Should the NCAA Pay Student-Athletes to Play … NO WAY!

I haven’t done much of this type of blogging, but the following is my reaction to the “Pay for Play” article in Sports Illustrated a few months ago.

Currently, the NCAA does not allow for universities to pay its players a salary. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the “pay for play” issue, but Sports Illustrated created a business model around the idea of universities paying its student-athletes. Within this new business model, the biggest issue I see, which isn’t examined in depth, is why players should be paid in the first place.

College is a privilege, not a right. Not everyone deserves to (or should go to) college. If you work hard, whether it be academically, athletically, artistically or in any other capacity, there is an opportunity for you to go to college. There is no denying that the ability to go to college is easier for some than others. However, life is not fair and if that’s the battle you want to fight, your issue is larger than just higher education or athletics. Scholarships are available from several different sources, whether it be private and public organizations, the federal government and individual institutions, to allow the people that deserve to go to college the right to go to college.

Too many people think that it is their right to go to college and this is especially present in the millennial generation. This generation grew up over protected, constantly encouraged — to a fault and expects everything to be served to them on a silver platter. Each university has a certain amount of slots to fit students into, which is what makes getting into college competitive. There are now more students than ever applying to college, which means more students are getting rejected. Students are getting rejected are qualified for the schools in which they are applying, but there just isn’t the space. In order to get into college, it is about setting yourself apart from the competition. This means, for some people, making the deans list, and for others, this means going to the gym everyday to practice their jump shot. The student must make it apparent to the university why it wants the student to represent their institution.

When any student is accepted to college or gets recruited by a university to come to their institution, the student is faced with a decision. The student must decide which school is the best fit for them. Every student and his or her family must weigh all the options and figure out what are his or her priorities. These priorities may range from the distance a school is from home, the school’s tuition, scholarship money received, greek life opportunities to the prestige of the university or the student’s access to do additional research. Following the step of tracing out priorities, each university can be evaluated in order for the student to make the best possible decision. This decision making process is valid and happens for all students; it does not matter if the student goes for athletics or not. It is forgotten by many that a student-athlete is a student just like any other attendee of the university. When a student-athlete, who is on full scholarship, gets to the school, they are expected to play the sport and live up to his or her end of the contract. If the student-athlete represents the school through athletics, the school will cover the student’s cost of tuition and living expenses. There should not be anymore to the issue. The opportunity is extraordinary for student-athletes. If they represent the school athletically, they will get an education that most people do not get. If that is not enough for the student-athlete, they then have the option to leave their team, therefore forfeiting their scholarship to the university. The university is bigger than any individual athlete. The University of North Carolina is still a prestigious university and the basketball program still exists without Michael Jordan, just like the University of Missouri still exists and its basketball program are not suffering after last year’s blue chip recruit Tony Mitchell failed to receive eligibility from the NCAA. There will always be another student-athlete to take another’s spot, when one leaves.

While it is easier to directly equate a star student-athlete’s effect on the bottom line compared to most other students, what does it say to other students about school’s priorities to pay the top football player and not pay the top chemistry or engineering student that led to the university being called a pioneer in research and development? There is no doubt that the restrictions placed on student-athletes are strict, and so maybe those restrictions need to be reevaluated, but the solution is not paying student-athletes on top of their scholarship. A student-athlete’s schedule is full because of the large time commitment playing a varsity or club sport is at the collegiate level, but that’s a choice the student-athlete makes. That decision to commit to sports during college is no different than a dedication journalism student committing themselves to KOMU or a biology student dedicating all their time to the science laboratory.

There are many issues within the NCAA and I am not in favor paying student-athletes on top of tuition, but the one part of the Sports Illustrated article that I think would be a great idea for the NCAA to utilize is the idea of partial scholarships. This strategy would be effective and benefit the NCAA, individual universities, and the student-athletes in several different ways.

The use of partial scholarships gives more students the ability to get financial help through scholarships. Some of the massive amounts of walk-on players would be able to get rewarded similarly to their teammates that walked in the door on scholarships. This would also make student-athletes choose schools on how much money they received just like many other college students. The student-athlete would have to decide between a half scholarship to schools like the University of Texas and a full ride to the University of Houston. This decision would make student-athletes really figure out where their priorities lie in going to college. Subsequently, the act of schools making the decision to offer student-athletes full versus half scholarships would create even more competition and parity within the NCAA. And when there is more competition to compete with Texas football, North Carolina basketball, Iowa wrestling and Minnesota hockey there becomes more interest surrounding all sports. Furthermore, the increased interest and competition helps make all programs more profitable.

With the ability for universities to administer half scholarships and be on a level playing field as other NCAA schools, no matter the sport, the schools would be forced to make even stronger character decisions on student-athletes. The big schools in their respective sports would still be the class of each sport, but the bench of those school’s teams would not be necessarily be better than every other school just because of the school they play for.

The bottom line is this: if the NCAA continues to not pay the student-athletes and manage the use of partial scholarships, then the academic institutions that the student-athletes are representing would remain larger than individual people and provide the best place for all students, athletes and non-athletes, to take part in the full college and educational experience that is the purpose of these universities.

Sports Broadcasting with the Best in the Business

Previously on this blog, I wrote about how I attended the Bruce Beck and Ian Eagle Sports Broadcasting Camp more than six years ago. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It confirmed how much I really wanted to go into the world of sports, and after keeping in touch with Bruce Beck, Ian Eagle and Dave Popkin, I got the chance to go back to the camp and help run the camp. Positive Impact Partners runs the week at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center at Montclair State University.  Leading up to the week of camp, I was in charge of a lot of logistics, those included everything from making sure lunch was at the camp every day for the campers to making sure MSG Varsity had the necessary space to park the live truck and set up a set. I helped create the schedule for the camp and helped confirm speakers were ready to go and directions to the Somerset Patriots stadium were printed for families joining the kids at the game.

Even though I wasn’t ‘attending’ the camp, I still had an incredible time. I got to spend a week with some of top sports guys in the business. Since I have attended the camp as a camper, Ian, Bruce, Popkin, and Mike Quick (MSG Varsity) have taught me more about the business than anyone else. There are too many specific experiences about the camp I want to recount, but I will limit myself to two.

1. Networking: One thing I have learned about the business is it’s not always about how good you are, but rather who you know. That is not to say that you don’t have to be good, but if you already reach the level of being good enough, then it’s about who you know. This camp has allowed me to network and make connections many people never have the opportunity to make. And for that I am truly grateful. I got to hold at the very least conversations with people like Bob Lorenz of YES Network, Chris Carlin of SNY, Tina Cervasio of MSG, Chris Carrino of YES, Sam Rosen of FOX and many more people from the MLB Network, MSG Varsity, and various other places. The list goes on and on. And just to interact with some of these people is amazing. It’s the start of a dream come true. The best part is that everyone I met was willing to help make my dreams come true. All were real down to earth people, who just happen to have (in my mind at least) the best jobs in the world.

2. The first day of camp was the only stressful one of the bunch. There were a lot of little odds and ends that needed to be set up in the museum for the week. After lunch, I helped set up the set for the first year campers to do their sports stories “on-air.” I helped put together the teleprompter and cameras for the set, but that was not what made this experience incredible. Bruce Beck called me in to where he was prepping the campers to do their 30-second stories. He asked me to help prep them and give them tips for when they go on air. I had to critique and help them with everything from delivery to pronunciation to posture in the chair to smiling. It was so cool that Bruce trusted me so much that he wanted me to sit in for him when he had to leave early to do a show for NBC, and as much as I want to say that it was all prior knowledge that let me be able to do this, it wasn’t. The combination of the Missouri Journalism School and Bruce, Ian, Quick, and Popkin was what made me able to give critiques and have some idea of what I was talking about.

I finally realized how much work went into this camp. It was an awe-inspiring experience to be able to work behind the scenes of this camp. The logistical and administrative skills I learned from the preparation of the camp and during the camp has yet to be matched by any other duties I have been assigned.

Check out some of the photos of Yogi and campers here! Can you spot me hanging out with Yogi?

Tired of Waiting? … Tough!

One thing I have learned at Positive Impact Partners is the importance of responding to people in a timely matter. No matter the question or request asked of you, respond! Even if it is just to confirm that you finished what was asked of you!

On big long term projects,  I have learned you have to take everything one step at a time. There is no skipping ahead or coming back to a step. In order for everything to come out perfectly, the best way to do everything is one step at a time. And it is better to confirm parts that you are unsure of than to just move on and assume you’re doing things correctly. And that’s what make a lot of the big projects, big LONG TERM projects. Whether you’re trying to contact a client, colleague or the UPS guy, you have to wait for a response. Some people are good and get back to you very quickly. But, others..not so much.

The one thing that must be remembered though is to be polite and courteous. But, don’t forget to be aggressive. To be aggressive, is not to be mean, demanding or nasty. Whether in broadcast journalism or some form of strategic communication, time is of the essence. People have questions and they need answers. If you help them out, they will most likely help you out when you need answers. And at some point, you will need answers from them.

I kind of assume this is how it is at any job, so it’s a skill I would have had to learned at some point, but better now than before I leave school. So now,  one thing I do differently than before is shoot off a simple e-mail saying that everything is done. It makes people calmer and happier. You should try it.

From Big East Player of the Year to NJ Hero

This past week ran a little bit different than most weeks. On Tuesday, Positive Impact Partners’ President Jim Lampariello, another marketing associate and I left the office in the morning for a few hours to head down to Jersey City. At P.S. 22, Jersey City allows Team Walker (a PIP client) to run their summer fun camp for the children. We went there because, on Wednesday, Jerry Walker was being honored as a New Jersey Hero by the first lady of New Jersey, Mary Pat Christie and Governor Chris Christie. We went down to plan out the event. We had to make sure everything was ready from notifying the press, meeting with the governor’s people, decide which room to hold the ceremony in (the one with the air conditioning), escape rooms in case of emergency, parking, drop off points for the governor, where the children will be and how everyone should look, and many other details. We left in the late afternoon, confident in our plan to execute before, during and after the event.

The next day the three of us went back down to Jersey City with a packed car. We had flowers for the kids to give the first lady, blue and white balloons (same colors as Seton Hall), a helium tank, ribbon, a cooler with water and ice, a lectern, new banners and signs made the night before, and the camera. We had to make sure that everything was ready for the 1:30 press conference. Being there early with the governor’s people, gave us time to prepare the room, get all the kids set up in their Team Walker shirts, and other details all hashed out. The press conference ended up being a success with camera crews and papers attending the ceremony. Throughout the ceremony I live tweeted the event in order to notify the twitter world of the great honor over social media.

Click here to access the timeline of tweets.

Click here to access some of the pictures tweeted and uploaded to Facebook:

Three of the media outlets that had coverage of the ceremony: (Click to access)

ABC 7

Jersey Journal

Seton Hall University

Organizing Your Life: Fantasy Baseball, TV News, and Tee Times

When I was in 1st grade my teacher, Mrs. Sherman (not even joking), called my parents into parent teacher conferences and sat them down, as if to tell them a huge secret. They sat down and asked how I was doing. She prefaced her remarks with, “Sherman is a very bright kid.” And then came the kicker. “But we all need to work with him to get him organized. His desk and work tends to be disorganized and messy.” My parents tried to hold back their laughter, and explained to Mrs. Sherman that this wasn’t really going to change all that much because it’s hereditary. No one in my family is organized.

I tell you that story because up until college I was messy and unorganized. I tried hard to not be a complete slob, but sometimes it didn’t work. I never misplaced my work, it just took an extra couple minutes to find the 5-page paper in the clutter. But when I got to college I was determined to change this. Not because I cared, but so much as the perception of being messy and unorganized, unfortunately equates to unreliability and dishevelment.  So, since the start of college, I have started to become more and more organized in most things I do. And trust me, it pays off with the work you do. The following are three examples of where being organized has helped me.

1. Fantasy Baseball - This is probably the only place I have ALWAYS been organized. It is the only way to do it. You can’t go into a draft and not know exactly who you want, if they are available in a snake-style draft or who you want at the right price in an auction-style draft. I memorized the magazines and online websites analysis of individual players and teams. Then, I ranked the top players at each position and at what price I valued them at. But it didn’t stop there. To this day, since I was in elementary school, I keep this up over the course of the season and off-season, following statistics and press conferences from front office people, players and managers.

2. Broadcast Journalism - I always knew that for news, a reporter must always be organized. Without being organized, a reporter can get lost. Not only physically, but mentally too. If you’re not organized, then you may not have story ideas for the pitch meeting. If you’re not organized then once you have a story, research can get lost, you lose where you’re supposed to go, and you don’t have phone numbers of sources to call. And all of this disorganization costs time. And the most important thing news, is time. Time management is the key! Whether it’s time before you leave the station, getting back to the station, or editing, it doesn’t matter because time is everything!

3. Strategic Communication - Whether you are doing public relations, marketing, advertising, or event management for a company, you need to be organized. You need to have all the answers or at least be able to get the answers quickly. You are a representation of a company and why would that company want you if you give off the perception that you and the company are unreliable, unorganized, disheveled and not professional? Currently, one of my big projects for Positive Impact Partners is to run a charity golf outing. The golf outing is at the very well respected Somerset Hills golf course and is for ex-NBA player and Seton Hall great Jerry Walker. Walker is raising money for his charity, Team Walker, which was started by his grandfather. So, to get ready for the outing, I need to register the attendees, confirm their attendance, put golfers in foursomes, collect donations, set up tee times and much more once I am at the outing. So I must be organized to carry through all of these tasks. If I misplace a golfer’s RSVP card or a check for a donation to the charity, guess what happens? (That is rhetorical, because I don’t even want to think about it.) Bottom line, the person’s registration I mess up would be angry, Jerry and his foundation will be angry, and then my bosses will be angry at me because the client is unhappy. And the worst would be that I would be embarrassed and angry with myself because it would be my own fault.)

But how do I organize myself? I know it is easier said than done, but there are certain programs and things that I do to make sure that I am organized.

• The classic pen and paper - This is only effective if you have a folder, notebook, legal pad or pad-folio type of holder to keep the papers together.
• Post-it notes/Stickies - Whether on the computer physically or inside the computer, to-do lists and reminders can be really helpful.
• Microsoft Office/Any Word Processing Program (Especially Excel/Spreadsheet) - Whether you use Google or Microsoft Office, you should be using these programs to your advantage. I personally use Excel all the time at work to organize research, a client’s data, money issues, just to name a few. But, I also use Excel for fantasy sports and other odds and ends that I need to be organized by columns.
• Folders - I don’t just mean physical folders to place handouts, business cards, and advertisements into, but computer folders. The documents folder on your computer nor your desktop, should have too many individual files on it. This can make everything cluttered and harder to find. So, I say reorganize everything, condense and remember to give it an original name to remember the file.
• MindNode - This is a new application for Mac. It is a different way of connecting things that you are doing and showing the connections of people by branches and colors. Check it out! I just organized my graduation requirements on the program. Below is an example:
• Calendars - Whether on your phone, computer, or kitchen counter, keep track of your events! I don’t care if you have the best memory, write it down! Times change, venues change, and you’re bound to forget something sometime.

The Most Recognizable Picture in Sports

This is a post I have been wanting to put on here for a while, but haven’t really gotten to it, but finally have! And even though, there really isn’t much to say on this video as a piece of journalism, I just thought it was really interesting and that anyone with a free moment should check this story out. It is a short video about where one of the most iconic shots of sporting events comes from.

The Goodyear Blimp.

Outside The Lines did a story for the anniversary of the Goodyear Blimp and its meaning to the sport’s world.

Since the Goodyear Blimp has been ‘blimping’ around in the air, sports fans have been given a chance to physically place the sporting event in their heads, in the city. There is no major sporting event that the Blimp is not on hand for and from a fan’s perspective, there is no picture on the field that can do what the blimp does. No on the shoulder camera, no sky-cam, no camera anywhere can paint the picturesque painting that the camera from the blimp overhead shows.

And from the perspective of a marketer and advertiser, there is no greater advertisement for a company. No one else has anything like it. It stands out from the clutter AND is recognizable to millions of people. There is almost an expectation from people that they will see the blimp at sporting events. And it isn’t just any blimp that they want to see; people want to see THE Goodyear Blimp. Don’t agree? I challenge anyone reading this blog to find me a better piece of advertising in this world.

Side note: Check out the Goodyear Blimp’s website! Everything is covered from the fleet to the crew to the mechanics of how the blimp works, but my favorite part of the site is the pictures. (See some of these below.)

My First Long Term Project: Part VI – Marketing the Goods and Success!

Now that all of the physical boxes were distributed, we started letting people know about the boxes. So the first thing I did was send out this press release below. I sent this out to every New Jersey newspaper near the three offices, different organizations, local TV stations, radio stations, and online blogs.

“Dr. Marano and his Eye Care Centers are thrilled to announce their new partnership with the long time successful local non-profit organization New Eyes for the Needy. The Eye Care Centers are now offering free eye exams to those who cannot afford it otherwise. And in addition, they will also be collecting new and used prescription eyeglasses as well as non-prescription sunglasses. Marano Eye Care Centers will have collection boxes in its offices in Livingston, Roseland and Newark to encourage its patients and friends to donate new and used prescription eyeglasses as well as non-prescription sunglasses. Marano Eye Care Centers will also be referral sites for vision exams for the organization. “New Eyes for the Needy is a great organization that has helped over seven million people in the world,” explained Dr. Matthew Marano, who founded the practice and has been named a Top Doctor in New Jersey for five straight years. “I am overjoyed to help people see clearer than ever before right here in New Jersey. To give the gift of sight to people is one of the most uplifting things we can do.”

New Eyes for the Needy is based in Millburn, NJ and was founded in 1932. Their mission is to improve the vision and hope of poor children and adults by providing them with eyeglasses helps people productively carry on daily activities such as a students succeeding in school, adults securing a job, and senior citizens reading medicine labels.

Marano Eye Care Centers specializes in family eye care and corrective vision surgery including Lasik and cataract treatment. For over 25 years. Dr. Marano and his associates have treated both young and old patients with great success by embracing innovative and cutting edge technology.

The free eye exams and donation boxes will be at all three locations in Livingston, Roseland, and Newark. “

 

In addition to the press release, the information of the free eye exams, donation boxes, and partnership with New Eyes for the Needy was now on various social media websites. Also, there are new pages on the Marano Eye Care Center website specifically linked to this project, New Eyes for the Needy, and Positive Impact Partners. Here are some of those links on social media websites:

Marano Eye Care Center Facebook

Positive Impact Partners Facebook

Twitter

In the past week I have visited the offices and they have already collected 10 pairs of eye glasses!

Overall, this campaign has started out well and when it is all said and done, I think it will be a huge success!