Meeting My Hero

People are often surprised to hear that I don't really enjoy meeting professional athletes. Over the years I've had some run-ins with famous athletes and never really thought much of it. Sure, I'll always remember the time I rubbed striker Jozy Altidore's shaved head after the USA beat Algeria to advance to the second round of the 2012 World Cup in South Africa. And yes, getting to meet former Knicks stars Nate Robinson and Wilson Chandler (the latter of whom was one of my favorite Knicks at the time) at the 2009 NBA All Star Game in Phoenix was cool, too. Overall, though, star-gazing over professional athletes has never been my thing.

On Tuesday, however, I got to meet one of my all time sports heroes - as part of my Sports Finance class, Oakland Athletics General Manager and Moneyball subject Billy Beane came as a guest speaker.  Before class started, I had the opportunity to introduce myself, talk a little bit about my background at the NBA and my upcoming plans to work for MLB this summer, and mention my career goals to the true Godfather of baseball analytics.  Given my professional and personal interest in combining quantitative analysis and sports, I'm a huge fan of Michael Lewis's Moneyball (how could I not be?), and still remember the time I had a phone conversation with Lewis about his book way back in 2004.  Getting to meet Billy Beane was a much more memorable experience, though.  Not only did we get to have our brief one-on-one chat, but his commentary throughout our 90-minute class section was insightful, pointed and candid.  I had very high expectations for Beane's visit to our classroom, and he completely delivered on all counts.

Perhaps the thing that impressed me most about Beane was the way he was able to capture the attention of the entire classroom.  We've had some pretty prominent speakers in this class, but no one received the respect and admiration that Billy Beane did.  It's not just that he's famous, or that there's been a best-selling book written about him by a famous author, or that Brad Pitt will be playing him in an upcoming Moneyball  movie.  It's that people truly respect Beane as an innovator, and as someone willing to go out a limb and try something different from the rest of the herd.  As I look forward to the next stages of my career, I hope I have the opportunity to take a few risks for the good of a professional team.  Thanks to my meeting with Billy Beane, I know when the time comes I'll have the courage to take a chance.