About Tim And His Quest
Cards on the table – I am not quite right.
How else could you explain my desire to spend the next year of my life attending and writing about 100 uniquely different sporting events involving 50 separate sports? But that’s what I am going to do, and you’re going to help me keep score. And when it’s done we will both know more about sports in America than it was thought to be humanly possible.
“But why?” you ask. Well here’s my story and I’m sticking to it…
As Bill Cosby once said, I started out as a child. And in my case, a child who was inexorably drawn to sports – the organized kind, and especially the disorganized kind that was favored by my circle of friends. And consequently I grew up chasing a ball. It didn’t matter what size or shape the ball was, I chased them all. I was fortunate enough to have come of age in a time when kids themselves scheduled their own games and “officiated” them via the kid’s code of sports ethics – an arcane collection of arguments, declarations, and insults that ultimately and inevitably led to the Do Over. Or somebody taking their ball and going home.
On those occasions when a quorum wasn’t available for even the most streamlined of games, I played them solo. Not only did I play them, I announced them. Each game was what ESPN would now call an “Instant Classic”, always coming down to a single shot, throw, swing, etc., with yours truly providing the heroics on an eerily consistent basis. And a funny thing happened on the way to winning all of those backyard and driveway epics. I got pretty skilled, especially at basketball. Hey, after you’ve won countless imaginary world championships single-handedly (literally), the real thing was cake.
And so it came to be that I went to college on a basketball scholarship. Annoyingly enough, they don’t let you just major in Basketball – well, not in 1977 anyway, and not in any conference that, like mine, did not start with the word “Big”. So I chose to pursue a degree in Psychology. Don’t ask me why. And when my undergraduate days ended, I decided to obtain an MBA, because, well…because.
The ironic thing was that neither Psychology nor Business Administration would have even been in the race had Sports Management been an academic option. Ubiquitous now, at the time that I entered college there was no such degree program. And so, a career match made in heaven went by the boards…for the time being, anyway. In my mid-30’s, having acquired over a decade of experience in Corporate America, I became vaguely aware of the fact that people were getting paid to work in sports!
Having thus discovered the existence of what was rightfully MY chosen field of work, I spent the next several years alternating between a state of agitation over having been born a decade too early, and thoughtful rumination on how I could still pull off a second half rally and transition to my natural calling.
At the age of 40, the confluence of an unusual set of circumstances, not the least of which is the most understanding wife in the cosmos, enabled me to take the plunge. I enrolled in an accredited four semester program that rewarded me upon completion with an Associate’s Degree in Professional Golf Management. I was on my way – a little late out of the gate, but with a full head of steam and ready to use my transferrable skills to claw my way to the top of the sports business.
Ten years later, having come to know quite well the good, the bad and the ugly about pursuing a second career within the sports industry, I am often asked for my perspective when friends, friends of friends, and assorted stray individuals learn of my story and are considering following my path. One of the most common questions that I get (other than “do you know Tiger Woods?”) is “Do you still love sports after working in the industry for ten years?”
Hmmmm…great question.
My answer usually depended upon the day, the people, the current budget status, and how much time had transpired since my last rain-delayed event. There is one constant however. The core of my business is, and will always be, the games themselves. And thus began germinating the idea of a “sports walkabout” – an effort to reconnect with my ball-chasing, sports-loving roots.
So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to a game. And then another. And another. Big games, little games. Professional games, amateur games. Men’s games, women’s games. High School. College. Games that I know intimately. Games that I don’t have the faintest idea as to their rules. And I want you to come along, metaphorically anyway.
So let’s make a deal. I agree to share with you everything that I find, from a dual perspective as Sports Fan and denizen of this crazy industry. And I promise to keep it light-hearted. In return, you agree to laugh, learn and share the link with others. This blog will be our love letter to sports in America, warts and all. Because it’s always game time somewhere.