SAN DIEGO STATE SPORTS MBA

Fin.

2010-11-18T16:46:00.000-08:00

La'Roi Glover - Aztec Hall of Famer

2010-11-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

By Oumar Ganame (SMBA '11)

This weekend saw a very proud moment for the Sports MBA Program, as well as San Diego State University Athletics. Six members were inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame, including our own La’Roi Glover. Inducted along with La’Roi were Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Doug Harvey, Tonette Dyer, John Hyden, and Fred Miller.

A product of Point Loma High School in San Diego, La’Roi was a star player at SDSU before moving on to a successful 13-year career in the NFL. That career included six Pro-Bowls and an All-Pro selection after leading the NFL in sacks in 2000. While attending classes in the Sports MBA program, La’Roi was given the opportunity to become the Director of Player Programs with the St. Louis Rams.

LA'ROI INTERVIEW

Despite his departure, La’Roi will always be a member of the 2011 Sports MBA class. We are beyond proud of his achievements and his current position with the Rams. La’Roi will certainly be a big player within the National Football League for years to come.

Collective Bargaining Negotiations

2010-11-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

As part of the Sports MBA, the SMBA ’11 class participated in a Collective Bargaining Simulation over the past two days. The simulation has been a part of the Sports MBA program every year, but this was the first time a class has tackled a current sports business issue: the NFL.

The simulation was part of the overall Operations Management course and included briefings and materials from Dr. Singh, who has a considerable amount of collective bargaining experience, and Jim Steeg, who owns a great deal of football business knowledge.

Thursday, which was a full day of negotiations, contained a number of highlights. They included storm-outs, a lot of yelling, stubbornness, press conferences, and a host of other strategic moves. In the end, 4 of the 6 groups reached a compromise, while 2 groups had to go to arbitration.

It was a great learning experience and, hopefully, next year’s class enjoys the process just as much.

Guest Speaker: Greg Byrne – Arizona’s Athletic Director

2010-10-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the SMBA ’11 class had the pleasure of welcoming Greg Byrne, the University of Arizona’s Director of Athletics, to the classroom. Byrne, in town for the Wildcats football game against UCLA, talked about his time as Mississippi State’s AD and the type of culture he is trying to create in Arizona.

He said, “Passion, enthusiasm, and interest are the best things about college athletics, but they are also the worst things too.”

Byrne loves the fact that U of A is—really—the only game in Tucson and, therefore, has competitive advantage. But, still, he emphasized Arizona’s commitment to customer satisfaction and academic performance. He also discussed how he’s changing the atmosphere for athletics, which includes installing a large video board and implementing the Wildcat Walk to enhance the fan experience.

Byrne also discussed the popularity of women’s softball, the 1-and-done rule for basketball, conference realignment, how he deals with agents, advantages and disadvantages of social media, enforcing academic integrity, and paying student-athletes, and having his father as AD of Texas A&M.

SMBA ’11 thanks Byrne for visiting the classroom!

Guest Speaker: Michael Catanzaro – Vitro Agency

2010-10-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

The SMBA ’11 class hosted Michael Catanzaro, a Group Account Director for Vitro Agency, today. One of Catanzaro’s clients is Asics, an account he has personally worked on for four years. He took us through an impressive Powerpoint that highlighted the global brand campaign and four pillars that Vitro Agency focuses on for all of its clients: awareness, familiarity, consideration, and purchase.

Catanzaro led us through Asics’ goals and the campaigns that his agency pitched to Asics, including the successful "Sound mind, sound body" campaign. He discussed the difficulties facing an agency, Asics future plans (including sponsoring the November 7th New York City marathon), how to get the most out of brand, television commercial production, and the future advertising campaigns for Asics.

It was great to have Catanzaro in the classroom and his first-hand experience helped the SMBA ’11 class better understand another side of the IMC process.

Jimmy Plays Games

2010-10-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

As part of Marketing 729, the SMBA ’11 class is reading Digital Korea by Tomi T Ahonen and Jim O’Reilly. The book details how South Korea has become the world’s most connected country. And, since classmate Jimyong Moon (SMBA ’11) is originally from South Korea, he was more than happy to show us two of the book’s main examples of technological advancement: CyWorld and Kart Rider.

Guest Speaker: Laura Broderick

2010-10-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today, Laura Broderick, Senior Vice President of Brand Development for the San Diego Padres, visited with the SMBA ’11 class. Broderick talked about her impressive background, which includes a Harvard MBA and hiring current Padres’ President Tom Garfinkel as an intern when she worked at DELL.

Broderick detailed how the Padres have changed their logo eight times in their 40-year history and, as a result, have had no unity behind the brand. To that end, when Broderick was hired last October, she put an emphasis on the “SD” because it unfies the city around the Padres. She also focused on all of the touchpoints the Padres weren’t taking advantage of, such as the promotional giveaway packaging.

Broderick also went through the Padres’ community outreach initiatives, which include Military Appreciation games and Stand-Up to Cancer. She also discussed measuring ROI on certain events, how other MLB teams operate their brand, the Padres relationship with BAM, dealing with current hurdles, and transitioning from a non-sports career. The class thanks Laura for stopping by the classroom.

Internship with SDSU's Women's BBall

2010-10-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

By Danielle Arrington (SMBA '11)

Upon entering this program, it was my goal to find a way to get involved with my passion for basketball and my love for the women’s game. Luckily, an opportunity presented itself working with the Los Angeles Sparks on their first annual pre-season game at Viejas Arena and continuing throughout the season. As the Sparks season ended in August, I was looking for other potential opportunities. I found that opportunity with SDSU’s Women’s Basketball team.

After speaking with coaches of the team, I was offered the position of Head Manager. Although, the job doesn’t sound very glamorous, it has been the best learning experience I could’ve ever asked for. On top of that, I love women’s basketball, I get an insider’s look at the team because I’m at every practice, and I get to wear hoop shorts to work every day.

For those wondering what I do on a daily basis, the answer is any and everything the Head Coach asks me to do. Whether that’s setting up practice, participating in practice drills, analyzing and reviewing tape, or doing a statistical analysis on players’ shot selections, I’m involved in many aspects of the teams operations.

As the season progresses, I see myself, more and more, becoming a fan….and an Aztec.

Go Aztecs!

SDSU Upsets Air Force

2010-10-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

SDSU football beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 1996 and SMBA ’11 was there. Joe, Peggy, Jodi, and Greg M. represented the class by assisting with game day activities, which included sponsor activation and T-shirt cannon duties. In fact, the crew was armed with Flip cams to capture sponsored events throughout the game.

Meanwhile, SDSU held off #23 Air Force to move to 4-2 on the season. The next home game will be against Colorado State in two weeks.

Guest Speaker: Jennifer Kurisu – NYCA

2010-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

As part of the IMC, the SMBA ’11 class welcomed Jennifer Kurisu, Account Planner for NYCA, to the classroom. NYCA is a marketing and advertising firm that handles sport entities, such as TaylorMade and adidas.

Kurisu mostly works with brand planning and how to have NYCA athletes convey the vision of NYCA. Currently, NYCA is the largest Integrated Marketing Communication agency in San Diego with 41 employees on staff. They have a dozen clients, which include the aforementioned sport entities as well as The San Diego Union-Tribune and Barona casinos.

Kurisu discussed a TaylorMade case study, which included using athletes as all together to promote a trust in the brand rather than relying on one star athlete. She also discussed TaylorMade's "I am a golfer" ad campaign from NYCA. Kurisu also discussed her job duties, social media, NYCA’s vision, brand importance, her career path, and advice for the SMBA ’11 class. The class thanks Kurisu for taking time to visit.

Sandy Alderson to the Mets?

2010-10-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Friend of the SMBA, Sandy Alderson, has interviewed for the New York Mets General Manager position. While this would be a great hire by the Mets, it certainly would be nice if Alderson remained in his current position to help MLB labor practices in the Dominican Republic.

ALDERSON TO METS

Regardless, it’s a testament to Alderson’s credentials that baseball people believe he could succeed in yet another area within MLB. SMBA ’11 wishes Alderson all the best in his decision.

Globalization of Sport

2010-10-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Another class is done for SMBA ’11. As the class heads into the final weeks of classroom portion of the program, a number of final projects and presentations are finishing; including Dr. Francis’ Globalization of Sport.

Six groups presented their research findings, which were conducted through primary and secondary research, on a range of topics:

1) Professionalization of MLB labor practices in the Dominican Republic
2) Unions and antecedents leading to the 1994 MLB strike and parallels to a possible NFL strike
3) A case study of NFL Europe
4) Lessons learned from the English Premier League
5) Comparing the Internationalization efforts of the NFL and NBA
6) Community building through sports

All groups did a fantastic job and with a final lecture from Dr. Francis today, there now remains four classes for SMBA ’11.

Finance II Player Valuations

2010-10-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

As part of Dr. Moon Song’s Finance II class, we read and analyzed the Harvard Business Case on Alex Rodriguez. More specifically, the SMBA ’11 class learned about the finances of the Texas Rangers 2000 decision to make A-Rod the highest paid player in MLB history at the time.

Using this case, SMBA ’11 put together player valuations for different players. Today, the first four of eight groups presented their player valuations to the class. The players evaluated were:

Cristiano Ronaldo
Matt Holliday
Troy Tulowitzki
C.C. Sabathia

The results varied, but it was fun to learn who was overpriced, underpriced, and just about right. Four more groups will present next week.

Guest Speaker – Steve Becvar, XFL

2010-10-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Remember when the XFL unapologetically introduced itself in 2000? Well, after a successful first week that produced large TV ratings on NBC, as well as an air of excitement, the XFL quickly lost its momentum. In fact, after only one season, the XFL shut down operations.

Today, Steve Becvar, who was VP of Corporate Sales and Marketing for one of the Memphis XFL team, discussed that one crazy year. Currently, Becvar is the Associate Athletic Director at the University of San Diego and he has spoken to past SMBA classes during the IMC class.

Becvar worked for the Memphis Maniax and moved his family for the opportunity to head the marketing department for a new League that was generating a lot of excitement. Even though Memphis averaged 21,000 fans per game and had 9,000 season ticket holders, Becvar admitted that there were some growing pains.

Becvar discussed those growing pains, the XFL corporation, working at the team level, the day he found out the League was shutting down, and shared some stories about his experience. He admitted that he was “intrigued by the unknown” and, unfortunately, the unknown ended up not working.

Padres Come Up Short

2010-10-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

The San Diego Padres were picked by many to finish the 2010 MLB season at the bottom of the division. Instead, they spent 148 days atop the National League West. And, despite a low payroll, a Padres win on the last day of the season would’ve setup two one-game playoffs, which would have marked the first time in MLB history.

Unfortunately, the San Francisco Giants beat the Padres 3-0 and the ‘Little Engine That Could’ has to wait until next year. However, the Padres generated nearly 4,000 more fans per game in attendance and kept their two star players (Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell) throughout the season, despite rumors that they would trade them.

Regardless, even a Dr. Lackritz statistical analysis wouldn’t have predicted this sort of season for the low-payroll Padres. SMBA ’11 was happy to be a part of the fun.

WAC Sports Network

2010-10-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Greg Moore (SMBA ’11) is currently helping the Western Athletic Conference Sports Network. The new network debuted on September 18th with the Fresno State v. Utah State football game and is continuing with some exciting games this weekend. The regional network will feature WAC football and basketball games regionally on media outlets in the respective school markets.

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WAC SPORTS

Schools, as well as conferences, are continuing to use television to expand their brand and leverage their presence. Please follow WAC Sports Network on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with the new network’s progress.

Troon Regional Golf Workshop

2010-09-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

By Greg Leisher (SMBA '11)

As you have probably figured out by prior posts, our class is actively participating in internships with a variety of sports organizations in San Diego. I have had the unique opportunity to partner with Bill O'Brien, the General Manager at Maderas Golf Course, consistently rated as one of the best courses in San Diego and part of the Troon Golf network. The experience has been very valuable to date, as I have been able to expand my knowledge of the golf industry from the perspective of the facility vs. my prior perspective as a customer.

As part of the internship, Bill has been very generous with his time and recently invited me to join him on a visit to Indian Wells Golf Resort, where his colleagues from other Troon courses in Southern California were convening to share best practices and discuss new corporate initiatives. Being tasked with assisting the continuous process improvement initiatives at Maderas, I naturally jumped at the opportunity to hear proven solutions from other courses. The day proved to be quite productive, since I was given tremendous access to Troon's corporate objectives while also getting a better sense of the culture of the organization. Bill's colleagues welcomed me with open arms and I'm looking forward to continuing a dialogue with several of them when I visit Scottsdale later this month!

Kassim Osgood

2010-09-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

While the San Diego State football team is making some news on-the-field, it appears as though some former Aztecs are making news off-the-field:

OSGOOD ESCAPES INTRUDER

To Kassim Osgood’s credit, he has made news on-the-field, as well. Before his touchdown catch in the Jacksonville Jaguars opener against Denver, he made three Pro Bowls as a special teams ace with the San Diego Chargers. Luckily, Osgood appears to be okay after this incident.

Dr. Belch Returns

2010-09-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

A familiar face returned to teach Integrated Marketing Communications to SMBA ’11. Dr. George E. Belch, who taught Marketing Research to the class in the Spring, will teach IMC with help from the book he co-wrote with his brother, Dr. Michael Belch.

Among Dr. Belch’s impressive career highlights are working at DuPont Company as a marketing representative, working as a research analyst for the DDB Worldwide advertising agency, and authoring or coauthoring more than 30 articles in leading academic journals.

It’s good to have him back, especially for a subject that many in the class would like to pursue as a career.

NBA Case

2010-09-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Building on the UFC case we did, Dr. Francis had the other half of the SMBA ’11 class use a variety of tools to accurately analyze the National Basketball Association (NBA) and their attempts to expand globally.

The NBA, as outlined in the case, must decide how to expand their brand internationally, specifically in Europe.

As we did for the UFC case, SMBA ’11 split into groups to discuss and present the issues presented in the NBA case. This time, members of the class played the role of David Stern and eventually reached an agreement on which group had the best ideas for global expansion. Interestingly, despite using similar tools, each presentation had a different recommendation, which ranged from an 8-team European League, having the NBA play regular season games against European teams, and acquiring already-established European teams.

SDSU Football and KGB SkyShow

2010-09-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

Once again the SMBA ’11 crew played a key role in an SDSU football win. The Aztecs beat Utah State 41-7 yesterday to move to 3-1 on the season and SMBA ’11 was all over Qualcomm helping out.

Some members of the class helped out at Aztec Village before the game, where Zuma the Puma took a liking to Tana. Jodi assisted with game-day operations and Tana tweeted from all over the stadium for Aztec Game Time. Demian was updating Aztec Game Time’s Facebook page from the field and Emily, Luke, Greg M., and Joe assisted Learfield with the T-shirt canon. The Marshall Faulk Foundation was promoting their Homecoming event, so Alyssa was in attendance, as well.

A big crowd was on-hand thanks to the annual KGB SkyShow. Due to all the hard work SMBA ’11 put in, the crew had front row seats for one of the largest firework displays in the country. Go Aztecs!

Guest Speaker: Michael Jacobson – Octagon

2010-09-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

Michael Jacobson, Director of Talent Relations for Octagon First Call, made a trip down from Los Angeles to speak to SMBA ’11 today. Need Jerome Bettis to endorse your product? How about Cindy Crawford to pitch your company? Jacobson advises companies and acquires talent to ensure a successful partnership. He determines the value of a celebrity in order to negotiate partnerships and activate programs.

The average day for Jacobson consists of meeting with managers, publicists, agents, and lawyers. His goal is celebrity acquisition and sponsor activation. Surprisingly, 80% of what Octagon does is not sports-related, even though they started out in the sports business.

Jacobson took us through the process he uses and then discussed Octagon’s mission statement, case studies (Sears, Oscar Meyer, and Mitsubishi), moral clauses, Q-scores, how to value talent, and his career path. SMBA ’11 thanks Jacobson for coming in and talking with the class.

Former Padres GM hired by Diamondbacks

2010-09-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

The game of musical chairs continues in the National League West. Former San Diego Padres’ General Manager Kevin Towers was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks as Executive Vice President and General Manager.

Ironically, the Diamondbacks turned down Towers five years ago. But, he’s responsible for a number of the highly regarded players on the Padres’ current roster, such as Mat Latos, Heath Bell, and Luke Gregerson.

ARIZONA HIRES TOWERS

Now, Towers is in Arizona, former Diamondback owner Jeff Moorad owns the Padres, and former Padre Manager Bruce Bochy is managing the San Francisco Giants. With hope, this game of musical chairs ends with the Padres in the playoffs.

Guest Speaker: Ben Roller

2010-09-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

As part of Aaron LeValley’s CRM class, Ben Roller of the San Diego Padres came by to speak to SMBA ’11. Roller is Manager of Database and CRM Operations for the Padres.

Roller discussed renewal rates, ticket selling, and how the CRM database can lead to identifying areas of weakness during a given game or team home-stand. He also took us through the tools used by the Padres to further customer relationship and how it helps their sale staff to retain and collect ticket sales.

Roller supported LeValley’s assertion that CRMs can help teams identify areas to improve customer relationships and can, eventually, lead to future success. SMBA '11 thanks Ben Roller coming in and talking with us.

Aaron LeValley – Client Relationship Management

2010-09-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday SMBA ’11 started another class: Client Relationship Management (CRM). The class is taught by Aaron LeValley, who works as a Database Manager and Analyst for the Los Angeles Kings. He also has experience working in Sales and Marketing departments for the Oakland Raiders, Phoenix Suns, and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Since CRM is becoming increasingly important in the business world, SMBA ’11 is honored to have someone with actual experience with a lot of the programs that teams are using.

IMG Event Staff at the Hurley Pro

2010-09-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

By Victoria Hoe (SMBA '11)

Just back from 8 days in San Clemente at the Hurley Pro surfing event and I've finally had time to digest the experience. The 2010 Hurley Pro took place on San Onofre State Beach - Lower Trestles, one of the best surfing spots in North America. It represented the only ASP World Tour event on mainland U.S. shores, where the very best surfers in the world fight it out for the world title. I was offered the opportunity to work on the event staff by Lisa Jenkins (SMBA '06), who currently serves as the Director of Events for IMG's Action Sports division. IMG's event staff teamed up with representatives from Hurley and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) to run the week-long competition.

Founded in 1999 and now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nike, Hurley describes itself as an authentic 'Microphone for Youth' brand rooted in surf, skate, art, music and beach cultures. My position at the event was that of Athlete Concierge, a very unique role for an ASP surfing event. Both Hurley and IMG set out to create a one-of-a-kind experience for the athletes and provide them with an extra level of service that they are not accustomed to. Going above and beyond for the athletes included providing complimentary valet parking, tickets and discounts to local events and attractions, warm showers at the beach, VIP access for friends and family, beach-side internet access, board check, and complimentary ding repair. In my opinion, Hurley and IMG succeeded in pulling off an absolutely first-rate event. The branding of both the competition and the experience for the athletes was so unique, many were in shock at the level of service. Many surfers were overheard saying that Hurley Pro was their favorite stop on tour and that they had nothing but great impressions of the Hurley brand because of it.

Another major undertaking for the event was the state-of-the-art webcasts broadcasted worldwide everyday from the competition. Trestles is not an easy site to access by any means and the Hurley crew did an amazing job securing multiple camera angles (and water cams!) to deliver live competition heats and exclusive behind-the-scenes content. The Hurley Pro also offered an official App for iPhone and iPad so that fans could track the action anytime and anywhere in the palm of their hands. Overall, it was an excellent event to learn from and witness. The folks from IMG and Hurley are true professionals and it was an absolute pleasure getting to work with them for the week.

UFC Case

2010-09-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

As Dr. Francis’ class deals with the global side of business and being able to use a variety of tools to accurately analyze a company, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an appropriate case to examine.

UFC has a number of issues they must address including—but not limited to—athlete compensation, international growth, and sponsors that align with their fan base that continues to deviate from their original 18-36 year-old male demographic.

Today, SMBA ’11 split into groups to discuss and present UFC issues presented in the case we read. Half of the class also wrote detailed papers using analytical tools about the UFC that were handed in before class. Next week, the other half of the class will write papers regarding the globalization of the NBA.

Dr. Belch on Reggie Bush

2010-09-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Much to the chagrin of Peggy Morales (SMBA ’11), USC continues to make the news for items that are happening off the football field. The latest is that former Trojan star running back Reggie Bush has voluntarily given back his 2005 Heisman Trophy.

Dr. Belch, who will be teaching SMBA ’11 again this Fall, weighed in on Bush’s image this week for USA Today:

REGGIE BUSH USA TODAY

From a marketing standpoint, it’s hard to imagine Bush regaining the same marketability he had in 2005. However, USC might have a tougher time than Bush in the coming seasons.

Chivas’ Soccer Match at PETCO

2010-09-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

SMBA ’11, prospective students, family, and friends all helped distribute programs and rosters to fans before the Chivas USA of Major League Soccer versus Mexico's Chivas de Guadalajara soccer match on Tuesday night. PETCO Park was transformed from a baseball field to a soccer field and the Padres did an excellent job of hosting the match.

Soccer United Marketing (SUM) was also present and classmates Oumar Ganame, Demian Reyes, Emily Nakayama, and Krista Washington all assisted with the Futbol Fiesta before the game and they handled special assignments during halftime.

Besides raising $700 for the class’ Dominican Republic fund, the class was also able to hang around to watch some of the exciting match. Michael Lahoud of Chivas USA scored on the fifth penalty kick to seal a 1-0 victory for Chivas USA, which provided the perfect ending to a game that had a number of excellent stops.

Arizona Charity Golf Classic

2010-09-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

By Alyssa Boyd

Last weekend, I traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona with my boss, Brandi Greenleaf, fellow co-worker Chrissy Mulder, and previous Foundation worker Mandy Snyder to help with the Arizona Charity Golf Classic, a golf tournament put on by Tim Fleming of All-Star Framing to benefit the Marshall Faulk Foundation and Packages From Home. We arrived early on Friday afternoon to begin preparation for the big tournament on Sunday. While trying to endure the 100 degree heat, we spent Friday and Saturday setting up for the "pairings reception" on Saturday night at the Scottsdale Cigar Lounge, where there was a great turnout and we raised a good amount of money in a silent auction.

Sunday was an early morning, as we were at the golf course by 7 AM to help with registration and getting all the golfers ready to play. 114 men and women from Arizona participated in the scramble golf tournament, which lasted about 4 hours. Afterwards, everyone headed over to a local bar to watch Sunday football (aka, the Patriots beat the Bengals) and spend some more money on great auction items, including Marshall Faulk autographed pictures, a Kurt Warner autographed cleat, and different golf lessons at courses around Scottsdale. It was a busy, but exciting weekend, and now it's crunch time as we begin to prepare for Marshall's two big events: the Aztec for Life Homecoming Celebration on October 15th and Celebrity Extravaganza on November 5th and 6th!

Debate: Women in Sports

2010-09-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

The SMBA ’11 class proudly has more female students than male students. Unfortunately, the debate this week in the sports industry is about women’s place in sports after an incident involving the New York Jets.

Last weekend, Ines Sainz, a female reporter from Mexico’s TV Azteca, went to the New York Jets facility to do a story on Mark Sanchez. While there, Sainz was reportedly subjected to inappropriate behavior by the players, which led to an NFL investigation and an apology from Jets owner Woody Johnson.

Washington Redskins’ running back Clinton Portis weighed in by saying female reporters “are going to want somebody” when they go in to an NFL locker room.

It’s a shame that people are still questioning female roles in sport in 2010. With hope, this is an isolated incident, since some of the best and brightest sports’ stars (both on and off the field) are female.

Stand Up to Cancer: STANDiego

2010-09-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a playoff push, the San Diego Padres held another phase of their season-long effort to raise awareness and funds for Stand Up to Cancer: STANDiego. Fans seated in section 133 of PETCO Park last Thursday wore limited-edition Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) T-shirts and stood for the duration of the Padres-Giants’ game.

Of course, SMBA ’11 students were in section 133 and joined by Padres’ staff, including Tom Garfinkel, as well as fans supporting the fight. All net proceeds go to collaborative cancer research.

In May, the Padres became the first MLB team to partner with Stand Up To Cancer, unveiling SU2C panels at PETCO and inviting fans to sign in honor of—or in tribute to—loved ones who have battled the disease. All 38 panels are full of signatures and will be affixed to outfield walls at PETCO for the final two Padres’ home games on September 29th and 30th.

Sports MBA Info Session - Los Angeles

2010-09-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

If you’re a prospective student that is interested in joining next year’s Sports MBA class, then stay tuned for news about information sessions in your area.

Sports MBA Director Scott Minto will be traveling across the country in the upcoming weeks to meet with prospective students. If you’re interested in attending an information session, please email smbainfo@sdsu.edu .

9/13 – LOS ANGELES (9 PM EST @ Champion’s Sports Bar – LAX Marriott)

This is a great chance to meet the program’s Director and to learn even more about the Sports MBA.

2010 NFL Season Kicks Off

2010-09-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

The defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints defeated the Minnesota Vikings 14-9 to open up the 2010 NFL season. However, while 32 teams will be battling for a Super Bowl title this season, a more important battle is going on between NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith.

The two are on opposite sides of the table when it comes to the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is up in March 2011. Player health-care coverage, a possible 18-game schedule, and owners’ profits will be among the main issues that could all hold up the start of the 2011 NFL season.

Regardless, the NFL season should be just as entertaining off-the-field as it will be on-the-field.

Soccernomics

2010-09-08T00:45:00.000-07:00

The focus of Dr. John Francis’ Management 710 class is on the World Business environment. In order for the SMBA ’11 class to better understand this topic there will be a case paper, as well as a group presentation that will deal with topics ranging from MLB labor practices in the Dominican Republic to the internationalization efforts of the NBA and the NFL.

Another resource for this class will be assigned readings from Kuper and Szymanski’s Soccernomics. Much like Moneyball complemented our Statistics’ class, Soccernomics will add to Dr. Francis’ lectures. In this book, the authors dissect the game of soccer and challenge long-held beliefs, apply reason to suggested changes, and provide thoughtful economic analysis.

Soccer Game at PETCO

2010-09-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

Chivas USA and Chivas de Guadalajara fans will be hitting San Diego in this year’s ChivaClasico at PETCO Park. The game will take place on Tuesday, September 14 and tickets are still available.

PETCO Park hosted an international soccer match between the Mexican National Men’s Team and the Swedish Men’s National Team on January 26, 2005 and the game drew 35,521 fans.

If you’d like to help volunteer for this event and meet some of the SMBA ’11 class, please email smbainfo@sdsu.edu . We hope to see you there.

...More From the Gridiron

2010-09-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

A San Diego sporting event wouldn’t be complete without a couple of helpful SDSU Sport MBAs. So, the first SDSU football game of the year showcased Raquel Rodriguez (SMBA ’11) and Emily Nakayama’s (SMBA ’11) talents.

The two, who are helping SDSU Athletics and Learfield with marketing efforts this Fall, handled the T-shirt cannon and interacted with fans. Of course, they were also on-hand to make sure Zuma, a new supplemental mascot, became acclimated to his new home.

While Emily and Raquel didn’t grab any touchdowns in the Aztecs 47-0 opening win, they definitely made the game more fun for the fans.

SDSU Football Wins First Game

2010-09-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

San Diego State football is 1-0 after opening the season with a 47-0 victory over Nicholls State. QB Ryan Lindley threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and WR DeMarco Sampson put on a show by catching seven passes for 179 yards, a school record for an opening game.

SDSU finished with 531 yards of offense and showed that it’s serious about securing its first bowl bid as a member of the 11 year-old Mountain West Conference. SDSU continues the season this Saturday at New Mexico State.

Follow Aztec Game Time on Twitter or Facebook to learn more about the football team.

Fall Semester Starts

2010-08-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

After a long weekend that included two San Diego Padre games, the SMBA '11 class is back in the classroom to start the Fall semester. Today marks the first class of Dr. John Francis' World Business Environment.

Wednesday will be Dr. Moon Song's first Financial Management class. After that, the SMBA '11 will enjoy a short Labor Day break and, if they stick around in San Diego, they can watch the SDSU Aztec football team take on Nicholls State.

Aztec Game Time

2010-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Want to stay up-to-date on all of the happenings in the San Diego State sports' world? Friend Aztec Game Time on Facebook or follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/aztecgametime.

Now is the perfect time, since the football season kicks-off on September 4. Great job by SMBA '11 classmates Demian Reyes and Tana Prosper in helping with Aztec Game Time.

Strasburg Out for Rest of Season

2010-08-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals’ 2009 No. 1 overall pick and former San Diego State pitcher, has a torn elbow ligament and will likely have Tommy John surgery. This, unfortunately, means that his promising rookie season has come to an abrupt end.

The 22 year-old was pulled from Saturday’s game at Philadelphia after he grabbed for his wrist after throwing a changeup. If he elects to have the surgery, then he would require 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation.

Strasburg went 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings with the Nationals. Strasburg initially told the team he had felt something similar at San Diego State, but continued to pitch through it. However, doctors decided that what happened at SDSU was unrelated to the ligament tear.

We wish Strasburg a fast recovery and thank him for making Aztec Nation proud this season.

Playboy Golf Tournament

2010-08-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

During the July 24th weekend, Alyssa Boyd (SMBA '11) and Peggy Morales (SMBA '11) assisted with the Playboy Golf Tournament's stop in San Diego. The event was held at Maderas Golf Course and, as you can imagine, many of the famous Playboy Playmates were there.

Even though Alyssa and Peggy didn't include any pictures of themselves with the Playmates, they did have a good time helping out with the event.

Final Moved Due to Water Main Break

2010-08-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Due to a water main break on SDSU’s campus, the SMBA ’11 class took their Organizational Behavior final exam at the San Diego Hall of Champions today. Apparently, a 24-inch pipe broke around 11 PM Monday night, affecting the areas in front of the campus library and Manchester Hall.

However, even today, the A/C was still knocked out on campus and, luckily, our friends at the Hall of Champions were able to accommodate us. As Dr. Lackritz says, "You have to be flexible".

Organizational Behavior Presentations

2010-08-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Using the skills we’ve learned over the past couple of months in Organizational Behavior, the SMBA ’11 class presented to Dr. Amy Randal today. Eight groups were charged with analyzing companies in which surveys were conducted. The groups were responsible for analyzing the survey results and conducting follow-up interviews with the respective organizations to find out more information.

The presentations focused on eight different sports entities in San Diego. They included:

1) The San Diego Padres
2) The San Diego Chargers
3) Skinit.com
4) Bad Boys
5) San Diego State Athletic Department
6) University of San Diego Athletic Department
7) Hookit
8) Sportsforce

SMBA ’11 did a great job and, hopefully, the organizations are impressed with the final papers they will be presented in the next couple of days.

Octagon Internship - Mercury Insurance Open

2010-08-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

By Victoria Hoe (SMBA '11)

Spending my summer as an intern with Octagon and their newly purchased tennis tournament in San Diego, the Mercury Insurance Open, proved to be an incredibly rewarding experience. The Mercury Insurance Open is a Premier event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Televised on the Tennis Channel and ESPN 2, the event comprised one of the 10 events of the Olympus US Open Series. As the Social Media Marketing Coordinator for the tournament, I was tasked with establishing a social media platform to promote and market the tournament, a premier event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. This proved to be an awesome opportunity, since the tournament had virtually no presence on social media prior to this year, allowing me a great deal of creativity and freedom when it came promoting the event online.

I was fortunate enough to work with our great title sponsor, Mercury Insurance, and our presenting sponsor, Tri-City Medical Center, to develop cross-promotions on social media in an effort to enhance their sponsorship activation. Because return on investment (ROI) is important for any sponsor, I designed promotions, trivia contests, and giveaways in an effort to increase the profile of the event online. I also sought to provide fans with a behind-the-scenes look into a pro tennis tournament by providing live scoring updates from around the grounds, pictures and video uploads, press conference clips, and player features. For those on-site at the event, Twitter and Facebook proved to be an effective means for promoting daily autograph sessions and driving additional foot traffic to sponsor booths. Another interesting aspect of social media that I found (throughout the tournament especially) was the ability to ask fans what they wanted to see/hear/know. As we learned earlier in the year, "social media represent the cheapest focus groups in business."

A final point on my internship with Octagon and the Mercury Insurance Open -- it was absolutely amazing to see how much an event of this size and scope relies on volunteers. Former Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neil, once said that "all politics is local;" well, I would contend that most sporting events are local, as well. I've been to my share of tennis tournaments and volunteered at my share of sporting events, but I was absolutely blown away by how integral the volunteers were to the success of this event. From the hundreds of ball kids, tournament services volunteers, ushers, transportation drivers, and ticket takers, I can firmly say that this event would not have happened without their hard work and dedication. This event, so international in nature, featured a Russian player (Svetlana Kuznetsova) and a Polish player (Agniezska Radwanska) in the Finals, and despite relying on the WTA and USTA to brand the tournament internationally, it was really the local support of the La Costa Resort and Spa and the North County tennis community that help the event run behind the scenes. Overall, an excellent experience and one I won't soon forget.

Guest Speaker: Shana Gritsavage – Under Armour

2010-08-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Continuing the trend of impressive alumni visiting the classroom, Shana Gritsavage (SMBA ’07) stopped by to talk to SMBA ’11 during her vacation. Gritsavage is Senior Manager of Events & Corporate Giving for Under Armour, which has tripled their number of employees over the past three years and will hit $1 billion in revenue for the first time this year thanks to their increasing brand presence.

Gritsavage provided more insight into Under Armour and spent time discussing the four pillars of Under Armour’s philanthropic initiatives: Power in Pink, UA Green, UA Freedom, and UA Youth Athletes. Gritsavage explained the needs in each pillar and certain programs that Under Armour does in each to increase awareness and funds. Gritsavage also explained that out of the three things that her company can give out (money, product, volunteer service), product is her favorite because it increases brand awareness and doesn’t cost as much.

Gritsavage fielded a lot of questions from the SMBA ’11 class, which included topics like expanding internationally, starting UA Youth Athletes, brand marketing, steps she took to secure her job, the Rookie program, launching in to other sports, and event management.

The class thanks Gritsavage for stopping by. If you’d like to learn more about Under Armour or the charitable work they do, please visit this UNDER ARMOUR website.

Guest Speakers: Brittany Johnson & Jenny Price, LA Angels of Anaheim

2010-08-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

Lawren Wolf (SMBA ’11) brought in Brittany Johnson, Manager of Training and Recruitment for the Angels, and Jenny Price, Director of Human Resources at the Angels, to speak to the class.

Johnson and Price informed the class of the year-long internship that the Angels offer. The Angels hire eight interns total to cover marketing, corporate sponsorship, media relations, fan relations, and ballpark operations.

Johnson and Price also fielded questions from SMBA ’11, which included questions about the application process, the number of employees at the Angels (125 year-round), resume tips, HR pet peeves, the 2010 All-Star Game, and the growth of social media.

The SMBA ’11 class thanks the Angels for taking time to visit the class. With any luck, members of the class will be working in Anaheim next year.

LA Day

2010-08-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

By Greg Moore (SMBA ’11)

Now that the SMBA class is in the final stretch of this busy year, it’s time to start putting networking and job searching at the top of the priority list. With that said, I, as well as classmates Aileen Berran and Lawren Wolf, decided to take a trip up to Los Angeles to shake some hands.

Our first stop was talking to Lisa Jenkins (SMBA ’06) and Erika Lamiell (SMBA ’10) at IMG Worldwide. Besides discussing recent acquisitions by IMG and the intricacies of their current jobs, Lisa and Erika also imparted their sage wisdom of job searching, networking, narrowing job opportunities, and—of course—recruited us for possible assistance with upcoming IMG events.

After a quick stop at ESPN Zone for lunch, we then met Carl Ossipoff, Western Sales Director for ESPN, for a tour of ESPN studios in downtown Los Angeles. The highlight of the tour was sitting at the ESPN LA Sportscenter desk, but discussions about ESPN operations, radio affiliates, the company structure, and progressive ideas were more valuable. Carl even informed us of an 8-week internship with ESPN.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we caught the Rockies-Dodgers game at the third-oldest baseball park in the country. The Dodgers won 6-0, but we promise our Padre-fandom was not hampered. On the ride back, I made sure to read our Organizational Behavior reading out loud.

Alumni Sponsorship Panel

2010-08-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

The SMBA flexed their alumni muscle today, as Jack Tipton (SMBA ’06), Matt Balvanz (SMBA ’08), and Matt Furrie (SMBA ’10) collectively led a sponsorship panel for the SMBA ’11 class.

Tipton, who currently works in sponsor sales for the Pittsburgh Pirates, discussed the questions that one needs to answer when partnering with sponsors. These questions included 1) who are you?, 2) what is your audience/demo?, 3) what opportunities exist?, and 4) what value does your property bring to the table?. Tipton also clearly went through his Seven Steps to landing a sponsor.

Furrie, who currently works for Momentum Worldwide, then led the panel. Furrie discussed how to develop an activation plan and identifying ways to hit activation, which included target demo, consumer touchpoints, feasibility, costs, audience, data capture, and ROI.

Balvanz, who currently works for Navigate Marketing (a sponsorship measurement company in Chicago), then took over and discussed the before, during, and after of researching sponsors. Balvanz discussed how to quantitatively research sponsors and measure their effectiveness, which is becoming increasingly important in today's business world.

After the three guests taught us about sponsors, the SMBA ’11 class was given an assignment that included coming up with creative ideas to partner new or existing sponsors with the San Diego Rock ‘n' Roll Marathon. Despite only having a 2 hours, the SMBA ’11 class impressed the panel with presentations that included sponsors like Hard Rock Café, Garmin, and Oakley.

The SMBA ’11 class thanks our three guests for their insights and further knowledge about sponsorship.

Aflac All-American Baseball Classic

2010-08-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a great relationship with the San Diego Hall of Champions, Jimmy Moon, Lawren Wolf, Aileen Berran, and Greg Moore were able to assist in the Aflac All-American Baseball Classic. Jimmy and Lawren helped pass out promotional items from Baseball America, Aflac, and the event itself. Aileen was able to contribute to the East and West teams’ respective batting practices and Greg assisted Fox Sports Net with statistics and in-game updates.

The Baseball Classic pitted high school baseball stars from all across the country and included high-profile baseball players, such as Shawon Dunston Jr., Daniel Norris, and Francisco Lindor. The event has showcased such MLB stars as Justin Upton, Mat Latos, Jason Heyward, Bryce Harper, and Ike Davis in past years.

The East ended up beating the West 5-3.

US Open of Surfing

2010-08-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

By Demian Reyes (SMBA '11)

This past weekend, Matana Abramson, Jimyong Moon, Tana Prosper and I had the opportunity to work for IMG in one of their major Action Sports events: the US Open of Surfing. The event covered not only a surfing competition, but also had BMX and skate competitions, as well as concerts and a fashion showdown.

We were not very familiar with BMX, but after watching the qualifiers we were all amazed with the sport. It was definitely one of the fan favorites. Also, watching Huntington Beach local Brett Simpson beat Kelly Slater in the surfing semifinal was pretty impressive, but not as impressive as when he won the Championship for the second year in a row.

The highlights of the weekend to me were:

* Surfing - watched the best surfers in the world ride the waves.
* BMX - it is one of the most impressive sports to watch live.
* Concerts - working backstage for Hot Hot Heat and Weezer and getting to watch all the things that need to be set up for a concert of that magnitude.

Owner’s Suite at Padre Game

2010-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

As a special thank you from the San Diego Padres’ (and help from classmate, Roberto Castro), members of the SMBA ’11 class that helped pass out promotions at four or more games were able to take in Thursday’s game from the Owner’s Suite.

The class was provided with hot dogs, cracker jacks, peanuts, and a variety of other ballpark fare. Also, the view was right behind home plate, which allowed Jimmy Moon to catch a foul ball early in the game.

Even better, the class cheered on the Padres as they finished the sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates by winning 3-0. The SMBA ’11 class thanks the Padres for the special treatment.

Upper Deck at King's Academy

2010-08-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

By Ryan King (SMBA '11)

As an intern for Upper Deck, I knew they were planning some type of event with LeBron James, as he is a spokesman for the company. But, as of Wednesday, I just did not know what it would be as they were having trouble obtaining Miami Heat jerseys just like everyone else.

But on Saturday of the LeBron James’ camp, Upper Deck showed up to the camp in a U-Haul with a few hundred balls, jerseys, shoes, magazines, and posters to be signed by James for future sale. Upper Deck does signings with James several times a year for their Upper Deck authenticated division. Along with the autograph session, Upper Deck was able to do a Q&A video and their first photo shoot with James in his new uniform.

During the interview, I learned that LeBron James’ favorite autograph is a Time magazine autographed by President Obama. Classmates Greg Leisher, Damien Reyes, Nischita Shetty, Bailey Axlerod, and I were able to assist with the autograph session and watch the interview and see the photo shoot. Working the King’s Academy was a treat in itself, but being able to help Upper Deck and witness the Q&A and photo shoot was a once in a lifetime experience. We were able to see a human side to LeBron James that most don’t get a chance to see. As a thank you to my classmates for their help, Upper Deck will give each of them a gift.

MLS All Star Game

2010-08-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

By Emily Nakayama (SMBA '11)

Last week Krista Washington and I traveled to Houston, TX with Soccer United Marketing (SUM) to assist with sponsorship activation during the 2010 MLS All Star Game, held at Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans.

On Tuesday July 27, our first full day in the humid heat of Houston, we helped with the initial sponsor set-up at Soccer Celebration, an event scheduled to open the following day prior to the start of the All Star Game. Soccer Celebration is a 100,000 square foot interactive fan zone located directly in front of Reliant Stadium where fans can interact with sponsors, play games, sample products and meet with current Houston Dynamo players. After wrapping up preparations at Soccer Celebration, we spent the remainder of the afternoon at Discovery Greens in downtown Houston assisting with Soccer Jam, one of the many MLS All Star festivities held that week. Soccer Jam was a celebration of the sport of soccer, and hosted legend and celebrity autograph booths, inflatable games, DJ music, and a special 7-vs-7 soccer match with celebrities and soccer legends playing head-to-head.

Game day followed on Wednesday, July 28 and Krista and I arrived early to Reliant Stadium for final set-up at Soccer Celebration. We were slightly hampered by the rain, which rolled through in the early afternoon, but the clouds parted later that day as more than 70,000 people came through Soccer Celebration and into a sold-out Reliant Stadium to watch MLS vs. Manchester United. We were lucky enough to sneak away and onto the sidelines to watch MLS score its first goal. Manchester United dominated, however, winning the game 5-2.

Krista and I had an amazing time and feel fortunate to have worked with SUM and MLS for the All Star Week. We flew back home on Thursday – just in time to celebrate my birthday with a quick trip to Disneyland!!

Chargers FanFest

2010-08-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

The San Diego Chargers hosted their annual FanFest at Qualcomm Stadium today and a couple of SMBA ’11 members took in the festivities. Entrance was free and gates opened at 10 AM.

Players signed autographs for fans 14 and under before starting a mini-practice that involved a number of Philip Rivers’ touchdown passes to Antonio Gates. Cheerleaders were also on-hand and new running back Ryan Mathews provided some electrifying runs.

SMBA ’11 students participated in the Padres’ open house before their season begin, so—hopefully—the class can provide some luck to the local football team too.

Coo Coo for Coco Vandeweghe

2010-08-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Victoria Hoe (SMBA '11) on last night's upset at the Mercury Insurance Open that saw 18-year old American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe oust world #9 Vera Zvonareva:

"It's a major victory for the tournament here in San Diego, as Vandeweghe is a Southern California native and carries a lot of local notoriety. Coco comes from a sports family as her uncle, Kiki Vandeweghe, is a former NBA player, coach, and GM."

Some members of the SMBA '11 class are volunteering for the Mercury Insurance Open this week, while others are up in Huntington Beach for the 2010 US Open of Surfing.

Guest Speaker: Matt Cronin

2010-08-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

Victoria (SMBA ’11) used her current internship with the Mercury Insurance Open to nab tennis journalist, Matt Cronin, as a guest speaker. Cronin, who currently writes for Foxsports.com, is also co-owner of tennisreports.net, senior writer at Inside Tennis magazine, radio host at Grand Slam stations (including US Open Radio and Radio Wimbledon), and finds time to be the main English-language writer for official Grand Slam websites, including rolandgarros.org and usopen.org.

Cronin discussed a number of topics related to tennis and was kind enough to field questions from the class. He discussed the transition from print to website, the viability of tennis within American culture, difficulties associated with covering an international sport, whether or not the WTA will combine with the ATP, the decisions to expand tours to non-traditional tennis markets, appearance fees, as well as the role of gambling and PEDs in the sport.

Cronin provided insight into a sport that a number of SMBA ’11 members don’t know the ins-and-outs. The class thanks Cronin for taking time out of his Mercury Insurance Open coverage to talk about important topics in tennis.

LeBron James Camp

2010-08-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

By Danielle Arrington (SMBA '11)

With no professional basketball team in San Diego, the “basketball-heads” of SMBA ’11 got a special treat when the Lebron James’ King’s Academy rolled into UCSD July 29-August 2. Since the beginning of this program, my classmates and I have been excited to the see the operations and logistics of a camp of this caliber, and this experience did not disappoint.

Over the five day skills camp, SMBAers were given numerous opportunities to learn the behind-the-scene workings of a camp of this magnitude. Complete with more than 600 campers, NBA superstars LeBron James and Damon Jones, and powerhouse coaches like Dru Joyce, we truly learned how to work efficiently under pressure. Whether it was manning the camp’s central office, or working directly with camp director Damon Haley, each intern was an integral part of the success of the camp.

In addition to the operational side of the event, we were also able to see how the sponsorship side of the camp worked. With representatives from Nike, Vitamin Water, and Upper Deck, we were given the opportunity to see how these different factions work during an actual event activation.

Overall, during this experience, I think we all started as fans and transformed into sports business managers. The novelty of seeing LeBron James wore off quickly, as we were all more concerned with making the King’s Academy the best experience for every camper and representing the SMBA program with pride.

P.S. It wasn’t all hard work. The SMBA interns were also rewarded with a group picture with LeBron, autographed items, free gear, and nightly basketball games featuring LBJ and college all-stars. Check out some of our pictures.

More Money for the D.R.

2010-08-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday most of the SMBA '11 class helped distribute Padre backpacks at the San Diego Padres' game. The class raised even more money for the Dominican Republic fundraising and had some fun handing out the giveaways.

The first-place Padres continue to stay atop the NL West and we thank them for their role in helping our class.

Entrepreneurship Presentations

2010-07-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Professor DeNoble's Entrepreneurship came to an end today, but not before eight groups of SMBA '11 students presented their 3-month long projects. The eight projects were:

#1. A full-service consultation for retired athletes
#2. A triathlete social network
#3. A tennis social network - Juump.com
#4. Green consultation for sporting events
#5. Team 180 - Lacrosse club
#6. Mancaves
#7. MMA Reality show
#8. French-fries only food truck

The class projects encompassed finances, potential customers, trends, and other items that helped to assess the market viability of the idea. A few of the groups plan to pursue their entrepreneurship ideas outside of class, so stay tuned for updates.

Guest Speaker: Fay Wells

2010-07-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Tana Prosper (SMBA '11) brought in today's speaker, Fay Wells, who works in the business development department for ESPN's X Games. Fay spoke about her career path in sports business and how her MBA has helped her in her current role at ESPN in New York City.

Besides telling us about some of the projects she's working on, Fay answered questions regarding ESPN's business structure, being a woman in sports, working for the Houston Rockets, balancing her career and personal life, as well as a number of other topics.

The SMBA '11 class thanks Fay for stopping by and all the best for this week's Summer X Games.

Del Mar Racetracks Opening Day

2010-07-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

In return for such a great class effort at the Cal State Games, the SMBA '11 class was given a day off of classes to participate in opening day at the Del Mar Racetracks. 45,309 people showed up to take in the horse races and the Kentucky Derby-esque atmosphere and the class tried their best to fit in.

Thank you, Scott Minto, for allowing the class to experience this event.

Pony's Vegas Party

2010-07-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

By Ryan King (SMBA '11)

How do you re-launch a shoe brand? Throw a party in Las Vegas at a hot nightclub and have an emerging rapper perform as his new show is released. This past Friday that is exactly what Pony International did with their release of a limited edition Nipsey Hussle Top Star at Jet Nightclub.

I had the opportunity to attend the co-sponsored event between Pony and Red Bull as part of my new internship. To market the event, up-and-coming rapper Nipsey Hussle did radio interviews and had a brief meet and greet with fans at Revolution nightclub, where his shoe was on display before he headed over to Jet. Nipsey did such a good job promoting the event and shoe at the radio station that he gave his shoes away to the DJ. I had to retrieve a new pair for him before he went on stage.

Once on stage, he performed several songs and shouted out sponsors Pony and Red Bull for the event and the shoe. After his performance, he posed for pictures with fans and the shoe. Fifty pairs of the limited edition shoe were also given to lucky partygoers. Overall, the event was a success and Pony got its product in front of many people that probably wouldn’t have seen the brand otherwise.

The Jr. World Golf Championships: A Global Event

2010-07-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

By Luke Epp (SMBA '11)

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Jr. World Golf Championships held here in beautiful San Diego. The event, which started in 1968, is played over eight different local golf courses, one of which is Torrey Pines. The tournament is one of the most prestigious in junior golf and is truly a global event. This year’s field included over 1,100 participants who represented over 50 different countries and close to all 50 U.S. States. The leaderboard looked more like a UN meeting than a golf event. Just to give you an example the Top 10 in the girls 15-17 division went: Mexico, Hawaii, CA, Hawaii, Canada, Philippines, Argentina, Japan, Hawaii, Philippines, Singapore. The boys 15-17 division had the same international feel as well, with 5 different countries represented in the Top 10.

The Jr. World’s are a breeding ground for future talent on the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour. The likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, David Toms, Corey Pavin, Lorena Ochoa, Amy Alcott, and Jennifer Rosales have all won titles at the Jr. World’s. Where there is young talent there will be college coaches lurking close behind. I hope these coaches brushed up on their geography before coming!

A former college teammate of mine is now the assistant women’s coach for Northwestern University, so I tagged along with her as she scouted for her 2011 class and beyond. It was a great experience to see what type of attributes and skills coaches look for in young players. It was also interesting to hear how she “brands” her school in hopes of attracting the best student-athletes. I couldn’t believe the skill level of these young players. The girl who won the 15-17 age division, Gabriela Lopez of Mexico, shot 14 under par over 4 rounds! I think Mexico might have found its next Lorena Ochoa.

Speaking of young talent, my friend Norman Xiong, tied for 1st place in the boys 11-12 age division this year (he also won his age division last year). Norman has schooled me numerous times down at the Pro Kids’ course. It is great to see him doing so well. Coaches…you might want to keep an eye on him for your 2017 class.

Overall, it was a great experience for me to: 1) witness just how global the game of golf is becoming 2) observe how to run a successful junior golf event and 3) get a behind the scenes glimpse into college recruiting.

Bill Walton and the 6 Degrees Breakfast

2010-07-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

The SMBA ’11 chance was invited to the 6 Degrees Speaker Series courtesy of Mike Kitts (SMBA ’09) and the San Diego Hall of Champions. The topic for this morning’s breakfast was ‘The Business of Sports and the Impact on the Local Economy.’ The panel consisted of Andy Laats, co-founder and President of Nixon, Inc., Dave Alberga, CEO of Active Network, and Bill Walton, NBA Hall of Famer and Executive Director of CONNECT.

As guests, the SMBA ’11 class ate breakfast while listening to the panel discuss the topic. Audience members asked questions that ranged from how to further stimulate the local economy and the issue of students attending local colleges and then moving to another city.

Walton specifically mentioned the Sports MBA program at SDSU and even complimented Director Scott Minto for his work.

After the panel discussion, the SMBA ’11 class was able to have a private discussion with Bill Walton before he caught his plane to New York City. Among the wisdom he imparted:

1) “Learn how to learn and learn how to compete.”
2) “Make your competitor worry…make him lose sleep at night, because they know you’re going to outthink them.”
3) “Go for it all; don’t be afraid to fail.”
4) “Leadership is giving up your life, so that others’ dreams come true.”
5) “Don’t wait for the ball to fall in your lap, just get out there and get it.”

All-Star FanFest

2010-07-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

By Matti Abramson (SMBA '11)

Amidst 500,000 square feet of attractions and exhibits, the 2010 MLB All-Star FanFest at the Anaheim Convention Center had everything a baseball fan could dream of: batting and fielding practice, autograph signings from Angel greats and baseball Hall of Famers, an opportunity to be the announcer for an iconic moment in baseball, a chance to participate in a home run derby (watch out, Ortiz!), and over a dozen other attractions and displays of important moments in baseball history. Along with classmates Lawren Wolf, Greg Moore, and Aileen Berran, I spent nine days in Anaheim training for and then working as an Attraction Manager at FanFest. We were teamed up with other students and young professionals, and spent a few days honing our leadership and team-working skills that indeed proved to be valuable when running this large event. We were there to open and close each of the five days of the actual event, and acted as the hosts and hostesses to a large crowd of enthusiastic and excited baseball fans each and every day.

I spent the entire event at the 'You Call the Play' attraction, where fans put on the headsets and announced the Angels becoming World Series Champions in 2002, Jackie Robinson stealing home in Game One of the 1955 World Series, or another famous moment in baseball history. It was special for some fans who were in the stadiums when some of these moments occurred, or recalled watching them on television and have been practicing announcing them on their own ever since. I heard a plethora of renditions of Jack Buck's "I don't believe what I just saw," as Kirk Gibson hit the walk-off home run for the Dodgers in Game One of the 1988 World Series. It was so powerful that a few times I truly felt as though I were in stands at Dodger Stadium witnessing that amazing moment. It was certainly an incredible opportunity to work alongside other baseball lovers to provide a unique experience for the fans, that most would never forget.

It did not matter whether you had on an Angels cap or a Dodgers jersey, because at FanFest, everyone associated themselves as a fan of the good ol' game of baseball.

2010 ESPY Awards

2010-07-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

By Jessica Ceresino (SMBA '11)

"Hello (Insert any professional athlete's name here), welcome to the W, let me get you checked in upstairs and into VIP hospitality."

This was my "go-to" phrase as I welcomed athletes and celebrities to the brand new W hotel in Hollywood. For the second year, I was given the opportunity to work as part of the ESPN team for the ESPY awards. As I arrived at the hotel, I felt like I was walking into the latest edition of Sports Illustrated. Terrell Owens, Drew Brees, Lindsey Vonn, Evan Longoria, and Lisa Leslie are among the dozens of elite athletes that were in town to attend the award show.

While the entire week was noteworthy, perhaps the climax of the experience for me was on Wednesday, the day of the ESPYs. As the limo busses pulled up to the red carpet, I knew that I was in for a very special evening. Quickly the Nokia Theater filled up with anxious athletes and their fans. Seth Meyers hosted the show with ease and kept everyone laughing throughout the night. After the show ended, the athletes flooded the VIP lounge where I was posted during the show. They socialized, snacked and gave interviews before moving on to the after parties.

As the lounge emptied there were still a few familiar faces hanging out and before I could finish recognizing them, they formed a conga line and began singing as they exited the room. I followed behind to close up the lounge and eventually make my way back to the busses. Then, as I entered a long hallway backstage, I spotted the conga line stopped at the end. Almost immediately they began to chant an all too familiar tune..."Ole, Ole Ole Ole, Ooole, Ooole." It was the US Men's National Soccer team chanting the famous soccer anthem. They weren't celebrating a World Cup victory, but an ESPY award for best moment. The team finished chanting and headed out the doors. As I stood there soaking in the moment, a reporter turned to me with a smile and said, "that's why I love sports."

I couldn't agree more.

More From the D.R. Trip

2010-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ryan King (SMBA '11) is juggling his classwork with an internship for Upper Deck. As part of his internship, Ryan wrote a fantastic piece for their blog regarding the SMBA '11 trip to the Dominican Republic.

Ryan's Upper Deck Post

Ryan's Upper Deck Post: Part 2

Great work, Ryan! Also, TIME just did a story about baseball in the Dominican Republic and the story was accompanied by photos of Sandy Alderson, as well as the Padres' facility. The Chicago Cubs weren't too happy with their portrayal in the article:

Cubs' Response

The SMBA '11 class raised another $500 for their Dominican fundraising yesterday at the San Diego Padres' game.

SDSU Athletic Director Jim Sterk

2010-07-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

As part of Professor Scott Tinley’s second-to-last class, San Diego State Athletic Director Jim Sterk stopped by to talk to the SMBA ’11 class. Sterk was Washington State University’s Athletic Director for 10 years before taking the job at SDSU and he explained to the class what he’s trying to accomplish at State.

Sterk also listed his priorities in the upcoming months, which included hydro-therapy and resource acquisitions. He also discussed how he wants the student body and the community to be more involved, which is why SDSU will introduce a junior mascot for children during the football season.

Sterk also discussed how much he loves his job, conference realignment, student-athletes, a new football stadium, alumni ticket giveaways, and more about where his priorities lie.

As Sterk said: “We’re educating kids and we are—at first—educators. It’s not about the revenue first.”

Cal State Games

2010-07-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Members of the SMBA ’11 class volunteered this weekend for the California State Games. The Cal State Games is a statewide amateur sports festival that is a grass roots program of the United States Olympic Committee. The mission of the Games is to promote and nurture the health, education, and well-being of California residents by managing a high quality amateur sports event that encourages community participation and provides an Olympic experience.

Class members helped with sports such as baseball, track & field, basketball, swimming, wrestling, and others. Volunteers kept score, helped organize events, and even drove some participants to their games. The Sports MBA looks forward to continuing their relationship with the Cal State Games.

Philip Rivers' Football Camp

2010-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

San Diego Chargers’ quarterback Philip Rivers hosted his first local youth football camp at UCSD over the weekend. More than 200 kids came for the experience and some SMBA ’11 classmates were there to volunteer. All proceeds for the camp went toward the recently established Rivers of Hope Foundation, which aims to help abandoned and orphaned children.

Campers learned about all positions of the game, as well as football fundamentals from a staff of 20 of the area’s top prep coaches. The SMBA ’11 members helped with check-in and organizing camp drills. Without the SMBA ’11 volunteers the Rivers’ camp might not have been as successful.

Simon Castro

2010-07-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

San Diego Padres' prospect Simon Castro, who started the Futures' Game for the World team, talked with MLB.com today. Castro is a product of the Padres' Dominican Baseball Academy in the D.R. that the SMBA '11 visited just one month ago.

CASTRO INTERVIEW

We look forward to watching Castro at PETCO Park soon!

Competitor Group Stops By

2010-07-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

By Rebecca Cathcart (SMBA '11)

Today was a fun day in Professor DeNoble's Entrepreneurship class, as we welcomed Scott Dickey, Dana Allen, and Ben Corbett of the Competitor Group. Scott Dickey, the President of CGI, gave us a truly insightful lesson on corporate entrepreneurship as it is applied to the rapidly growing sports company. Dana Allen and Ben Corbett joined us as they represent the business development department at Competitor.

The Competitor Group provides a great platform for the discussion of corporate entrepreneurship, due to its unique composition. CGI was formed in 2008 when the Falconhead Capital, LLC acquired several smaller companies, with the goal of becoming the premier media and event company in the endurance sports industry. Competitor is best known for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series and Competitor Magazine, but they hold several other media and event properties as well.

It was really interesting to hear about some of the challenges faced while trying to unify the many pieces under one roof. As someone who has spent a fair amount of time working at Competitor, even as an intern, I can now appreciate the effectiveness of the consolidation process.

Several of us will have the opportunity to perform some research and present a case study to the Competitor Group's business development department, and will hopefully help them gain some insight into new corporate entrepreneurial opportunities.

Experienced Entrepreneurs Panel

2010-07-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

The SMBA '11 class welcomed some experienced entrepreneurs to Professor De Noble's Entrepreneurship class today. Among the esteem guests were Michael Brower of Odyssey & Spy Optic, Chad DiNenna of Nixon Watches, Bill Kellogg of La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, and George Hadjis of Oggi's Pizza.

With our final Entrepreneurship presentations right around the corner, it was good to hear from some people that have been able to make their ideas work.

Barrio Ball

2010-07-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

By Lawren Wolf (SMBA '11)

Throughout the entire trip, we saw some pretty amazing things, but what really primed my pump was a trip that the entire group took to one of the local barrios. By definition, barrio is the Spanish word for district or neighborhood, and many of the barrios in the Dominican Republic, while impoverished, are rich with baseball talent. Upon arrival in the barrio, we navigated through the narrow roads to the local baseball diamond, which one of our tour guides’ father runs. As kids in hand-me-down jerseys looked on, he told us how happy he was that our group was visiting the D.R. and how words could not explain how much it means to him that we are taking an interest in what they are doing there. He also told us sobering stories of the many players that have made it from that neighborhood to the riches of the big leagues, but have never given a penny back.

After the brief talk, the entire class took group pictures with the children and then took our seats in the run down bleachers to watch the youngsters play a game. We were enjoying the game, when a few of us noticed a group of older kids (in their early teens) playing a pick-up game in the outfield. A small group of us made our way to the outfield to watch these kids play and, before you knew it, they were inviting us to play with them. We gladly obliged and the pitchers started hurling a beat up rag ball in our direction while we swung for the fences with a small aluminum bat. Bailey Axelrod and myself had the most success, each hitting balls over the fence, and each time we did the kids joined us at home plate to jump up and down and celebrate as if we had just hit a “walk off” homerun to win the game. After taking our whacks on offense, we decided to return the favor by taking the field and letting the kids try to score on us. Ryan King, who struck out swinging in his only two at-bats, claimed that the size of the bat was the reason for his misfortune. Regardless of the accuracy of that statement, it provided the SMBA ’11 class, as well as the local Dominican children, with a lot of laughter and only added value to an awesome afternoon.

Back from the DR

2010-07-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

As SMBA '11 enjoys their much-deserved summer break, Greg Moore (SMBA '11) has written a follow-up article for the San Diego Union-Tribune about the class' Dominican Republic trip:

DR Follow-Up Story

SMBA '11 will start class again on Wednesday, July 7.

NFL Rookie Symposium

2010-06-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

By Oumar Ganame (SMBA '11)

This week I had the opportunity to attend the NFL Rookie Symposium at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA. The Symposium has been conducted every year since its inception in 1997 and teaches incoming NFL players how to handle their new profession on and off the field. It also outlines the NFL’s player programs initiatives, which are divided into four areas: Continuing Education, Financial Education, Career Development, and Player Assistance Services.

With current players continuing to find themselves in legal trouble, the message to the rookies was very clear: Don’t be that guy. Players were educated on their new role in society and encouraged to examine the effects of their choices, decisions, and consequences. They were encouraged to anticipate any conflicts that may arise and to keep from putting themselves in compromising situations. The rookies also heard from former NFL players Marcellus Wiley and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila about the pitfalls of gun ownership.

Stephen Price (SMBA '10) was on hand representing his new employer, the Minnesota Vikings, as was former classmate La’Roi Glover (SMBA '11) who now has the task of continuing this rookie education in his position as Director of Player Programs for the St. Louis Rams. Sam Bradford and company are in very capable hands, and I am sure that no member of the Rams’ or Vikings’ 2010 classes will end up being that guy.

The San Diego Padres' DR Academy

2010-06-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

By Roberto Castro (SMBA '11)

As a current employee of the San Diego Padres, I anxiously awaited our trip to the Padres' Academy to see for myself how my employer’s efforts had shaped the small beach town of Najayo. On the way there, our crafty bus driver navigated through a humble village that showed no signs of baseball. Then, like an oasis, the Padres' facility stood before our eyes.

At first, it looked as if we were driving up to a five star resort, but the three baseball fields showed us that it was so much more. The current crop of Padres' Latin signees were playing a game against the Baltimore Orioles' farmhands. A crowd of about 200 natives cheered the Padres to victory as 33 students from SDSU joined them enthusiastically. Following the game, we were greeted by three staff members, Cesar, Jesus and Veronica. They gave a fantastic tour of the academy, which included the clubhouse, offices, weight room, and dining hall.

Over the next three days, we were able to enjoy their accommodations (game rooms, sleeping quarters and offices) as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The staff couldn’t have been any friendlier and the facility was definitely first-class. What impressed me the most was that the Padres had a significantly positive effect on the citizens of Najayo, as well as the players who were staying there. They had nothing but positive things to say and a few players commented on how they chose to sign with the Padres because of the Academy. Personally, I had a wonderful experience and I was left with a strong sense of pride knowing that the Padres made it all happen.

Sandy Alderson

2010-06-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

By Bailey Axelrod (SMBA '11)

While in Santo Domingo, the SMBA ’11 class had the opportunity to visit the Major League Baseball offices and speak with Sandy Alderson, who is the head of Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic. Alderson has an impressive career in baseball including being the General Manager of the Oakland A’s from 1983-1997, Executive Vice President of baseball operations for Major League Baseball from 1998-2005, and the CEO of the San Diego Padres from 2005-2009. He just recently began his job in the Dominican Republic, but he is already initiating plans to change the way that baseball operates in the island country.

Alderson is being viewed as a savior for Dominican baseball and as the man that will clean up the system and make it conform to the rules of Major League Baseball in the United States. Alderson took time with the class to explain the current state of baseball in the Dominican Republic. He talked about the current system of unlicensed trainers cashing in on kids’ signing bonuses and the rampant use of steroids by young kids. There is a lot of work to be done, but with his experience and the help of the SMBA class, there is no doubt that Sandy Alderson will be able to make significant changes in the DR.

Banco Esperanza

2010-06-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

By Jaime Galiana (SMBA '11)

Banco Esperanza is a NGO that provides microfinance services to impoverished communities. Their philosophy rests in five components: Microcredit, Business training, Savings, Insurance, and group-lending. We visited their offices in Barrio Los Guaricanos, where they explained their principles, operations, and gave us an overview of their reach. After that, we attended one of the business training meetings. While it was taking place I was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with Yundelia. That conversation is--without a doubt--one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. Yundelia was born poor in the heart of the Dominican Republic and later moved to Santo Domingo and got married. She had 3 kids and 5 grandsons, but she couldn´t provide for them. Her husband worked in construction, but has been out of job for years. Her family survived on charity.

And then Esperanza came along. Yundelia was introduced by a neighbor and, after completing the training meetings, she was granted a RDP 2,000 loan, which she used to buy clothes. She started selling them at a stand in Avenida 27 de Febrero. Today she is about to repay her third loan, a RDP 12,000 loan this time. She owns the original stand in Avenida 27 de Febrero and another one which her husband runs. She has been able to feed her family every single day, she has saved money, she has introduced more than ten women to the bank, and is now thinking of laying concrete in her house floor. And her eyes shine so bright. She even told me, "It´s the best thing that has ever happened to my family, Jaime, the best."

To Give or Not to Give?

2010-06-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

By Victoria Hoe (SMBA '11)

While on the trip, I often found myself considering the potential implications of giving away free gifts to the children. Many of our local guides referred frequently to the idea of "paternalism" and the potential of increased dependence on hand-outs. We were also told that roughly a third of the nation's economy was based on remittances, that is, payments from friends and family members in other countries (mainly, the U.S.) back to the D.R.

While baseball has given an enormous amount to the island, it's also created a situation where by many young people see success as a Major League Baseball player as the only option for financial success. I wondered if, by giving a gift as simple as a baseball, we were in fact playing a role in reinforcing a dream that only a small fraction of people will ever achieve. Should we be giving something else? If so, what? Overall, the trip was a great learning experience and provided the framework to ask dificult questions such as these.

Language Barrier?

2010-06-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

By Demian Reyes (SMBA '11)

There were a number of things I learned from our DR trip, but one of my biggest takeaways was the language barrier. Many of my classmates were concerned about not knowing Spanish. However, from what I saw, it didn't make a difference.

When we went to Espacios Para Aprender in Najayo and all of us were playing, drawing, painting, etc. with the kids, we didn't have any communication problems. We didn't have to understand every single word the kids said or vice versa to communicate or to understand that they wanted us to be there and we were enjoying every minute of it.

At the end of the day, they just wanted to know we cared. Love and caring doesn't need a translator and that's what we all learned.

The New York Mets' DR Academy

2010-06-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

By Aileen Berran (SMBA '11)

While on our trip to the Dominican Republic, we were fortunate to visit many Major League Baseball facilities, including the Padres, Pirates, and Mets' Academies. As it is well known by anyone that meets me, I have been a lifelong Met fan. Therefore, one of the highlights of my trip was being able to visit the Mets' facility in Boca Chica.

While at the facility we got a tour of the facilities, which included the administrative office, the dorms, the locker room, the training room, the gym, and the recreational room. We received information on the organizational structure of the Mets and how the Dominican Academy fits, as it is the low-A for international talent. When we walked in to the office there were two large pictures of Jenrry Mejia and Ruben Tejada, who have both seen some time on the Mets' Major League roster this season. These pictures serve as motivation for the players currently in the academy, as they were both in their shoes just 3-4 years ago.

We visited on a rainy day, so while visiting the recreational room we were greeted by a few players who were watching Party of Five - big fans! They were kind enough to take a picture with us, including a 6'10" pitcher who throws 94 and his best pitch is a slider - I am looking forward to seeing him in Queens sometime in the near future. It was great to see this side of the farm system as the dream for most of these athletes is to just make it to the States, and with proper support from the Major League teams there is a chance for that to happen.

We walked away with some more knowledge on how the Dominican Academy fits in to the Major League organization and some nice Mets' Baseball t-shirts that were provided by Freddy - a very kind coach that some of us befriended.

After our visit to the Academy we visited a medical clinic that the Mets support. This clinic provides HIV/AIDS testing and medication for those in need in the community. It was good to see that it is not all about baseball in the DR, as there are others that need support. I would like to thank the Mets Organization for making me proud, as many of my classmates told me that they walked away with a new found respect for both baseball and the Mets organization.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' DR Academy

2010-06-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

By Ryan King (SMBA '11)

Last Wednesday, half the class had the opportunity to visit the new $5 million Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dominican baseball academy. Four things about this beautiful facility stood out to me during our tour. First was the branding of the Pittsburgh Pirates ‘P’ logo throughout the facility. Second were the pictures and memorabilia of Pirates’ legends displayed throughout the building; especially of Pirates’ legend, Roberto Clemente, who was pictured in the first photo we saw when we walked in the front door. Third was the importance the team placed on educating their players. The organization partnered with a local university to teach the players for a month in January, as well as have 3 hours of class per day during the season and then encourages their players to pass equivalence tests for 8th grade and high school. Fourth was the significance the team placed on community service. The team requires their players to all do a minimum of five hours of service per season. They then reward one player who performed the most service with a trip to Pittsburgh to be honored by the major league team.

After visiting the academy, we took a trip to the local school where the Pirates do most of their local service. The team built a brick wall around the school, which the headmaster said was very important for the safety of the students. They also donated tables and computers to the school. Overall, seeing the Pirates academy and the impact that they have on the local community was very enlightening.

Learning From the Najayo Children

2010-06-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

By Danielle Arrington (SMBA '11)

At the final dinner of our trip, SDSU's Director of Diversity, Aaron Bruce, told us a story of "picking up stones" which are small treasures that seem insignificant now, but will have a major impact in your life later on down the road. Our trip to Najayo was a major stone. As we drove through the barrio, we were taken to a local school filled with young children eager to greet us with open arms, as evidenced by the Welcome Song each one of us received when we introduced ourselves. It was an amazing experience.

Some of us played football and volleyball with the kids, while others participated in arts and crafts and some how at the end, we all came together in a circle to witness an epic dance battle. Sandy, one of the most outgoing and personable kids I have ever met, challenged me to a battle of who has the better "jerk"...I am sure my classmates will agree that he won that battle.

It's easy for us to think that our visit to Najayo was just a small stepping stone on our path to become sports business professionals, but the gem was seeing how happy my classmates were to make these kids happy. This is the day that I learned the true meaning of joy, a gem that I will carry with me forever.

Hay Poder en Aprender

2010-06-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

By Alyssa Boyd (SMBA '11)

Having worked for the Red Sox for almost five seasons and being a huge fan from Boston, I was overjoyed to hear that we would be visiting Pedro Martinez's wife, Carolina's, project in the Dominica: Hay Poder en Aprender. A group of about 15 of us trucked on the bus through the barrios and ended up at a beautiful "classroom" and "playground" named Hay Poder en Aprender, or in English, "There's Power in Learning." We were lucky enough to be given a rundown of the facility by Carolina herself, who shared with us her and Pedro's dream to make a difference in the Dominican by giving children in different communities the opportunity to learn and play in a safe environment.

We stayed at the facility for about 2 hours. We started by getting a tour of the place, and then the children who were around (summer camp was going on, so not as many children and teenagers were there), sang for us, and then challenged us to games in volleyball and basketball. The SMBA '11 students managed to keep their game faces on during the pouring rain and competed against the Dominicans in a very intense and different version of "21" and a heated volleyball match. We were lucky enough to interact with the kids--once again battling language barriers--and view just how much of a difference Carolina and her husband have made.

Live Together, Die Alone

2010-06-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

By Torrey Winchester (SMBA '11)

The SMBA ‘11 class has spent a lot of time together over the past 6 months. A lot of time. We’re in class three days a week, work outside of class together on projects, and often socialize as a group. To say the least, we are a pretty close group. At least that’s what I thought before we began our adventure in the Dominican Republic. Ten days in the Dominican was enough to make us all realize that we didn’t know each other as well as we thought. We left our beloved room 206 in the Extended Studies Building of SDSU and the informal seating chart that came with it.

The experiences explained here by my classmates were often moving and thought provoking. We were given a lot of time to reflect on those experiences both in classes with Dr. Singh and during our numerous trips on buses around the DR. As we reflected and shared with each other, we came to realize that maybe we weren’t as close as we thought. Now, 10 days later, we all have a new understanding and appreciation for each other and our diverse backgrounds.

The experiences are not something that we will easily forget, and our continually growing friendships won’t fade anytime soon either. It’s only been 12 hours and I’m already missing SMBA ‘11.

Leaving for the DR

2010-06-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

After watching Jaime Galiana's (SMBA '11) Spain squad lose to Switzerland this morning, it's now time to pack for the trip to the Dominican Republic. SMBA '11 leaves tonight at 10:50 PM for Santo Domingo.

The San Diego Union-Tribune ran Greg Moore's (SMBA '11) article about the trip:

Union-Tribune DR Story

Thanks to everyone who has donated to the cause over the last 6 months. Stay tuned to the blog to see updates about the trip.

FORDLANDIA

2010-06-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

As preparation for our 9-day trip to the Dominican Republic, Dr. Gangaram Singh has asked that we read Greg Gradin’s Fordlandia. The book chronicles the trials and tribulations that Henry Ford had to deal with in his ambitious bid to export America to the Amazon.

The SMBA ’11 class needs to finish Fordlandia, write a 3-page personal reflection on the book, as well as prepare a class presentation regarding International Business.

The class will be boarding a flight to Atlanta in 24 hours and will be in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by the afternoon of Thursday, June 17. Follow the SMBA ’11 DR adventures on the blog.

Guest Speaker: Barry Axelrod

2010-06-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Barry Axelrod, sports agent and father of Bailey Axelrod (SMBA ’11), visited our Sports & Society class today to discuss a wide variety of topics. Axelrod, a graduate of UCLA Law School, specializes in sports, entertainment, and business law. He has served on the US Anti-Doping Committee and has a client list that includes Jake Peavy, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Matt Morris, and Michelle Kwan. Due to his personality and client list, he has been referred to as “agent to the good guys”.

Axelrod discussed issues regarding performance enhancing drugs, health, entitlement, and image protection. In reference to image protection, Axelrod noted that “pictures are the new autograph”. In reference to entitlement, Axelrod said that parents, youth coaches, and scouts need to act more ethically.

But, his most important advice was: “Be willing to change if you’re not happy with something.”

World Cup Starts!

2010-06-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

And so it begins. South Africa and Mexico played to a 1-1 tie this morning to kick-off the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The SMBA ’11 has students from nine different countries, so the class is well-represented in this event. The big matchup is USA vs. England tomorrow, but here are some classmates with certain alliances:

Jaime Galiana – Spain
Mariska Roodenrijs – Netherlands
Jimyong Moon – South Korea
Marta Tagliaferri – Italy
Demian Reyes – Mexico

Of course, a number of students from SMBA ’11 will be supporting the US.

Conference Realignment

2010-06-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

What a great time to be getting a Sports MBA. First, the American Needle case is decided and now NCAA Conferences are changing, including San Diego State’s own Mountain West. Boise State joins the Mountain West, Colorado joins the Pac-10, and Nebraska is now in the Big 10.

Expect more changes in the near future.

Early Stage Entrepreneurs

2010-06-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

In order to gain knowledge on challenges faced by early stage entrepreneurs, Professor DeNoble brought in four such entrepreneurs. The panel consisted of Andrew Beinbrink of Sportsforceonline.com, Brian Allman of Sweet Spot Golf, Mark Price of Firewire Surfboards, and Mike Fontana of OnePitch.com.

All four entrepreneurs provided insight, the stories of their business ventures, obstacles faced, and even shared feedback on the business ideas that the SMBA ’11 class are currently developing.

Rockin' the Half-Marathon

2010-06-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

By Katie Araujo (SMBA '11)

The Competitor Group Inc.’s Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon & ½ Marathon marked my first Half Marathon, and soon transformed me in 1:49:49 from an endurance enthusiast to a distance fanatic. Arriving to Corral 4 before the sun rose, I knew I was in for a day I would always remember. From the numerous training miles completed up to receiving my official bib at the Expo the day before, it had been an incredible journey to the start line. Tying my timing chip to my shoe and clipping my race belt around my waist, I twisted my bib forward and gulped down a prerace GU for a quick energy boost. The cheering escalated and before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line with a smile on my face and a sense of accomplishment unlike any other.

From newbies to seasoned competitors, they truly make everyone feel like a rockstar. Reflecting on my experience, the following presents 13.1 reasons why I am hooked on the Competitor Group’s events:

1. Atmosphere & Community: surrounded by 30,000 of my closest friends, a sense of excitement filled the air. Lining the course, fans showed up by the thousands to cheer on the runners. From the likes of Entertainment Tonight’s Samantha Harris kicking off the event to troops of Elvis impersonators, it was definitely a site to see.

2. Race Course: beginning in downtown San Diego and running past a variety of signature attractions in America’s Finest City, there was plenty of scenery on our trek to the finish line at SeaWorld.

3. Health & Fitness Expo: two days prior to the race, the Expo hosted more than 100 exhibitors offering free samples and showcasing the latest in running gear. While stocking up on race day essentials, I was joined by the likes of Ronaldinho and Kat Von Dee – amazing? I sure think so.

4. Rock Bands: keeping the participants stoked and motivated, the various bands on the course kept me pumped up. I even found myself doing the YMCA while running down the 163!

5. Fans: costumed and creative, fans and spirit squads alike cheered the runners every step of the way. From pompoms to cowbells, the added boost of enthusiasm made everyone feel like they had their own cheering section!

6. Free Swag: provided with a tech tee and Goodie Bag of fun giveaways, each participant receives the star treatment. Even going so far as to ensure adequate nutrition was available throughout the race, CGI made sure us runners were able to keep our energy levels high.

7. Volunteers: without a doubt the efforts of the volunteers and our SMBA’s made this race a success. Located at the set-up, pre-registration, the Health & Fitness Expo, the Start Line, Finish Line, and water stations along the course, these all-stars helped take away the race day jitters and allowed me to focus on the challenge ahead.

8. Charity: going above and beyond, the 2010 Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon & ½ Marathon benefitted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It was incredibly inspiring to see a sea of purple ‘Team in Training’ jerseys sprinkled throughout the course. Charities have raised over $210 million (net) for their respective causes through the R’n’R Marathon Series since 1998.

9. Training Plans: providing guidance and motivation, CGI offers race specific training plans to keep you on track for accomplishing your goals. These daily emails gave me a sense of confidence and allowed me to track my fitness up to the big day.

10. Medals: who doesn’t love receiving some serious bling after achieving a huge accomplishment? All finishers are awarded a medal at the finish line to wear with pride.

11. Post Race Concert: after filling up on bananas and Cytomax, it was time to get down and celebrate! Where else can you roll through a half marathon and then rock out at a concert in your honor?

12. Pictures & Videos: taken throughout the course, professional photographers capture the moment and allow you to relive your experience. Going a step further, they send you a clip of you in all your glory crossing the finish line – this was icing on the cake!

13.1. It’s a SERIES: after having the time of my life, I was beyond excited to check out their website and learn of the other great locations in the series. Riding the post race high, I signed up for the R’n’R Las Vegas ½ Marathon and hope to see you there!

Dr. Lackritz on Strasburg's MLB Debut

2010-06-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

Stephen Strasburg, an SDSU alum and highly-touted Washington Nationals' pitcher, made his first Major League appearance tonight. In 7 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Strasburg struck out 14, walked none, and only yielded two runs on four hits.

Before Strasburg took the mound tonight, Dr. Lackritz offered his insights to CNBC.com for an article regarding Strasburg's financial impact:

CNBC ARTICLE

Congratulations to Dr. Lackritz on the nice publicity and, of course, SDSU's Stephen Strasburg.

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon

2010-06-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

By Lawren Wolf (SMBA '11)

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon is a series of marathons and half marathons that the Competitor Group Inc., a San Diego based platform media and race event company, puts on throughout the country. These races combine the feel of a rock concert into an endurance event with live music throughout the course and are highlighted by a headlining concert at the finish line. This morning marked the 13th running of the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. The race, which consisted of over 30,000 from all over the world, started on 6th Avenue in front of Balboa Park, passed through PETCO Park and the runners crossed the finish line at SeaWorld.

Ben Fox, an employee of the Competitor Group and a member of the SDSU SMBA ‘09, came to our class about a month ago and asked if any of us wanted to volunteer to work the event as corral captains and a group of twelve of us jumped at the opportunity to help out. The only catch was that we all had to report for duty at 3:30 AM the morning of the race! As corral captains, we were each in charge of smaller groups of volunteers and we all helped to make sure the runners were in their proper corrals and relaxed before their big race. With the music blaring, the first corral of runners was released at 6:15 AM and our volunteers dropped the starting line and let them pass. Within an hour, all 39 corrals had been released and the race was well underway. After helping to clean up the park and break down the starting line area, we were done volunteering and were free to head to SeaWorld to celebrate at the finish line. Overall, it was a great experience!

In addition to over one-third of the class volunteering for the event, a group of five of our classmates actually ran and completed the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon. Congratulations to Katie Araujo, Alyssa Boyd, Jessica Ceresino, Tana Prosper and Krista Washington!

Volunteer Coordinating for NCAA Golf Regional

2010-06-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

By Jodi Hutchinson (SMBA '11)

A couple of months ago I was asked to be the Head Volunteer Coordinator for the 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional hosted by San Diego State at Carlton Oaks Golf Course. I have had many amazing volunteer opportunities since beginning this year as a Sports MBA student but, I must say, this one turned out to be the most challenging and valuable experience of them all.

Due to my previous experience in the golf industry, the SDSU athletic department and the San Diego Sports Commission felt I could help them figure out how and where to search for volunteers. I have to admit at first I thought to myself that even though I had experience in the golf business I lacked the resources to find the 42 volunteers needed each day; not because I didn’t think I could do it, but simply because I am from Chicago and just moved here in January! My golf coach always told me to act as if, meaning act as if you had been there before and the only thing you could always be good at was faking it until you make it. So, that is exactly what I did.

One of the many valuable lessons I learned is nothing ever goes according to plan and learning how to deal with that is an important skill that will go a long way in business and the sports industry. I have to be honest, this job put me under a lot of pressure and I struggled to act as if a lot of the time I was searching for volunteers. Having this opportunity also helped me learn that people are more willing to help than you might think. They are even willing to help a complete stranger like myself.

My job would not have been successful without the help of the volunteers. The NCAA was happy and San Diego State University and Carlton Oaks were deemed great hosts, which is what makes me most proud. Any type of event in sports rarely happens without a large amount of volunteer help. So, I must give thanks to all of the volunteers for this event, because even if you do not think you make a difference, you truly do!

Flag Football: MILLSWAD Ends Season

2010-06-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Since exercise and non-school outlets are necessary, the SMBA '11 successfully organized a flag football team to participate in an 8-game season. The team name was MILLSWAD, in honor of one of our favorite sayings from Dr. Lackritz, and athletic prowess was certainly on display during all 8 games.

MILLSWAD finished the season at 3-5.

Graduation for Class of 2010

2010-06-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

This morning the SDSU Sports MBA Class of 2010 graduated. Graduation was at PETCO Park and featured a commencement address from San Diego Padres' President Tom Garfinkel.

Congratulations to the graduates of the Class of 2010!

John Wooden Passes Away

2010-06-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden died of natural causes at the age of 99 today. Wooden is considered one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, building a dynasty at UCLA with 10 national championships. Seven of those were consecutive, between 1967 and 1973.

Wooden's passing is important for the SMBA '11, as many guest speakers and professors have recommended Wooden's books. His books, advice, and life lessons all lend themselves to success on and off the basketball court and will surely help the class navigate the challenges faced in the sports industry.