ProfessorTommy.Tips

Exactly one year ago, on Oct. 10, 2025, WNBA star Angel Reese posted three simple words on social media: “manifesting the finals>>>” At the time, Reese was coming off her second WNBA season with the Chicago Sky. Her team hadn't made the playoffs, much less the WNBA Finals. But Reese had a goal. She put it into words and shared it with the world. Fast forward 364 days. On Oct. 9, 2026, Reese helped the Atlanta Dream defeat the New York Liberty to advance to the WNBA Finals. Sh

The first full week of the NFL season is nearly in the books, and there are already plenty of storylines. There were surprising performances, surprising results, and the usual reminder that everything we thought we knew in August can change once teams actually start playing games. But perhaps no team's outlook changed more dramatically than that of the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams entered the season as the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl. After an offseason in which they

I recently added something new to my office: an Obi Toppin basketball card. For those unfamiliar with Dayton basketball, Toppin is one of the best players ever to wear a University of Dayton uniform. His 2019-20 season was remarkable, and he became the consensus national player of the year while leading a Dayton team that finished 29–2 and rose to No. 3 in the country. So, as a Dayton professor and basketball fan, an Obi Toppin card makes perfect sense in my office. But after

This week, I completed my 2,500th Peloton ride. That’s a lot of time on a bike that goes absolutely nowhere. But reaching 2,500 rides got me thinking about something that has very little to do with exercise and a lot to do with succeeding in law school and preparing for the bar exam. I didn't get to 2,500 because I had 2,500 great workouts. Some rides were long. Some were short. Some were hard. Some were easy. There were days when I felt great and wanted to push myself, and p

If you weren't watching college football Saturday night, you missed one of the strangest endings of the young season—and, perhaps more importantly for purposes of this post, one of the strangest official statements explaining it. No. 16 Michigan entered its home game against Western Michigan as a heavy favorite, but with only seconds remaining, the Wolverines found themselves trailing 12 to 7 and needing a touchdown. Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood launched what appeared

I recently saw a comment on a Pacers post that said, “Every loss is a win in disguise.” In this context, the comment was not just generic motivation. It reflected something much more specific about where the Pacers are right now. The thinking is simple: a loss in the short term may improve the team’s lottery position in what is expected to be a talented upcoming draft. Add the possibility of Tyrese Haliburton returning healthy from his Achilles injury, and a frustrating seaso

I recently broke my pinky toe. It’s the kind of injury that feels almost comical to even say out loud. A pinky toe? That’s barely a toe. It’s the bar prep equivalent of thinking, “It’s just one small issue. Surely it won’t matter.” So I did what a lot of smart, capable people do with small problems: I ignored it. I broke it on Dec. 21, 2025. At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal. I could still walk. I could still function. I told myself it would “work itself out.” I didn't

I love this quote from Steph Curry: "I want to practice to the point that it’s almost uncomfortable how fast you shoot so that in the game things kind of slow down." If you're not a basketball person, here is the quick context: Stephen Curry is the face of modern shooting in the NBA, a multiple-time champion, and still the engine of the Golden State Warriors. Even now, in the later stage of his career, he isn't coasting. He is still known for doing the unglamorous work, over

Mel Robbins’ The Let Them Theory is basically a stress-management tool disguised as a mindset shift. And it fits law school perfectly. In her book, Robbins explains that “Let Them” is the phrase you use when you feel your control-freak instincts kicking in and you start obsessing over someone else’s behavior, reaction, or opinion. Instead of tightening your grip, you make a conscious choice to loosen it. You tell yourself, " Let them think that, " Let them act like that, "

I went to my first Indiana Pacers game of the season last night. After five straight losses to open the season, the Pacers, who came up just short of winning the NBA Finals last season, finally got a win —and not a soft one. It came against the 4-and-2 Golden State Warriors in a game where the Pacers were a heavy 12-point underdog. All signs before tipoff pointed to a sixth straight loss: the injuries, the record, the matchup, the momentum, the odds. And then, for one night,