Co-op Confidential: Ryan Pratt

Name: Ryan Pratt

Year: Junior
Company: Drexel University, Office of New Student & Family Programs
Location: Philadelphia, PA

What is the Office of New Student & Family Programs?

NSFP is an office under the larger umbrella of Student Affairs (Campus Activities, Commuter/Transfer Engagement, Campus Engagement, Fraternity & Sorority Life, Residential Living, Student Conduct & Community Standards, Counseling & Health, International Student Scholar Services, etc.). NSFP oversees all New Student Orientation sessions during the summer, as well as works closely with the Drexel Family Association. Through this, NSFP works to transition new students and their families into Drexel life and culture.

The Man Advantage... Basketball and Loathing in Sacramento (or Seattle)

With the playoffs upon us in both the NBA and NHL (almost), it’s easy to overlook one of the best ongoing story lines in professional sports right now.

The Sports Complex: The Insane Trends in March Madness

Amongst the madness of March each year (as fellow contributor Kevin Murray discussed yesterday), it’s easy for the big business of the Big Dance to go unnoticed. High-level sponsors and multibillion dollar broadcast deals make the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament one of the biggest draws in sport. Here are some trends that affect the future of the Big Dance:

The Man Advantage: Our First Look at March Madness

Lately I’ve been hearing a sound. It’s been quiet, but there’s no question what it is. It’s about that time of year again. Have you heard it too?

What am I talking about, you ask?

One Shining Moment.

The Man Advantage: College Basketball, The Curse of First

When this college basketball season started, I made a few assumptions: Louisville and Indiana were the best teams in the nation, but Michigan would threaten; the A-10 would be absolutely ridiculous and Butler and VCU would show themselves as the cream of the crop in their first year; and it would be Drexel’s year in the CAA.

The Man Advantage... College Hockey on the Rise

When discussing revenue sports in the NCAA, the conversation has begun and ended with football and men’s basketball, largely. The day may be close where another sport joins the discussion with more regularity: men’s hockey.

TMA: A “BIG Color” Menagerie: Sponsorships on Parade

If you’re a sports fan who hasn’t been living under a rock, you most likely saw one of the five NBA games during the 12-hour Christmas marathon on ABC and ESPN yesterday. Even if you missed the games, you’ve likely seen this commercial for Adidas’ BIG Color jerseys worn by the ten teams playing on Christmas. The commercial has been viewed over 7.6 million times on the league’s YouTube page, and features Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson and Carmelo Anthony bouncing basketballs to the tune of “Carol of the Bells.” As Tim Nudd reported last month, the NBA doesn’t have the only commercial featuring the popular holiday song, however. Many of the views of the NBA spot featured a pre-roll Craftsman commercial with the same premise, causing some unrest.

In any case, the NBA had a massive showing; outside the Playoffs and All-Star Game, this might be the NBA’s biggest day of the season. The NBA wasted no time, displaying matchups between historic powerhouses (like Boston, New York Knicks, Chicago, and Lakers), top dogs (Miami, Clippers, and Oklahoma City), and newcomers (like Brooklyn and the Beardsanity-lead Houston Rockets). With the stars on display, the league sponsors also went all out: Sprint, Nike, BBVA, Kia, State Farm, and 20^th Century Fox all have NBA-related commercials that were showcased during the basketball marathon. If this wasn’t enough, league stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe “insert negative epithet” Bryant unveiled bright (gaudy) new shoes to go along with the one color jerseys for fans to purchase by the truck full.

My two cents: I don’t like the look of most of the jerseys (the Lakers-Knicks game was impossible to watch, but not entirely for that reason). Nevertheless, I love the commercial and generally love Christmas basketball, so it’s overall a win. I certainly spent most of my holiday sitting on my couch watching the games (if only we could get some college basketball on Christmas…)

Limitless Financial Power, Unless You’re A Freshman: Can Anyone Stop the Big Ten Network?

If you didn’t catch on from my recent blog posts, I’m kind of partial to the Big Ten. Also, unless you’re living under a rock, you caught some recent news about the Big Ten. 

Let’s catch up any readers who began a hermitage in the last month: Maryland and Rutgers were approved to become the 13^th and 14^th members of the illustrious Big Ten Conference. So yes, the numbers still don’t make sense, but the dollar signs have athletic directors, conference officials, and university presidents not asking questions.

The Big Ten Network was already a powerful force in college athletics (I remember reading someone’s brilliant musings on that exact subject a few months ago.) Add in the New York and Baltimore/D.C. media markets (two of the largest on the East Coast) and we have the makings of an unstoppable media behemoth. Add in the recent news that each of the five “power leagues” would get an average of $75 million more per year than other FBS leagues under the college football playoff, and the money’s looking very, very good.

Furthermore, with Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana all looking to be elite programs, and programs like Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue, and newcomer Maryland who are far from slouches in their own right (ignore the early struggles of Wisconsin and Purdue. Combined, they have 255 total wins and five Sweet Sixteen appearances in the last five years), the Big Ten is arguably poised to be the premier college basketball conference in the nation (although the new look ACC has some great programs.) It’s a good time to be a part of the Big Ten.

That is, unless you’re a newcomer. John Ourand of SportsBusinessJournal reported this week that Maryland and Rutgers will likely not have their games broadcast on the Big Ten Network until local distributors give into the Big Ten Network’s demand to place the channel on an expanded basic tier, a strategy identical to the one used when Nebraska joined the conference. First impressions show a potential battle with Cablevision in the New Jersey markets. The Big Ten Network wants to offer its programming to the largest possible group of people, and likely won’t budge on their demands. This will hurt fans in these new markets who want to see their teams. This strategy worked at the outset of the Big Ten Network, where many markets (including Time Warner Cable in central Ohio) refused to come to a deal with the BTN to carry the network until days before the opening of the season.

Rutgers fans, Maryland faithful: start pressuring your cable providers now, or you might miss out on the new era of college athletics.

The Man Advantage: Feasting!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before from me:

I love college basketball.

There isn’t another sport that fills me with such happiness and excitement. The pageantry, the rivalries, the fans, the spirit of hope that even the smallest school has a shot at championship glory... couple it with my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) and Feast Week is without question one of the best things on the planet (disregarding March Madness of course).

While other people were spending their "Feast Week" on “food, family, and FOOOTBAAAAALLLL,” I enjoyed a cornucopia of great college basketball games. From Tuesday to Saturday, I probably watched 15-20 games (with bits and pieces of several others thrown in). Here’s some tidbits that stuck out to me:

  

Drexel guard Frantz Massenet

    1.)    Dragons Fizzle: Is there a bigger early season disappointment than our own Drexel Dragons (Maybe Memphis)? Picked to run train through a depleted CAA, the Dragons have looked remarkably unremarkable through six games. The non-conference schedule, with games against Illinois State, St. Mary’s, and Xavier already, is much improved from last year--unfortunately this team, which returned all notable pieces from last year’s 29 win squad except do-it-all forward Samme Givens, hasn’t earned the pre-season hype. The injury bug has hit frequently, limiting Damion Lee and likely ending Chris Fouch’s Drexel career. Junior guard Frantz Massenet, the preseason CAA Player of the Year, has been sloppy and forwards Dartaye Ruffin and Daryl McCoy have struggled to be consistent presences in the post-Givens era. Fortunately, Drexel started the season very similarly last season before turning it around and winning 25 of 26 games on their way to the CAA Tournament finals: the next few games are very winnable. Unfortunately, however, the Dragons close out 2012 with home games against cross-city foe St. Joseph’s and…

    2.)    Davidson Roars: The Davidson Wildcats, the team that may have impressed me the most this past week. While their 3-3 record so far this season might not seem noteworthy, anyone who saw their victories over Vanderbilt and West Virginia in the Old Spice Classic saw a bracket buster in the making. Their only loss came in the tournament finals against a Gonzaga program that is arguably a top-10 team this season. Keep an eye on these Tigers—this is an experienced team that can do some damage in March.

    3.)    Atlantis Rocks: Was there a better Thanksgiving tournament than the Battle 4 Atlantis? How many tournaments in November can boast four top-20 squads, along with two dangerous mid-majors and two quality major conference teams? The field was something to see, and while three of the four semi-finals teams make my stomach turn with revulsion (I was unable to watch the first semi-final at a risk of losing my Thanksgiving leftovers), the games were fantastic. For the basketball fan who just wants to see a good game, the Louisville-Missouri semi-final was just fun to watch, even as a born-and-raised Kentucky Wildcats fan. The tempo and intensity from both teams reminds us of what we love about March…. In November.

Did you catch much college basketball over the break? What jumped out to you? Answer in the comments!

Freshman Files: Ryan Pratt

 Name: Ryan Pratt
Current Year: Junior

Freshman Dorm: Race

Co-Ops: UPenn Athletic Communications, American Association for Cancer Research (Development office)

Area of Interest: Athletic fundraising

What is your favorite memory from freshman year?

The complete change of scenery from what I was used to, moving into a big city. All the experiences from freshman year laid the foundation for all I’ve been able to do since then.

What is the most important thing that you learned about sport management and the sports industry?

Networking is the key to success. Working with and meeting other people is this industry, and the more people who know you, the better. Connections, both in the classroom and through work experience are invaluable to learning about and breaking into the industry.

What advice would you give to the freshmen based on your experiences?

You need to jump in immediately and take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves. There are infinite opportunities to gain experience in the sports industry, and most freshmen students sit back and wait for something to come to them. Get involved in student organizations, ask if you can help a professor with a research project, or be a game-day volunteer for a local sports team. Putting yourself out there, in whatever way you decide, is a key to figuring out what you like and don’t like in the industry. Plus, the lessons you will learn and the people you meet can help you find co-op and other job opportunities in the future.

If you could do freshman year all over again, what would you do differently?

I probably would have looked into the research opportunities of the STAR Program to do research with one of the SMT professors or applied to be an Orientation Leader. I used my only summer to catch up with my friends from home and enjoy the last little bit of summer freedom. In hindsight, I missed out on a great opportunity to add an important piece to my resume. If I had to do it all over again, I also probably would have also applied to be a Student Ambassador while I still had time in my life to do so. Nevertheless, I’m happy with how things DID go, as it got me where I am today.

Previous: Kevin Giordano
On Deck: Greg Monforte

The Man Advantage: High Flying Heisman

Some might think it’s premature to be talking about the Heisman Trophy. Personally, it is never too early to talk about the biggest individual prize in college football.

At the opening of the 2012 college football season, USC golden boy and quarterback Matt Barkley was seen as the clear front runner. After a week three run-in with the Stanford Cardinal and a number of other unimpressive games, that chatter has largely been silenced.

A new front-runner has emerged: (who interestingly enough was my preseason player to watch. Take my word for it.) West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. This time last year, I hadn’t bought the hype; he struck me as another unimpressive quarterback for WVU. Then I saw West Virginia’s Orange Bowl matchup with Clemson, a team I was impressed with last season. Six touchdowns and a 70-33 win later, and I believed in Geno Smith.

Smith has picked up where he left off in that bowl game, leading his team to a 4-0 record and outscoring opponents 212-130, an average of almost 3 touchdowns a game. No one will compare Marshall, JMU, Maryland, and Baylor to murderer’s row, but it’s hard to argue with his numbers: 1728 yards passing with a 83.4% completion rate, 20 touchdowns with zero interceptions. The nation is catching Geno-fever and the comparisons to Robert Griffin III are plentiful.

The question is, can he keep it up? Three of WVU’s next four games are against top-15 ranked opponents. If WVU is 7-0 come November, with Smith continuing his torrid offensive pace, he’ll have to be the undisputed Heisman frontrunner going into their Nov. 3^rd contest against fellow Big 12 newcomer TCU.

Smiths’ standout season could not have come at a better time for West Virginia as they enter their post-Big East era in the Big 12. Is there any better way to enter a new conference than with a Heisman contender leading a high-flying offense? Time will tell if West Virginia can see a “Flutie factor” as Boston College did in the 80s, or even the less-discussed “Tebow” factor Florida saw in the years since my least favorite Jacksonville native arrived on campus. Outstanding players have a way of leaving a legacy on recruiting, admissions, and sponsorship dollars—going into unfamiliar territory, any little thing can help. The learning curve is lessened with head coach Dana Holgorsen, former Big 12 assistant at Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. He has familiarity both with opposing programs as well as with local high school coaches, helping the Mountaineers gain an edge in recruiting battles.

Geno Smith and West Virginia have a lot riding on this season: BCS title hopes, Heisman trophy chatter, a shot to be the first quarterback taken in next year’s NFL draft, and larger yet, what the legacy of Mountaineer football can be in the Big 12.