Cindy Jarvis, Steve Buchan, Roy Englebrecht and Bill Shumard pose for a photo during the event.

Last night I wrapped up another Roundtable for the Long Beach State Sports Management program.  This program is certainly unique in that it brings 10 sports related-businesses from Southern California into one venue to meet, greet and interview with the newsest learning team of graduate students.  Each master’s candidate is required to work in an sports management internship in addition to traditional classes.  New students have a minimum of 100 hours per semester and more advanced students work 200 hours or more per semester.

Here is a list of the companies that participated last night.

1. AEG

2. Disneyland Report

3. ESPN/ X Games

4. Krav Maga

5. LA Galaxy

6. Long Beach State Athletics

7. Newport Sports Museum

8. Roy Englebrecht Promotions

9. Special Olympics of Southern California

10. USA Volleyball

We generally try and rotate the businesses that attend and provide new opportunities each semester.  Some of the other business that have joined in the roundtable include the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Los Angeles Clippers, UC Irvine, Fox Sports, the Big West Conference, The Rose Bowl and many other groups.

I thought it would be good to see as much as read.  Here is a brief video I put together with a few additional photos from the event for you to see.

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The folks at ESPN also have these two sites to visit

www.espncareers.com –

www.workxevents.com -

Pete Carroll (then) USC head football coach with Charles Harris (me) before a fundraising event in Orange County

It has been a few days here on the West Coast since USC football coach Pete Carroll announced he is leaving the Southern California college coaching scene and heading to Seattle to coach the Seattle Seahawks.

Carroll, ressurected the USC football program and in nine years took it from oblivon to center stage.

National Champions, Heisman Trophy winners some of the best recruits in the nation, the Trojans had it all.

What I didn’t know until reading Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke’s story this morning on Carroll was that he was USC’s fourth choice to coach the football team.

The first three had turned down the position and luckily for Carroll, the others didn’t see what Pete did.  He didn’t exactly start off in the best of times at USC.  Plaschke, who was the Dodgers beat writer while I was with the team in the ’90’s and one of the best sports writers today, pointed out “But none of it mattered because USC was in relative tatters, without a bowl win in five years, without a 10-win season in more than a decade, without a national title in 22 years.”

Nine years later, the story has changed and someone will inherit a program in much better shape, NCAA investigation and all.

Carroll arrived at USC after a less than stellar NFL coaching career where he was booted from the NY Jets after a 6-10 record and a three year mark at New England (27-22).

Four is certainly the new number one.  He is not alone, however.

I tend to stay away from tell all sports books.  After having been around the business for so long, my reading interests have become pretty diverse.  These days, I am more likely to read Devil in the White City or The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind than read the latest tell-all sports book.

That said, I did pick up Joe Torre’s book, published last year and called The Yankee Years yesterday and plowed through the first 100 pages late into the night. I mention it only because of the way the first chapter and the first page began.

“Joe Torre was the fourth choice.”

Not a bad fourth choice if you are a New York Yankees fan — Or a USC fan.

It is an important life lesson where we can all learn.  In accepting a job or a challenge, it is not important how you receive an opportunity, the important part of any journey is that YOU RECEIVE the opportunity.  What you do with that opportunity is what defines you.

It reminds me of a short story that I used to hear during my time with the Dodgers.  Tommy Lasorda, the Hall of Fame Manager and official bleeder of Dodger Blue was asked how it felt to be replacing a legend like Walter Alston.  Alston had coached the Dodgers from 1954 to 1976.  Lasorda was filling pretty big shoes in Alston.  Lasorda, reportedly answered, “I want you to ask the next guy how it will feel to be replacing Tommy Lasorda.”

I have had the privilege of meeting both Peter Carroll and Joe Torre.  I am picture with Carroll in the photo above (not my best side) and have heard him speak at other fundraising events.  Torre, I met while he was a broadcaster with the Angels.  Both are amazing men.  Four is indeed the new number one.

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Scroll down and watch Pete Carroll addressing media at USC about his departure to Seattle to coach the Seattle Seahawks

A new year.  January 2010 marks one year that I have been writing this blog.

The expereince has been an adventure for me in many different ways.  It has given me the opportunity to share information on the sports business.  I have shared some of my personal stories from my experiences of working with the Dodgers, Angels, UC Irvine, The Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks and more…..

I have showcased leading sports executives, talked about sports management programs, covered technology in sports as well as breaking news.

According to WordPress, which is the platform I use to publish the blog, this is officially the 219th blog posted on the web with 24 more listed in various draft forms.  Some of the ideas will come to light and several more will be deleted and never be read by a single person.

I started the blog with the premise that I could create a brand and to drive traffic from a starting point of zero, nada, nothing — clume.  During this process I have learned quite a few things.

* I learned that people from all over the world are interested in sports management and sports management issues.

*I learned that Blog posts related to breaking news stories often draws the most attention from visitors to the web site.

* I now know that Saturday’s are usually the slowest for you folks coming here since I rarely post on that day and Mondays are usually the busiest.

* After doing this for a year, I can appreciate the journalist even more.  One that writes on a regular basis needs topics and news to speak about.  It is easy to write about Peter Caroll possibly leaving USC for the Seattle Seahawks, the NFL playoffs or even Allen Iverson’s return to Philadelphia.

What is not so easy is to turn out thought provoking content when it is a slow news day and you have writers block.

Last night, I returned to my alma mater, UC Irvine, to watch the Anteaters take on the Pepperdine Waves in a non-conference basketball game at the Bren Center.

It was as if I had never left.

Nearly 20 years ago, I left the University for a position with the Los Angeles Dodgers.   I left with a heavy heart since I loved my student days at UCI and always enjoyed working there after graduation.

For all of those years, first as an intern, then assistant sports information director and finally as the school’s first Director of Sports Marketing and Promotions, I tried to create an atmosphere where people wanted to be.

College basketball has always showed the most potential.  Make no mistake, UCI has blossomed in sports over the years.  In 2008-09, the school had two number one ranked teams in the country,  at the same time no less in  Baseball and Volleyball.  Volleyball has won a national championship and baseball has come close.

Basketball is still looking for its first trip to the NCAA tournament.  That is a long wait since the school started playing basketball in the 1960’s.  Oh, they have come close, three times if my memory serves me correctly and I was there for two of the three times.

In 1988, a Bill Mulligan coached team reached the conference finals, after shocking UNLV in the conference tournament , but came up short against Utah State.

In 1994, right after I moved to Israel, the Anteaters again reached the finals even though they were seeded last in the tournament but New Mexico State would not cooperate and the team was shutout again.

Finally, in 2008, against Cal State Fullerton, the total local teams battled for an automatic NCAA bid and as I sat watching, I went home disappointed yet again.

I was hoping to see more fans in the house, for last night’s game vs. Pepperdine but my return to college basketball felt as I had never left.  Maybe 1,200 people dotted the Bren center for this game played so close to Christmas.

The students were missing, the fans sat on their hands for the most part and you could clearly hear the coaches yelling at their places.

Still, it was good to be home.  And, get a win.

December is here and the holiday rush to buy presents is on.  In a related move, I recently posted a one question poll and asked, would you consider purchasing a comprehensive 2010 event schedule with a focus on sports?  The overwhelming majority, 66% said, yes, there is an interest in this solution.

Since then, I have been hard at work creating something that would fit everyone’s need.  You can visit it here at SportsCalendarPro.com

First, I created a master sports calendar.  It has every major sports event in the United States.  What did I include?  In no particular order, here is a listing of just SOME of the events.  The Super Bowl, The 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2010 World Cup, College Bowl Games, The Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, the men’s and women’s college basketball NCAA tournament and Final Four, sports conferences for sports related events like the IEG Sponsorship Summit and the 2010 World Sports Congress.  There are about 100 sports events in all.

As a sports executive and dedicated sports fan, I want and need to know what is happening and when it is happening.  It would be nice to find everything in one place for the enter year.  I am tired of searching for the Next event.  It is also great for planning events.  Not a sports fan, but you may be involved in major life events like getting married or you are just planning major events like fundraising dinners?  Then this is ideal for you as well.  I cannot remember how many times a major golf event or fundraising dinner collided with a major sports event and either a TV was wheeled in an event or continuous updates were given to keep people informed.

Belowis a snap shot of the calendar for two weeks in April.  If you click on the image you can see it in a full screen view.

If you want additional details of the event itself, you can click on say The NCAA Frozen Four dates and you will see this

At SportsCalendarPro.com, I created the site where you can view it online via a gmail account and from there, you can easily download this or sync it with Outlook and iphone.  I did it and it now runs as event dates on my master calendar.

The second option is to purchase the 2010 Master Calendar.  This includes not only al of the sporting events, but also includes the 2010 Entertainment Calendar, the 2010 Technology Calendar and major U.S. holidays.  For example, want to know when the 2010 Academy Awards take place or the ESPYs?  Maybe you want to visit the Sundance Film Festival, CES in Las Vegas or Macworld?  Then, this option is for you.

Last, which you won’t find on the home page but you will find on the ordering page, is the 2010 Custom Calendar.  It includes all of the above and allows you to add four (total) sports team schedules to the mix. For example, say you live in New York or the Boston area.  You can add the 2010 schedule for the Yankees, Mets, Nicks and Islanders in one place.  Hate NY teams but love Boston sports?  Then you can choose the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics schedules.

You write a sports related blog?  This allows you to preview the event since you know what is coming up.

Okay, it is the first time I have blatently plugged a product in the year I have been writing this sports business blog, but it is my product and I really believe in it.

Please, visit the site, Re-Tweet and Post this onto facebook or Digg for others to see.

Consider purchasing this unique holiday gift for the sports fan or event planner in your life.

Thanksgiving holiday or no Thanksgiving holiday we continue with our weekly Friday feature on sports management programs.  Before we begin, I hope you are enjoying the extended weekend.  For those of you that didn’t wake up at 3:00 a.m. to start the Black Friday holiday shopping rush, I am glad you joined us here.  Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the page so you may see other Programs featured in this sports business blog from past weeks. There are more than 300 Programs so we have a lot of ground to cover!

Today, we are visiting the southern section of the United States and the Mississippi State Sports Management Program.

Here is a breakdown on their program, what they offer and the opportunities within their program.

Mississippi State University

Degrees offered:

Master’s degree in Sport Administration
Bachelor’s degree in Sport Studies (Business & Communication)

Location: Starkville, MS

Length of the Program:

Master’s program – approximately 2 years
Bachelor’s program – approximately 4 years

Cost: Full-time tuition is as follows:

Undergraduate Resident – $2,575.50 per semester
Undergraduate Non-Resident (add to resident tuition) – $3,934.75 per semester
Graduate Resident – $2,575.50 per semester
Graduate Non-Resident (add to resident tuition) – $3,934.75 per semester

Do you Offer Internships?: Yes

Are they Required?: All students in the program are required to complete an internship.

List a Few Internship Sites You Work With: Recent internship sites include:

Professional Sport:

* Dallas Cowboys
* New Orleans Saints
* New Jersey Nets
* Tacoma Raniers (AAA Baseball)
* Birmingham Barons (AA Baseball)
* Memphis Redbirds (AA Baseball)
* Mississippi Braves (AA Baseball)
* U.S. Open Golf
* Hendrick Motorsports
* Joe Gibbs Racing

Collegiate Sports:

* Mississippi State Athletics
* Vanderbilt Athletics
* Tennessee Athletics
* LSU Athletics
* Alabama-Huntsville Athletics
* Samford Athletics
* College World Series (Omaha, NE)
* Allstate Sugar Bowl
* Learfield Sports

Olympic Sports:

* U.S. Olympic Training Center (Colorado Springs, CO)
* USA Rugby (Colorado Springs, CO)

Media Organizations:

* Commercial Dispatch (newspaper in Columbus, MS)
* Starkville Daily News (newspaper in Starkville, MS)
* WCBI-TV (CBS affiliate for Columbus, MS)
* WKRN-TV (ABC affiliate in Nashville, TN)
* WQOX (radio station in Memphis, TN)
* WQJB (radio station in Starkville, MS)
* MTV

Tell us About Your Program: Our master’s degree in Sport Administration is designed for individuals who endeavor to hold leadership positions within professional sport, collegiate sport, and recreational sport, in such areas as sport marketing & sponsorships, event & facility management, sport media & communications, athletic development & fundraising, and ticketing & operations.

The bachelor’s degree in Sport Studies offers students the ability to choose a specialty in either business or communication. The sport business cognate is designed to prepare students to work in fields related to management, development, sponsorship, marketing, planning, organizing, budgeting, operations, and leadership at the professional, collegiate, and recreational levels of the sport industry. The sport communication cognate, meanwhile, is designed to prepare students to work in such fields as sport journalism, broadcasting, public relations, media relations, and videography.

Official Web Site Address: http://kinesiology.msstate.edu/sports/

Total Students In Program:

Master’s program – 30 students

Bachelor’s program – 85 students

Number of Instructors: The Department of Kinesiology employs more than 20 faculty members dedicated to providing high quality educational and research experiences for students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Faculty with primary advisory roles in Sport Administration are Dr. Adam Love (alove@colled.msstate.edu) and Dr. Alan Morse (amorse@colled.msstate.edu).

Other Programs we have featured at sportsinfo101 include:

Wichita State University Sports Management

Indiana University

UMASS

York College

It may be November, but 2010 is just around the corner.  Where does the time go this year?

My guess is, part of your energy has gone into finalizing schedules, planning budgets, checking on event availability and things like this.  Even if you do not work in the sports industry and are planning an event for next year, you need to know what may conflict with your own agenda.  Ever plan a fundraiser and it lands on….. a March Madness game? the World Series?  Your home team’s biggest event of the year?

For that reason, I have developed a 2010 master calendar.  The main focus is on sporting events things like College football bowl games, the Super Bowl, Wimbledon but also includes events like published sports conferences from a variety of groups.  Additionally, there are a handful of non-sports events like  The Sundance Festival, CES (technology trade show) the Academy Awards as well as general U.S. holidays.  In all, there are more than 50 events so far and I am adding more as they are listed.

Here is the question of the day.  It is simple and is one question only.  I would sincerely welcome your feedback.  Please take a moment to participate!

Our regular Friday feature focuses on a different college program that offers a degree in sports management.  It could be undergraduate, graduate or doctorate level programs.  If you have not not secured sports management experience and still wish to work in the sports business, this is the next best opportunity to gain the experience and the network to achieve your dreams.

At the end of this post, there are links to other schools we have featured in the past.  Today, we feature the sports Management Program at Wichita State.

Name of the Program: Wichita State University

Degrees offered: B.A.-Sport Management, M.Ed.-Sport Management

Location: Wichita, KS

Length of the Program: B.A.-4 years, M.Ed.-2 years

Cost: Undergraduate: $149.90 per credit for residents / $417.70 per credit for non-residents
Graduate: $208.35 per credit for residents / $ 593.00 per credit for non-residents

Internship?: Yes Are they Required?: Yes for both programs

List a Few Internship Sites You Work With: Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, Univ. of Michigan, Disney Sports and Recreation

Tell us About Your Program: The mission of the Department of Sport Management at Wichita State University is to develop students into well-educated, ethical, competent sport management professionals. The department’s teaching, research, and service activities occur in a positive learning environment valuing both theory and practice. The department is led by faculty who also engage in intellectual inquiry and service to the community and profession.

The sport management degree programs at WSU offers a quality curriculum including courses such as sport marketing, sport law, sport management, and sport sociology. Students complete both practicum and internship requirements at the undergraduate level and an internship requirement at the graduate level.

Graduates of this program work in a variety of settings, including intercollegiate sports, minor and major league professional sports, park and recreation departments, and the health club industry.

What Makes the Program Unique?:
Excellent partnerships with local and regional sport organizations, a blend of full-time faculty and practitioners (i.e., lecturers) teaching classes

Official Web Site Address: Wichita State University

Total Students In Program: Undergraduate-120, Graduate-70

Number of Instructors: 3 full-time faculty, 10 lecturers and other faculty

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Other programs that have been featured in past weeks

Indiana University

UMASS

York College

All information is supplied by the University……

Today, we continue with a new weekly feature where we highlight a sports management program, this time Indiana University.  Each Friday, we will feature a different sports management program from the 300 across the United States.  We ask some questions and then allow the universities to provide their input.  This week’s feature showcases the Hoosiers from Indiana University.

Name of the Program/Degrees offered:

Indiana University Sport Management/Marketing program (Undergraduate)
Sport Communication/Broadcast program (Undergraduate)
Sport Communication/Print program (Undergraduate)
Sport Management graduate program
Sport Management Ph.D. program

Location:  Bloomington, IN

Length of the Program:  Our undergraduate majors can all be completed in four years, and require an average of 124 credits to graduate. Our master’s program is 36 hours in length, and can be completed in a calendar year.

Cost:  Tuition for in-state undergraduates is approximately $8,000/yr, while tuition for out-of-state undergraduates is approximately $24,000/yr. On the graduate level, in-state tuition for the program is about $11,000, while out-of-state tuition is about $32,000.

Internship?: One of the major benefits of a place like Indiana University is that we have access to a wide variety of internships. Our program has been around for over 25 years, and we have had students intern with over 300 sport and media organizations. We also are a short drive away from Indianapolis, which plays host to a wide variety of sports teams, governing bodies, and championship events.

Are they Required?: An internship is required on the undergraduate level, and highly recommended to all students. We emphasize the internship as the practical application of the managerial, marketing, and communication concepts that we teach.

List a Few Internship Sites You Work With:  Some of the employers with whom we have placed interns are Indiana University Athletics, the Indiana Pacers, the Indianapolis Colts, the Chicago Bears, the NCAA, the Houston Texans, the New Jersey Nets, Busch Stadium, ESPN Radio, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Big 10 Network, the Aberdeen Ironbirds, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the Huntsville Stars, Sporting News Radio, the University of Tennessee Athletic Department, the South Bend Silverhawks, the Fort Wayne Wizards, the Charlotte Bobcats, the New York Jets, the Indy Racing League, the Chicago Fire, the Korean Baseball Association, the United States Olympic Committee, the New York Mets, the United States Tennis Association, the Atlanta Falcons, and Octagon, Inc.

Tell us About Your Program:  The Indiana University Sport Marketing/Management/Communication Program is among the largest such programs in the country. Our students come from a diverse set of backgrounds, and share a diverse set of interests in sport, from college athletics to professional sports, and from broadcasting to marketing to sales.

Located in scenic Bloomington, Indiana, the IU Sport Management program gives students the chance to take a wide-ranging and compelling array of classes which help to prepare them for working in the sport industry. Our class offerings in Sport Management include sport marketing, sport history, sport sales techniques, strategic management, issues in intercollegiate athletics, and sociology of sport. We also require our students to take at least one internship in the sport industry, which helps to give them practical experience and networking opportunities in the industry while learning to apply their classroom learnings in a practical setting.

Our Sport Communication program is truly unique, offering students the opportunity to gain both classroom and practical experience in pursuit of a career as a broadcaster, sport public relations officer, sports journalist, or sport new media purveyor.

Our Sport Management Master’s program is one of the leading programs in the country, attracting top students and offering a wide variety of classes to help prepare today’s sport management professional for the challenges of the 21st century. Students in our program have the opportunity to concentrate their classroom experience into one of five topic areas.

We have an extensive and ever-growing list of program alumni, who work in every area of the sport industry. Some of the current and former employers of our alumni include the NCAA, the National Hockey League, the Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Texans, the Cincinnati Reds, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Detroit Lions, Real Salt Lake, the Chicago Fire, USA Diving, the Chicago Bulls, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and The Coca-Cola Company.

What Makes the Program Unique?:  IU’s Sport Management and Sport Communication programs give students the best combination of practical and theoretical knowledge that is available today. On the undergraduate level, we offer a strategic management class, which is an important element in students’ ability to develop as effective sport managers. We also offer students a sport sales class, where they get a chance to gain valuable experience by making actual sales calls for the IU Athletic Department. We offer two separate Sport Communication tracks, giving students an opportunity to concentrate on sport-related communication that they do not receive elsewhere. On the master’s level, we allow students to specialize in one of five different areas, including management, marketing, and communications, and give professionals the opportunity to earn their master’s degree in a calendar year.

Official Web Site Address:

Sport Management Master’s Program: http://www.indiana.edu/~kines/graduate/ms_marketing.shtml
Sport Marketing & Management Undergraduate Program: http://www.hper.indiana.edu/degrees/sportmrkt.shtml
Sport Communication Undergraduate Program: http://www.hper.indiana.edu/degrees/sportbroadcast.shtml

Total Students In Program:  700

Number of Instructors:  Eight full-time faculty, including six tenured or tenure-track professors

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OTHER SPORTS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS WE HAVE FEATURED

York College of Pennsylvania

With the Dow passing the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year while unemployment is still hovering near 10 percent, there are many things that do not make sense to me right now.  Here are a few other things in sports that have also made me think

* Is anyone outside of Southern California talking about a possible World Series between the Dodgers and Angels?

* Was A-Rod’s breakout playoff series vs. the Twins (.455 BA with 2 HR and 6 RBI) a blip on the map or a trend for the 2009 playoffs?

* Will Notre Dame football break a recent trend vs. USC this weekend?  While the Irish still lead 42-33 in the 75 times the two teams have played, USC has won seven consecutive meetings and owns this decade.

* I am not living in Canada and make my home on California’s Coast, so I have not heard that much talk from people about the NHL hockey season yet.  Lots of pro football, college football andbaseball talk.  What the puck?

* Phillies and Dodgers Series starts tonight.  Rematch of last year’s MLB NLCS when Philadelphia won it going away in five games.

* Some college basketball teams officially began practicing last night with a tradition of “Midnight Madness.”  Most of the rest get underway this weekend.

* I like the story line in the Phillies and Dodgers series:  The Phillies have two former Dodger pitchers in Pedro Martinez and Chano Ho Park. They are trying to get back to the World series in consecutive yrears while the Dodgers are trying to get there for the first time since winning it all in 1988.

* Speaking of the Dodgers sad news in the media this morning.  Reports that owners Jamie and Frank McCourt have split up.  Isn’t this something that should be kept out of the media?

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A look ahead: Tomorrow we preview a new school that offers a sports management degree