A bonus post is coming Wednesday, June 10. Here's why it couldn't wait.

A reader sent me a case.

James McDonough lives in Connecticut. He recognized the pattern unfolding in his own backyard and took the time to bring it here. That is precisely the kind of observation this newsletter exists to surface. Thank you, James.

In 2024, Connecticut doubled its bottle deposit from five cents to ten. The goal: higher recycling rates. By the end of 2025, the statewide redemption rate had gone from 44 percent to 97 percent.

That part worked.

What the designers never wrote down — who exactly got to respond — is what makes it a BFR case.

Wednesday, June 10.

—Wayne

Post 3 — Playing to Lose

On July 31, 2012, a women’s doubles badminton match at the London Olympics stopped the crowd mid-applause. Players were serving into the net — not occasionally, not accidentally. Deliberately.

Bonus Post — A Bottle Is a Bottle

Connecticut designed a perfect recycling incentive. It forgot to specify who got to respond. This case came to BFR through James McDonough, a reader in Connecticut who recognized the pattern unfolding in his own backyard — and took the time to bring it here. That is precisely the kind of observation

Post 2 — How to Win a Lawsuit and Lose a Sport

He fought for three years to change the rules. The rules changed. So did everything else. Jonathan Skrmetti fought for three years to give college athletes economic freedom. He won. A year later, he called the result a “train wreck” and said it was “sucking the life out of college

Bonus Post — What's Your Target?

How Egypt turned a single answer into a squash dynasty.

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Post 3 — Playing to Lose

Bonus Post — A Bottle Is a Bottle

Post 2 — How to Win a Lawsuit and Lose a Sport

Bonus Post — What's Your Target?