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 →

NFL Replacement Referee Pulled from Covering Favorite Team’s Game TAGS: allegiance | association | bias | brian stropolo | carolina panthers | check | collective bargaining agreement | consulting | espn | facebook | failure | gambling | lean blitz | lockout | nba | new orleans saints | nfl | official | operations | process | pulled | quality | referee | side judge | sports | tim donaghy It is a basic expectation of sports fans, managers, organizations, and officials that a high-quality game umpire or referee is unbiased to the outcome of matches and to the participants. …Continue reading →

College Football and the Lack of PDCA TAGS: act | activity | alabama | ann arbor | appalachian state | check | college baseball | college basketball | college football | continuous improvement | crimson tide | cupcake | defects | do | errors | exhibition | football | inferior | lean blitz consulting | michigan | mlb | nba | nfl | nhl | nick saban | operations | opponents | pdca | plan | preseason | process | production | risk | scheduling | six sigma | south carolina | sports | waste Pretend for a moment you’re a company with a few manufacturing lines. Some are big, some are small, some are complex, and there’s one that gets a lot of attention …Continue reading →

The Big Oops with the Barclays Center TAGS: astros | bank | barclays | blitz | brooklyn | center | ceo | consulting | continuous | diamond | embarrassment | england | enron | europe | field | fixing | forfeit | franchise | houston | improvement | introduce | jay-z | lean | lite | maid | manipulating | miller | minute | move | naming | nba | nets | new jersey | new york times | operations | optimization | park | participants | pictures | process | rate | resign | rights | robert | scandal | six sigma | sports | stadium | supervisor | team You know the phrases “too many chefs in the kitchen” and “too many Chiefs, not enough Indians” or “a camel is a horse designed by a committee?” Too many people …Continue reading →

“I Want Some Nasty!” T-Shirts and Speed to Market TAGS: blitz | city | coach | conference | culture | demand | domestic | duncan | durant | facebook | finals | flex | ginobili | gregg | hot | i want some nasty | lean | merchandise | nba | oklahoma | operations | overseas | parker | planning | pop | popovich | press | production | promo-sa | san antonio | shipping | six sigma | sports | spurs | t-shirts | thunder | transportation | twitter | waoi | westbrook | western I have long since railed against overseas production of merchandise and overproduction of inventory well in advance of the known demand. (Need more evidence?) The San Antonio Spurs have (indirectly) …Continue reading →

NCAA Tournament, Inconsistent Officiating, and Instant Replay TAGS: asheville | basketball | blitz | consensus | governing body | instant replay | jack cooley | lane | lean | mlb | nba | ncaa | nfl | notre dame | officials | operations | process | scoop jardine | sports | syracuse | tournament | unc | violation | xavier In Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament action, history was nearly made with a 16 seed almost knocking off a 1 seed for the first time ever. With the assistance of some questionable …Continue reading →

Jeremy Lin and Utilizing New Ideas from All Employees TAGS: basketball | blitz | chinese | golden state | harvard | houston | jeremy | knicks | lean | lin | linsanity | nba | nbdl | new york | operations | palo alto | processes | promotions | rockets | sports | stanford | taiwanese | ucla | warriors  Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks is the newest rags-to-riches story in sports. A twice-waived undrafted young kid of Chinese-Taiwanese descent playing his best basketball in the biggest United …Continue reading →

The NBA, the Sports Guy, and Aversion to Change TAGS: 162 game season | bill simmons | blitz | change | derrick rose | designated hitter | draft | finals | grantland | jason terry | lean | lockout | major league baseball | management | nba | nfl | olympics | opening day | operations | playoffs | processes | richard kruger | schedule | sports | sports guy | summer | tri-state university | work stoppage Bill Simmons, editor-in-chief of Grantland.com and ESPN’s The Sports Guy, analyzed the 2011-2012 NBA season thus far and concluded that the league should strongly consider starting the regular season on …Continue reading →

Production Spikes – Jimmer Fredette Jerseys TAGS: brigham young | byu | christmas | espn.com | excess inventory | inventory | jimmer fredette | kings | lean | lockout | nba | rick reilly | sacramento | wastes In a month’s time, we’ve seen the NBA settle their labor dispute, open training camps, each team play only two preseason games, and kick off their shortened 66-game regular season. …Continue reading →