Jimmy’s Blog

Sometimes things come together nicely and create a nearly perfect situation.  That’s how I feel about tonight’s Sports Marketing Strategy class we teach at Georgetown Univ.

First, we had a packed room of 45 – 46 students — let’s see if this is still true when it’s April and the warm weather arrives.  🙂   Anyway, I lectured for the first hour of the class, primarily about the overall sports industry, sports marketing agencies, leagues and teams.   There were plenty of good questions throughout the first portion of the class.

Then, for the second half of the class, we were honored to have Phil de Picciotto as our guest speaker.   Phil is the President, Athletes and Personalities for Octagon, which was chosen as the Sports Agency of the Year in 2008.   He’s also been chosen as one of the Sporting News’ “100 Most Powerful People in Sports” and Sports Business Journal’s “20 Most Influential People: Sports Agents.”

Phil gave a fantastic 40-minute lecture about the evolution of the sports industry, including a couple of great examples of how they created marketing packages for Michael Phelps, the 2008 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.   We then had an excellent 30-minute Q & A with the class.

Speaking from experience, I know the class is engaged when 1) they’re attentive during the guest lecture, 2) ask lots of questions and 3) swarm the guest after the class to ask more questions.  Additionally, I’ve already received a couple of emails from students saying how much they enjoyed tonight’s class.

It can be a long day when one works all day, then teaches a 2 1/2 class at night, but on a nearly perfect night like tonight, the time flies by.   As the saying goes, “it’s all good!”

Last night I attended our annual fund-raiser in Georgetown for the wonderful Capitol Movement Project.    I serve on their board of directors and I’ve been a supporter since their initial days.   Thanks to everyone who attended and a major debt of gratitude to all of the people and firms that generously donated auction items.

Co-founded by Stephanie Jojokians and Amber Yancy, CMP is a terrific organization.   Per their site — the mission of CMP is “to build better lives through dance by partnering with community organizations to provide disadvantaged youth and underserved citizens the chance to participate and patronize the arts in Washington, DC.”   CMP also aims to “create opportunities for underpriviliged DC area dancers to train and perform at the professional level.  We represent dance in all its forms and styles as this transcends all boundaries and nurtures our mission.”

If you like dance and the arts, I strongly encourage you to attend your annual performance in DC, which will take place at 8:00 pm on Saturday, March 7th at the historic Lincoln Theatre on U St.

Yes, 10 – 12 of the dancers are Washington Redskins cheerleaders, but it’s actually a wide range of performers … females and males …. adults and youth.   In fact, three of my favorites are the three 10-year old girls who nearly always steal the limelight!  You’ll see an array of performances … traditional, jazz, ballet, hip-hip, etc.  Trust me, you’ll walk away highly entertained.  Every one of my friends that has attended a CMP performance the past three years has walked away very much entertained and with smiles on their faces.

To learn more about CMP and / or to purchase tickets to the March 7th gig, please go to http://www.capitolmovement.org.   Thank you.

Tonight was the first class of the spring semester at Georgetown University.  This is my fourth year of teaching a Sports Marketing Strategy class for seniors in the McDonough School of Business.

It’s always a bit nerve-wracking before the first class of the semester as you’re about to welcome a whole new group of students … in this case, 45 students.  But, fortunately, as with the the past three years, it appears we have another great group of students.

It gets a bit easier each year since we have more experience in teaching this course (I co-teach the class with Joe Wang, who has his BA and MBA from GU).   I’ve also worked on lining up another all-star line-up of guest speakers.  We’ll have team owners, sports agents, financial investment managers, chief marketing officers, agency presidents, star athletes, etc speak to the class.

I plan on blogging each week about that week’s class.   It feels great to teach and “give back” to the students.  And, it makes it that much better when you connect with the class.  So I’m looking forward to another terrific semester!

I love the NFL play-offs, especially the first two weekends when there’s 4 games played each weekend.   If I were a betting man, although I’m not since don’t gamble or bet, I’d have put my money on all four of the road teams.

But, fortunately, I didn’t bet since both home teams won yesterday in two well-played and interesting games.   In the first match-up, many thought the Falcons, coming off of an 11-win season, would defeat the Arizona Cardinals (who haven’t hosted a home play-off game since the ’40’s!).   After a poor start, the Falcons came back to take a lead at half-time.  But, they committed a crucial turnover at the beginning of the 2nd half and never recovered.   One has to marvel at the play of the 37-year old Kurt Warner as well as his amazing set of wide receivers.  Wow.

The second game, the Colts at Chargers, was the one I most looking forward to watching.   And, it was quite a thriller as the Lightning Bolts defeated the red-hot Colts and ’08 MVP and future Hall-of-Famer, Peyton Manning.   Again, one has to marvel at the play of 5’6″ Darren Sproles.  What an unbelievable game from the smallest player on the field — he had over 300 yards combined (running, receiving, returning kicks and punts), topped off by the game-winning run in OT.  Sproles played one of the great historic playoff games  all time.

Today’s action should be good, too.  And, once again, I’d have to favor the road teams.  The Ravens have a terrific defense (the best in the league along w/ the Steelers).   Plus, their rookie QB, Flacco is playing well and they have  a strong running game w/ McClain, McGahee and Rice.  A strong D and running game are keys to advancing in the play-offs.

The final game of the weekend, the Eagles at Vikings, should be a close and competitive game.   Since I’m a ‘Skins fan, I don’t cheer for the Eagles, Giants or Cowboys.  But, it’d be great to see an Eagles – Giants next weekend.   Wow, what a battle that would be.  I’m predicting the Eagles D will befuddle Tavaris Jackson and the combined brilliance of McNabb and Westbrook will help them defeat the Vikes (despite the Vikes having the best and most exciting RB in the league – Adrian Peterson).

And, just think, we’ll have 4 more NFL play-off games to watch next weekend!

Happy New Year to all!  I hope 2009 brings much joy, peace and personal satisfaction to everyone.  It’ll definitely be a “Year of Change,” especially with the incoming Obama administration as well as the continued financial crisis.

I’m spending the New Year’s Eve holiday and next couple of days in Montreal, one of my favorite cities in the world.  Most of my friends went to St Barts, southern Florida, the Caribbean, etc but I headed north to Canada.

Man, it’s cold up here!  It’s 10 to 15 below zero with the wind chill factored in.  One of my friends emailed me from Antigua to say he read in a weather report that the two coldest major cities in the world today are Moscow and Montreal!  LOL.

But, I’m happy w/ the decision to come here.  Montreal is only a 75-minute flight from Washington, DC.  It’s very similar to being in Europe.   And, the Canadiens are such warm and nice people.  I’ve been blessed to have many wonderful friendships here.

I just got back from taking a nice, brisk walk outside … it was snowing lightly aside … it’s great to walk around in the beautiful snow in this gorgeous city.   As long as you dress warmly, you’ll be fine.  Of course, the French Onion soup I just had at a local diner helped keep me warm.

Bonne Annee!!!

What an impressive win by the Georgetown Hoyas over the #2-ranked UConn Huskies last night!   UConn’s starting line-up featured five NBA-quality players (all juniors and seniors), including 7-foot, 3-inch Hasheem Thabeet (the nation’s top shot-blocker).  Plus, the game was on the road.

The Hoyas, with three sophomores and freshman, were the decided underdogs, but they came out smoking – quickly jumping to an 18 – 3 lead!  And, Greg Monroe, perhaps the best freshman in the country, totally out-played Thabeet.   They had balanced scoring — as Monroe, Summers, Freeman and Wright all scored in double figures.  What a great start to Big East play!

I’ve been a Hoyas for a long time.   I still recall sadly watching Freddie Brown throw away the pass near the end of the championship game against UNC (where UNC frosh, Michael Jordan, canned the game-winning shot).  But, then joyously watching the Hoyas defeat Hakeem and the Houston Cougars the next year for their first-ever national championship.

It’s been a great joy to watch the program over the years … Coach Thompson II (Big John) created such a great program at Georgetown.   The success of the program helped raise the profile of Georgetown Univ across the nation … and helped it become an “it” school for many years.   As important, Coach Thompson also helped so many of his student-athletes become successes, both on and off the court.  Yes, there are the many NBA players like Iverson, Mourning, Ewing, etc, but there’s also the success stories of a Ralph Dalton (who got his MBA and worked on Wall Street) and Michael Jackson (who got his Masters from Harvard’s Kennedy School).

Then, in a unique twist, John Thompson III took over the program in 2004.   I’ve known John a long time (he played and coached at Princeton with a couple of good friends of mine — Howie Levy and Joey Scott).   He and his wife, Monica, are tremendous people.   It must give Big John so much joy and satisfaction to see his son continue the excellence for the program he single-handedly created.

Back in 2004, my mentor Ted Leonsis (who is a GU grad and strong supporter of Hoyas basketball), asked to meet JT III when he first came back to DC (my friendship with Ted started in Spring ’95 with a discussion about our love of Hoyas basketball – the first emails I exchanged w/ him were all about GU basketball).   JT didn’t have a lot of quality players on that first team – and people didn’t expect much that first year – but his “Princeton Motion” offense played immediate dividends.   In fact, in the first four years at GU, JTIII has won a couple of regular season Big East titles, made it to the Final Four, named  Coach of the Year, etc.

The foundation is now in place.   The Georgetown Hoyas should be a strong contender for the Big East and NCAA Tourney titles for years to come … just like in the ’80’s when his father’s Hoyas dominated the action.   Hoya Saxa!

My friends are always asking me why I have so much energy.   After hosting one of my close friends and his three children at my home for the past few days, I think I know the answer — it’s because I’m single and don’t have the many commitments that parents have!

I love children – and it was great to have an 11-yr old, 9-yr old and 4-yr old at my house … especially during the holidays.   But, being a parent takes a lot and lot of responsibility.

On the weekends, since I normally go out at night,  I like to take a short afternoon nap.  So, I tried to do so on Saturday, but it wasn’t possible.  Every 10 minutes, my 4-yr old buddy would come into my room, crawl up on my bed, hug me and tell me “I love you, Uncle Judge” (Judge is my nickname from childhood).    So, no nap time for Uncle Judge!

And, for the past few mornings, the little guy would wake me up, give me a huge hug and hang for a few minutes before declaring, “I’m hungry, Uncle Judge!”   Man, those moments are priceless.  But, you’re constantly “on the go” w small children in the house.

That again reaffirms my belief that Moms are super heroes!   They’re constantly watching over the children; making meals; doing laundry; going to the grocery store; going to the playground, etc.  It’s definitely not easy.  So, hats off to all the great Moms out there.   It definitely make you appreciate your own parents that much more!

Well, baseball has done it again.   Because there are no salary caps in MLB, the Yanks were able to pay $423 million to sign the marquee free agents — CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett.

I don’t blame the Yankees … they’re playing fairly and within the rules … but I think it’s absurd that one team is allowed to have the four highest paid players in the sport on the same team (Jeter, A-Rod, Sabathia and Teixeira).

That’s why I think the salary caps imposed by the NFL, NBA and NHL are more fair.  After all, could you imagine if one NBA team could have Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony on the same team?   Fans would be in an uproar (except for the fans of that one team).

Although the Yankees have tried to buy the World Championship over the past decade, fortunately that has not been the case – they haven’t won it all since 2000.  But, they’re certainly aggressively trying to do it again.  I guess that’s why I take so much joy when the smaller market teams, with 20% of the payroll, like the Tampa Bay Rays, can win the division and advance to the World Series.

Yes, I wish my hometown Nats had been able to sign Texeira instead of the Evil Empire Yankees, but I don’t blame the Yanks nor Texeira.  Again, they’re playing within the rules.  But, that’s why the MLB should consider a salary cap – and to make it more even and fair for all.  Until then, I’ll continue to cheer on the underdogs (like the Rays and Twins).   Can’t wait until Opening Day (that’s what happens when your fav NFL team doesn’t make the playoffs).  🙂

This year’s Christmas is going to  be unlike any other one since it’ll be the first one without my beloved Father, who passed away in February of this year.  But, similarly to what I wrote on Thanksgiving Day, my mother, brother and I are comforted with the thought of my Dad enjoying Christmas with his parents, brothers, family members and life-long friends for the first time in a long time.

I just returned from a visit to the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery to visit my father and Uncle Arthur, who are both interred near one another.  I had a good chat with both, primarily to wish them a Merry Christmas. I also just witnessed one of the most spectacular and memorable things I’ve ever seen.   As one makes their drive through ANC, you normally see thousands of the small, white tombstone markers.  But, today it was different … nearly every tombstone was adorned with a Christmas wreath.  The sight took my breath away.  It is an incredible sight to see.  Whoever came up with that idea is brilliant!  And, thanks to all of the volunteers who placed the wreaths on the thousands of markers.

Today will be different but fortunately I have whole week to celebrate this holiday with friends.  Last night, I had Christmas Eve dinner with the Mazzaccoli’s — it’s  a tradition we’ve done for the past 7 years — I love to bring presents for their six children.  There’s nothing like the joy of seeing young children excitedly open their presents.  And, tomorrow, one of longest and closest friends, Kevin Guthrie, will be coming to my house with his wife and three children, for a few days.   So, I’ll be surrounded by those that I cherish.

In closing, I once again watched one of my favorite movies, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” last night.   I used this quote when I gave the eulogy at my Father’s memorial service … and it seems more poignant than ever … “Remember, no man is a failure who has friends … and, to George Bailey, the richest man in town!”  That’s how I feel … I feel like the richest man in Washington, DC since I / we have been blessed with so many wonderful friendships.  I thank all of my friends, especially earlier this year when we lost my Father.   And, since one never knows if this will be the last holiday you’ll share with a loved one, please give them that extra hug today — and let them know how much you care about them.   Happy holidays.