"Dare to Dream"

Before settling in to watch the Colorado Rockies try and salvage the finale of a three-game road series against the hapless Texas Rangers? To all sports fans out there north of 60? Highly recommend the book,"Tall Men, Short Shorts." Written by an excellent writer, Leigh Montville, it's a wonderful trip down memory lane to the '69 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Russell vs. Chamberlain. West. Havlicek. At the time, Montville was a cub sports reporter for The Boston Globe. Back in the late 60's? That's when thyself and millions of other young and impressionable boys started to dream of playing sports at such a level. Now 78, Montville went on to a storied career at Sports Illustrated too. Growing up? This freckle-faced southpaw would intently read every story inside the sports magazine. But there's more. Then, carefully, a buck-toothed sports fanatic would cut the cover away and place it on his bedroom wall. Crazy as it sounds, that was a dream: Be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Never happened but I tried. Anyway, back to the point of all this. It makes me think of the business side of sports and what the Sports Business Academy's trying to do in partnership with Arvada High School and Jefferson County Public Schools in teaching kiddos there the business side of sports and winning side of life. We just kicked off our third year there, have more than 80 kids in the program, have developed a partnership with Metropolitan State University of Denver on creating concurrent enrollment classes and. offer a unique and exciting learning pathway to the deserved but underserved students roaming the hallways of one of the state's oldest public high schools. Arvada High's been around since 1900. The business side of sports? It's what Montville did. It's what I was blessed to do for quite some time at CBS Denver. The sports industry is big business. Billions and billions. We know from the COVID crap and how it has disrupted American sports on all levels, the importance of athletic competition and sports to America's well being. Why not use that sports industry as a catalyst to getting kids excited about learning, educated about career opportunities in sports management, marketing, health/performance, journalism and coaching? Also, coach 'em up for success in life? So often, kids growing up in challenging environments dream that sports is their ticket out. That's awesome. Keep dreaming but realize, the odds are slim and none and, at last reports, slim was slipping out of town quickly. However, for those kiddos who love sports, even if they don't, why not allow the business side to be your ticket? It's been inspiring to see the "light bulbs" go off in the mind's of these students when they realize, given their servant hearts, that they could add physical therapist, trainer, team doctor, sports psychologist or other health/performance area to a current list of goals that stops often at "nurse" or "stylist." Nothing wrong with either of course but, let's broaden these darling kiddos vision a bit. Dare them to dream. 75% of the FAMILIES at Arvada High School make less than $35,000 a year. After COVID, it's been a challenge getting some kids back to school because they began working to support their families during the virtual learning year. Okay, back to this wonderful book, the trip down memory lane and how this feeble brain inside an ol' jock zipped to passionately wanting to share experiences with Arvada High School students. Somebody has to be the next Leigh Montville and write awesome books like this. Why not them? Or, be the next stellar athletic director like University of Colorado Boulder's Rick George. Or the next Denver Broncos head trainer like Steve Antonopolous? Sideline reporter like Jenny Cavnar? You get the point. Planting seeds of hope. Daring impressionable young minds to dream. Montville's book is taking me back to those impressionable years of my life and becoming, quite unexpected, a powerful reminder to the opportunity present right here and now at Arvada High School through the Sports Business Academy's work there. "Tall Men, Short Shorts" is a great read and will be recommended to kids interested in the journalism pathway. You might enjoy it too! #goodbetterbest