It's Never Just A Game

Greg and NJ have a lightening round, discussing sports and then focusing in on the PAC 12 and some of the things they learned and heard from PAC 12 Media Week.  PAC 12 taking shots at the college towns in the BIG 12 and having to wait on the BIG 10 before they make any media deals, just like a little brother would have to!  And then, music time!

The Brothers review the book, The Status Game, by Will Storr.  In the book, Storr clarifies that status seeking isn’t a frivolous activity: it’s intricately intertwined with our ultimate evolutionary goals. “The higher we rise, the more likely we are to live, love and procreate. It’s the essence of human thriving. It’s the status game.”  And of course, some talk of sports!

The Pesci brothers use this episode to cover some of the economic conditions the U.S. economy is facing today.  They discuss what conditions need to be in place for a recession to take place and then cover some of the historical comparisons for today’s economy.  Innovation is what will help get us out of what we are facing today, it has been the key in the past.  Hope, not fear is central to movin...

NJ and Greg have some tips for traveling, from where not to connect internationally, to how to pack just in case one of you loses a bag on the way.  Then they tell travel stories from an encounter with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua to a special hotel experience in Shanghai.  As always, sports are covered with an initial discussion about college football conferences.

Happy 4th of July to you all.  The Pesci brothers ask Mike in Middle America to join them in a discussion about the new Saudi backed LIV Golf Tour.  The Saudi backed tour is offering unheard of sums of money for just joining the tour before a golfer wins a single match.  Some say it is going to ruin golf, others say the PGA had this coming for their over-controlling position with golfers, and stil...

The Pesci Brothers discuss taking the time to do things you love to do.  Find the time, make the time, focus on one thing if you can, but do it.  The discussion then moves to Jomboy Media as an example of doing what you love and making a living at it.  After that, it is Big 12 Football, media rights and payouts.

Greg and NJ are back from COVID and are sharing some research they found on different leadership styles.  These are the four different styles they review:   1.    Pragmatists 2.    Idealists 3.    Stewards 4.    Diplomats  Listen for the qualities or characteristics that might describe you, or someone you know! After that, it is music time!

The Pesci Brothers discuss major changes in college football that threaten the game as we know it today.  NIL is unchecked and unreal.  Coaches are accusing one another of buying their recruiting classes and the College playoff system may mean Conference Divisions are no longer relevant.  Mike-in-Middle-America joins for the discussion and once again points out Iowa State’s dominance!

NJ and Greg have Chris Bowler, CEO of Charcuterie Artisans on the show.  Listen in as Chris talks about his journey from Stanford and the dot.com craze, to living in Italy, to becoming an artisan in the food industry.  Along the way Chris shares what it takes to build something you love and can be proud of from the ground up.

NJ and Greg interview Jim Morris the Major League Baseball player the movie The Rookie was made about.  Listen to Jim cover his life story, the challenges, the perseverance and the hope.  Jim goes from minor league pitcher to college punter to high school teacher to the Major Leagues.  Dennis Quaid plays Jim in the movie. 

This week the brothers talk about sports agents, how they make their money, who are the most successful, and why not us?  Each sport has a different approach and some professional leagues have caps on what an agent can make.  Listen as Greg and NJ discuss their thoughts about it, consider how they might do it, and maybe even a thought about buying into a soccer team in the UK.  Plus the normal bac...

The Pesci Brothers interview BYU Linebacker, Ben Bywater.  Ben is coming off of a fantastic season for the Cougars where he made over 100 tackles.  Listen in as Ben talks about balancing playing Division 1 football for BYU while majoring in Finance after serving an LDS Mission in Guatemala.  Great insights from a great student-athlete. 

It’s Never Just a Game hits episode 100, and the brothers talk about what they learned, what they love and what surprised them the most after 2 years of podcast episodes.  And for the first time ever, they have a live report from a sporting event as Greg was in New York for the Yankees opening day.  Thanks to all of our loyal listeners, we will work as hard as we can to keep it interesting for the...

This week the Pesci Brothers discuss the characteristics and tendencies of both Good and Bad Bosses.  You can learn a great deal about managing others with either a good boss or a bad boss, it’s just more fun with a good boss.  NJ and Greg share some of their own experiences with both good and bad bosses and finish with some positive ways to keep learning and be more strategic.  Sports will wrap t...

The Pesci brothers talk with Jesse Cole, founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of two multimillion-dollar summer league baseball teams, the Gastonia Grizzlies, and the Savannah Bananas.  Listen in as Jesse talks about standing out and how he and his wife Emily, went from sleeping on an air mattress, to selling out all their team’s games. They did this by creating a fan experience like no o...

The brothers are all sports today, with a little global politics thrown in for good measure!  First, Baseball has a vaccination problem two years after the pandemic started.  Can you play baseball in New York, can you play in Toronto?  That is about to be tested.  Then, the discussion turns to the amount of money networks are willing to pay to lure and land the best NFL announcers, and Amazon is i...

Greg and NJ discuss the unique business strategy and franchising approach employed by Chick-fil-A.  Spoiler alert, it works!  March Madness is coming, Baseball is back and the brothers end with another music story!

The Pesci Brothers take time this week to talk about sports and politics.  The first topic is the impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on the sports world.  Russia is banned from Formula 1, from The World Cup, from Tennis, Skating and more.  A number of athletes are impacted as well with some having fled from Ukraine perhaps never to return.  And finally, what is the future of women’s sp...

The Pesci Brothers review the book, "Winning on Purpose" by Fred Reichheld. Winning on Purpose focuses on the beatable strategy of winning by loving your customers. Listen in to some stories and examples of what happens when you put the customer first in all that you do. And finally, a quick discussion on the power of focus when you are settling on a winning strategy. 

 The Pesci brothers interview Elaine Pofeldt, an author and an independent journalist who specializes in small business and entrepreneurship.  The conversation centers on Elaine’s new book, "Tiny Business, Big Money" and her first book, "The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business."  Listen in as Elaine tells wonderful stories and gives great insight on the challenges small busines...

It is Super Bowl Sunday and this episode is all about sports, with a little music thrown in.  The Bengals and the Rams square off in Super Bowl 56, MLB is trying to make some progress on the work stoppage, March Madness is just around the corner, BYU Basketball is on the edge of elimination and some music trivia filling out the episode.

Listen in as the Pesci brothers have a great conversation with an old friend, Gary Hagopian.  Gary is a former P&G Executive who tells insightful stories about his career journey and important life choices.  One of those choices included walking on to the Notre Dame football team.  Then a Nor’Easter is hitting the coast and we get a live weather report from It’s O-V-A OVA!  And the show finish...

Greg and NJ discuss the concept of job security, is it a thing of the past?  What are the positives that surround job security and what are some of the negatives.  And then the conversation shifts to College and NFL coaches, their contracts, the turnover the football coaching profession experiences, the big money buyouts and how teams can protect themselves from paying their fired coaches. 

NJ and Greg discuss NFT’s, what they are, how they work, and how they are being used in Sports, Art and as investments.  A discussion about being fungible follows, by the way, are you fungible at work?  Chances are, someone thinks so, don’t let them!  Sports are next as the NFL playoffs have begun and finally, it’s music time again!

The Pesci brothers have longtime friend and former Yankee Candle COO, Jim Perley, on the show this week.  Listen in as Jim covers his career journey from law school to COO of Yankee Candle.  There are great lessons along the way, like, volunteering to do new things, understanding how your work impacts the business, and ultimately, know what you want from your career and make decisions with that in...