Jimmy’s Blog

I spent a good chunk of today on the George Washington University campus for a Sports networking conference for undergraduate and graduate students interested in working in the Sports industry.  I believe this is the 5th or 6th year of the conference.  I’ve been a panelist for each one of the conferences.

I was on a terrific panel called “The Changing Landscape of Sports Media and Social Networking”.   The moderator was Tammy Ross, VP – HBO Sports and the fellow panelists were Christine Brennan from USA Today, Meredith Geisler (one of the top sports publicists in the country), Chartese Burnett – VP, Communications and Dan – the boxing expert for ESPN.com.

After a great discussion of the changes that have occurred in Sports over the past two decades, we networked with the students at a luncheon.  I love talking to students — especially their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.

Dogs are a man’s best friend, eh?  Well, after dog-sitting for the past few days, I certainly agree.   I dog-sat for my friends’ two dogs, Landon and Cody.   One is a Schnauzer and the other is a Bichon Frise.   What great dogs!

I certainly learned a lot from the doggies — especially about the importance of routine tasks.  And, I must admit, with them in the house, I went to sleep early every night and woke up early every morning.   As dog owners can attest, the dogs wake you up in the morning so they can go outside and do their magic.

Each day was the same — wake up between 6:30 – 6:45; quick bathroom break; provide dog food and water; take an extended walk / bathroom break for 20 – 30 minutes; then back to the house.

In a lucky twist, it snowed heavily in DC on Monday, so I worked from home that day – which allowed me to hang out all day w/ the lovable dogs.   Plus, we went out in the snow at least 4 times that day.

Although I’ve lived in my neighborhood for nearly 8 years, I don’t walk around the ‘hood too much … but, with the extended dog walks, I discovered beautiful parts about my neighborhood in Rosslyn that I didn’t know existed, including an old mansion that overlooked the Potomac River.

I dropped off the dogs this morning.   I was looking forward to them greeting me when I got home — but, nope — instead it back to the quiet house.   But, it really as a fun few days.   And, I certainly can relate to the saying that “dogs are a man’s best friend.”

Last night’s class was the last one before Spring Break next week. All of my students are seniors with the exception of about three juniors — so, this is their last Spring Break before they venture into either their new jobs or grad / law school.

Their first of two class projects is a marketing plan for the Washington Mystics is due at the end of this week — per the suggestion of their Majority Owner, Ted Leonsis, who addressed the class in early February.  This is not an easy project since the Mystics are struggling at selling tickets.  But, nonetheless, this should be a good, fun project for the class.

A good friend of mine, George Perry, who’s a sports executive that has worked at Starter, Visa, XM and the Redskins, spoke to the class.   He did a good job and seemed to connect well with the students.  George is also part of our faculty for the GU School of Continuing Education’s Sports Industry Management program.

By the way, we have two upcoming conferences for students interested in Sports and Entertainment.  The first one is at the Georgetown University Law Center’s Sports and Entertainment Symposium on Thur, Mar 19th and the second is our SEME Conference on Fri, Mar 27 and Sat, Mar 28.   Pls contact me if you’re interested to learn more about either conference.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of my beloved father.   He actually passed on Feb 29th of last year but since it was during Leap Year, today is the anniversary.

My mother, brother and I went to Arlington National Cemetery this morning to pay my respects to my father, who is interred there at the columbarium.   The ANC is a special place and we are honored that my father is interred there.

We paid our respects to my father — also, my mom left a piece of one of his favorite candies on the marker.  🙂  We then walked over to where my Uncle Arthur, my father’s older brother, is interred to pay respects to him, too.

My father and Uncle Art are two of my idols and role models.  I loved Uncle Art dearly, too, and I’m honored to have my middle name from him (my full name is James Arthur Lynn).   So, it’s really special to us that that they are interred near each other.

I’ve done by best to visit my father at ANC during every special day over the past year, including Father’s Day, his birthday, my parents anniversary, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I like to go there and have a nice chat with him – similar to what I do every day in my morning prayer.

We continue to be comforted with the thoughts that my father lived a long, full life; is reunited with his parents and brothers; and is no longer suffering from Alzheimer’s.

We celebrated my mother’s birthday this past Friday night — and, it’s great that she’s surrounded by so many wonderful and warm friends at the Jefferson, where my parents moved in 2004.

Dad — although you weren’t the most computer-literate and you weren’t too internet-savvy, if you’re reading this blog from up above, please know that I love you and miss you dearly.  And, please note that I’m doing my best to do everything you taught me, including focusing on family and friends, teaching and helping others, working hard, keeping a strong level of integrity  and treating everyone fairly and with respect.

Your son,

Jimmy

We held our annual Hoop Dreams Scholarship Foundation fund-raising event at Harry’s Tap Room in Arlington last night.   Led by the terrific Susie Kay and Doug Knight, it was another inspirational evening.

These young students, many of whom are from lower-income households in DC, continue to amaze me and blow me away with their eagerness to learn, attend college and grow.    I easily met over 30 of the students last night — I tried to chat with each one about where they attend high school, where they’d like to attend college and what their dreams are.

I gave out me email address to a couple of the students — and I promised that they can always reach out to me during their collegiate years for help with college, summer internships, etc.

These students are so different from the ones with whom I went to high school — in the well-to-do suburb of Fairfax.  I graduated from WT Woodson — full of kids from upper middle class families — who’s parents attended college and led a comfortable lifestyle.  Contrast that upbringing with the majority of the Hoop Dreams kids who attend HD Woodson in Anacostia — a majority of these students come from single-parent families and will be the first ones in their family to attend college.

Hoop Dreams has now awarded over 1,000 academic scholarships over the past 13 years.  This is a remarkable achievement.  I’m proud to be a member of the board of directors and part of the HDSF family.  Thank you to Susie, Doug and the hard-working staff.  And, thank you to many, many students who continue to inspire me with their desire to learn, grow and become successful and contributing members to society.

Lastly, I’d like to brag about a few of the students I’ve helped mentor / advise over the years.  Michael is a graduate of Hampton Univ and is in the executive program at Verizon; Fanchon will graduate on time from Temple; Ayana is a junior majoring in education at my alma mater, AU; and Emily is a rock-star sophomore at Princeton.   Again, thanks to them and to their fellow HDSF students and alumni for inspiring me.

We decided to make attending last night’s Sports Marketing Strategy class optional since the Hoyas were playing #-6 Louisville.  After all, our class is 95% seniors and this was the second-t0-last home game of the season.

But, for the 12 – 13 students that attended the optional class, we held a good, lively discussion about networking, relationship-building, internships and entry level jobs.   In addition to teaching, we’re doing our best to impart advice to the students that will be graduating in May about starting out their work careers, especially in the Sports and Entertainment fields, which are so extremely competitive.

As noted in previous blogs, this year’s class is outstanding — full of engaged, interactive, smart and terrific students.  It makes it that much more enjoyable to teach when you connect well with the class.

One more class next Monday — then, it’s Spring Break for the seniors the following week!

We had a great night last night at the beautiful Georgetown home of Rick Rickersten.   Built in 1799, it is truly one of the most spectacular homes in DC.   It was the perfect venue for a superb party.

The event was an Academy Awards viewing party, hosted by Moet Chandon, to benefit the Five & Alive Charity.  Founded by the wonderful Kate Roberts, Five & Alive is a Population Services program that provides children and their families with information about education, products and services to improve health and to help save lives in over 30 countries.

Five & Alive primarily targets youth five years old and under to help them prevent and treat malaria, water-borne illnesses, pneumonia and malnutrition.   This program is  the sister program of YouthAIDS, the highly effective initiative founded by Kate Roberts in 2001.   To learn more about these programs, please go to http://projects.psi.org.

As for the party, it was full of Washington, DC’s social elite … people were dressed in “red-carpet attire” … it was a fun-filled evening … and most of the crowd seemed to be happy that “Slumdog Millionaire” swept the awards show!

We are about to enter one of the peak periods in Sports … early March to mid-April is a fantastic time for sports fans.  Just think what’s on the calendar:  the upcoming college basketball conference tournaments, then the hugely popular NCAA Tournament; Spring Training, then the beginning of the new MLB season in early April; the stretch run in the regular seasons of the NBA and NHL as teams jockey for post-season play-off spots; the return of Tiger Woods and the ever-glorious Masters Tournament in early April; all of the hype for the upcoming NFL Draft; and the ongoing NASCAR season.

For sports fans, this March – April timeframe and the September – October slot are the two best periods of the year.   Looking forward to March Madness and much, much more!

Today was a great example of the confluence of sports events … I went to watch the Caps win convincingly over the rival Penguins at the Verizon Center … and got home in time to see Phil Mickelson win the tourney at Riviera (after blowing a big lead); up-and-down NBA action; the NASCAR race in California and of course, a full menu of college hoops game.

It’s going to be a fun couple of months …

Admittedly, I’m not much of a “foodie,” but I definitely know when I’ve had a great meal.  And, last night, I was so fortunate to have a world-class meal.   Our good friend, Jonathan Klein, was celebrating a special b-day and he treated a group of us to a phenomenal dinner at Michel Richard’s “Citronelle” restaurant in Georgetown.

DC is fortunate to have Michel here in town.  He was awarded the James Beard award in 2007 as the most outstanding chef in the U.S.   Per the quote on their web site from Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, which states … “a great chef, who is cooking at a level that exceeds any Michelin three-star chef in France.”

Some of my friends asked what was on the menu at the Chef’s Table, so here you go (9 courses paired with 9 world-class wine tastings);  1) Fried Chicken Lollipop, Crispy Escargot Ravioli and Crab Gratin with Champagne Jean-Louis Vergnon Brut Blanc; 2) Terrine of Smoked Salmon with Scancerre “Cuvee Edmond” Domaine; Nantucket Bay scallops with Calamari Spaghetti with Reisling “Turckheim” Domaine; 3) Skate Wing Rolled with Crabmeat – Beaune “Close des Mouche” Premier Cru, 4) Lamburger with Pinot Noir “Presidio Vineyard” Bonaccorse; 5) Breast of Squab Stuffed with Squab Liver and Foie Gras with Chateanuneuf-du-Pape “Secrets de Pignan”; 6) Prime short ribs of Angus  Beef cooked 72 hours Sous Vide with Cabernet Sauvignon “Tresca” Allora; 7) Selection of Ripe Cheeses with “Relentless” Syrah-Petite Sirah; 8) Strawberry Cocktail; 9) Selection of Michel Richard Signature Desserts with Coteaux du Layon “4 Villages” Domaine.

One words sums it up … “wow.”   In addition to the brilliant Michel Richard, the Sommelier, Mark Slater, is also a James Beard award winner for Outstanding Wine Service.    Citronelle is definitely the place in DC for special occasions.   What a great night with terrific friendships, lots of stories and laughs and a world-class meal!