nervous to lose, and I don’t think you can ever be at your best when you’re a little bit nervous and a little bit scared,” explained Kreis.

As many had predicted, the play of Kevin Hartman was the determining factor in Dallas winning the series. Known for his aggressive play, Hartman has always played incredibly well against RSL. He is one of only a handful of keepers to stand his ground in the brutal confines of Rio Tinto Stadium this regular season, and he actually elevated his game for Saturday’s match. “I felt their goal keeper was … the difference in the match and the difference in the series,” said Kreis.

The significance of Hartman’s play is evident when you break down the numbers. RSL out-shot Dallas 15-8, yet were unable to notch a series equalizing second goal. Hartman faced the shot disparity with a raw intensity that led ESPN to dub him the league’s best player for the day. As for naming a “Best Stop” for Saturday’s league-wide action, ESPN says, “Take your pick from Hartman’s collection.” It truly was a remarkable performance and it would have been enjoyable to witness had it not come at the expense of Salt Lake.

Of course, there were other factors in the loss. Kreis gallantly insisted that the suspension of Javier Morales didn’t play a role, but it was evident to those watching that it left an undeniable void. While his swift mid-game is crucial to RSL’s success, his absence was most felt on corner kicks. Morales is a sharpshooter from the corner and created many scoring opportunities throughout the record-setting 2010 season. Without him, RSL was unable to convert on any of their numerous corner kicks.

Despite his frustration, Kreis took great pride in his team’s regular season accomplishments. “You can’t take away all the stuff that we did in the season,” he said. And he makes a valid point. RSL came within a few point of winning the Supporters’ Shield. They had four players nominated for league end-of-season awards, with Jamison Olave ultimately winning Defender of the Year. Kreis himself was nominated for Coach of the Year. The future is bright for RSL. The bitter feelings they have now will only serve as motivation for the 2011 season, when they will make another spirited charge for the Supporters’ Shield and seek to reclaim their championship title.

There are plenty of athletes who are admirable, and others that are less so. But those who are most successful and those who are the best role models for children and adults alike, are those who are positive about the future and dedicated to improvement.

Athletes deal with injuries, streaks of poor performance, and other factors outside of their control. But by staying positive and working through the troubles, the best athletes are able to success in spite of – or perhaps even because of – the trails they face.

“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”
–George Herman “Babe” Ruth 

Babe Ruth became a legend because he wasn’t afraid of failure. He struck out on many of his trips to the plate, but he didn’t let that hold him back. He always fired out, swinging for the fences. Likewise, sports legends like Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice and Andre Agassi reached the highest levels of success by embodying this mantra. It’s true that their aggressive play exposed them to main-stage failures, but those were merely blips in the radar as they ascended into the upper echelons of their respective sports. 

While this courageous approach is greatly beneficial in sports, it certainly applies to other aspects of our lives. In business, you have to be willing to take risks. You will undoubtedly miss a few pitches in the process, but you’ll also notch the home runs that make you a true success and leader. PMI Education has found that the business students who are prepared to take chances are those who achieve the highest levels of success. With a focused mindset, even the occasional failure becomes a positive learning experience.