Genchi Genbutsu & Manti Te’o's Draft Stock TAGS: actual place actual thing | bcs championship | combine | consulting | draft | football | gemba | genbutsu | genchi | go and see | go and see for yourself | lean | lean blitz | lennay kekua | manti | nfl | notre dame | operations | sports | t'eo We have been inundated with the story of Manti Te’o and the girlfriend hoax, especially this past weekend as the NFL Draft unfolded. Te’o is one of the most award-decorated …Continue reading →

The University of Miami Scandal, 18 Months, and Accountability TAGS: booster | cbssports.com | cheat | continuous improvement | coral gables | enforcement | football | hurricanes | jonathan duncan | julie roe lach | lean blitz consulting | miami | nevin shapiro | operations | ponzi | process | reform | scheme | six sigma | sports | university A subject that is due for analysis yet I’ve left untouched is the Nevin Shapiro scandal at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. The NCAA violations resulting from the …Continue reading →

NBA and NFL Draft Eligibility Restrictions – Why? TAGS: acl | basketball | brandon jennings | college | consulting | continuous improvement | david stern | derrick rose | draft | eligibility | football | greg oden | injury | jadeveon clowney | kentucky | knee | lean blitz | marcus lattimore | nba | ncaa | nerlens noel | nfl | operations | pat forde | process | risk | rules | six sigma | south carolina | sports The NBA and NFL both have eligiblity restrictions on draftable players, and those restrictions are very quickly being called into question. The NBA implemented a rule in 2005 that required …Continue reading →

Could the Super Bowl Power Outage Have Been Prevented? TAGS: asq | baltimore | beyonce | blackout | continuous improvement | failure modes effects analysis | fmea | football | game | grid | halftime | john priebe | lean blitz consulting | national football league | nfl | operations | outage | power | prevention | problem solving | process | ravens | root cause analysis | san francisco 49ers | six sigma | sports | super bowl | superdome We’ve all been watching the stories fly in over the last 24-36 hours about the power outage at the Superdome during the Super Bowl, so that won’t get rehashed here. …Continue reading →

The NFL Pro Bowl and Focusing On Things That Matter TAGS: all-star game | aloha stadium | change | concussion | continuous improvement | football | jeff saturday | kaizen | kyle rudolph | lean | nfl | operations | pro bowl | process | quality | six sigma | sports | super bowl | testing | that's the way we've always done it | value There is serious talk at the highest league levels about discontinuing the NFL Pro Bowl, and for very good reason. – The game really only serves as a vacation for …Continue reading →

Trust TAGS: blitz | business901 | catfish | consulting | continuous improvement | customer expectations | football | hoax | joe dager | kaizen | lance armstrong | lean | manti te'o | notre dame | operations | oprah winfrey | process | robert guillame | six sigma | sports night | trust | trustworthiness | trustworthy Our trust in the athletes we’ve grown to admire was certainly tested this past week. Any way we look at trust – reliability, faith, integrity, consistency, honesty, strength – is …Continue reading →

Tailgating at the 2013 BCS National Championship in Miami TAGS: 2013 | alabama | bcs | blitz | cell | championship | consulting | continuous improvement | disaster | discover | five whys | florida | football | lean | logistics | lot | miami | notre dame | operations | parking | porta-potty | process | service | six sigma | sports | sun life stadium | tower | trash | verizon | waiting | waste It’s been a week since my beloved Irish were convincingly thwarted in their effort to win their first college football national championship since the Reagan administration, so I feel I …Continue reading →

2013 BCS National Championship and Silly Rules About Parking TAGS: 2013 | alabama | bcs | blitz | championship | college | consulting | continuous improvement | crimson tide | discover | florida | football | game | irish | lean | miami | national | notre dame | operations | overprocessing | parking | pass | process | radio | rules | six sigma | sports | sun life stadium | tailgate | traffic | will call As a lifelong lover of all things Notre Dame (for example, using them as examples in previous articles), I cannot put into words my level of excitement for the 2013 …Continue reading →

USC Trojan’s Student Manager Fired for Deflating Footballs TAGS: blitz | bowl | buy-in | change | college | colorado | constituents | consulting | continuous improvement | control | deflate | employee | field | fine | football | institution | jersey | kiffin | lane | lean | manager | ncaa | operations | oregon | pac-12 | player | probation | process | program | referee | reprimand | scholarship | six sigma | southern california | sports | terminate | trojans | unethical | usc The Trojans of the University of Southern California have recently gotten off of NCAA probation. They are bowl eligible this year but have had scholarship reductions for the next few …Continue reading →

Long Lead Times on Johnny Football Texas A&M Jerseys TAGS: 2 | adidas | aggie | aggies | blitz | bulk | college | consulting | continuous improvement | darren | espn | flexibility | football | jersey | johnny | late | lean | lsu | major league baseball | manziel | margins | mlb | national football league | nfl | nickname | operations | optimization | ordering | overseas | process | revenue driver | rovell | shipping | six sigma | sports | texas a&m Texas A&M’s redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has certainly earned his nickname “Johnny Football” for both his passing and running abilities in leading his school to a solid season of …Continue reading →

NFL Replacement Officials and Quality Defects TAGS: aaron rodgers | blitz | consulting | errors | football | golden tate | green bay packers | hail mary | judgment | lean | lockout | monday night football | national football league | nfl | principle | replacement | roger goodell | russell wilson | seattle seahawks | stop to fix problems | strike | the toyota way Principle #5 from The Toyota Way states “Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.” Through three weeks of the NFL football season …Continue reading →

Football Fans Falling from Stadium Upper Decks TAGS: alcohol | answers | arrowhead | atlanta falcons | barriers | baseball | blitz | chick-fil-a | chiefs | colorado rockies | consulting | continuous improvement | coors field | death | drinking | escalator | facilitate | fall | field | football | georgia dome | harness | hazards | houston | kansas city | kickoff | lean | nc state | nets | operations | osha | process | reliant stadium | safety | sports | stadium | tennessee | texans | texas rangers | upper deck | walls The 2012 football season was barely a week old when two fatal falls from stadium upper decks took place. First, a fan fell from a fifth-floor escalator at Reliant Stadium …Continue reading →

College Football Rule Changes and PDSA TAGS: alabama | ambiguous | analysis | behavior | college | consulting | cupcake | defense | defensive end | division ii | division iii | effects | failure | fbs | feedback | field | fmea | football | football bowl subdivision | football championship subdivision | force | gray area | helmet | hit | james madison | lean | lean blitz | mack brown | maximize | mode | modify | ncaa | nick saban | northwestern | off | offense | oklahoma state | operations | opposition | pdca | pdsa | plan do check act | plan do study act | pop | preseason | process | rip | rule | running back | safety | savannah state | six sigma | sports | texas | trial and error Recently I wrote about the lack of PDCA – the continuous improvement framework of Plan-Do-Check-Act – and how it affects college football teams because they don’t have the luxury of …Continue reading →

Kent State Runs Muffed Punt the Wrong Direction! TAGS: andre parker | college football | consulting | dead ball | football | golden flashes | kent state | lean blitz | linebacker | muff | oops | operations | process | punt | return | rules | six sigma | sports | tackle | towson | university | wrong way Last night during the Towson-Kent State college football game, Towson muffed a punt received from Kent State to close the first half and Kent State’s Andre Parker picked up the …Continue reading →

Preparing Dublin’s Aviva Stadium for Notre Dame-Navy Football TAGS: american | aviva stadium | college | dublin | everett golson | football | goalposts | gridiron | ireland | lady gaga | lean | lean blitz consulting | navy | notre dame | operations | pitch | process | quarterback | six sigma | Soccer | sports | transformation | university | video In one of this college football generation’s most unique experiences, the University of Notre Dame will take on the U.S. Naval Academy tomorrow morning in Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium. …Continue reading →