A Year In The Books

Be around good people that motivate you through energy and laughter.

After about nine months in the program I find myself being able to better explain the meaningful experiences I’ve had since last July. When I went back to Corvallis, Oregon for Christmas in December I was still formulating a big-picture explanation for what the Sport Management Program has given me.

My stories, reflections and impressions given to my family and friends proved to be a laundry list of great experiences. I’ve worked with highly successful people in the NFL, collegiate athletics and the golf industry. I’ve work in great stadiums and during big games. So I started to think about what all these random experiences have in common. What is the common thread throughout each great experience in the Sport Management Program, whether it be in a job, school or social setting.

So I came to this…

For every great experience I’ve had in the last nine months, I always explain and frame the experience to others within the framework of who I was doing something with, rather than what I was doing.

Each great opportunity or experience seems to be great not because of what I am doing, but who I am doing it with.

Case in point: every morning I wake up and go to work with two of my best friends at the USGA, Jeff Stoefen and Kristen Chambers (both of Cohort 35). The internship is fantastic, the setting is ideal and the opportunity to work the U.S. Open for golf has been rewarding and will continue to develop as we get closer to the tournament.

But when I come back home or see a friend, every insight into the Open is always framed by the person I was doing something with. Nothing in the sport industry is isolated and if it is…you probably won’t remember a split second of it.

My stories always start…”So Kristen and I went…” or “Jeff and I were…”

How awesome is that?

The opportunity to work is sports is great, but every now and then we need to keep things in perspective. At the end of the day if you can get a good story out of it…it was worth it! And most good stories have another person in the same fight. The USF Sport Management Program is set up in a manner that allows students to have a balanced perspective of the sport industry. With the cohort system in place, students within the program have an ability to foster relationships on a weekly and even daily basis.

This is exactly what I’ve been trying to explain to a good friend of mine. I feel like I’m recruiting him like John Calipari goes after the number-one recruit. We talk or text weekly and he is getting sick of me talking up the USF program. One of his big questions he had was, “how good of friends do you make in the program?” This is a valid question when you consider that most people in my cohort came to orientation without knowing a single person. Plus, it will be a long couple of years if you don’t have someone to give you a hard time when you screw up and pat you on the back when you get it done.

Even though my friend asked a good question, I laughed at him and told him that the surest ‘take it to Vegas’ guarantee I could give him was that he would be surrounded with motivated and like-minded people that had enough diversity and energy to push him to where he needs to get.

I call those people friends.

A couple of weeks ago the USF Sport Management family lost a part of the family I never got the chance to meet, when alum Alexis Busch passed away. Alexis was one of five crew members who died during a ‘Low Speed Chase’ sailboat accident. Their boat capsized during a race close to the Farallon Islands.

While most of my cohort never knew Alexis personally, it was a humbling reminder about the often over-looked aspect of being in the USF Sport Management Program. We are surrounded by great people everyday. Alexis had a wide range of passions, ranging from her experiences in the health and fitness industry, while also playing in two baseball leagues. Along with being the first bat girl in Major League Baseball history (with the Giants from 1999 to 2002), Alexis was the first person to greet Giants legend Barry Bonds at home plate following his 500^th home run.  From those who knew her within the sport industry and her friends in the USF Sport Management program, opinions on Alexis were universal: her energy and passion for baseball was a reflection of the way she lived all aspects of her life.    

So if you are attending, going to be attending, or thinking about attending the Sport Management Program, be very selfish….

When you get around someone, or a group of people who makes all your experiences in sport better, remember that the people you are with, not the games, make the memories.  

Bonding with Boomer: 48 hours with Chris Berman

Darren and "Boomer" at the Chargers game

Professional athletes, entertainers and T.V. personalities are the types of dynamic personalities that make most of us wonder what those stars are like in real life. We often hope they are as they appear, or sometimes we pray that they can’t be like that off-air.

Very rarely do we get answers to those questions.

Unless your Darren Feeney of Cohort 12 in Southern California.

Darren with NFL Network's
 Michael Irvin

While working with the San Diego Chargers, Feeney networked his way into a unique opportunity this past November. With his boss at the Chargers also serving on the Board of Directors for the Huntington’s Disease Society, Feeney had hoped to find a position as a volunteer for the annual HD Celebration of Hope Gala in downtown San Diego.

Along with helping out a great cause, there was also the intrigue of being involved with an event that featured NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, ESPN’s Chris “Boomer” Berman, NFL Network’s Rich Eisen and Steve Mariucci and Hall of Fame players Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin.

After asking his boss to find a role for him at the event, Fenney heard two words that would shape a memorable experience.

“Boomer’s Guy.”

For Feeney, the role of “Boomer’s Guy” proved to be a 48-hour commitment filled with car rides to and from hotels, unforgettable conversations and lasting pieces of advice. All of this done so while in the company of one of ESPN's most charismatic anchors, Chris Berman. 

Feeney’s first meeting with Berman came at the Torrey Pines Hotel. While picking up Berman from his hotel on a Wednesday afternoon, Feeney was also able to meet Berman’s longtime producer Jay Kutlow.

As for one of Feeney’s better decisions over the two days?

“Having oldies music on in the car, thanks to some great research of Boomer’s interests by my father,” explains Feeney. “In fact, my father, who is a Superior Court Judge, offered to even switch jobs with me for a couple days. But I respectfully declined.”

The opening car ride exposed Berman's off-air personality. 

“In our first car ride it didn’t take long for me to realize that Boomer was the exact same person on television as he was in person,” recalls Feeney. “ From the beginning he wanted to get to know me as much as I wanted to hear about him and his stories.”

Following an outing that included watching the Chargers practice, Feeney took the afternoon off before taking Berman over to the night’s main event.

After fighting through traffic and making a quick change into a suit for the evening, Feeney was set for a night of interaction with some of the industry’s most notable icons.

“We arrived at the event and I tossed the keys to the valet,” explains Feeney. “Did you think I would succumb to general parking with Chris Berman on board? Not a chance. I had three main tasks for the evening: escort Boomer over to the KFMB Channel 8 cameras for a live shot, make sure Boomer was on stage on time to open the ceremony, and lastly, get Boomer home safely.”

The night continued in dramatic fashion, with Feeney meeting the entire NFL Network crew before they took the stage.

In typical Chris Berman fashion he couldn’t leave his creative exclusively to the set. Feeney joined elite company when Berman presented a signature nickname for the USF Sport Management student.

“He coined a nickname for me earlier that day: Sprolesy,” notes Feeney. “I have a few inches in height on the 5-foot-6 former Charger, Darren Sproles, but with my first name also being Darren, the nickname stuck. We pulled up at the Hilton and in typical Boomer style he said, 'Sprolesy, you’ve been great today. See you tomorrow—same bat time, same bat channel.”’

Thursday proved to be just as eventful for Feeney. On this gameday his sole responsibility was making sure Chris Berman was taken care of. This included driving him to the game and then going down on the field prior to the game.  In the closing minutes of a Chargers home loss, Feeney made his way to the owner’s box.

Sitting with Berman was team president Dean Spanos and general manager A.J. Smith.

“Even though the Chargers were losing, it was another one of those moments when I realized, ‘I’m sitting here watching football with Boomer, the Chargers owner and general manager,” explained Feeney.

From there Feeney and Berman hit the road and out of Qualcomm.

“The Chargers lost the game 24-17 and it took a while for Boomer and I to emerge from the cluttered Qualcomm parking lot. But once we did we were smooth sailing on Interstate 15 when Boomer said, ‘Sprolesy, you’ve been great. Don’t feel like you have to, but I’d love to take you out for a drink.’”

After another talk and a post-game meal, the two parted ways, but not before Berman left with a joke and a meaningful piece of advice.

"Boomer stood up, gave me a big bear hug and said: ‘Sprolesy, don’t you forget, if it wasn’t for me, you’d still be by the Xerox machine right now.'"

“On the way to the game, I asked Boomer what his best piece of advice would be for me from a career standpoint. His response: ‘You already have the networking thing down; I can tell that by what you’ve told me. But there is a fine line that only you can draw when it comes to the workplace. No matter what line of work you’re doing, when you’re trying to move up the ladder, you don’t necessarily want to be the first one on someone’s mind who’s making the decisions. Because that could show that you’ve over-pursued and they’ll likely go another direction. But you definitely don’t want to be the last one on their mind, because that means you didn’t do what you needed to do. It’s a fine line that only you can draw.’”

Not a bad 48 hours huh?

Mason Moore brings family story to USF

Everyone in the USF Sport Management Program has his or her own unique story.

For Mason Moore of Cohort 35 in San Francisco, his story is a family affair that started nearly 13 years ago in the Pacific Northwest. After meeting his wife Amelia in 1999 while working at a restaurant in Seattle, the two married two years later. In 2003, Mason and Amelia had their first child Peyton and shortly before making the decision to go back to school. The couple enrolled at Diablo Valley Community College in Pleasant Hill, with UC-Berkeley in mind as a future destination.

“Amelia and I set our goals on Berkeley but knew how competitive admissions would be so we were naturally nervous for the verdict,” reflects Moore. “One of the best days of our lives was April 27, 2007- the birth of our second daughter Giana was capped off with both of our acceptance letters to Berkeley arriving in the mail.”

After attending UC-Berkeley and earning his degree in mass communications, Moore turned his focus to the Sport Management Program at USF. It was back in 2005 that Moore cut out a newspaper article that displayed the Sport Management Program. 

 

Using the program as motivation, Moore strove for success at Berkeley before joining the program he had identified nearly six years prior. After a quick detour following graduation, Moore enrolled at USF.

“Upon graduating from Cal I took a position in solar technology sales, but it was not my dream of working in sports, so I applied for the sport management program,” notes Moore.

Moore’s first six months in the program have been a success. Following the conclusion of the NFL lockout, Moore joined the San Francisco 49ers as a community relations intern. As a community relations intern Moore works in many aspects of the 49ers’ community outreach programs. This includes running youth football camps, as well as organizing toy and clothing drives.

Joining the 49ers following the NFL lockout allowed Moore to face many different obstacles during a challenging time in NFL history. With a shortened timeline to prepare for the season, the NFL work environment proved to be even more fast paced than usual. Moore turned this stressful time into an opportunity to learn from some of the industry's best. 

“The way the 49ers handled everything was truly impressive and showed me how hard you need to work and how passionate you need to be in order to be successful in this field,” says Moore.

All of us in the program who know Mason were extremely happy and excited for him when he landed his new gig with the 49ers. Though our opinions and support surely meant something to Mason, there was little doubt that there were a couple people he needed to impress most.

“My 4-year old is too young to appreciate my job, but my 8-year old, Peyton, understands it is something to boast about and likes to tell people that her dad works for the Niners,” explains Moore.

“The whole family came out for the Monday night game against the Steelers, giving her another opportunity to brag to her friends. I also brought them out to a lymphoma & leukemia walk in which the Niners were a sponsor and it was a great experience for all of us. They knew why we were there and who it affected because they have a cousin that fought leukemia and is in remission.”

With his internship with the 49ers, Moore finds himself juggling school, work and family.

“Part of being so busy is finding enough quality time to spend with my wife and kids. I am not a workaholic. I need to be with my family, and finding that balance often means that I can not always give my full attention to other areas in my life, but it is something I have learned to accept. Priorities are important and for me there is no question: my number one priority is always my girls,” says Moore.

In order to be a successful intern, student and father, Moore understands the support from his wife is paramount to handling all three aspects of his life. 

“I could go on forever about what my wife has meant to me and my family. She is definitely the glue that holds us together,” says Moore. “She is my biggest supporter and encouraged me to go after the internship with the 49ers and continue my education at USF.”

Moore’s story of school, career and family is one that all of his peers and friends admire. While all of us come into the program with our own challenges, Mason’s responsibilities with his family speak to the type of motivated and loyal individual he is.

City Nights, Big Time Games

In the spirit of college football, the NFL playoff hunt and the conclusion of the Major League Baseball season, it is time to step back from the internship commitments, job opportunities and classes.

Instead, it is important from time to time to reflect on the extra-curricular activities available to students in the USF Sport Management Program.  While working hard in pursuit of a successful career in the sport industry is the primary objective of the Sport Management Program, students do have the time to pursue social activities within the sport industry.

Ashley Atwell of Cohort 35 in San Francisco came to the program this past July after graduating from the University of Alabama. Earlier this month Ashley journeyed back to football country to watch Alabama host LSU, in a 1 vs. 2 showdown. The game lived to up all the hype, with the Tigers upending the Crimson Tide in overtime (sorry Ashley!). With classes held every Wednesday night, Ashley had the opportunity to enjoy two days in Tuscaloosa without missing a class.

A number of other Cohort 35 members journeyed down to Palo Alto for this last weekend’s Oregon vs. Stanford football game. Kristen Chambers, Corey Butler, Brian Beasley and Jamin Gorham all made their way down to Stanford for one of the biggest games of the season. Meanwhile back in the city I attended the Oregon State vs. Cal game. Though hardly the most marquee game in the area, it was a great evening on a personal note.  My dad came down from Oregon and we were able to watch the game from one of the AT&T press box suites. Afterwards it was dinner out in the city with my parents.

In addition to attending sporting events, there are also plenty of social functions to attend throughout the Bay Area. Two weeks ago I attended a fundraiser for Octagon Sports with a number of friends from the program, in addition to fellow interns I work with at Cal. This fundraiser for cancer research was hosted in the Marina at Matrix. Working as servers for the event were a number of players from the Oakland Raiders, as well as other Octagon clients. Four-time All-Pro tackle and former Raider Jeremy Newberry was present, along with Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.

This past week I was also fortunate enough to attend a workout at the TRX training facility in San Francisco. Kim Klinedinst, a graduate of the program who currently works as the Director of Education with TRX, invited me down to the complex for a workout. Along with a number of TRX employees, we went through a crossfit workout on the roof of their building. Located just north of the financial district, the building we worked out on had a view of the financial district, as well as the Bay Bridge.

It’s not everyday you get to attend Alabama vs. LSU.
It’s not everyday you watch Oregon vs. Stanford. 
It’s not everyday you get to attend a fundraiser with NFL players. 
It’s not everyday that you get to workout on the roof of a building in the heart of San Francisco.

But in the Sport Management program at USF…

These opportunities present themselves more often than you imagine.

With Thanksgiving week upon us I wish all of you an enjoyable and memorable week ahead! 

When Opportunity Comes Calling

Interning or working a job is a grind. It’s as simple as that. Yet even when the work hours are piling up and the commutes are getting longer and longer, there are always new lessons and experiences that keep me focused. I’m sure those throughout the program would agree with this. Over the past month there are two observations that have kept me motivated as internships and classes have picked up:

1.     A job opportunity can develop at a moment’s notice simply because you make yourself available.

2.      USF graduates are in every nook and cranny of the sport world.

After nearly two classes into the program, members of Cohort 35 have earned many exciting opportunities in the sport industry. No one has stood out as much as Cohort 35 member Kristen Chambers. From day-one Kristen has brought an unbelievable amount of energy and enthusiasm to whatever task she faces. She truly fits the mold of a motivated member of the USF program. What has been unique about Kristen’s first three and a half months in the program, is the fact that she has held two jobs within the Bay Area sports market. Following a job with a local lacrosse company in San Francisco, Kristen was hired as a service rep for the Oakland Raiders ticketing department.

What makes Kristen’s story so compelling is she initially started her work with the Raiders as a Game Day Intern. This is the same internship myself and other Cohort 35 members are involved with on Sundays. So what got Kristin the gig?

“Landing my current position with the Raiders was a mixture of opportunity and eagerness,” notes Kristen. “As a Game Day Intern, I tried to make it clear that I wanted to be a part of the Raiders organization long after the internship ended. I did my best to approach every situation with energy and enthusiasm, regardless of the task at hand. I am just fortunate that while I was interning there, a full-time position became available in their Client Services Department and that my name got thrown into the mix.”

To go along with her previous experience working at Nike and the work ethic and personality she brings to the table, Kristen also did the most important job of all: make herself available. Even while working another job, Kristen found time to commute to Alameda in August in order to gain more experience with Fan Services. By showing up in the office, Kristen became more visible and showed the Raiders the many ways she could help their organization.

“There are going to be plenty of moments as an intern where you struggle to find significance in your work,” says Kristen. “My best advice is to take every opportunity made available to you and to treat it as ‘the’ moment that might take you from intern to a part of the payroll.”

Knowing Kristen’s personality and the way she conducts herself, there wasn’t a member of the cohort who was one bit surprised she nabbed a gig in the NFL.

It terms of item #2: USF connections are out in the workplace on a daily basis.  Forming connections and then building those relationships over the rest of your career in sports is the key to establishing a network of supporters and friends. It was clear to me early on that the USF program had the resources to connect me with nearly anyone associated with the sport industry. What I didn’t know is how often I would randomly meet an alum of the program.

While interning in the Olympic Sports Operations Department at the University of California, I’ve had the chance to meet a variety of USF alums while working a variety of events. This past week I helped run a fundraiser for the women’s crew program at Cal. While cleaning up the event after dinner concluded, I had the good fortune of meeting and visiting with one of Cal’s women’s crew coaches. She was a graduate of the program and we instantly began talking about specific classes and what she thought of the program. The following day I sent out an email to pursue a volunteer opportunity with the USGA. The woman I emailed was recommended to me by a fellow intern over at Cal. Though there were no opportunities available, she did note that she was a former student of the program. Both women raved of their time in the program and were excited to connect and help me in any manner they could.

Having nearly finished the month of October it is remarkable to see the growth of students that arrived to the program in July.

“For me, what this program has done is provide real life tools to make me better professionally,” reflects Kristen. “It is crazy how much you learn in such a short period of time. I am only two classes in and I feel like a totally different person.”

While change is challenging, the process of changing is at the heartbeat of the USF Sport Management Program.

AND OFF WE GO!

One thing is clear to me, after two exciting, challenging, enjoying and memorable months in the University of San Francisco's Sport Management Program, there is no cookie-cutter path to success!

Having just finished Dr. Rich Cellini’s Leadership and Critical Thinking class, Cohort 35 has hit the ground running in pursuit of success within the sport industry. From Alaska and Puerto Rico, to Georgia and Arizona, the USF Sport Management Program’s newest collection of students is as diverse in their present career opportunities as they are in their individual backgrounds. In the midst of good-natured bantering over Jayhawks vs. Sooners, or Crimson Tide vs. Bulldogs, Cohort 35 has already been crafting its future in a persistent and dedicated manner.

Members of my cohort have been exposed to a variety of opportunities and are in the midst of many accomplishments. We’ve landed internships with the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, UC Berkeley, USF, the Pac-12 and Stanford to name a few. Others are working part-time or full-time jobs while juggling internship or volunteer opportunities. Along with building our professional résumé, we’ve had the good fortune of exploring and adapting to a new city together. Our cohort has had the chance to attend SF Giants and Oakland Athletics games together, work internships, attend fundraising events put on by professionals within the industry and have quickly interacted with members from other cohorts.

With a desire to pursue a career in the sport industry, members of Cohort 35 came into the program with high expectations. Discussion over internships dominated conversations at our opening night of orientation. The dedicated nature of the internship program is the reason why most of us took on the challenge of attending USF. Orientation was the start of something very special, primarily because our expectations of what we could accomplish have been raised to another level. Through Dr. Cellini’s classes and the support of classmates and faculty, we are well aware of the potential opportunities to be earned. Because of these unique opportunities, students at the San Francisco and Los Angeles campuses have already made noteworthy sacrifices in pursuit of internships.

Corey Butler, a graduate of the University of Georgia came into the program with a degree in microbiology while playing for the Georgia Bulldogs basketball team. With an opportunity to attend medical school, Corey turned down an opportunity in the medical field in order to attend USF.

“My passions are in two very different fields,” notes Corey. “I love basketball, but I also love studying petri dishes in a lab. But being in sport management, I believe it will open more doors and allow for a multitude of opportunities. I believe I made the right decision and I can't wait to see what the industry has in store for me.”

The industry has a lot in store for Corey. He has already taken a position as an intern with the Stanford basketball program. Corey works directly with the coaching staff on a daily basis and deals with matters related to recruiting.

Like Corey, Craig Nelson, a member of Cohort 13 in Los Angeles has been in the position to see both the Southern California and Bay Area sports market. After nailing down a game day internship with the Oakland Raiders and a weekend internship at the Pac-12 offices in the bay area, Craig landed an opportunity with the Tiger Woods Foundation in Los Angeles.

Even though he is living in the L.A. area, Craig has found the energy to pursue as many opportunities as possible. He commutes to the Bay Area on weekends to work for the Oakland Raiders and the Pac-12. Luckily for him he’s found some friends for the road.

“I actually have had requests for a few weeks down the line from friends and cohort members who want to travel with me because they have friends and family in the Bay Area,” explains Craig. “I think I’m going to have to make a calendar to keep up with who I’m traveling with each week.”

Over the next two years in this program I hope to bring to you more stories like these. Regardless of my setting, I will provide you a glimpse into the lives of USF Sport Management students in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Hopefully it will be an insightful look into how we embrace the challenge at USF!