NextGen Has Ruined Me (in a Good Way)

Every time I watch Thursday Night Football and see those slick “NextGen Stats” graphics flash across the screen, I don’t think of passing yards, blitz percentages, or player speed. Nope. I think of the NextGen UBE. The National Conference of Bar Examiners has permanently rewired my brain.

“NextGen” is no longer just a marketing buzzword. It's become shorthand for the single biggest shift in bar exam testing in decades.

At first, I thought this was a curse. The term has been hijacked for me. I can’t enjoy football without my mind drifting back to performance tasks, integrated question sets, and Content Scope Outlines.

But here’s the thing: Maybe that’s not such a bad development.

• Constant Reminder of Change: Seeing “NextGen” everywhere is a built-in reminder that the bar exam itself is changing. If the NFL can embrace new ways of measuring player success, law schools and students can do the same with assessing lawyer readiness.

  
  

• Data-Driven Parallel: NextGen Stats in football are about measuring performance more accurately than just looking at box scores. The NextGen UBE has a similar goal—moving beyond rote memorization to evaluating the skills new lawyers actually need.

  
  

• Shared Language of Progress: Whether it’s sports or law, “NextGen” signals innovation. Even if NCBE has “ruined” the word for me, they’ve also forced me to see how powerful it can be when we attach it to something bigger than tradition.

So, while part of me wishes I could just enjoy football without thinking about bar exams, I’ll admit: Maybe it’s not ruined after all. Maybe “NextGen” has simply become a reminder that we’re in a transition era where data, performance, and real-world application matter more than ever.