I was at Mike Schmidt's wine-tasting

IT WAS IN MARCH THAT I first reported for the Philadelphia Business Journal that Mike Schmidt, one of the most celebrated third basemen in baseball history and easily one of the most iconic Philadelphia sports heroes, was launching a charity wine: a Zinfandel.

Now, I may have thought it a little funny, if only because two worlds seemed to collide, and when I went to the product’s first wine tasting for media yesterday, it may have seemed a little sillier still when I took a freight elevator to the basement and wandered passed the Citizens Bank Park groundskeepers in pursuit of the tasting. But, to be fair, as we all know, Schmidt is putting his name on the line to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis research.

Continue reading I was at Mike Schmidt's wine-tasting

Covering Joe Frazier for The Temple News

© Pete Marovich /drr.net

Yesterday I wrote for The Temple News another in a series of stories on a controversy surrounding the possibility of Joe Frazier’s Gym closing. There will be more to come, for sure.

Joe Frazier has developed a reputation for business failings that rival his status as a boxing legend. That much is confirmed by those closest to him.

But debate over the recent closure of Joe Frazier’s Gym, the North Philadelphia landmark at North Broad Street and Glenwood Avenue, has pitted a British boxer and her fiancé-manager against the 20th century sports icon’s business manager.

Read more.

Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies show holiday spirit

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Never posted this, thought it as good as time as any, at this point, to celebrate the marketability of professional athletes giving back. -cgw

Interview and article prepared for the Philadelphia Business Journal, as filed, without edits, to run in the Jan. 11, 2008 edition.

Two Eagles lent their significant star power to brighten the holidays for a group of Philadelphia kids, last month.

Through a partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, running back Brian Westbrook and free safety Brian Dawkins met individually with 70 Philadelphia children on Dec. 18, giving each a present at GPAUC’s Center City office.

“This was all the generosity of Brian Westbrook and Brian Dawkins,” said Bonnie Grant, spokesperson for the GPUAC, a business-community partnership that unites a handful of regional non-profits. “They wanted to make it a very special holiday for children with need.”

It was a particularly special day for Westbrook, who got word of his most recent selection to the Pro Bowl less than an hour before his appearance. GPUAC president Sharmain Matlock-Turner made an announcement during the event. The children cheered, even if some weren’t old enough to know much about Westbrook’s running game.

“The kids were thrilled,” Grant said. “It was as if there were in the presence of magic.”

Not to be outdone, the Phillies had their holiday spirit in full force.

A handful of front office personnel unloaded more than 7,000 pounds of food the very same day, all donated to feed the hungry of Philadelphia’s growing Latino community.

Among those of the Phillies top brass who were on hand to bring the canned foods, collected at a Sept. 7 game against the Florida Marlins, were Ruben Amaro, Jr., Phillies assistant general manager, and broadcaster Scott Franzke. The donations, which also included a check for $25,000, were given to the region’s largest food bank, Philabundance, which has partnered each holiday season with the Phillies since 2005 when then-Phillies first baseman Jim Thome took interest.

The day before, Phillies President Dave Montgomery, General Manager Pat Gillick and several former players served dinner at the Our Brother’s Place Homeless Facility in North Philadelphia. It was the 8th year such an event has taken place and part of a week of philanthropy.

“As an organization, we recognize how important it is to give back,” said Gene Dias, the Phillies director of community relations. “Particularly at this time of year and particularly to those in the most desperate need.”

Barack Obama: the baller

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Seen CBS News taking on Barack Obama the former basketball player? (hat tip to Alex Irwin for spotting this for me)

Check out video of Obama’s basketball days below, or check out his NCAA tournament bracket here. CBS News has further analysis of his picks and their political connotations, here.

This is all about humanizing the guy, but still, it’s interesting to see it. It shows how Obama, 46, is young enough that film was readily available to film high school basketball.

Oh, and I am thoroughly disgusted that he picked against my own Temple University in his bracket, even if he was correct.

Mike Schmidt launches wine for charity… seriously

What fun to cover. This a brief for the Philadelphia Business Journal today.theslugger.jpg

Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame former Phillies third baseman, has taken to wine-making for charity. Along with two other members of the 500 Home Run Club, former Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks and standout switch hitter Eddie Murray, Schmidt has teamed with Eos Estate Winery in California to produce three wines, each using one of the major leaguers’ names and career home run totals. All of the proceeds will go to a philanthropic cause of the athlete’s choosing. Schmidt has decided his profits will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, based in Maryland. There is the Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, the Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay, and the Eddie Murray 504 Cabernet. They can be preordered now, though they won’t be available in stores until May. A bottle is expected to cost $17.”

We’ll have a carafe of the Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, maybe something in a 2009.

But, I couldn’t possibly top the press release I received.I happily shared with just about everyone one quotation I read while filing the story. It came from Liz Banks, wife of Ernie Banks and president of the 500 Home Run Club.

With 548 home runs, Mike Schmidt was such a quality ballplayer that for him to launch a quality wine for charity seemed a natural fit.”

Natural fit, indeed.

Temple Owls are going dancing!

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(Photo of Dionte Christmas and Mark Tyndale in tonight’s game in Atlantic City, N.J., taken by Kevin Cook of The Temple News)

Four years ago I matriculated into a large, urban American research university with one of the more successful men’s basketball programs in the country. Trouble is, it was on the way out.

Legendary Coach John Chaney retired and the Owls hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2001 – including all of my years of cheering on the time. Of course, that is before tonight, when Temple beat arch rival St. Joseph’s, 69-64, in the championship game of the Atlantic-10 conference tournament, giving the Owls an automatic bid to the most watched college athletic playoffs.

The Owls were trailing at intermission, and it was looking bleak, but they came out and smothered the Hawks, with whom Temple split their two regular season matchups.

Vintage Philadelphia baseball video

I stumbled upon this and thought it pretty cool.

This silent film claims to be, and I have no reason to suggest otherwise, a home movie of the 1929 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Athletics, a series the Philadelphia team won four games to one.

The video owner described it as such:

Home movie footage of 1930 Flag Day followed by the 1929 World Series played between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs. Both games were played at Wrigley field. The World Series was played on either October 8 or October 9, 1929. It includes opening ceremonies, crowd shots, and a few pitches.

My final basketball game

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Tonight, the Temple men’s basketball team beat Big 5, A-10 and North Philadelphia rival La Salle 85-66 to claim sole ownership of second place for their conference tournament, set to start this week.

I didn’t go. I was holed up in my apartment doing work, but it sure made me think. I missed the last regular season college basketball game of my career as a student.

I did make it to last week’s senior week, when the Owls beat Duquesne 90-85, the last game at the Liacouras Center I would ever seen as a Temple student.

It was the first tangible effect of my graduation. Afterwards, a few of us, who had been the front row cheering section for the Owls since our freshman year in 2004, took a shot, depicted above, in front of the court. Our last time together, likely.

Continue reading My final basketball game

Everette Scott: where sports and entertainment meet legally

Interview and article prepared for the Philadelphia Business Journal, as filed last week, without edits, to run in yesterday’s edition.

Evescott-jr-everette.jpgrette L. Scott Jr. wants to protect your rights.

You and everyone else with a chance of being a star someday.

“In this world of multimedia and the Internet, things have changed night and day in the last five years,” said Scott, who joined the Center City law firm Spector Gadon & Rosen last month to lead its sports and entertainment group.

The man left a spot as president and chairman of the Cherry Hill-based Sports and Entertainment Management Group to fill a void of legal knowledge he saw in his work.

“If you’re an athlete today, you need to market yourself in a new way,” he said. “And understand your legal rights.”

With the sizable reputation of Spector Gadon behind him, Scott hopes to be at the forefront of marrying Web based marketing and promotion with his background in sports and entertainment law.

“We’re interested in being, not only a local leader, but also the industry leader,” Scott said.

By doing things like what he’s done with client Nate Jones, an undersized cornerback most recently with the Dallas Cowboys. Jones wanted to secure a life after the NFL, so Scott is working to broker a deal in which the former Rutgers University star has an advisory role in an online show about high school athletes pursuing their dreams after graduation.

“Sports and entertainment are one in the same,” he said.

Scott sees the smaller Philadelphia market as an opportunity.

“For the Philadelphia community to get involved in this is great,” he said. “Folks like to consider New York or Atlanta or even Hollywood the conduits for this kind of work, but we have the best minds in the region for this.”

The former standout linebacker at Philadelphia’s Central High School knows the score, but he’s playing with his law degree now.

“Today, any person, if they have aspirations, if you think you got what it takes, there is nothing that is preventing you from getting to the marketplace,” he said. “But you sure better have protection of your legal rights.”

See other reporting by Christopher Wink here.

Attendance spotty at event to improve attendance

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How about having an event to increase attendance and… no one shows up? Ouch.

Well, that’s what happened for a consortium between the business school and the athletic marketing at Temple University. For The Temple News, I covered the finals of a competition that asked Temple students to make suggestions of how to increase fan turnout for athletics event. Outside of me, the pep band, the judges and the contestants, there were scarcely more than ten people there at the widely publicized event. Read the full story here or check its start below.

Earlier tonight, a pep band member submitted his name three times to a raffle in the Fox Gittis Room of the Liacouras Center. He won each time.

Attendance was indeed thin at an event intended to help improve just that, attendance at Temple athletics.

“We are very disappointed,” said Jaine Lucas, who coordinated the event, the finals of the Temple’s sports enthusiasm competition. Lucas is director of the university’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute.

At times, less than 30 people, including just a scattering of fans, watched five Temple students present the six top ideas to help further attract fans to the games, matches and meets of NCAA sports at this university.”

Read the full story here or check its start below.

Photo courtesy of Ron Davis of The Temple News.