Busy Weekend

Lots going on this weekend here in San Diego:

First, the Sports MBA program has an open house at PETCO Park from 1:00-3:00 on Saturday, August 2. We're expecting almost 50 attendees, so it should be a great event. This is a perfect weekend for prospective students to visit SD:

Some students will be attending the Padres-Giants game after the information session, where they'll receive a sponsor-heavy tshirt, the "Padres Fan-Selected T-Shirt presented by Bank of America and brought to you by KIFM "

Also, we'll be out at Total Combat 30, an event put on by a San Diego-based MMA outfit. This will be TC's first outdoor show, as it invades Balboa Park on Saturday night.

Finally, Sports MBA will be involved with the annual AVP Crocs Tour stop in San Diego all weekend long as it takes over Mariner's Point from Friday to Sunday.

Pardon the Interruption

A group of us met with the third base coach of the Florida Marlins, Bo Porter, over bagels and OJ at the athletic center before class the other day. Bo was a two-sport star at the University of Iowa in football and baseball and played professionally for Oakland, Texas, and Atlanta. Bo was very engaging and gave us the insight on how coaches deal with players and management. At one point our discussion was interrupted by SDSU's baseball coach, Tony Gwynn, who knew Mr. Porter and came in to say hello. Upon leaving, Tony Gwynn apologized for interrupting our meeting and I was thinking to myself, "Yeah, take your 3,141 hits and get the hell out of here!" Can you imagine? Tony Gwynn apologizing to a group of baseball nuts for coming into the room!?! It was a great way to start the day.

Events from the Break

We just recently enjoyed a well-earned week of time off to relax and enjoy San Diego. The break started with a happy hour with the two instructors of the classes we had just finished: Nelson Gayton for Sports Marketing and Kamal Haddad for Finance. It was fun to kick back with the profs at a Pacific Beach bar and also celebrate three birthdays that occurred that week.

Another highlight was the Ocean Beach Chili Cookoff and Street Fair. It was a wild time and we got to watch one of our own (Brett) play rugby that day as well. An estimated 70,000 people crammed the streets of Ocean Beach for music, drinks, food, amateur wrestling (strange but true), carnival rides, and of course chili! The weather was perfect as well.

The rest of the break was devoted to catching up on reading and relaxing and playing lots of golf. We are just getting started with a couple of new classes: International Business and Marketing. Dennis Green is also getting us primed for his course that starts at the end of August. Should be a great next couple of months!!

Sports MBA Returns from Break!

After a brief respite, members of Sports MBA IV have returned to sunny San Diego.  We just began a new set of classes: World Business Seminar with Dr. John Francis and Integrated Marketing Communication with Dr. Joe Belch.  This past week in WBS we have been discussing the viability of NBA expansion in Europe (within the broader context of globalization). Definitely some great ideas being thrown around...

In IMC, Dr. Belch introduced the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications, particularly as it is applied to sports businesses and organizations.  During yesterday's class, we discussed a case study on the short-lived XFL and heard from Steve Becvar, the former VP of Sales and Marketing for the Memphis Maniax who visited class.  He had some great stories from his XFL days and shared with us his first-hand experience of developing an strategic integrated marketing  plan for a new league.

Just in case you don't remember, here's a short clip from the XFL:  

Cal State Games

Fresh off our July 4 break, we're already busy with another major sporting event in San Diego. From July 10-13, nearly half of the Sports MBA Class of '09 will be scattered throughout San Diego County working in supervisory roles for the 20th annual California State Games. We're overseeing venues, coordinating event logistics, assisting with operations, and working with corporate sponsors.