With the first two weeks of games canceled and the 2011-12 NBA season starting to slip away, the league and its players union continue to negotiate terms of a new contract. But with the U.S. economy struggling and basketball fans trying to manage household budgets and stretch their own dollars, public sympathy seems to be with neither side as the owners and players discuss ways to divide a multibillion-dollar pie.
Pro basketball Hall of Famer and NBA analyst Charles Barkley once proclaimed that athletes should not be considered role models. By their actions, two current NBA stars and former Duke All-Americas, Grant Hill and Elton Brand, disagree.
With a combined 28 years in the NBA, Hill and Brand have carried themselves in exemplary fashion off the court. They have established foundations in their names and donated their time and financial support to numerous national and community philanthropic programs, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Special Olympics, Covenant House, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and various other initiatives to serve disadvantaged youth and families, education, literacy, and recreation.
“One of the things we’ve always done in this country, and really all over the world, is look at our athletes as heroes,” said Grant Hill. “And with that comes a certain responsibility. Some athletes embrace it and some don’t.
“But I feel that what we do is a privilege, not a birthright. Sometimes maybe we lose sight of that and forget the effect we have on people, not just with our performance but how we conduct ourselves off the field or the court. It’s not a burden. There are only a handful who are fortunate enough to be looked at in this way.”
Elton Brand called it a “blessing” to be considered a role model. “Athletes—and celebrities in general— are held to a higher precedent,” he said. “That’s just the way it is. And I think we should be. We’re more visible, and the kids look up to you. The average person is not seen in that same light. They can do a lot of malicious things, and no one cares.”
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Imagination in Sports
The death this week of Steve Jobs, and the many testimonials to his leadership and creative genius, reminded us just how rare the qualities of risk-taking and innovative thinking are in sports today. Einstein famously stated that imagination is more important than knowledge.
During the course of many conversations over the years with sports figures and sports business executives, I occasionally would ask them where they thought the imagination in sports could be found. And who, exactly, were the bold thinkers who dared to deviate from conventional wisdom. Here are some of their responses:
“That’s a very good question, said Daniel Okrent, the former ombudsman for the New York Times. “I would like to think that it’s in the mind of coaches and managers approaching things in innovative ways. I certainly think that the Billy Beane approach to putting together a baseball team took a great deal not only of imagination, but as much imagination does in a hidebound area, it takes courage as well. And he showed great success.
“It’s interesting to me looking at any sport for how it’s played today, and you look at it 25 years ago, and how all these sports have changed in major ways. And I think that’s all the product of a sort of evolutionary imagination in the heads of excellent coaches and managers.”
Said Sean McManus, the president of CBS Sports, “It’s a lot more challenging because everyone is doing such an unbelievably good and sophisticated job, whether it’s cable or network sports television. It’s really difficult to distinguish yourself. You can try some new production techniques or new technology, but basically we’re all doing an excellent job, and it’s more and more difficult to use your imagination to come up with new ideas.
“A lot of the imagination is coming on putting together the best quality broadcast team that you can. It’s why we moved Greg Gumbel into the studio and Jim Nantz out to do the football games. That, I think, in some ways took more imagination than coming up with the next great graphic or piece of music to use. Imagination is trying to distinguish your telecast from what everyone else is doing, especially when everyone else is doing such a good job.”
Jim Nantz, the No. 1 play-by-play man for CBS on the NFL, NCAA basketball, and golf, said, “I think everyone’s still trying to figure out how they can interface with technology, with the Internet, where to take their sports and reach even greater masses. As we sit here on the heels of these landmark TV deals in the NFL, you wonder how in the world the NFL can ever try to go beyond and top this.
“What seems to be kind of a niche thing is everybody having their own controlled broadcast system, whether it’s the NBA Network or the NFL Network. It will be fascinating to look in the next generation where they will be able to take those products. But I think that the leagues and the PGA Tour and so on are all trying to find a way for mass expansion through the Internet, and I guess that’s the next thing to come.”
Marv Albert, who has memorably worked virtually every major broadcast event in sports, said, “I think in sports television, there really is imagination, despite… sometimes too much graphically and too many attempted innovations. But on the other hand, when you look back…I find in watching some of the games that have been done in the past be it on YES or ESPN Classic or NBA TV or NFL TV, you see the difference.
“It’s unbelievable, even from a few years ago, how far they’ve come in graphics and the look and what the camera angles are. Just when you think not much more can be done, when you go back five years ago, the strides that they have made are monumental.”
Sandy Alderson, general manager of the New York Mets, looked beyond the media. At the time of our conversation, Alderson, then the CEO of the San Diego Padres, said, “I think the imagination in many ways is being exercised in the commissioner’s office. If you look back over the last 10 or so years, a lot of the innovations have come at the league level.
“Whether it’s inter-league play or unbalanced schedule, modest realignment, reduction in the time of game, closer management of umpiring…a lot of those things have happened in the commissioner’s office on commissioner Selig’s watch. So, I think a lot of the innovation that’s taken place in the game in recent years has been institutional more than originating with individual clubs or management styles.”
“Some of [the imagination] is in marketing,” said Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver. “Teams market a little bit differently, but a lot of the imagination has to be how you put your team together, and how you can envision them functioning as a team. I think most franchises select individual talent and then try to have the coach put them all together and be successful.
“In reality, you’ve probably got to do it the other way. You’ve got to try to figure out how to put a team together. There are so many variables with a team—in terms of talent, ego, strengths and weaknesses, and chemistry—that I think that’s where you have to use your imagination and sometimes be willing to do things that people may not think are the right thing, but in the long run create a better team vs. the best group of individual talent.”
During the course of many conversations over the years with sports figures and sports business executives, I occasionally would ask them where they thought the imagination in sports could be found. And who, exactly, were the bold thinkers who dared to deviate from conventional wisdom. Here are some of their responses:
“That’s a very good question, said Daniel Okrent, the former ombudsman for the New York Times. “I would like to think that it’s in the mind of coaches and managers approaching things in innovative ways. I certainly think that the Billy Beane approach to putting together a baseball team took a great deal not only of imagination, but as much imagination does in a hidebound area, it takes courage as well. And he showed great success.
“It’s interesting to me looking at any sport for how it’s played today, and you look at it 25 years ago, and how all these sports have changed in major ways. And I think that’s all the product of a sort of evolutionary imagination in the heads of excellent coaches and managers.”
Said Sean McManus, the president of CBS Sports, “It’s a lot more challenging because everyone is doing such an unbelievably good and sophisticated job, whether it’s cable or network sports television. It’s really difficult to distinguish yourself. You can try some new production techniques or new technology, but basically we’re all doing an excellent job, and it’s more and more difficult to use your imagination to come up with new ideas.
“A lot of the imagination is coming on putting together the best quality broadcast team that you can. It’s why we moved Greg Gumbel into the studio and Jim Nantz out to do the football games. That, I think, in some ways took more imagination than coming up with the next great graphic or piece of music to use. Imagination is trying to distinguish your telecast from what everyone else is doing, especially when everyone else is doing such a good job.”
Jim Nantz, the No. 1 play-by-play man for CBS on the NFL, NCAA basketball, and golf, said, “I think everyone’s still trying to figure out how they can interface with technology, with the Internet, where to take their sports and reach even greater masses. As we sit here on the heels of these landmark TV deals in the NFL, you wonder how in the world the NFL can ever try to go beyond and top this.
“What seems to be kind of a niche thing is everybody having their own controlled broadcast system, whether it’s the NBA Network or the NFL Network. It will be fascinating to look in the next generation where they will be able to take those products. But I think that the leagues and the PGA Tour and so on are all trying to find a way for mass expansion through the Internet, and I guess that’s the next thing to come.”
Marv Albert, who has memorably worked virtually every major broadcast event in sports, said, “I think in sports television, there really is imagination, despite… sometimes too much graphically and too many attempted innovations. But on the other hand, when you look back…I find in watching some of the games that have been done in the past be it on YES or ESPN Classic or NBA TV or NFL TV, you see the difference.
“It’s unbelievable, even from a few years ago, how far they’ve come in graphics and the look and what the camera angles are. Just when you think not much more can be done, when you go back five years ago, the strides that they have made are monumental.”
Sandy Alderson, general manager of the New York Mets, looked beyond the media. At the time of our conversation, Alderson, then the CEO of the San Diego Padres, said, “I think the imagination in many ways is being exercised in the commissioner’s office. If you look back over the last 10 or so years, a lot of the innovations have come at the league level.
“Whether it’s inter-league play or unbalanced schedule, modest realignment, reduction in the time of game, closer management of umpiring…a lot of those things have happened in the commissioner’s office on commissioner Selig’s watch. So, I think a lot of the innovation that’s taken place in the game in recent years has been institutional more than originating with individual clubs or management styles.”
“Some of [the imagination] is in marketing,” said Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver. “Teams market a little bit differently, but a lot of the imagination has to be how you put your team together, and how you can envision them functioning as a team. I think most franchises select individual talent and then try to have the coach put them all together and be successful.
“In reality, you’ve probably got to do it the other way. You’ve got to try to figure out how to put a team together. There are so many variables with a team—in terms of talent, ego, strengths and weaknesses, and chemistry—that I think that’s where you have to use your imagination and sometimes be willing to do things that people may not think are the right thing, but in the long run create a better team vs. the best group of individual talent.”
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Annika Sorenstam Takes Her Message to Harlem
In 15 years as a professional, Annika Sorenstam established herself as the dominant player in the history of women’s golf. In addition, she has participated in golf-course design and started an apparel collection as well as a financial group to advise professional athletes. Away from the game, Sorenstam is a global ambassador for the sport who devotes her time and attention to health initiatives and instruction for youngsters through the Annika Foundation and the Annika Academy.
In an interview earlier this year, we talked about the bold originals in the games, all too often a contradiction in terms in a sports world populated by copycats and risk-averse conservatives.
“For me, the independent thinkers in golf have always been Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Greg Norman,” Sorenstam said. “They have all been successful athletes who have taken their knowledge and their passion in different ways. They have been my role models. Their success in golf, of course, set them up to build a business or to extend their work into golf-course design or other pursuits apart from golf. That sets them apart from others who just play golf or [disappear] after they stop playing.
“Outside golf, I can think of Emmitt Smith, John Elway, and Billie Jean King who have succeeded away from sports. Arnold Schwarzennegger has been successful in sports. Well…bodybuilding, but he went from there into acting and then politics,” she said. “I admire people who work hard and are successful and have a lot of interests [outside sports] and contribute one way or another away from their sport.”
Sorenstam might well have included herself among that field. An independent thinker and philanthropist, she has stayed on course after golf to share her gifts and her success to try to improve the quality of life for others.
Yesterday, Sorenstam visited The Children’s Storefront, an independent school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, in Harlem as part of a wellness transformation project led by two Cal State Chico professors and organized by the Annika Foundation, SPARK, and The First Tee. Sorenstam spoke to the students about physical fitness, diet, and the intrinsic lessons and values of sports and participated in a series of activities with the children, including jump rope.
In an interview earlier this year, we talked about the bold originals in the games, all too often a contradiction in terms in a sports world populated by copycats and risk-averse conservatives.
“For me, the independent thinkers in golf have always been Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Greg Norman,” Sorenstam said. “They have all been successful athletes who have taken their knowledge and their passion in different ways. They have been my role models. Their success in golf, of course, set them up to build a business or to extend their work into golf-course design or other pursuits apart from golf. That sets them apart from others who just play golf or [disappear] after they stop playing.
“Outside golf, I can think of Emmitt Smith, John Elway, and Billie Jean King who have succeeded away from sports. Arnold Schwarzennegger has been successful in sports. Well…bodybuilding, but he went from there into acting and then politics,” she said. “I admire people who work hard and are successful and have a lot of interests [outside sports] and contribute one way or another away from their sport.”
Sorenstam might well have included herself among that field. An independent thinker and philanthropist, she has stayed on course after golf to share her gifts and her success to try to improve the quality of life for others.
Yesterday, Sorenstam visited The Children’s Storefront, an independent school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, in Harlem as part of a wellness transformation project led by two Cal State Chico professors and organized by the Annika Foundation, SPARK, and The First Tee. Sorenstam spoke to the students about physical fitness, diet, and the intrinsic lessons and values of sports and participated in a series of activities with the children, including jump rope.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Mark Attanasio: From the Bronx to the Brewers
The Yankees are not the only New Yorkers competing for a spot in the World Series this fall. Bronx native and Columbia law school graduate Mark Attanasio, the chairman and principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, will host the Arizona Diamondbacks this afternoon in the opening game of the National League division series.
Attanasio, who quotes from “Faust” (“Linger awhile, thou art so fair”) and cites “The Divine Comedy” as his favorite book and the Beatles’ White Album as his favorite music, made his mark as an investment banker. He bought the team from MLB commissioner Bud Selig in September 2004. Twelve months later, the Brewers went 81-81, ending a string of 12 straight losing seasons while their team valuation rose, according to Forbes magazine.
I spoke with Attanasio shortly after that. One topic he discussed at the time seems as relevant now as it did then. He came to baseball from investment banking, where he had to manage risk. How did he manage risk with the Brewers?
“You have to look at that both from the baseball and the business sides of the equation,” Attanasio said. “From the baseball side, you start by trusting good management. That involves not just the manager and GM, but also the scouts, the training staff — all the people who make up the baseball operation.
“[In 2005], our team had the lowest number of disability days of any team in the National League, which is really a testament to our doctors and training staff but also to the scouts and GM, because we are trying to get players who are durable and not injury-prone. I think the No. 1 risk you have on the baseball side in injuries. We work hard at trying to contain that risk, which is inherently a challenge.
“Obviously as well on the baseball side you need to manage your payroll in such a way that you don’t concentrate it too much in a handful of players. One thing I’m learning as an owner is you really use that 25-man roster, especially in the National League with no DH, you use every player on that roster. The 25th guy can affect the outcome of games. Many times, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.”
What about managing risk on the business side, I asked.
“On the business side, frankly it’s the business of baseball — outside of player payroll, which is the biggest expense — it’s no different from any other business in terms of managing,” Attanasio said. “You have a handful of revenue streams, which are attendance, media, parking, and concessions. You share revenues, both in terms of revenue sharing and things you get from national sources in baseball. And then expenses. You want your revenues to exceed your expenses.”
Attanasio, who quotes from “Faust” (“Linger awhile, thou art so fair”) and cites “The Divine Comedy” as his favorite book and the Beatles’ White Album as his favorite music, made his mark as an investment banker. He bought the team from MLB commissioner Bud Selig in September 2004. Twelve months later, the Brewers went 81-81, ending a string of 12 straight losing seasons while their team valuation rose, according to Forbes magazine.
I spoke with Attanasio shortly after that. One topic he discussed at the time seems as relevant now as it did then. He came to baseball from investment banking, where he had to manage risk. How did he manage risk with the Brewers?
“You have to look at that both from the baseball and the business sides of the equation,” Attanasio said. “From the baseball side, you start by trusting good management. That involves not just the manager and GM, but also the scouts, the training staff — all the people who make up the baseball operation.
“[In 2005], our team had the lowest number of disability days of any team in the National League, which is really a testament to our doctors and training staff but also to the scouts and GM, because we are trying to get players who are durable and not injury-prone. I think the No. 1 risk you have on the baseball side in injuries. We work hard at trying to contain that risk, which is inherently a challenge.
“Obviously as well on the baseball side you need to manage your payroll in such a way that you don’t concentrate it too much in a handful of players. One thing I’m learning as an owner is you really use that 25-man roster, especially in the National League with no DH, you use every player on that roster. The 25th guy can affect the outcome of games. Many times, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.”
What about managing risk on the business side, I asked.
“On the business side, frankly it’s the business of baseball — outside of player payroll, which is the biggest expense — it’s no different from any other business in terms of managing,” Attanasio said. “You have a handful of revenue streams, which are attendance, media, parking, and concessions. You share revenues, both in terms of revenue sharing and things you get from national sources in baseball. And then expenses. You want your revenues to exceed your expenses.”
Friday, September 30, 2011
Sports Expendables
In “The Mikado,” the Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko compiles his little list of “society offenders” who, if executed, “would not be missed.” Among other expendables, he notes, “There’s the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs [and] all people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs.” I once asked several notable sports figures and writers what they would not miss if it were eliminated from sports, and got a range of responses.
The late Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Halberstam said, “I think noise at a sports event is terrific, but I wouldn’t miss the gratuitous noise of rock-and-roll stuff that they put on all the time. I would not miss the departure of the DH. I wouldn’t miss the celebration of self. I wouldn’t miss Barry Bonds, if he hit a home run, pausing to admire himself before going to first base. Not just Barry Bonds, but everybody else who does it. I believe in the old idea of get down to first base and then you can break into your trot. The manifestations of ego, the sack dances…. Some of those emotions are really genuine, but an awful lot of them we could do without. There’s too much self-celebration based on too little evidence.”
Daniel Okrent, the former ombudsman for the New York Times, said, “I wouldn’t miss the shouting, and when I say shouting I mean not just the broadcasters but also the strutting and shouting of the players — the me-me-me attention that they get. I wouldn’t miss the home-run game. I like the small-ball game better, but we’re in a home-run-game era. I wouldn’t miss the language of war being applied to football, which I think began in the Nixon administration and hasn’t left.”
Armen Keteyian, the head of research for CBS News, said, “I wouldn’t miss poker on television if it left the planet. Nah, that’s not a sport.” Echoing Okrent, he added, “I wouldn’t miss the self-aggrandizement, the look-at-me culture that has long past crept in and has now buried in many respects what is really pure and good. And anything that has to do with sports and reality television. This, to me, is cringe TV.”
Sandy Alderson, now the GM of the New York Mets, had just one item on his list: organ music.
Likewise, John King of CNN offered the briefest of lists: “The wave.”
New York Times columnist Harvey Araton said he would not miss the three-point shot. NBA Hall-of-Famer Jerry West agreed and added, “I can do without the dunk shot, too, by the way. One point for a dunk.”
Fellow basketball Hall-of-Famer Joe Dumars said, “The touch fouls. The game is so physical, and then all of a sudden a touch foul is called. That’s why you see guys saying, ‘You have got to be kidding!’”
Former New York Times columnist Ira Berkow, said, “Every time a guy gets fouled in basketball, he argues. Every time a batter gets a close pitch, he looks like he’s going to run at the pitcher.”
Steve Kerr, former President and GM of the Phoenix Suns and now a broadcaster for Turner Sports, said he wouldn’t miss “that little circle underneath the basket where the players take charges. I wouldn’t miss time-outs. I wouldn’t miss the circuses that go on at half-time of NBA games.”
Peter Gammons of the MLB Network said that he would not miss the DH. “And I’m not an old-schooler,” he said. “I just think the game is more versatile without the DH. I think one rule is better for the game. It’s silly to have separate rules, with American League teams having the DH in National League parks and vice versa.”
Sean McManus, President of CBS Sports, said he would not miss “any performance-enhancing drugs — an absurd phrase. I read that as being cheating. It’s a stain that’s been put on the entire sports world.”
National Magazine Award-winning writer Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated compiled a short list: “Bats that break so easily. I have a real fear that somebody’s going to lose an eye before they get a grip on this. I wouldn’t miss PSLs. I wouldn’t miss baseball games starting at 8:30 and ending after midnight and days off in between tournaments and games and playoffs and World Series where they just stretch out forever. I wouldn’t miss boxing, you know, with the total way that it’s legislated and run.”
Broadcaster Marv Albert said he wouldn’t miss “some of the long pre-game shows where the same stuff is being discussed over and over. People are making predictions. I always feel, ‘What do predictions mean?’ I realize they’re filling time, and it’s a very inexpensive way to fill time because you don’t have to spend money on production pieces. But there are so many people, particularly during the football season, making predictions. I don’t think it has any significance at all. It’s a guess. You may have all the information in the world, but it’s a time-filler. I wouldn’t miss that.”
John Walsh, Executive Editor at ESPN, said, “The clichéd, robot-like responses to questions by athletes, coaches and owners, and everybody in sports. That would be right up there.”
Sports agent Tom Reich said, “Some of the questions that are asked of the players are so far afield, are so inappropriate, it’s like nails across a chalkboard. Sometimes I wonder how the players can possibly deal with some of the questions.”
The late Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Halberstam said, “I think noise at a sports event is terrific, but I wouldn’t miss the gratuitous noise of rock-and-roll stuff that they put on all the time. I would not miss the departure of the DH. I wouldn’t miss the celebration of self. I wouldn’t miss Barry Bonds, if he hit a home run, pausing to admire himself before going to first base. Not just Barry Bonds, but everybody else who does it. I believe in the old idea of get down to first base and then you can break into your trot. The manifestations of ego, the sack dances…. Some of those emotions are really genuine, but an awful lot of them we could do without. There’s too much self-celebration based on too little evidence.”
Daniel Okrent, the former ombudsman for the New York Times, said, “I wouldn’t miss the shouting, and when I say shouting I mean not just the broadcasters but also the strutting and shouting of the players — the me-me-me attention that they get. I wouldn’t miss the home-run game. I like the small-ball game better, but we’re in a home-run-game era. I wouldn’t miss the language of war being applied to football, which I think began in the Nixon administration and hasn’t left.”
Armen Keteyian, the head of research for CBS News, said, “I wouldn’t miss poker on television if it left the planet. Nah, that’s not a sport.” Echoing Okrent, he added, “I wouldn’t miss the self-aggrandizement, the look-at-me culture that has long past crept in and has now buried in many respects what is really pure and good. And anything that has to do with sports and reality television. This, to me, is cringe TV.”
Sandy Alderson, now the GM of the New York Mets, had just one item on his list: organ music.
Likewise, John King of CNN offered the briefest of lists: “The wave.”
New York Times columnist Harvey Araton said he would not miss the three-point shot. NBA Hall-of-Famer Jerry West agreed and added, “I can do without the dunk shot, too, by the way. One point for a dunk.”
Fellow basketball Hall-of-Famer Joe Dumars said, “The touch fouls. The game is so physical, and then all of a sudden a touch foul is called. That’s why you see guys saying, ‘You have got to be kidding!’”
Former New York Times columnist Ira Berkow, said, “Every time a guy gets fouled in basketball, he argues. Every time a batter gets a close pitch, he looks like he’s going to run at the pitcher.”
Steve Kerr, former President and GM of the Phoenix Suns and now a broadcaster for Turner Sports, said he wouldn’t miss “that little circle underneath the basket where the players take charges. I wouldn’t miss time-outs. I wouldn’t miss the circuses that go on at half-time of NBA games.”
Peter Gammons of the MLB Network said that he would not miss the DH. “And I’m not an old-schooler,” he said. “I just think the game is more versatile without the DH. I think one rule is better for the game. It’s silly to have separate rules, with American League teams having the DH in National League parks and vice versa.”
Sean McManus, President of CBS Sports, said he would not miss “any performance-enhancing drugs — an absurd phrase. I read that as being cheating. It’s a stain that’s been put on the entire sports world.”
National Magazine Award-winning writer Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated compiled a short list: “Bats that break so easily. I have a real fear that somebody’s going to lose an eye before they get a grip on this. I wouldn’t miss PSLs. I wouldn’t miss baseball games starting at 8:30 and ending after midnight and days off in between tournaments and games and playoffs and World Series where they just stretch out forever. I wouldn’t miss boxing, you know, with the total way that it’s legislated and run.”
Broadcaster Marv Albert said he wouldn’t miss “some of the long pre-game shows where the same stuff is being discussed over and over. People are making predictions. I always feel, ‘What do predictions mean?’ I realize they’re filling time, and it’s a very inexpensive way to fill time because you don’t have to spend money on production pieces. But there are so many people, particularly during the football season, making predictions. I don’t think it has any significance at all. It’s a guess. You may have all the information in the world, but it’s a time-filler. I wouldn’t miss that.”
John Walsh, Executive Editor at ESPN, said, “The clichéd, robot-like responses to questions by athletes, coaches and owners, and everybody in sports. That would be right up there.”
Sports agent Tom Reich said, “Some of the questions that are asked of the players are so far afield, are so inappropriate, it’s like nails across a chalkboard. Sometimes I wonder how the players can possibly deal with some of the questions.”
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