The Sports Info Business

People often ask me what are the most memorable sports stories of 2009.  While most have taken the obvious road with the enthusiasm of a Tiger, I have chosen a different path with two moviing stories you probably do not know about.  Let’s see.

Enough of words today, here are a couple of inspirational videos we all need to see.

The second, titled The amazing story of Mark Herzlich is also a keeper for 2009.

Sports can certainly serve as an inspiration.  Pass these the link from today’s videos on to people that need a bit of hope.

This post is as far away from a regular post as you can get.

In California, unemployment is at 12.5%, and not much better in the rest of the country.  A former co-worker posted this short video on facebook today and I thank her for sharing it.  I think it is something that everyone needs to see and  remember.  It is short so it won’t take up a lot of your time.  Watch it and continue reading……

People are questioning themselves today.  With so many folks out of work and many more suffering from an economic crisis that does not appear to be ending anytime soon, it is easy to feel a bit lost.  Other are hoping they are not the next person getting tapped on the shoulder for a visit with a Human Resource Specialist.

I share with you brief stories of two friends.  No names, but their stories are telling.  One is from a close friend, who lives in California.  Once upon a time, he attended college, earned an undergraduate degree and then a master’s degree.  From there he only spent the next 19 years working for the same company, generating a decent income while his superiors up-sold his services by about 400 percent.  Dedicated, loyal and consistent he did his job.  Recently, he was tapped on the shoulder and told he was being let go.  The friend, asked for a day or two to get his things in order.  He was given a little over an hour and two months severance.

Story number two has a similar ending at a workplace.  This person worked in professional sports, 10 years with the same team, and recently told me that in all of his years there, he never heard a complaint.  Then, after a successful event he helped organize, my friend was called in and given his walking papers.

It is hard to control your own destiny when you don’t hold all of the marbles.  But this video, which mentions Michael Jordan, The Beatles, Lucile Ball, Ulysses S Grant, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney and Abraham Lincoln.  Love the ending.  Life = Risk.

Watch the video again and forward this post to someone who needs to see it.

————————–

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.

I have taken a few days off from blogging for several reasons.

First, the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and with that, there is so much to do.

Family friends, cooking and the possibility of planning a day hike or two.

Second, based on the terrific response from the poll last week (see previous post), I have been finalizing a 2010 sports calendar that will fit your needs.

Look for the debut of this next week.  This has taken a lot of time and research.

Third, I admit it.  I needed a short break.  The blog takes a lot to provide what I think is interesting information for this space.  For the millions of people that write about subjects that interest them,it takes a lot of energy, time and creativity.

This weekend has football games galore to take in, both college and pro.

The NFL kicks off football action on Thursday with three games.  The Detroit Lions, who always play on Thanksgiving take on Green Bay.  Other games include the Cowboys vs the Raiders and the New York Giants vs the Denver Broncos.  See below for information on all three games.

On the college side:

Florida State vs. Florida (Tim Tebow’s final game at the Swamp).

Alabama vs. Auburn

USC vs. UCLA

Texas vs. Texas A&M

ESPN has a nice briefing on some of these games this weekend in a segment called College Football Live Extra

I thank you to those that continue to come back to this blog.  You help continue to set record numbers each month and I appreciate the loyalty and interest.  I will continue to search and provide interesting content for you to digest.

I wish all of you a happy and healthy extended weekend.

Charles

Sunday mornings offer me a time when I’m able take you on a personal road trip with a sports related story that has happened during my career.  Today is no different.

Ever since I was a young kid, I have always enjoyed playing racquetball. It started when I was living in Chicago and my parents used to take me to a racquetball club. My father says I have a great memory and if I am not mistaken it was called the Courthouse and was located in Northbrook.  During one visit as a young boy, I was able to meet a couple of heroes of mine in Cubs shortstop Don Kessinger and Ron Santo. If you are an older Cubs fan who know who these guys are. I remember watching them in awe and they seemed larger than life.

I have played on and off throughout college and well into my adult life.  Never consistent but have always had fun.

Until they build a good Pickleball court near my home I will continue to play racquetball.  One of my favorite stories happened on a fog filled morning during the off-season after the 2004 Major League Baseball campaign.   I was invited to play cut-throat with Angels closer Troy Percival.  My days of looking at players as if they were an idol were lost a long time ago, yet  I had immense respect for the Angels legend as an athlete.  I immediately began to wonder as I took the court if I even had a chance against the 6′-3″ right-hander from Fontana, CA.

Cut-throat, by the way, is a three man game of racquetball where each player plays against the other two in a rotating fashion.

One of the advantages I have always had playing sports, be it baseball, basketball, tennis or racquetball was that I am left-handed.  Most people are used to playing other right handers and in a racquet sport, it certainly can help.  Well, I was dreaming if anything was going to help in the first game of cut-throat.  I did not win the game.  When it was finished, my friend tossed me the ball and said, you guys go one and one and I will take on the winner.  He disappeared to another court and I was left to see if I could keep up with Percy.

He began serving and immediately scored a point.  I do not recall point for point, but we had a decent battle of a game.  I certainly remember that I could not use a ceiling shot easily to move him to the back of the court since he was so darn tall.  In the end I was able to close out the game and beat the Angels pitching legend.

What made it so interesting is that I am an average athlete yet was able to beat a world class athlete in a different sporting event.  There has been no stopping Troy on the mound, but on this morning, I had enough for a win.

It is not the first time I have played a major leaguer in racquetball.  While working for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1990’s I was often asked to travel with the team on road trips and serve as the company spokesperson.  I was always happy when we would travel to Philadelphia to play the Phillies.  The hotel that we stayed at always had a half a dozen racquetball courts built into the facility.

The problem was, I was not able to ask a player to play racquetball and risk injury.  Those types of bonehead moves could have cost me my job.  I did find a player however and it came in Dodgers coach Ron Roenicke. Currently the bench coach on Mike Scioscia‘s current Angels team, Rags was always up for playing when his back cooperated.  He did be me some, but I think I got the better end of our times on the court.  I do not think there is a nicer man in baseball.  Ron Roenicke deserves his shot at being a manager.

As for racquetball, I still remember the day I beat Troy Percival.

If you not know the rules of racquetball, I have included a short video I found on the web.  it is not more than a minute.

I love lists and rankings.  When someone decides to rank something, I am always curious as to why and where and how.  The editors at The Sporting News, the once outstanding sports magazine during the pre-Internet era, might be asleep at the wheel.  The site recently ranked the top #399 sports cities and Pittsburgh, with a Super Bowl Championship team in the Steelers and a Stanley Cup winner in the Penguins, came out on top.

Now, the site says that it looked at the 12 months from roughly October 2008 to October 2009, and based its decision on point values assigned to various categories, “including but not limited to won-lost records, postseason appearances, applicable power ratings, number of teams and attendance.”

Fair enough. Why did I say the editors were sleeping?  Let’s take a closer look.  As a resident of Southern California, I know the cities and towns better than the rest of the country so it is easy for me offer judgement, than say Zebulon, North Carolina, which finished in the 333rd spot, just ahead of Altoona, PA at #334.  For the first any maybe the last time in my life, I Googled Zubulon, North Carolina to see why they finished 334.  The web site says, it is the town of friendly people.  Must have gotten points for that tag line.  The neighborhood which, in 1970 had 1,839 resients had blossomed to 4,606 by 2005.

I really had to research and finally found out why they were ranked at all.  They are home to the Carolina Mudcats a minor league baseball team.  I sincerely mean no disrespect to owner Steve Bryant nor the parent team, the Cincinnati Reds.

I just have a hard time swallowing the fact that in Orange County, CA, where I call home, did not have any representation.  Take for example Cal State Fullerton or UC Irvine.  So the Titans did not win another College World Series but that made it to the big dance last year.  That alone should have them ranked.  As for UCI, which I am biased as an alum, but maybe the committee left out the school since the Anteater is the mascot.  Other than that, men’s volleyball won a national title, baseball was nationally ranked as was soccer, golf yada yada yada.  No ranking at all?

Neighboring city Long Beach was also left off the map.  Okay, the city may be just a tad lower than say number 87. Piscataway, N.J., but come on, the city has Long Beach State, the Long Beach Grand Prix, and the Long Beach Armada

Maybe it was bribery.  That is the excuse I am using for No. #336 Napa, CA which is best known for its outstanding wine, countryside and weekend getaways.  The next time I visit there, I must pick up a sports event schedule for down time between wine tastings.

In any case, here is their top 100 cities according to the web site.  If you want to see all 399, click here.

1. Pittsburgh
2. Philadelphia
3. Boston
4. Chicago + Evanston
5. Los Angeles
6. New York
7. Phoenix + Tempe
8. Miami
9. Dallas-Fort Worth
10. Detroit + Ann Arbor + Ypsilanti
11. Houston
12. Nashville
13. Atlanta
14. Washington
15. Tampa-St. Petersburg
16. Minneapolis-St. Paul
17. Raleigh + Durham + Chapel Hill, N.C.
18. Denver + Boulder
19. Salt Lake City + Provo
20. Indianapolis
21. Anaheim
22. Cleveland
23. Charlotte
24. San Jose + Palo Alto + Santa Clara
25. New Orleans
26. Milwaukee
27. Orlando
28. Baltimore
29. Cincinnati
30. St. Louis
31. San Diego
32. Portland
33. Oakland + Berkeley
34. Columbus
35. San Antonio
36. Toronto
37. Oklahoma City + Norman
38. Austin, Texas
39. Vancouver
40. Buffalo
41. Gainesville, Fla.
42. Calgary
43. Storrs, Conn.
44. East Lansing, Mich.
45. Montreal
46. San Francisco
47. Memphis
48. State College, Pa.
49. Kansas City
50. Jacksonville
51. Green Bay
52. Seattle
53. Edmonton
54. Ottawa
55. Sacramento
56. Columbia, Mo.
57. Tuscaloosa, Ala.
58. Blacksburg, Va.
59. Tucson, Ariz.
60. Stillwater, Okla.
61. Lawrence, Kan.
62. Morgantown, W.Va.
63. Lubbock, Texas
64. College Park, Md.
65. Oxford, Miss.
66. Clemson, S.C.
67. Louisville, Ky.
68. Eugene, Ore.
69. Boise, Idaho
70. Iowa City, Iowa
71. Corvallis, Ore.
72. Lincoln, Neb.
73. West Lafayette, Ind.
74. Tallahassee, Fla.
75. Madison, Wis.
76. South Bend, Ind.
77. Athens, Ga.
78. Lexington, Ky.
79. Baton Rouge, La.
80. Knoxville, Tenn.
81. Columbia, S.C.
82. Tulsa, Okla.
83. Winston-Salem, N.C.
84. Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
85. Waco, Texas
86. College Station, Texas
87. Piscataway, N.J.
88. Auburn, Ala.
89. Charlottesville, Va.
90. Syracuse, N.Y.
91. Manhattan, Kan.
92. Albuquerque, N.M.
93. Reno, Nev.
94. Fayetteville, Ark.
95. Starkville, Miss.
96. Las Vegas
97. Hattiesburg, Miss.
98. El Paso, Texas
99. Annapolis, Md.
100. Greenville, N.C.

Just in case you had to know, here are the previous winners of the Sporting News “Best Sports Cities”

2008: Boston
2007: Detroit
2006: Chicago
2005: Boston
2004: Boston
2003: Anaheim + Los Angeles
2002: Boston
2001: New York
2000: St. Louis
1999: New York
1998: Detroit
1997: Denver
1995: Denver
1994: Cleveland
1993: Chicago

If you noticed that no one won in 1996, it is because the site said “the Sporting News expanded and refined the rating system” that year.

I try and reserve personal stories for the weekend, but since I had already posted them, I will add this one to the blog today.  Sometimes, the personal stories are the best ones.  You tell me. On Sunday, I attended the afternoon get away day game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A’s.  My buddy called me and asked if I wanted to attend and four of us enjoyed a warm afternoon game at Angels stadium

Here is a shot from our seats.  John Lackey was going for his 100th career victory while the A’s, at this point, were playing for pride.  I have to admit, I always watch the scoreboard the beginning of any game and root for the pitcher who keeps his no-hitter going the longest.

Oakland starter Brett Anderson lost his no hit bid in the fourth inning and while Lackey did not start off strong, he got better as the game progressed.

The reason why I think the game deserves a blog entry is due to a young man in our group.  I have written quite a bit about my baseballl life, both as an executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers, a little bit about my internship experiences with the Angels and not much working as the baseball SID at UC Irvine.

This also includes a cross country trip after college where I saw baseball stadiums and professional games  for a summer. If I dared to count, the total number of games I have seen over the years is well into three figures.  How many hundreds of games I have seen I could not tell you.  More than a thousand?  Certainly possible.

Now, I don’t ever write about my family, but when my son walked away with two game used baseball today, I hope it is a game he will never forget.  That wasn’t a typo.  Two game used baseballs.  Here is how it went down.  In the bottom of the first inning, he walked down a row Mark Ellis, who had caught the final out of the inning was running towards the dugout when my son screamed out, “great catch!”  Ellis then kindly tossed the ball near the rail and my son had his first ever baseball from a Major League Baseball Game.

Ryan Sweeney was then heading towards the A’s dugout, the same path that Ellis had taken the previous inning, when my son jumped tot he same spot and called out to Sweeney.  Ker-plunk.  There was his second ball and in the same game!  ”

That kid has two baseballs!,” someone shouted from behind us.

One of the guys with us, the pitcher on our softball team and a sports industry executive didn’t miss a beat.

“Now, what would be really impressive, is if you caught four baseballs and gave each of us one as well,” he joked.  From what we saw that was not going to happen.

It wasn’t like there was a crowd of 11,000 in the ballpark either.  The scoreboard showed a paid crowd of more than 38,000.

From the next inning on, the kids around us finally caught on and crowded around the same spot for the rest of the game.  No one else in that section went home with a ball.  Somehow, my son managed to take home two souvenirs and a baseball memory that will last a long time.

“I will never forget this game for as long as I live,” he told me later.  ”That was the best.”

And I have a great memory and a picture to prove it.

Do you have a favorite Chris Berman nickname?  The long-time ESPN reporter, play-by-play announcer and host made a name for himself a long time ago in a land far far away.

He unveiled her personal nicknames of athletes and integrated them into his broadcast to entertain fans and athletes.  At one point it got him in hot water with the folks running the emerging cable sports and entertainment.  They made him stop, then it was brought back.  In any case, you probably  know a few of his tag lines like back-back-back-back-back-back-back during home run calls

He-could-go-all-the-way….and he does! during great football TD runs, how many of the nicknames he has given athletes over the years can you repeat?

How about a few of these:

Ron Bon in the US Cey

David Sili Cone

Jay Fielder on the Roof

Tom Henke Panky

Stan Javier Self a Merry Little Christmas

John I am not a Kruk

Sandis Ozolinsh that stole Christmas

Eric Karros Matic.

It goes one and on…..

Personally, I have held quite a few nicknames over the years.  As a kid living in Chicago, it was Chuckie.  As I grew older, it turned into Chuck, Chas, Up-Chuck (people still think this is funny 150,000 times later, Chuck Buck, Dodger Chuck, Huck, Chuck E Baby.  This list also goes goes on and on.

So it came as a surprise when I was working for the Dodgers in the 1990’s that Chris Berman was visiting during an ESPN broadcast.  He looked and me and as if he knight me, proclaimed “Charles E Cheese”   Whenever he saw me, it was always Charles E Cheese.  Years later when we saw each other while I was with the Ducks in the NHL, it was still Charles E Cheese.  No has ever called me it before or since

I don’t think I will show up in any “Best Of” lists, but I am always honored the “Boomer” gave me my own moniker.

If you’d like to see an entire list, I found this special Chris Berman Nickname List. Check it out.

I needed to to come up to San Francisco over the weekend and found a very reasonable last minute fair on Jet Blue.  I have flown this airlines many times before, but it reminded me of the same question ~  Is it me or should the airlines industry all be copying their business model?  I recently returned back form another trip a week ago and this second airlines could have taken a few pointers from the guys and gals in Blue.  Long live Jet Blue.

Leather seats for all and I was able to keep tabs on the latest NFL pre-season football news as well as follow the divisional baseball races on my individual tv screen.  And for that matter, while I am at it, the Long Beach Airport might be the best in the land.

Small, and very accessible,  the airport is so easy to get to and so easy to deal with.   In an age of many complications, delays and crowds, it was a real pleasurable experience.

On board the plane, the person sitting next to me was a huge sports fan and we spoke the entire plane ride form Long Beach to San Francisco.  I am still not sue of his business, but he was a die hard bay Area sports fan and unless he was outright lying, he had access to 49er plays and management in the Joe Montana era.

Interesting stories and possible good business connection.  Do you speak with people on a plane or keep to yourself, quietly positing yourself for more arm rest space.  I choose the former.  I find meeting people is a great experience.  he TV sat in the background and we chatted away.  The hour flight seemed like a quick 10 minute excursion.

Long live Jet Blue.

Eight days.  I was only gone for eight days but it seemed like a month.  In an age where I never feel disconnected from my computer, my sports blog, friends, family via emails, I pretty much turned off technology for eight days while I was in Paris and Normandy, France.

Here is just a sample of some of the things that happened while I was gone…..

Michael Vick from 60 Minutes Interview

• Michael Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and is back in the National Football League after serving a prison term for running a dog fighting ring.  Speaking of whch, I watched the 60 Minutes story on Vick last night.  He was polished and prepared by his advisors.  James Brown appeared to be asking tough questions, but did not come across like the hard nosed reporting from regular reporters on the show.  I wonder, was that a condition for Vick granting the interview?
• Eli Manning became the highest paid professional football player after signing a six year extension
• Major League Baseball players were being hit in the noggin by pitchers at an alarming rate
• Speaking of being hit, Andre Beltre made headlines after taking a ball to an area a little lower in the belly button and journalists are now asking who is wearing a cup in baseball.  The details of him be nailed in the pelotas on a one hopper off the bat of Alexi Ramirez is a bit more graphic than former Dodger Jeff Hamilton, who once went on the disabled list for “general soreness.”
• Reports circulated that ESPN has stopped allowing reporters to Tweet sports news and that it has developed a new company wide social media policy.  I am still catching up on this topic.
• Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino had an affair

And a few non sports related items as well:

• A touring helicopter crashes into a small plane in New York while the guy in the control tower was busy chatting with someone in a non work related event.
• Former president Bill Clinton made headlines after a trip to North Korea to free imprisoned journalists Laura King and Euna Lee
• Government town hall meetings over health care crisis stirs emotions of average Americans.  Journalists focus on the shouting day after day in news reports.  I only know about this since I taped John Stewart and National TV News programs while I was gone.  Staged or real anger?  This debate will go on
• Director John Hughes passed away
• A Continental Express jet stranded 50 or so passengers 50 feet from a Minnesota exit and would not allow them to leave overnight as security went home after the plane had landed.

Being disconnected for eight days from technology is a bit tougher than I thought.  I am an information junkie.  Always have been and always will be.  I like to know what is going on in the world, but to what extent?  While I speak French, I was not sitting in front of a TV in Paris watching the news.  It was mentally healthy not to be in front of a computer for a few days.  I had enough to do while I was there, but by allowing myself to disconnect, I also allowed my body to recharge.

That and of course, some genius in France rearranged all of the letters on all French computer keyboards so as I contemplated trying to Blog or Tweet from France, this little obstacle stopped any thought of that.  It is good to be home.  Being disconnected for eight days or for one or two does a body good.  Take time out once in a while.  I am glad I did.

One of the things I thought about while I was away was a good friend of mine, an executive with a sports team whom I had the pleasure of playing golf with on a sunny California afternoon.  He must have checked that Blackberry 50 times during the round.  For a change, my hands were free to concentrate on playing 18 holes, which I do not get to do as much as I would like to.  Disconnecting for a bit is not a bad thing.  We all need to recharge our batteries once in a while, even if it is for a couple of hours.

Now, let’s get back at this.  There is a lot going on in the world.