to give the final keynote.
I'm not a fan of either player really, as a Celtics fan I hated Kobe (sports hate of course), and as a non-Yankees fan I never hated Jeter, just thought he was a good player, but that was the extent of it.
anyway, the keynote was fascinating. it was more interview than keynote, where the SAP CEO Bill McDermott asked them each pretty interesting questions and (obviously) tried to relate their success on the court in the respective sports to the corporate world.
normally keynotes I'm out in 5 minutes, but I stuck around for this entire interview.
Kobe was pretty funny (unintentionally sometimes) Jeter as you'd expect more straight laced and serious.
one crappy picture, I was in the back.
the moral of the story is check the agenda beforehand (how did I not know this was going to happen?) and even if you're up til the bars close drinking, sometimes forcing yourself to get up and get over to the convention center pays off.
A lot I imagine. two years ago or last year, I forget they blend together, they had Dennis Miller give the final keynote and he thought he was at SAS airlines, not SAP.
All that = his greatness.
He was never the player some other Yankee legends were, as far as simply baseball talent. IMO.
(I'm a big Jeter admirer.)
not my point, change it to very good or great, He was never a player I liked from a team I didn't root for. Griffey Jr? I'd pay to see him play (and did many times), Arod, absolutely, Pedro Martinez? Any time he pitched in Boston I'd find a way to get there. Jeter just didn't motivate me that way, again though, not my point.
I think of him as a Barry Larkin. If he wasn't on the Yankees, Yankees fans probably think of him that way too.
And Kobe responded "whoa, I never went to college so I don't get all that math. I do find that fascinating though, but it wasn't how I got there"
And Kobe responded "whoa, I never went to college so I don't get all that math. I do find that fascinating though, but it wasn't how I got there"
Yeah, 8 * 3 = 24 is some serious college stuff.
:)
Sapphire - ( New Window )
:)
No, most of the questions were about preparation, leading, toughest player they faced (Kobe said Tony Allen and he hated every Celtic - said he wanted rip Rondo's head off - but they're friends now)
and Jeter said Pedro had the best stuff, but Mike Timlin was the toughest pitcher for him, threw the same pitch every time inside sinker or something and Jeter would top it down to third every single time, until Timlin hit him in the head, then they met at the WBC and Timlin apologized and Jeter said we're good, and Timlin never pitched him inside again.
it was actually more interesting than it sounds in my recap.
And I was standing in the back of the room, they probably were there for the cash, but they didn't seem as paycheck focused as Dennis Miller was when he did the keynote.
Are you sure it wasn't 15 years ago?
Are you sure it wasn't 15 years ago?
Yes, positive, it was 2014.
It was Dennis Miller, David Spade, and Norm McDonald. the latter two appeared briefly and then Miller spent 20 minutes degrading corporate America and said wrapped up by saying "thank you SAS" and I didn't get the sense it was his act.
Quote:
a year or two ago?
Are you sure it wasn't 15 years ago?
Yes, positive, it was 2014.
It was Dennis Miller, David Spade, and Norm McDonald. the latter two appeared briefly and then Miller spent 20 minutes degrading corporate America and said wrapped up by saying "thank you SAS" and I didn't get the sense it was his act.
Wow what a dick he sounds like and I have heard that from others to. I guess that schtick sells.
Quote:
McDermott asked Kobe about his jersey # change from 8 to 24 and he asked was that because you'd won three rings, you took 8 times 3 and came up with 24?
And Kobe responded "whoa, I never went to college so I don't get all that math. I do find that fascinating though, but it wasn't how I got there"
Yeah, 8 * 3 = 24 is some serious college stuff.
If memory serves, Kobe scored over 1200 on his SATs while attending Lower Merion, one of the top HSs in the Philly suburbs.
And while I haven't been a huge SNL fan since the Eddie Murphy days, maybe a slight reprise during the Phil Hartman/Chris Rock era, but I loved Dennis Miller's weekend updates.
probably more than anyone else who ever did Weekend Updates.
They might have played once more after that and canceled the concert.
Since then the bands have been pretty awful so I skip it, Coldplay, J-Lo, this year it's Muse who I would have seen but I wasn't going to stay over an extra night for it.
Nice! Nobody took the bait!
Two men that found professional success for a long time. You don't fart at that.
I complain about it, but it's not actually that bad as far as work conferences go. I usually get to see a bunch of friends and good night life and get some work value out of it too.
Yeah I know man. Why would they put such a class act up there so close to a rapist?
They actually brought a lot of substance to the audience. the conference was three days, and each day had a keynote, this was by far the most attended keynote. and not just because of the celebrities.
They were both able to communicate very well how it was they were successful in their endeavors and most of the people in the audience were able to relate that to their day to day jobs. A lot was common sense: communication, preparation, teamwork, but when you hear Derek Jeter and Kobe Bryant talking about how when they were unsuccessful it was because they were unprepared or how in their terms when the game slowed down for them it was because they were well prepared it means something to some people.
Additionally hearing from them about being leaders and connecting with teammates and leading them to act as one cohesive unit and dealing with different personalities was cool too. Kobe talked about laughing to lighten up the mood in the locker room down 3 - 2 to the Celtics in ('09 or '10 I forget after losing to the Celtics in 7 the year before) because he felt the team was putting too much pressure on themselves and that loosening up he feels like was the catalyst for them winning the next two games.
Jeter talked about how he not being a rah rah vocal leader was still able to connect with his teammates by getting to know each of the 24 guys and learning how to motivate them to prepare and perform.
It was one of the best keynotes I've seen and the SAP CEO Bill McDermott obviously was asking questions he felt could be related to the corporate crowd in attendance.
I'm glad I saw it, I expect it will be available on the internet soon if not already, worth the watch if you have time to kill.