In the world of sports, there is always something happening. With so many sports to choose from, fans certainly have a variety of events to watch each week.  For example, just look at the overlap in terms of some of America’s major sports leagues: Major League Baseball (today is Opening Day www.mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule), National Hockey League (the 2010 regular season ends on April 11th www.nhl.com/schedules/20092010) and the Professional Golf Association’s Masters Tournament begins April 8th (www.pgatour.com/r/schedule). Even in terms of the sports not currently in-season, the media keeps fans up-to-date on breaking news and events such as the National Football League’s 2010 Draft (which takes place in one month www.NFL.com/Draft). Of course one cannot overlook other sports, such as basketball, especially since games are taking place at both the professional and collegiate level (March Madness is certainly in full swing www.ncaa.com/champ/m-baskbl-d1-champ.html). 

With so many sports opportunities available it is no wonder that the sport industry must constantly strive to attract AND maintain fans, particularly in difficult economic times. Given all of this, I surprised myself when I realized how much I actually missed watching the 2010 Winter Olympics. I can’t believe the Olympic Games ended almost a month ago. No matter how you look at it, there is something different about watching the United States Hockey team as opposed to watching the same players on their regular NHL teams. 

For me, a large part of it boils down to the pride and importance athletes take in playing their sport for their country. In today’s world, with free-agents and the reality of “sports as a business” there can be something lacking in terms of player and fan loyalty. However, the pride of playing for a medal for a country transcends all of the other stuff. In a sense, the Olympics seem to have a sense of innocence or purity that doesn’t exist in professional sports or even college sports when athletes have an eye for turning professional down the road.

I know I can be a bit idealistic but I can’t help wondering if there is a way to bring some of the pride, dedication, sacrifice, work-ethic and honor that accompanies successful, individual, Olympic athletes to our young athletes in recreational sports to collegiate sports and eventually to professional sports as well. In fact, we could all use a little of those qualities in our everyday life, regardless of the profession in which we work.

 What do you think? How can society use professional sports in America as a vehicle to inspire others towards attaining excellence in ways OTHER than looking at the paychecks of professional athletes? How can we take some of the business out of sports and put the emphasis on the game? How about the character of the player? Or, maybe I’m just wrong and nothing should change. What do you think about professional sports versus Olympic sports?

Clay Fitch (’03)
My original plan for this post was going to be a wrap up of the CSRI Scholarly Conference on College Sport but I received the e-mail below from Clay Fitch (‘03).  I thought this was a more important topic to share.
Dr. Newman:

I wanted to share a couple of things with you that might spark some discussion in your classes.  As I am sure you are aware Harry Kalas died on Monday.  Obviously this was more than a crisis for the organization, as he died hours before the game on Monday.  Since the beginning of the game on Monday through Saturday afternoon the Phillies (along with the support of the Kalas family) did everything a first class organization could hope to do and should be a lesson for other organizations put in a similar position in the future.  They did the obvious, some would say easy steps i.e.: HK patch, having his sons throwing out the first pitch when they returned to Philly on Friday, having his son sing the anthem, and dedicating the broadcast booth to him.  They also took other nuanced steps such as changing the 7th inning song from God Bless America to Kalas singing High Hopes (kind of his trademark) and using his legendary home run call for all home runs at home.  They finally made extraordinary gestures such as working with their broadcast partner for the top half of the first inning on Friday to be silent (no play by play or color) and doing a memorial at the stadium on Saturday.  The memorial was done in a manner that will be remembered by everyone in attendance for years to come.  One of the things that my friends and I said throughout the week is that of any team in Philadelphia the Phillies by far do the best at doing ceremonies and tributes.  This is certainly a tribute to the PR, marketing and event staffs of the organization.  In no way did they plan the tributes to Kalas to build esteem for the organization but just because they knew they were the right steps to take for someone who has been with the organization for nearly 40 years. 

In looking back over the last week I had a couple of thoughts about the whole situation.  To be honest Monday and Tuesday I said that things like Harry Kalas’ passing and the passing of the pitcher in Anaheim is why it stinks to work in sport sometimes.  For all of the great things that can happen in working in sport (experiencing the highs of a team you care about, meeting your heroes (even if it is a let down), getting to work in the world’s greatest arenas, etc.) there are days where working in sport can stink.  When you work in sport the players, broadcasters, and front office go from being people that you admire or people there for your entertainment to your friends and co-workers.  I know as one of the people at the memorial for Kalas it was tough to say goodbye to a man who was the only voice I’ve known for the Phillies.  But I then thought of the staff who was responsible for all of the planning all of the activities for Friday and Saturday and for contacting the White House to reschedule the team visit.  One of the people I made of point of watching was the woman in charge of coordinating all of the activities during the memorial, making sure everyone was in the proper place, making sure that people hit their cues, etc.  These people, particularly the person coordinating the activities, probably have had little chance to mourn their friend they had to solider on so that we as fans could mourn for them.  I thought about his fellow broadcasters who had to somehow make it through a ballgame hours after learning about the loss of a friend.  For most “normal” people, when an employee who has been with the company for 38 years dies, they shut the company down for the rest of the day.  Normal people get to mourn their friends in their own way, without having to plan events for 50,000 people (Fridays game and Saturday’s memorial). 

Sometimes it is easier for athletes and broadcasters to remain people on TV and on the radio.  While obviously it is bad to get to know athletes and broadcasters because they might not live up to your idealized view of them.  But sometimes it stinks even more when you breakdown that fourth wall and they truly are good people who make it harder when they leave (another job, retirement or God forbid death).

There are great things about working in sport.  The fact that you can do something, and do something particularly well enough; that 10,000 people will come to mourn you is a testament to the power of sport.  But there are also downsides that no one thinks about when they become Sport Management majors at YCP.  As part of your Intro to Sports Management class I know you talk about the not so glamorous side of sport, and I know that through the internships they experience the both the upside and downside of sport.  But I definitely think that students need to consider the whole picture. 

I am not sure if there is a lesson in it aside from my own self reflection.  If there is anything you can get out of this rambling email than please feel free. 

Clay

You can follow Clay on Twitter (claythera)

Winter break has come to an end. As most of you know, I should be in Kuala Lumpur right now. But, I am actually in McKay 209! It is a fact of life that things happen that are out of our control, and we have to adjust our plans; such is the case for me this week.

Instead of traveling to Malaysia, I was able to see our women’s basketball team advance to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 for the first time. This week, I will have the opportunity to travel to Jupiter, Florida, to visit a student doing her work experience, see an alumnus, go to Daytona International Speedway and Redskins Park, as well as see my brother.

When things happen that are out of our control, how we react says a lot about who we are as people. This concept is of particular interest for those taking Public/Media Relations in Sport. When I return, crisis situations will start.

You know what my plans are for the coming week. I know what some of you did on break, such as Habitat for Humanity, work, vacation to Cancun, etc… I am interested to hear from the rest of you what you did on break and how that prepared you for the next month of class.

View original post here.

Last October, Reuter’s reported that the industry of Sport survived the great depression. This article surfaced around the same time that popular media was using the term “Global Recession” to summarize the economic downturn facing America and the rest of the World. The article cited many examples of unprecedented personal gains in earnings and wealth acquisition within the industry. It cited the famous Babe Ruth quote “I had a better year than he did” as Ruth’s response to his feelings about earning more than the President of the United States.

The obvious humor in his statement comes from the fact that he was comparing apples and oranges. Performance measures for each of the two men had nothing in common with the other and most Americans failed to find anything in common between the responsibilities of a baseball player and the President of the United States of America during the great depression. As absurd as his comparison is, his quote still elicits some important questions today.

On the surface, our industry in many ways exemplifies the strife of our nation. Our business is enhanced by our research and intelligence. We exploit our opportunities. We appreciate our blessings. We persevere through pain. We find a way.

The problems that we have in the industry however, are not nearly as complicated. People make them complicated. There was a time when it was simple and straight forward. Provide a product, let the rules run the game and the competition will take care of the product, the fan experience. Now, competition has created a problem in the wake of steroid abuse in baseball.

What would Babe Ruth think about steroids in the game? By all reports, he would use them if they were hot dogs. Hot dogs could be argued as a performance enhancer in the absence of a more nutritious meal. After all, it was the great depression and they had soup lines not hot dog lines. Hot dogs were reported to be one of his primary choices to fuel his performance. If steroids were hot dogs we would all test positive. We would test positive because hot dogs are a part of the game.

Problems generally cost money. The concern should be for the fan experience and the rules should be the focus of the solution. Leagues and Officials are responsible for enforcing the rules during competition. We should expect the industry to take care of this problem by enforcing the rules when no one else is looking.
Fix it.

Mike Steinagel
Guest Blogger