World Series

So, tonight is Game 1 of the World Series.  Two excellent teams facing each other.  Who am I rooting for?  The Phillies (which is not easy for a DC sports fan to say since the Eagles, Phils, 76ers and Flyers are enemies of our local teams).  So, if I’m not a Philly fan, why am I rooting for them?  Here’s why …

First, I think the Yankees have a team full of quality players, such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, etc — who play the game the right way and seem to be good citizens.  And, their manager, Joe Girardi is cut from the same cloth.  It’s nothing against the players.  And, the team has not broken any rules in assembling the team.

But, I strongly dislike the fact that a team can go out and spend that kind of money to try to win a world championship.  The MLB system is broken … it’s simply not fair that a team in the largest market and with the largest local TV contract … can go out and spend that type of money.   They spent over $440 million in acquiring free agents this year.  That’s over $440 million!!!  They signed the two best free agent pitchers available and the best hitter available.

Fortunately, the other leagues — NFL, NBA and NHL — have a salary cap in place — so this injustice doesn’t happen in the other leagues.  Could you imagine if the Lakers in the summer of 2010 signed LeBron James and Dwayne Wade to free agent deals so they could play alongside Kobe and Lamar.  Well, if the NBA had no cap system in place, that’s what could happen.

I do enjoy the fact that the Yanks have spent this kind of absurd money in the past decade yet they haven’t won a World Series since 2000.   It shows that money can’t necessarily buy world championships.  And, I’ve enjoyed seeing the mid-market teams, with much, much smaller payrolls win the championships this decade.

So, what’s my prediction?  I’m going to say the Phillies will win in 7 games (originally, I thought they’d win in 6 games but I’m going to stretch it to 7 games).  I think they have an outstanding manager in Charlie Manuel — who’ll steal a game or two with his old-school experience.  And, they’re offensive line-up is terrific up and down the order … J-Roll to Chase Utley to Ibanez to Ryan Howard to Victorino to Werth … an outstanding mix of power, hitting and speed.  And, they have a strong starting rotation.  Of course, the key will be the bullpen.  Plus, the guys have experience from winning it all last year … and the team is full of players who play the game the right way.   My prediction for MVP?  Jayson Werth.

I hope everyone enjoys the Fall Classic.

Japanese-American

I just got home from attending a wonderful event at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.   It was hosted by Ambassador and Mrs. Ichiro Fujisaki, the U.S. – Japan Council and the Japanese American Network.

First and foremost, the Ambassador’s residence is breathtaking.  One of the unique and special things about living in the DC area is the many beautiful embassies that are spread throughout the city.  Among the best and most beautiful are the embasssies from Japan, Italy, France, Sweden and Russia.  The Japanese one has many authentic rooms, including a Japanese tea room and gardens — very similar to what I remember my Grandmother’s house was like in Tokyo.

Secondly, there were a couple of terrific speeches, including from two special guests … Norman Mineta, the former US Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Commerce, and Senator Daniel Inouye from Hawaii.  Both men delivered heart-warming remarks, especially about the importance of growing up as Japanese-Americans in the US.  I’m sure many of the 300 Japanese Americans in attendance could relate to the remarks … I certainly did.

One fact that surprised me … there are 14 million Asian-Americans living in the US, but only 800,000 are of Japanese descent.  Heck, there are nearly double that number living in Brazil (there are over 1.5 million people of Japanese heritage living there).

I grew up in Japan — I spent 13 of my first 16 years three — I attended American schools on US military bases but I spent a great deal of time with my Japanese relatives.  For that, I’m very grateful.  I try to make it to Japan at least once a year – I love visiting Tokyo, one of my favorite cities in the world, and I very much enjoy seeing my aunties, uncles and cousins.

As I continue to focus on building my new sports business, I’m going to continue to focus part of it doing business in Asia, primarily in Japan and China.  It feels good and it feels right.

While at times it seemed a bit difficult growing up half-American in Japan as well growing up half-Japanese in the US, I’m now glad and grateful that I’m  parts of two wonderful cultures.  And, as I tell my friends, being of mixed racial heritage is “in” now.  After all, look at two of the most famous people in the world — President Obama and Tiger Woods.   It’s all good. 

DC Sports Scene

Wow, it’s tough being a Washington, DC sports fan these days.  If you are a fan of the local DC fans, look at what you’re looking at right now —

- The Redskins — the team is in complete disarray.  It’s hard to watch this once-proud franchise go through these struggles.  I attended yesterday’s game with two of my mentees.   There must have been 10,000 – 20,000 no-shows in the 90,000 seat stadium … many open seats in the upper deck and the club section.   They are currently 2 – 4 after playing what’s probably the easiest schedule thus far in the NFL.  Now, their starting QB has been benched and their head coach has been stripped of play-calling responsibilities.  And, now, they have to face a good Eagles team next Monday night — and, the Eagles are going to come in mad after their horrible loss to the woeful Raiders yesterday in Oakland.  I can already see the scenario — many ‘Skins ticket holders are frustrated and will put their tickets on secondary ticket sites such as StubHub — which will probably result in a lot of Eagles snapping up the tickets and making the short drive to DC next Monday night.  So, it could be just like last year’s Steelers @ Skins game which was full of fans waving the Steelers’ Terrible Towels.  So, next Monday night, don’t be surprised if FedEx is full of loud, cheering Eagles fans.  I shudder even thinking about it.

- The Nationals — yes, they had over 100 losses this year and this worst record in baseball.  But, as I’ve written before, at least they have a sound organization plan … which is to rebuild the farm system and focus on developing an outstanding pitching rotation.  This a model that the Atlanta Braves used so well when they won 14 straight NL East titles.  I’m not saying the Nats will start winning the division anytime soon but I do like the plan that is in place.  It will take time, but I believe the Nats are developing a very good core of young pitchers … and, they’ll be a .500 by 2011 and then will be a consistent winner.

- Wizards — ugh, a 19-win season last year.  But, as most fans know, they were decimated by injuries to key starters.  I have a good feeling about this year.  I’m predicting 44 – 46 victories and a return to the play-offs (as long as the injuries don’t recur).  I like the trio of Arenas, Butler and Jamison … and I think Arenas will continue to be more a balanced player – as he showed at the end of last season and in exhibition play thus far.  I like the trade bringing Foye and Miller to the Wiz.  And, I think the youngsters will finally start to mature and contribute meaningful minutes … I look for Blatche, Young and McGee to bring lots of energy of the bench.

- Capitals — whew, finally a winner to talk about in DC.  Of the four major sports, the only winning team we have is our NHL franchise.  Fortunately, they are winners and the Caps ticket is now the hottest sports ticket in town.  The Verizon Center is sold out for the year.  The games are fun, exciting, loud and full of passion.  The Caps fans are becoming the best in the NHL.  The greatest player in the world, Alex Ovechkin, is off to a great start – and he is surrounded by terrific talent, including Green, Semin, Backstrom, etc.   The Caps are being build the right way … with a focus on building a foundation of young talent that will grow together as a team over the years … infused with several quality veteran players.  This is going to be an exciting year for the Caps — we look forward to a long, play-off run in the Spring 2010.

- DC United, Mystics, Freedom — this is no knock on the other sports … these teams are winners, too – and they’re play-off teams.  But, I was writing primarily about the Big Four pro sports.  Also, I’m looking forward to good, winning basketball seasons from the Georgetown Hoyas, Maryland Terps and AU Eagles.  At least that will give us the DC sports fans some bit relief after a tough 2009.

Football Weekend

I had a good sports weekend.   I went to the Notre Dame – Washington game on Saturday afternoon and the Redskins – Bucs game at FedEx Field on Sunday afternoon.

I’m not much of a Notre Dame fan but two of my closest friends, Kurt and Thom, are lifelong ND fans.  A good friend of mine, Paul, lives in Notre Dame and he was a phenomenal host to the three of us this weekend.   We had a fantastic Italian dinner in South Bend on Friday night (Digger Phelps was there).  Then, on Saturday afternoon, we tailgated for a couple of hours (we enjoyed a few bloody mary’s since this past weekend marked the 75th anniversary of the bloody mary).  Then, we headed into the stadium.   We had a great time since we were able to watch it from many different places … press box, field, sky box, etc.  There really is something special about college football — especially in a historic place such as South Bend, Indiana.  It turned out to be a thrilling game won by ND in overtime, 37 – 30.

On Sunday, I went to the Skins game with one of my mentees, Sally.  This was her first NFL game.   Also, I recently signed her up to be part of the Junior Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.  The group performed at half-time in front of 90,000 fans!  It must have been a remarkable experience for the young kids to perform on the same field as not only the Skins and Bucs but also where U2 played the previous Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, the product on the field was a bit lacking.   It was an ugly first half — with many dissatisfied Skins fans as the Bucs took a 10 – 0 lead into the locker room at half-time.  Fortunately, the Skins rallied and eked out a 16 – 13 victory.  For me, the greater thrill was seeing the joy and happiness of the faces of the youth as they had the thrill of a lifetime by performing in front of the big crowd.

I love the fall … the changing of the weather, college football on Saturdays and NFL on Sundays!

GU’s Sports Industry Management Program

I had two events to attend for Georgetown University’s “Sports Industry Management” program the past two evenings.

On Tuesday night, I went to NYC to attend the GEMA (Georgetown Entertainment and Marketing Assn) event at the Cornell Club.  This was a terrific event, featuring world-class guest panelists from the Marketing and Advertising industries.   They were Keith Reinhard – Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide; Peter Carter – Director, Brand Building, P & G; Frank Cooper — CMO, Pepsi-Cola North America; and Lisa McCarthy — EVP, Client Development, Univision.  I ran into a couple of my former students (from the undergraduate course I teach) … as always, it’s great to run into the students — and good to hear about their career advancement.

Last night, I attended GU’s School of Continuing Studies’ presentation to prospective students.  Dean Manuel spoke to the entire group, then it broke off into the specific program tracks.  Our Assistant Dean, Matt Winkler, delivered a great overview of the SIM program.  I then spoke from the perspective of a member of the faculty.  Then, one of our recent graduates, Alex Greer, gave the viewpoint from the perspective of a student in the program.  We then had a good lively Q & A session.

If anyone is interested in learning more about our Sports Industry Management program, please email me.  Go Hoyas.