The Sports Biz Report - Episode 2.12 - Scott Baum

Miami Dolphins: Wells’ Report Fallout

After months of interviews and waiting the NFL’s independent investigation by Ted Wells was delivered last week. The 144 page report, in short, explains everything that most already put together themselves. There were enough details in the report for the axe to begin dropping. The first two casualties of the report were offensive line coach Jim Turner and long time athletic trainer Kevin O’Neill.

Guard the Post: Jan Brewer, sneaky and ignorant is no way to run a state

For some reason, the state of Arizona is very committed to having questionable laws with huge social implications that cause them to lose or almost lose the rights to Super Bowls. In one of the fastest moving stories in weeks, the state of Arizona, specifically Governor Jan Brewer, quickly went from a Governors meeting in Washington, DC to being at the forefront of thousands of tweets, phone calls, and angry emails in protest of Senate Bill 1062.

Under Further Review: Combine Proves NFL Power

How fast did Jadeveon Clowney run in the 40 yard dash? How many 225-pound bench press reps did Michael Sam lift, again? To the eighth of an inch, how tall is Johnny Manziel? How big are Blake Bortles' hands?

The constant flurry of questions can be overwhelming but at the same time totally normal. The annual National Football League Combine is where draft eligible players in their teens or early-20s throw on the spandex and show off their athletic prowess in front of mostly middle-aged scouts and team personnel. It sounds utterly absurd, but the Combine is proof of the NFL's immense media power. And it's all part of the NFL's diabolical plan.

Sport For Thought: Is Under Armour to Blame for the US Speed Skating Debacle?

The major story at the conclusion of the 2014 Sochi Olympics were no longer about the hotels being unfinished, or spying in showers, or even only four out of the five Olympic rings lighting up during the opening ceremonies. Instead, the topic of discussion was the United State's lack of medals in speed skating, which was a promising event heading into the start of the Games.

Learning from Jason Collins

 

As many of us know, last year Jason Collins announced to the world that he is gay and yesterday he became the first openly gay athlete on a team in North America’s four major professional sports. I applaud Collins for all that he has done. In this post, I am not going to write about the politics of what happened or what this means for the LGBT community. However, I want to try to point out what I think we can all learn from Collins about pursuing our goals and dreams both professionally and personally.

Full 90: MLS Pulls Plug on Chivas USA

Recently it was announced by Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber that the league had purchased Chivas USA from owners Jorge Vergara and Angelica Fuentes. Vergara, an owner of the MLS franchise since it’s inaugural season in 2004, and Fuentes joining the ownership team in 2012, can now lay to rest the the running-joke of the MLS. Chivas USA, based in Cason, California, will now maintain ownership by MLS until the league can select an appropriate replacement. Effective immediately, the league will assume all club operations.

Becoming a Professional MVP: Stealing Second Base

by: Patrick Gallagher

MLB’s 2014 Spring Training is in full swing (yep…pun intended); and so I found it appropriate this week to use baseball as the platform for this post. Imagine you are up to bat, knock a single through the gap and are currently standing on first. It’s now time to advance to the next base – take a deep breath, get into your stance and start thinking about stealing second.

Sports Family Feud - Thursday Feb. 27

NBA Trade Deadline Grades and Analysis

by: Micah Sokolsky

The All-Star break has come and gone and the NBA has resumed its daily schedule….HOLD UP!! Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 3:00 pm EST marked the trade deadline. For the past forty-eight hours, every General Manager of every team has managed to sleep for no more than five minutes in order to try and work a trade to improve their team for a playoff push or has dumped extra salaries to get under the cap for future free agency. Sometimes, fans do not know the story behind many deals: fan favorites are traded, franchise players are dealt, and the blockbuster multi-team deals happen. However, this year did not have any blockbuster deals (no deals similar to Ray Allen for Gary Payton, or Rasheed Wallace going to Detroit), but there were some interesting pieces moving around. Here is a list of some of my winners, losers, surprises, and disappointments from the 2014 trade deadline:
 

The Sports Biz Report - Episode 2.11 - Marcus Smart

Water Cooler Talk: UFC's New Bonus Structure

Last week the UFC announced they are changing up their bonus system for fights.  The old system rewarded $50k for Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night, and Submission of the Night.  They have decided to remove knockout and submission and award the two $50k bonuses to performances of the night.  This decision came after UFC 169 had all but two of the fights go to decision.  This allows the UFC to have more of the decision in who deserves to get the bonuses.  

Under Further Review: An Agenda Setting Review of the Michael Sam Coverage

On Sunday Feb. 9, the sports world was hit with one of the biggest news stories of the year: University of Missouri All-American defensive end Michael Sam said he is gay. Only two players in the five major sports had publicly come out prior to Sam – the NBA’s Jason Collins and the MLS’s Robbie Rogers. Sam, who recorded double-digit sacks as a senior and was honored as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, is projected to be selected as high as the third round in this year’s NFL Draft, which would make him the first openly gay player to play in the NFL. The story was initially broken by ESPN and the NewYork Times, while Sports Illustrated followed closely behind, but further analysis reveals that each covered the news in unique ways.

Violet Palmer: The First Female All-Star NBA Referee

Violet Palmer left, Evan Turner complaining right

  Palmer, born in Compton, California has been officiating NBA games since 1997.  Seventeen years later she found herself at the 2014 NBA All-Star game, busting down yet another barrier for women.  At one point Palmer believed reaching the NBA was unattainable.  Satisfied with her current role at the time as a top officiator of women's college basketball, Palmer wasn't looking to make the leap, but the NBA was looking at her.  With little room in the NBA's active referee pool (62), she thought her initial phone call in 1995 from NBA Assistant Director of Officiating Adam Wade was a prank call from a friend of hers.  After two years of the NBA evaluating her in NBA Summer League games and other non regular season games, she was hired. Her first regular season action came quickly, refereeing the opening game of the season between the Dallas Mavericks and Vancouver Grizzlies.

The Sports Biz Report - Episode 2.10 - The Drexel Connection

Oh Captain, My Captain: Retirement of Derek Jeter

By: Bennett Schiff

Whether you’re a diehard Red Sox fan, or bleed pinstripes, seeing Derek Jeter hang up his spikes will be a very sad moment. Jeter has been the face of the New York Yankees, and arguably all of baseball, for the last decade, and will create a huge whole on not only the left side of the Yankee infield when he retires, but also in the clubhouse. This will mark the second consecutive year that the Yankees will have one of their greats go on a farewell tour, as future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera took one in 2013.

The Drexel Connection: Kevin Giordano

This week the Drexel Connection spotlights Kevin Giordano. Kevin currently provides social media expertise to a global pharmaceutical company. Kevin is also the co-founder of the Drexel Sport Management Student Union. After graduating last year, Kevin now holds a position on our advisory board. 

Kevin is part of a small team that is tasked with governing the company’s use of social media. The team also actively provides guidance to a variety of departments, from commercial brand teams to R&D and HR. Prior to landing this job, he focused on business development and cultivating innovative marketing partnerships within the sport industry. He spent some time with a small agency called Two Affix where he provided a variety of consulting services including social media support to top professional athletes. Kevin had other stops as a partnership marketer with the University of Pennsylvania and operations in both men’s and women’s professional soccer.

Guard the Post: It is time, Washington, for a name change

 

The University of North Dakota changed their name from the Fighting Sioux in 2012. This was the first major Division-I institution to change their mascot in response to issues regarding the names association with American Indians. There are countless other universities and professional sports teams whose names have caused disagreement, but none more than the Washington Redskins.

The Drexel Connection: Michelle Maslowski

This week the Drexel Connection spotlights Michelle Maslowski. She is currently the Director of Athletic Development for Drexel University.  Ms. Maslowski is a 2-time Drexel graduate from the Lebow College of Business and former women’s basketball player.  She played professionally in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, and Luxembourg.  Ms. Maslowski is a personal trainer for basketball players in her free time.

Ms. Maslowski fell into the field of development.  She wanted to do something productive during her overseas offseason and was given an opportunity to lead an out-reach campaign for athletic alumnae. This story reminds students to be open to new opportunities because you may stumble upon your real calling.   

SMTSU Networking Night - POSTPONED

Unfortunately due to the pending snow storm and Drexel University cancelling all classes and activities on Thursday Feb. 13, 2014, the Drexel SMTSU will need to postpone the scheduled Networking Night and Landmark Americana fundraiser.

We appreciate everybody's patience with the matter as we awaited official word from the University. Stay tuned for updates regarding the Networking Night's rescheduling and big news upcoming for the spring term.

The Drexel SMTSU's next scheduled event will be the week 8 general body meeting on Thursday Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. The theme of the meeting will be announced within the next week.

Enjoy your snow day and stay safe!

-- SMTSU Officers

Learfield Sports Acquire Nelligan Sports Marketing

The business of college sports is one of the biggest out there. Growing larger every year, college sports are a multi-billion industry. Though the NCAA is in a predicament right now with many issues, college sport will always be a money-maker and this past week, one of the power players, Learfield Sports made a big move in the world of college sports marketing.

Under Further Review: Michael Sam Steals the Show

"I'm not afraid to tell the world who I am. I'm Michael Sam: I'm a college graduate. I'm African American, and I'm gay." - Michael Sam

While the media was still trying to wrap their minds around the situation with Marcus Smart and those who were tired of the near-24 hours of coverage were taking in some action from Sochi, something happened. Changed happened. Former University of Missouri All-American defensive lineman and National Football League hopeful Michael Sam did something that no NFL prospect had ever done. He announced he is gay.

Becoming a Professional MVP: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

"If you make an effort to do the best you can regularly, the results will be about what they should be. Not necessary to what you want them to be, but they will be about what they should, and only YOU will know whether you can do that. And that’s what I wanted from them more than anything else. And as time went by, and I learned more about things, I think it worked a little better, as far as the results."

 

John Wooden, one of the most respected coaches in the history of UCLA men’s basketball let alone the history of sports (6-Time Coach of the Year!), stated the above when asked to talk about what teamwork means to him. As I personally reflect on the aforementioned passage, I started to think of how I’d like to be talked about amongst my peers, colleagues and coworkers when we’ve all clocked out for the day and the water-cooler talk that happens outside the office begins. With that in mind, I believe the best approach we can take to working with a group of people in an organization (whom we may or may not get along with) needs to be viewed as if we were structured together as teammates; with the intent of being the best we can as a group.

 

Sport for Thought: Why A-Rod Finally Did the Right Thing

 

Many argue and ask, when has Alex Rodriguez ever done the right thing? There are constantly stories released from the media attacking him in some way, whether related to his personal life or his baseball career. No matter what this man does it seems to never be the right thing.

THIS WEEK: SMTSU Networking Night

Drexel SMTSU is very excited to welcome 4 great panelists to campus this week. Below is information on our 4 speakers and why you should be at our Networking Night this Thursday.

Full 90: Becks and 'Bron Take Miami

On Wednesday, Major League Soccer announced David Beckham exercised his option to purchase an MLS expansion team in Miami. Within his MLS contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy, existed a clause to enable Beckham to purchase an expansion team at a discounted fee of $25 million, a strategic effort to keep one of the most polarizing figures, connected to the MLS. The announcement was made on Wednesday during a news conference that featured MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

How David Stern Helped Build Today's NBA

by: Micah Sokolsky

According to the words of the New York Observer, the NBA’s “annual television revenue was a mere $30 million; drug scandals dominated the headlines; the notion that the league could be a global enterprise was laughable; [and] it seemed more likely that the NBA might go the way of professional boxing or horse racing” (“David Stern’s Legacy”).  In 1984, a young David Stern took the reigns and became the new commissioner of the National Basketball Association. 

SMTSU Networking Night Update

Water Cooler Talk: Networking 101

The Sport Management Student Union’s networking event is a week from today.  There will be a panel discussing their careers, giving tips about networking, and answering any questions you may have.  I have decided to give you some of my networking tips that I have used over the years.  They have been very helpful for me in keeping up with professional relationships and I hope they will be helpful for you too.

Global Scope: 2014 FIBA World Cup

I think that everyone knows that 2014 is the year of the FIFA World Cup hosted in Brazil. However, maybe overshadowed by the FIFA event, not many people remember that this year is also a FIBA World Cup year. The FIBA World Cup, as well as the Olympics, are the top two international basketball tournaments. This year's event will be held in Spain in six venues located in six different cities. The host cities are Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Bilbao, Seville, and Las Palmas with an emphasis on Madrid and Barcelona. The group stages will be played out throughout all six venues, but from the Round of 16 on only Madrid and Barcelona will host games, with the grand finale set to be played at Madrid's Palacio de Deportes.

Temple Athletic Cuts: A Title IX Blame Game?

 

Credit to www.wbca.org

 

This past fall we saw Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania cut seven of its twenty-four varsity sports (baseball, softball, men’s & women’s crew, mens’s gymnastics and men’s track & field). Now this won’t go into effect until the end of the academic year (May 15th, 2014), so the athletes and coaches have time to fight for their teams. In a Philadelphia Business Journal article by Jeff Blumenthal, he states the the cuts were due to “financial problems, concerns about  student-athlete welfare, inadequate facilities and lack of compliance with Title IX.”

The Sports Biz Report - Episode 2.9 - The Rise of CrossFit

Up Close and Personal: The Winter Equestrian Festival

2014 WEF

  This past Friday I had the pleasure of leaving behind cold and snowy Philadelphia, as I made my way down to Wellington, Florida for the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington..  It was there that I joined my girlfriend to take in a couple days of some of the highest level horse showing in the world.  An extra bonus was the 70-80 degrees weather for the duration of my stay.  Over 2,000 riders from around the world congregate each year, some coming and going just to compete in the shows which run from Wednesday-Sunday at WEF, others staying the entire 12 weeks, January-March.  I had been to shows before this one, but none prepared me for the magnitude of the Winter Equestrian Festival of Wellington.  In my previous experiences I could not really recall too much of the business aspect of the sport, in terms of sponsorship and their presence on digital media.

Masahiro Tanaka: Did the Yankees Overpay?

by: Bennett Schiff

Throughout the baseball offseason, fans and general mangers alike were on the edge of their seat waiting for the news of whether or not the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League would allow pitching ace Masahiro Tanaka to become available to Major League teams. The news broke on December 26, 2013, that Tanaka was going to be allowed to come to America to pitch, and that gave many GMs a very special late Christmas gift.

The Drexel Connection: Haig Abnous

This week the Drexel Connection spotlights Haig Abnous. Haig is currently a Junior Agent for the NOVO Agency. The NOVO Agency represents NFL Athletes and former athletes such as LaMichael James, Joey Porter and John Elway. Haig attended Arizona University as an undergraduate communications major where he also corner back for the Arizona Football team. He ended up earning a private work out with the New England Patriots as well as the Hartford Colonials of the UFL. During minicamp, Haig also played with the San Jose Sabercats of the Arena Football League. Haig is now an online student at Drexel’s graduate program getting his masters, which is now a mandatory task before he can be approved by the NFLPA as a certified agent.