As most of you read this column, the Winter Olympics will be taking place in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. I know this because NBC showed me approximately 472 commercials about the Winter Olympics during my viewing of this year’s NFL playoffs.
Now, don’t confuse my not-so-subtle dig at the TV network with a lack of interest in the Winter Games. I’ve always been intrigued by the sports that are a part of the Winter Olympics, even though the majority of those were largely afterthoughts as I was growing up in Kansas City.
Sure, we knew about hockey — we had an NHL team, the Kansas City Scouts, for all of two seasons back in the ’70s before they left town. And most of us knew someone who ice-skated or went on ski trips to Colorado with their families. But if you asked anyone in my group of friends to name their favorite winter sport, almost all of us would have answered “basketball.”
So, where does my interest in the Winter Olympics come from? I’m sure my memories of watching the “Miracle on Ice” game between the U.S. and the Soviet Union have something to do with it. But more than that, I’ve always found myself interested in sports, music and cultures that are just a little foreign to what we’re used to in America’s heartland. And many of the events in the Winter Olympics fit that description perfectly.
I’ve always loved watching events like the luge and short-track speed skating and that one sport where they cross-country ski and shoot rifles at the same time. I can’t tell you I spend any energy at all following those sports outside of the Winter Olympics, but during those two weeks every four years, that is some must-see TV for yours truly.
I sometimes wonder how the athletes in these sports motivate themselves to do what they need to do to reach an Olympic level. I don’t think many would argue that these are niche pursuits — even if you don’t live in Kansas City — and the chances of landing on a box of Wheaties and cashing in on fame and fortune as a cross-country skier/marksman are slim at best.
Of course, I’m well aware that those who dedicate their lives to sports like these aren’t probably in it for the glory or the money. They’re obviously doing it to for the love of the game and/or for the love of their country. They’re putting in endless amounts of hard work and dedication to achieve something that few others have achieved, regardless of the popularity of their endeavor.
I got to thinking about all that as we were putting together this month’s cover story on the LM Growth Summit (I bet you were wondering how I was going to bring things around to the landscaping industry, huh?). Because in the same way that these Olympic athletes dedicate themselves to improving themselves and achieving everything they can in their sport of choice, it was clear that a similar dedication was present among Summit attendees.
There was an obvious passion for improvement and achievement that you could see during the panel discussions that started each day, the personal meetings with the Summit’s 13 industry partners, the networking opportunities throughout the event and even during the event’s golf outing (although “achievement” might be too strong of a word to describe what most of us did out there). The 34 attendees representing 25 companies wanted to reach the highest level they possibly could, and they determined the LM Growth Summit was a great way to do that.
They might not have left Orlando with a gold medal, but those who came to the LM Growth Summit definitely walked away with a deeper network of industry colleagues, an improved understanding of the products and services available to them from the event’s fantastic industry partners and, hopefully, a new favorite industry magazine.
