Maybe Roger Goodell was inspired by the legendary tenures of his predecessors as Commissioner of the NFL, Paul Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle. Perhaps DeMaurice Smith was channeling the spirits of the recently late former NFLPA presidents, Eugene Upshaw and John Mackey. Whatever it was, the stewards of the opposing sides in the National Football League's labor war finally made up their minds to forge a ten-year agreement. This was the kind of solution where neither side got all it wanted, but where both sides won. This agreement had to be. There was far too much at stake for it not to happen.
Pro football has supplanted baseball as America's Number One sport. It is ingrained in our society. It has almost become America's newest Sunday religion. We fans of the game are riveted by it. We watch it. We bet on it. We play fantasy football. We enter office pools. We decorate our cars and desks and we even dress in our team's official colors and logos. We go to saloons and sports bars devoted to our teams.
When our team wins, we have a great day. We scream. We shout. We Dance. We exult. When they lose, we are down. We question strategies. We question effort. We hurl questions and insults and epithets at our wide-screen TVs, as if the players and coaches can hear and heed us. We angrily call the local all-sports radio station to voice our frustration.
But mostly, we attend. Those of us who live near the team and are lucky enough to be able to afford it, can buy season tickets and support the team in person. And season ticket holders do, literally, support their teams. And so do television viewers. The advertising money brought in by high TV ratings for the NFL is staggering. Put it all together, and there are nine billion reasons each year for the NFL to keep playing the game we all love.
So, the agreement had to be made. I don't know the exact moment it happened. I don't know the exact words that were said, but in one of their private meetings, one or both of Goodell and Smith said to the other, "You know what? This isn't going to work as long as our two sides are fighting one another. We are about to blow the sweetest deal ever granted a sport. And the only way we can stop that from happening is by working together!"
Americans are living with an economic quandary of almost impossible proportions. I think it's safe to say that many of us have less disposable income than we've ever had. And yet, like pizza, football never seems to grow unpopular, no matter the overall economic forecast. Forget the Golden Goose. Pro football has been like a Giant Golden Cash Cow that showers its participants with untold millions of dollars. Take that away from the fans - the consumers whose dollars make this gigantic money-making machine go - for a year, and you run the risk of those consumers realizing how much their NFL habits are costing them, each year. You run the risk of those fans sinking their money into something else; something entirely more necessary. If this year's NFL season had been wiped out by a strike, some of those fans might never have come back. After using the unspent money to buy a new home or save the one they already live in, some of those fans might not have been able to come back.
So congrats are in order for Goodell and Smith and all of the players and owners. Instead of trying to break the other side in this dispute, they all realized that their Giant Golden Cash Cow was suddenly in danger of becoming extinct. And they worked together; listened to each other; helped one another. The agreement that resulted is historic, and its length means that the fans won't have to be bothered with labor negotiations for a long, long time. Management and players in pro basketball's labor dispute should look at what pro football did, and take heed.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
College Football's New World Order
The sports equivalent of Jack Kirby's Great Disaster hit major college football earlier this year. The unprecedented events nearly swallowed up the mighty Big XII Conference. The fallout and the reverberations are still being felt months later, as another football season is upon us. You really can't tell the conferences without a scorecard, anymore. So, just in case you missed it:
The Big 10 Conference got the ball rolling by inviting mighty Nebraska to come over from the Big XII. The Cornhuskers, who took maybe a minute to think about it before saying, "Yes," thus moved into the coveted spot in the Big 10 that had been being held, ostensibly, for Notre Dame. If the Big 10 couldn't get the Fighting Irish (And it couldn't. Notre Dame's contract with NBC is just too lucrative.), it got the Next Best Thing with Nebraska. The Big Red bring a ton of tradition to a truly super conference, which also contains football powers Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, plus not-too-shabby Wisconsin and Iowa.
The initial thought was that the Big XII might make a play for the Fighting Irish, but Notre Dame remained independent in football. The Irish are joined in independence this year by Brigham Young, the usually-detested-by-all former Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference member, which strives to be the "Notre Dame of the West." (Right. Good luck with that, Cougars.)
The other shoe dropped on the Big XII, however, when the PAC-10, looking to increase its national relevance, decided to expand by inviting Colorado, with its massive following in the Denver metropolitan area. There was once again a rapid courtship. That two schools of the stature of Nebraska and Colorado would leave such a powerful league with barely two blinks of an eye, says something about the state of the Big XII and the status of those institutions. The Cornhuskers and the Buffaloes were tired of playing second fiddle, in the eyes of the national media, to Texas and Oklahoma. So, the Huskers turned their backs on their longtime rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, and bolted east. With Nebraska gone, the biggest thing holding Colorado in place was also gone. It was just so easy for the Buffs to move, as the westernmost member of the league, with its next-closest rival at least two states away.
To achieve its goal of gaining a conference championship game, however, the PAC needed to invite another school. It set its eyes on mighty Texas, with its iconic status in the Lone Star state and throughout the nation. Amazingly, there was a courtship. Stunningly, the PAC responded to some misgivings by Texas of losing its traditional rivalries, by inviting Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech to join. Astoundingly, there was some real discussion about blowing up the Big XII, with Texas A&M moving on to the Big East Conference and Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, and Baylor being left to fend for themselves (other than the Mountain West Conference, which was oh-so-eager to extend an invitation to the Big XII leftovers).
After a couple of weeks of serious consideration (and after some major league genuflecting to Texas by the others in the conference) it was decided to keep what was left of the Big XII intact. There had first been talk about inviting former Southwest Conference members Houston and Texas Christian aboard, to keep the league's membership at 12. Ultimately, this idea was scrapped, and a way was devised to keep the Longhorns' pockets lined with cash, even with the sacrifice of the league's championship game. Texas will now have its own television network, which will do major business deep in the heart of Texas and nationwide. The advantages Texas owns over most of its league brethren will only grow bigger under this new arrangement.
And to think, all of this was done to cater to a football program that disappointed the nation last season. The Longhorns finished with a 5-7 record in all games, including a league mark of 2-6, good for dead last in the Big XII's South Division. It sounds like a slippery slope to me, but even if Texas again underachieves, and even if the Longhorn Network is somehow a failure, the Big XII can always add two more members and re-institute its lost title game, somewhere down the line.
Spurned by the Big XII members, the PAC scrapped its proposed 16-team model and went back to its initial plan of expanding its membership to 12. Utah, one of the high-profile members of the Mountain West Conference, was quickly added to what is now the PAC-12. After that, it was like a big game of dominoes, with one school falling right after the school before it. The Big East Conference, left at the altar by Texas A&M, also raided the Mountain West, picking up another of that league's crown jewels, Texas Christian. Before you could say "cutthroat," the MWC grabbed all of the top programs from the WAC, first luring Bowl Championship Series-busting Boise State, then Nevada and Fresno State, and finally Hawaii. Utah State, which for some reason declined its invitation to join the Mountain West this year, is still a possibility, along with Houston, for further MWC expansion to 12 schools in the future. The WAC, meanwhile, has tried to stay afloat by adding some schools from the next division down (Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Denver, and Seattle), which was its only option.
Most of this dizzying array of changes will take place for the coming football season, but some of the above won't happen until the 2012 campaign. It will be interesting to see how all of this movement shakes out on the national level. The biggest question within this fascinating scenario has to be: Can Texas regain its stranglehold on the pinnacle of prominence in the Big XII? Any way you slice it, there is now a New World Order in major college football. Let's face it: Any time the Big 10 Conference has 12 members and the Big 12 Conference has ten members, something wild and crazy must be going on!
The Big 10 Conference got the ball rolling by inviting mighty Nebraska to come over from the Big XII. The Cornhuskers, who took maybe a minute to think about it before saying, "Yes," thus moved into the coveted spot in the Big 10 that had been being held, ostensibly, for Notre Dame. If the Big 10 couldn't get the Fighting Irish (And it couldn't. Notre Dame's contract with NBC is just too lucrative.), it got the Next Best Thing with Nebraska. The Big Red bring a ton of tradition to a truly super conference, which also contains football powers Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, plus not-too-shabby Wisconsin and Iowa.
The initial thought was that the Big XII might make a play for the Fighting Irish, but Notre Dame remained independent in football. The Irish are joined in independence this year by Brigham Young, the usually-detested-by-all former Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference member, which strives to be the "Notre Dame of the West." (Right. Good luck with that, Cougars.)
The other shoe dropped on the Big XII, however, when the PAC-10, looking to increase its national relevance, decided to expand by inviting Colorado, with its massive following in the Denver metropolitan area. There was once again a rapid courtship. That two schools of the stature of Nebraska and Colorado would leave such a powerful league with barely two blinks of an eye, says something about the state of the Big XII and the status of those institutions. The Cornhuskers and the Buffaloes were tired of playing second fiddle, in the eyes of the national media, to Texas and Oklahoma. So, the Huskers turned their backs on their longtime rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, and bolted east. With Nebraska gone, the biggest thing holding Colorado in place was also gone. It was just so easy for the Buffs to move, as the westernmost member of the league, with its next-closest rival at least two states away.
To achieve its goal of gaining a conference championship game, however, the PAC needed to invite another school. It set its eyes on mighty Texas, with its iconic status in the Lone Star state and throughout the nation. Amazingly, there was a courtship. Stunningly, the PAC responded to some misgivings by Texas of losing its traditional rivalries, by inviting Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech to join. Astoundingly, there was some real discussion about blowing up the Big XII, with Texas A&M moving on to the Big East Conference and Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, and Baylor being left to fend for themselves (other than the Mountain West Conference, which was oh-so-eager to extend an invitation to the Big XII leftovers).
After a couple of weeks of serious consideration (and after some major league genuflecting to Texas by the others in the conference) it was decided to keep what was left of the Big XII intact. There had first been talk about inviting former Southwest Conference members Houston and Texas Christian aboard, to keep the league's membership at 12. Ultimately, this idea was scrapped, and a way was devised to keep the Longhorns' pockets lined with cash, even with the sacrifice of the league's championship game. Texas will now have its own television network, which will do major business deep in the heart of Texas and nationwide. The advantages Texas owns over most of its league brethren will only grow bigger under this new arrangement.
And to think, all of this was done to cater to a football program that disappointed the nation last season. The Longhorns finished with a 5-7 record in all games, including a league mark of 2-6, good for dead last in the Big XII's South Division. It sounds like a slippery slope to me, but even if Texas again underachieves, and even if the Longhorn Network is somehow a failure, the Big XII can always add two more members and re-institute its lost title game, somewhere down the line.
Spurned by the Big XII members, the PAC scrapped its proposed 16-team model and went back to its initial plan of expanding its membership to 12. Utah, one of the high-profile members of the Mountain West Conference, was quickly added to what is now the PAC-12. After that, it was like a big game of dominoes, with one school falling right after the school before it. The Big East Conference, left at the altar by Texas A&M, also raided the Mountain West, picking up another of that league's crown jewels, Texas Christian. Before you could say "cutthroat," the MWC grabbed all of the top programs from the WAC, first luring Bowl Championship Series-busting Boise State, then Nevada and Fresno State, and finally Hawaii. Utah State, which for some reason declined its invitation to join the Mountain West this year, is still a possibility, along with Houston, for further MWC expansion to 12 schools in the future. The WAC, meanwhile, has tried to stay afloat by adding some schools from the next division down (Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Denver, and Seattle), which was its only option.
Most of this dizzying array of changes will take place for the coming football season, but some of the above won't happen until the 2012 campaign. It will be interesting to see how all of this movement shakes out on the national level. The biggest question within this fascinating scenario has to be: Can Texas regain its stranglehold on the pinnacle of prominence in the Big XII? Any way you slice it, there is now a New World Order in major college football. Let's face it: Any time the Big 10 Conference has 12 members and the Big 12 Conference has ten members, something wild and crazy must be going on!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
World Cup Final Impressions
Here are some random thoughts after viewing the final game of the Women's World Cup between the U.S.A. and Japan in Frankfurt, Germany:
The U.S.A. outplayed Japan throughout regulation time, extra time, and overtime. Japan never led in the actual match, which ends officially as a 2-2 tie, won by Japan on penalty kicks. It seemed to me that the U.S. squad relaxed just a little bit after scoring its goals. Perhaps, on some subliminal level, the U.S. women, having beaten Japan twice earlier this year, expected the ladies from the Land of the Rising Sun to give in. This may have let Japan back into the match.
Certainly, the U.S. can look to its own missed scoring opportunities from the first half. Convert a couple of those and the match would have been over in regulation time. There seemed to be quite a bit of anxiousness in the American attack. The aggression our women showed in keeping play in the Japanese end no doubt led to their twice taking the lead, but a bit more controlled aggression might have put the game out of reach.
Holding a 1-0 lead with time running down in the second half, the U.S.A defense let down in an inexcusable fashion. Know where your goalkeep is and let her do her job. The ball was struck in panic by the first defender just as Hope Solo was about to grab the ball. The second defender, not expecting the ball to come her way, only managed to get a foot on it, keeping the ball in play for Japan. The rest was history.
Both U.S. goals and the second goal by Japan were things of beauty. Women's World Cup competition has become every bit the equal of the men's sport, in terms of overall play. The U.S. was the aggressor and possibly deserved to win in regulation, but Japan must be commended for not showing any sign of panic, twice scoring when desperation might have undermined the effort of a lesser team. In particular, Japan's second goal was drawn up beautifully and played to perfection. Solo had no chance. It was not so much a poor defense by the Americans as it was a great play by the Nipponese. To execute a set play so accurately, with the game literally on the line, is a credit to the Japan squad.
Finally, our women just seemed depleted during the penalty kick phase. After having dug so deep to pull out wins repeatedly in the tournament, there just wasn't enough left in the tank. The U.S.A. took the first shot, which is a great advantage if you can make it. Missing it, the air just seemed to go out of the Americans' balloon. Both sides deserved to win this World Cup, but Japan was more prepared mentally, at the very end, to succeed in the penalty phase's pressure cooker.
Still, it was a great run by an American team which was the last to qualify for World Cup play and which scored the latest goal in World Cup history to save a game against Brazil. Congrats to our women for the grit and the fight and the moxie they showed throughout the tournament. And further kudos to Japan's women for never giving up and showing the kind of resolve it takes to bring home a world championship.
The U.S.A. outplayed Japan throughout regulation time, extra time, and overtime. Japan never led in the actual match, which ends officially as a 2-2 tie, won by Japan on penalty kicks. It seemed to me that the U.S. squad relaxed just a little bit after scoring its goals. Perhaps, on some subliminal level, the U.S. women, having beaten Japan twice earlier this year, expected the ladies from the Land of the Rising Sun to give in. This may have let Japan back into the match.
Certainly, the U.S. can look to its own missed scoring opportunities from the first half. Convert a couple of those and the match would have been over in regulation time. There seemed to be quite a bit of anxiousness in the American attack. The aggression our women showed in keeping play in the Japanese end no doubt led to their twice taking the lead, but a bit more controlled aggression might have put the game out of reach.
Holding a 1-0 lead with time running down in the second half, the U.S.A defense let down in an inexcusable fashion. Know where your goalkeep is and let her do her job. The ball was struck in panic by the first defender just as Hope Solo was about to grab the ball. The second defender, not expecting the ball to come her way, only managed to get a foot on it, keeping the ball in play for Japan. The rest was history.
Both U.S. goals and the second goal by Japan were things of beauty. Women's World Cup competition has become every bit the equal of the men's sport, in terms of overall play. The U.S. was the aggressor and possibly deserved to win in regulation, but Japan must be commended for not showing any sign of panic, twice scoring when desperation might have undermined the effort of a lesser team. In particular, Japan's second goal was drawn up beautifully and played to perfection. Solo had no chance. It was not so much a poor defense by the Americans as it was a great play by the Nipponese. To execute a set play so accurately, with the game literally on the line, is a credit to the Japan squad.
Finally, our women just seemed depleted during the penalty kick phase. After having dug so deep to pull out wins repeatedly in the tournament, there just wasn't enough left in the tank. The U.S.A. took the first shot, which is a great advantage if you can make it. Missing it, the air just seemed to go out of the Americans' balloon. Both sides deserved to win this World Cup, but Japan was more prepared mentally, at the very end, to succeed in the penalty phase's pressure cooker.
Still, it was a great run by an American team which was the last to qualify for World Cup play and which scored the latest goal in World Cup history to save a game against Brazil. Congrats to our women for the grit and the fight and the moxie they showed throughout the tournament. And further kudos to Japan's women for never giving up and showing the kind of resolve it takes to bring home a world championship.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Back On The Block
I always enjoyed having a place where I could spout off about any subject I'd like to. Since the subject matter with me always seemed to be about sports, I called my blog, AmericanSportsHog. I set this blog aside in the fall of 2009 because I was at a crucial part of my life: I had just been graduated from the University of Phoenix with a degree in business. I wanted to use what I'd learned and start a business of my own that would be both satisfying to myself and profitable. I had to figure out how to do that. The one thing I knew was that writing for free in my blog wouldn't make me a rich man!
Throughout the 11 courses I took online to complete my education, one thing was very clear: My ability as a writer contributed greatly to my being able to finish each class, and also to my achieving a grade point average which I was proud of. I had always advised other to try to make money at something they enjoyed and that they would do for free. Thinking about it, I realized that I had been writing for free for a long time. I've posted nearly 100 music reviews at Amazon.com. I've been a correspondent on one of those Web sites where the fans become the reporter and write game stories and commentaries on various sports and teams. And, I've had this blog.
I realized I needed to follow my own advice. I needed to take all of the free writing I'd been doing and think of a way to write for myself, yet still have a chance at making a profit. When I heard about the Kindle and other electronic reading devices, I knew I'd found my target area. Kindles are the best-selling item on the entire Amazon.com Web site. The publishing and sale of electronic books (e-books) are exploding, yet are still in their infancy. E-books can be read with many different devices, including e-readers, smart phones, Android-type devices, palm computers, tablets, and more.
Thus, I determined to write e-material for consumer who are hungry for quality reading for their e-device. My first thought was to write short articles on a variety of subjects. However, after hashing it out for a long time, I realized that I would feel more comfortable writing as an expert in a field I know; sports. And, I wanted to write books; books in which sports fans and just plain avid readers could immerse themselves.
I named my publishing company, Sportside Books. I devoted most of the year 2010 learning how the publishing program for Amazon Kindle works, and posting a few public domain works to get the hang of it. I started work on my first e-book in August. I decided to write about the most popular sports subject I could think of: Muhammad Ali. While I was still writing the book's introduction, I realized that if I wanted the book to be finished sometime in 2011, I'd need to somehow shorten it. "Muhammad Ali" is a subject both vast and complex. I settled on limiting my focus to the beginning of Ali's boxing career, when he was still known as Cassius Clay.
I'm proud to say that I published The Cassius Clay Story for the Kindle this year on June 1 (amzn.to/jDEX9v). The Barnes and Noble Nook edition was published about three weeks later (bit.ly/p2evgA). Since then, I've established accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Bitly, and Smashwords. Now, I've created a new e-mail account devoted to the business, and I have re-activated AmericanSportsHog. A Web site devoted to Sportside books is still to come. It is all part of a process of getting my name exposed and promoting my company and my book. I have about 50 Facebook friends in less than three weeks, and already five followers on Twitter, none of whom I had ever heard of before!
The first fruit of my labor came this week! Someone bought a copy of The Cassius Clay Story over this past weekend, purchasing it on Amazon.com's UK Web site. My plan is to publish the book in English in as many formats as is possible, then to do the same with a translation of the book into Spanish. It's a long process, and I am learning more every day. So, in addition to popping off about any sports subject of my choosing, I will also give updates on how the process of selling books and becoming a well-known sports writer is going. If you would like to come along, you are welcome to follow me on Twitter: @sportsidebooks.
Throughout the 11 courses I took online to complete my education, one thing was very clear: My ability as a writer contributed greatly to my being able to finish each class, and also to my achieving a grade point average which I was proud of. I had always advised other to try to make money at something they enjoyed and that they would do for free. Thinking about it, I realized that I had been writing for free for a long time. I've posted nearly 100 music reviews at Amazon.com. I've been a correspondent on one of those Web sites where the fans become the reporter and write game stories and commentaries on various sports and teams. And, I've had this blog.
I realized I needed to follow my own advice. I needed to take all of the free writing I'd been doing and think of a way to write for myself, yet still have a chance at making a profit. When I heard about the Kindle and other electronic reading devices, I knew I'd found my target area. Kindles are the best-selling item on the entire Amazon.com Web site. The publishing and sale of electronic books (e-books) are exploding, yet are still in their infancy. E-books can be read with many different devices, including e-readers, smart phones, Android-type devices, palm computers, tablets, and more.
Thus, I determined to write e-material for consumer who are hungry for quality reading for their e-device. My first thought was to write short articles on a variety of subjects. However, after hashing it out for a long time, I realized that I would feel more comfortable writing as an expert in a field I know; sports. And, I wanted to write books; books in which sports fans and just plain avid readers could immerse themselves.
I named my publishing company, Sportside Books. I devoted most of the year 2010 learning how the publishing program for Amazon Kindle works, and posting a few public domain works to get the hang of it. I started work on my first e-book in August. I decided to write about the most popular sports subject I could think of: Muhammad Ali. While I was still writing the book's introduction, I realized that if I wanted the book to be finished sometime in 2011, I'd need to somehow shorten it. "Muhammad Ali" is a subject both vast and complex. I settled on limiting my focus to the beginning of Ali's boxing career, when he was still known as Cassius Clay.
I'm proud to say that I published The Cassius Clay Story for the Kindle this year on June 1 (amzn.to/jDEX9v). The Barnes and Noble Nook edition was published about three weeks later (bit.ly/p2evgA). Since then, I've established accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Bitly, and Smashwords. Now, I've created a new e-mail account devoted to the business, and I have re-activated AmericanSportsHog. A Web site devoted to Sportside books is still to come. It is all part of a process of getting my name exposed and promoting my company and my book. I have about 50 Facebook friends in less than three weeks, and already five followers on Twitter, none of whom I had ever heard of before!
The first fruit of my labor came this week! Someone bought a copy of The Cassius Clay Story over this past weekend, purchasing it on Amazon.com's UK Web site. My plan is to publish the book in English in as many formats as is possible, then to do the same with a translation of the book into Spanish. It's a long process, and I am learning more every day. So, in addition to popping off about any sports subject of my choosing, I will also give updates on how the process of selling books and becoming a well-known sports writer is going. If you would like to come along, you are welcome to follow me on Twitter: @sportsidebooks.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Klitschkos All-Time Greats?
Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have jointly ruled the heavyweight division in pro boxing for many years. With their combinations of size, power, and formidable jabs, they have been able to overcome the rigid, robot-like mobilities they displayed in their early years, and today stand dominant. The time has come to discuss how they would have fared against some of the division's recent all-time greats. Muhammad Ali, I feel, would have outpointed either of the brothers rather easily, due to his speed, quickness, mobility, and solid chin. George Foreman would have out-slugged either Klitschko within three rounds, the difference being that Foreman had the edge in raw power and a better chin than either brother. Lennox Lewis and Larry Holmes both had the natural ability to come out on top against the Klitschkos, but either Lewis or Holmes also could be kayo victims if they were to get nailed. Joe Frazier, on the other hand, wouldn't have been able to get past the jab and get inside on Wladimir or Vitali. His lack of an outstanding chin would have gotten him kayoed within five rounds against either Klitschko brother. Mike Tyson? That could have gone either way. Tyson in his early days certainly could have intimidated either Klitschko, especially early in their careers. He would have had all kinds of trouble against a more mature Wladimir or Vitali. As for Evander Holyfield, I think he was simply to small to stand up to the brothers. He would have been battered and stopped late in a fight against either one. Who would win between the brothers? I hope we never find out. Vitali and Wladimir should continue to honor their mother's request that they never fight. Besides, brothers should be brothers! The Klitschko brother belong where they are, right now: on top of the world and in each other's corner. (For more on Muhammad Ali, please read the free sample of my e-book!) amzn.to/jDEX9v (Kindle) or bit.ly/p2evgA (Nook) (Please copy and paste either link to your browser's address window if no hyper-link appears.)
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