This blog from July 15, 2014 – Lebronomy – Economic Impact of the Return of the NBA Great – is hereby re-distributed in honor of … the Championship; Cleveland Cavaliers won over Golden State Warriors 93 to 89 in the decisive Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. See here:
It took 52 years and enough heartbreak to fill an encyclopedia, and Finals MVP LeBron James has given his hometown a championship with the most improbable comeback in NBA Finals history. – ESPN’s SportsCenter – June 19, 2016
Go Lean Commentary
The commentaries of the Go Lean…Caribbean blogs have often addressed sports issues. But mostly from the point-of-view as the business of sports, and its impact on the communities’ economic engines.
This commentary continues that pattern, plus it couples one more assignment: Mea Culpa.
We were wrong! The publishers of the Go Lean book (dated November 2013) included an anecdote on the Miami Heat (Page 42), stressing the “Not one, not two, not three, not four…” quotation from superstar free agent LeBron James when he joined the team in 2010. The Mea Culpa, (Latin verbiage for “My Bad”), obviously applies in that, there would only be 2 championships. Everything else of that anecdote applies, but a technocratic approach, different than previous Caribbean administrations, requires that we learn lessons from successes and failures. Already this commentary has congratulated the 2014 winner of the NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs, who went on to beat the Miami Heat; as follows:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1508 | St Croix’s Tim Duncan to Return to Spurs For Another Season |
What are the lessons that we learn from our failure to prognosticate the winning basketball team? Number one: Don’t bet!
The Bible words are correct: “Time and unforeseen occurrences befall us all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). That’s what we got wrong, but what we got right is so much more impactful, the economic impact of sports on the local community:
By: ABC News
Title: Lebronomy: Economic Impact of the Return of NBA Great LeBron James
A ticket to the Cleveland Cavalier’s season opener used to go for $40, now goes for as much as $600.
Yahoo Video Sharing Site (Retrieved 07/14/2014) –
http://news.yahoo.com/video/lebronomy-economic-impact-return-nba-030818278.html
This discussion of sports and the basketball team in Cleveland is not just academic. Community pride, jobs, and the growth of the regional economy is involved; the foregoing VIDEO summarized that LeBron James’ absence was worth $50 million a season for this metropolitan area. This point aligns with the objections of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This effort harnessed the individual abilities so as to elevate the athletes (micro) and also economic impact for their related communities (macros). Modern sports cannot be analyzed without considering the impact on “dollars and cents” for the community. In his essay to the people of Cleveland, announcing his return, after taking his talents to South Beach, this was the exact point LeBron James made:
“My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.”
“Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked,” James told SI (Sports Illustrated). “It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me.
“I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can.”
(http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140711/SPORTS20/140719891/-1/sports12)
These words in this eloquently written essay could have been concurred by so many of the Caribbean Diaspora that had taken their talents to “South Beach, South Toronto or South London”. The economic impact of their absence has been duly noted in research and analysis and the conclusion is bad:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433 | Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain |
The Go Lean roadmap attempts to impact change in the region, by elevating Caribbean society. The CU, using all the economic benefit that can be derived from sports in the region, will pursue a charter that is bigger than basketball, football, baseball or any other sport. Rather the CU will employ strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:
- Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
- Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
- Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.
The Go Lean book identified this vision early in the book (Page 13 & 14) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:
xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores…
xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.
xxxi. Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism – modeling the Olympics.
Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in to the following community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies detailed in the book Go Lean … Caribbean to foster the elevation and industrialization of sports in the Caribbean region:
| Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – Return on Investments | Page 24 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius | Page 27 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness | Page 36 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good | Page 37 |
| Strategic – Vision – Integrating Region in to a Single Market | Page 45 |
| Strategic – Staffing – Sporting Events at Fairgrounds | Page 55 |
| Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy | Page 64 |
| Tactical – Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Administration | Page 81 |
| Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration | Page 83 |
| Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities (Fairgrounds) | Page 105 |
| Implementation – Ways to Deliver | Page 109 |
| Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region | Page 127 |
| Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better | Page 131 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy | Page 151 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs | Page 152 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Local Government – Parks & Recreation | Page 169 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events | Page 191 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds | Page 192 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology Expositions | Page 197 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Sports | Page 229 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Sports Leagues | Page 234 |
Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This is a big deal for regional sports. This book provides the turn-by-turn directions for how to get from Point A, where we can only hope and dream about foreign sports stars, to Point B, where we can finally celebrate our own sports stars.
Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!