As promised, below is Part Two of Rep TV’s discussion with Wayne McDonnell, Clinical Associate Professor of Sports Management at NYU (AKA Dr. Baseball) in which he predicts which teams will face-off in the 2018 Fall Classic.

This headline accurately reflects the near-total lack of diversity in the front offices of Major League Baseball teams AND is a play on words to one of the best books ever written about the historic Colored Baseball Leagues: Only the Ball was White.

So, how come there are so few minorities holding senior management positions in Major League Baseball? Wayne McDonnell, Clinical Associate Professor of Sports Management at NYU (aka Dr. Baseball), shares his thoughts on this, and other knotty subjects challenging baseball’s future, in the first of two Rep TV videos with co-hosts Paul “Scooter” Merchan and Steve “Choo-Choo” Cody.

Tune in for part two on Monday when Dr. Baseball predicts which teams will face-off in the 2018 Fall Classic. Sadly, he didn’t even mention the Mets. But hey, Dr. Baseball’s batting average for predicting World Series winners is below the Mendoza Line, so maybe there’s still hope for the Mets. Nah.

This is the second of my two-part blog about Northeastern’s esteemed history professor, Dr. WIlliam Fowler. I had the good-fortune to study under him, and he had a profound impact on my life.   

In today’s blog, Dr. Fowler, who has just retired, shares the key attribue for a teacher at any level to be considered truly great.

“Love your subject and your students,” he said. “If you love your subject, as I did, then you cherish it, you embrace it, you want to hone in on what you think is particularly important about it and, critically, you want to share it with others.”

“I’ve been in places with teachers in which you hear them make comments about their students that are quite startling. Those teachers are the exception but, when you hear them speak in a derogatory way about their students you think, my god, the students will definitely pick up on that negativity.”

Students are like sharks, said Fowler. They smell the blood and know when you like them and you’re interested. They also know when you’re prepared and when you’ve just thrown together a couple of slides and are winging it. Students know good teachers from bad.

Fowler says it’s also critical to know one’s students. “When a student comes to you or it’s obvious he’s struggling, the great teacher needs to be a patient listener. When a student is having a hard time, there’s almost always a story outside of the classroom that’s at the root cause.”

“I never let a troubled student leave without my having made an attempt, in the student’s presence, to call someone else on campus who can help. That’s what great teachers do.”

Happily, Professor Fowler never had to make that kind of call for me. But, I would argue that the attributes of a great teacher are almost identical to those of a great leader. I wouldn’t pretend to say I’m the latter, but I do love my subject. As for the people, let’s just say I like them. A lot.

Over the years I’ve spoken to successful individuals about any teacher who ignited a spark that drove their success. In my case, that teacher is Bill Fowler, who taught three or four of my classes at Northeastern University. He changed not only the way I thought about history and life but also demonstrated a leadership style that I emulate to this day.

What separates this Renaissance Man from every other instructor is interaction.

I recently spoke with Dr. Fowler, who has just retired.

My goal was to learn, first-hand, how he perfected his particular style of pedagogy, what traits characterize the best teachers and how today’s crop of students compare with my generation.

Becoming Abraham Lincoln

Fowler literally brought historical figures, from James G. Blaine to Robespierre, to life. He did what stand-up comedians call “acting out.” So, you’d sit down in class and, boom, all of a sudden you were listening to Ulysses S. Grant, King Louis XIV or Andrew Johnson.

It not only made for superb drama. It made learning an experience.

Fowler stumbled upon this experiential technique working as a park ranger with the National Parks Service. “I gave talks at the Old North Bridge. There were barking dogs, jets flying overhead, all sorts of distractions and I needed to keep the group focused.”

In addition to shouting so he could be heard, Fowler had to communicate directly with individuals in the audience. “That’s where I learned direct eye contact could give them a sight, a sound and a smell. I wanted them to feel as if they were on that bridge on that fateful day long ago.”

Then & Now

As far as the difference between students in the 1970s and ‘80s and their modern contemporaries, Fowler refers to the latter as ‘The Wikipedia Generation.’

“They think everything they could possibly need to know is in Wikipedia. Period. As a result, they’re able to access information, but they can’t process it. They can see almost anything, but they can’t understand it.”

And, that’s where great teachers like Fowler fill in the blanks.

“The first thing I do, at the beginning of a new semester, is acknowledge they’ll be turning to Wikipedia for all of their answers and suggest we go there together, see what’s on Wikipedia, examine the information and analyze it.”

“My classes are journeys into the nuances of history that today’s students would otherwise miss completely if they relied solely on Wikipedia. Truth only comes from reflection and thought and analysis. And, that’s what the Internet is taking away from us. Good teachers need to intercept, interpret and, in effect, be a filter for what the students learn on Wikipedia.”

But, don’t get the idea that Fowler is down on Millennials and Generation Z. He isn’t. “Every generation suffers amnesia. They think what they’re doing today, in the here and now, is the only thing that matters. And that holds especially true for our political leaders. They want you to believe the world began on the day they took office. Millennials are just a reflection of our nation’s leadership. There are no more Harry Trumans, JFKs or Teddy Roosevelts who studied and wrote about history,” he observed.

Fowler believes his job was to make students think about what came before and put what is happening today into a frame of reference for them. He certainly did that for me.

Note: In part two, tomorrow, Dr. Fowler will address the key attributes that a great teacher (or leader) should possess.

I was fortunate enough to catch former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on MSNBC this morning.

Ballmer was appearing on @POTUS’s least favorite network to plug his new gig, www.usafacts.org and, if you haven’t paid it a visit yet do so ASAP.

USAfacts provides exactly what its name suggests: facts, and nothing but facts. The site is an aggregator of no fewer than 70 different sources of facts from various government departments, bureaus and agencies. There are no opinion pieces. No editorials. No speculations. Just facts and figures.

It’s a safe port in a storm-tossed TrumpWorld of fake news, bogus claims and outrageous lies.

Ballmer says the site was created in response to a recent Harris Poll survey that says 88 percent of Americans crave facts as well as a trusted source of information.

The majority (Democrats and Republicans alike, BTW) cite the national news media as their go-to source for news and information, but a staggering 75 percent of Millennials count, instead, on Facebook (knowing full well that FB is a miasma of lies, half-truths and stories that would make the editors of The National Enquirer blush in embarrassment).

I’ve already bookmarked USAFacts.org and subscribed to their daily report.

As Ballmer said, numbers don’t lie. And the numbers on USAFacts are fully vetted by responsible career professionals who’ve devoted their careers to serving the country. In other words, there’s no Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow filtering and spinning breaking news.

I want facts. I think all Americans want facts. And, right now, all we have is interpretation.

So, three cheers for USAFacts.org. My only hope is more Americans, ranging from “the base” to Bernie backers, include it in their daily news consumption.

I can’t speak for you, but I agree with the 88% of Americans who believe a single source of information is critical to an informed debate. Ballmer’s new baby may be the closest thing available to satisfying that need.

Taking a page right out of Big Tobacco’s playbook, five major beverage manufacturers are ponying up $67.7 million to prove that a glass of wine, beer or cocktail every day will increase one’s chances of avoiding a heart attack and live longer.

Yet, other research has begun surfacing to suggest that even modest alcohol consumption can lead to increases in breast cancer and changes in the brain.  Holy conundrum, Batman!

So, the National Institutes of Health is stepping in to determine, once, and for all, if alcohol is good or bad. The total price tag for the multiple clinical trials? $100 million. So, that means Big Alcohol (or Big Al, as I like to call them) is funding two-thirds of the entire effort.

That’s like letting McDonald’s and Burger King pool their monies to prove there’s absolutely no link between their high calorie junk food and virtually every disease known to man.

Big Al’s serious investment is troubling to researchers who track influence-peddling in science (talk about a cool job!).

“Research shows that industry-sponsored research almost invariable favors the interests of the industry sponsor, even when investigators believe they are immune from such influence,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and food studies at NYU.

Needless to say Big Al’s lead spokesperson vehemently disagrees. George F. Koob, director of the Alcohol Institute (yet another way cool job) said the trial will be immune from industry influence and will be an unbiased test of whether alcohol “in moderation” protects against heart disease.

In case you’re interested (or, like me, want to volunteer) the study will recruit and follow nearly 8,000 volunteers age 50 or older at 16 sites around the world.

As was the case with Big Tobacco, Big Al may end up not liking the study’s results.

Imagine if every bottle of wine, IPA or Stoli suddenly contained the warning: “Drinking has been proven to cause numerous adverse ailments including shortness of breath, uncontrollable leg twitching, constipation, heart attack, stroke and death.” That might give the average consumer pause to think twice, unbend the elbow and exit the bar stage left.

Not me, though. No one’s keeping me away from my Sancerre at poolside. Uncontrollable leg twitching and research be damned.