Sharon and Bill Sutton at a Pirates game at PNC Park.Courtesy of Bill Sutton
This is time of year for reflection, appreciation and kindness to one another. Given the state of domestic and international affairs, I thought I would offer aspects and events from the sports world and my life that I am grateful for, in hopes that those of us in the industry can appreciate and express their own forms of thanks.
I am grateful for:
■ Streaming services like ESPN+ and YouTube TV that give me the opportunity to enjoy Oklahoma State sports and Pittsburgh Steelers football even though I live thousands of miles from home. I also enjoy sports programs on Prime Video, Netflix and Peacock which offer insightful and inspiring programs like “The Saint of Second Chances”. If you haven’t seen it, I guarantee you’ll be grateful for what you have and enjoy the struggles of finding your mission in life and how to get there – but most of all the pure joy of having fun while ‘a baseball game.
■ A Friday night reunion in Stillwater, Okla. I know most schools have a reunion weekend, but not to this extent. Fraternities and sororities work for weeks to create elaborate lawn decorations and floats that draw a crowd of 100,000, far exceeding the population of the city and campus. A Saturday morning parade followed by a football game and fantastic tailgating, unless you opt for local culinary delights like Hideaway Pizza and Eskimo Joe’s Bacon/Cheese Fries (I’m especially grateful for those).
■ Opening day of the baseball season. Sure, it might be a little cold and the fans might be dressed for football season, but the first game after winter, the smell of freshly mown grass and the exuberance of the people is coming together to celebrate traditions and America’s pastime – and each team is undefeated!
■ The great broadcasters and storytellers who describe the games and provide stories and depth to complete the experience. I grew up in Pittsburgh with the legendary Bob Prince calling Pirates games, but I also knew Harry Caray, Marv Albert, Vin Scully and one of my all-time favorites, Lindsey Nelson, who allowed me to add the Cotton Bowl to my bucket list. .
■ Stroll through Augusta Gardens. I’ve only been there once, but it’s an easy memory to recall. The colors, the landscape, the respect, the difficult golf holes and the concentration of the golfers. But my favorite part? Taking off my shoes and socks and walking on the lush grass. If you think you know what lush grass is, you really don’t until you go to Augusta.
■ Authors providing fictional and non-fictional accounts of the world of sports. Although Dan Jenkins is my all-time favorite, I have loved the writings of Pat Jordan, WP Kinsella, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Bill Veeck, Jim Bouton, and Willie Morris, to name a few. If you haven’t read Morris’ “The Courting of Marcus Dupree,” you’ve missed a great story about an incredible football talent and a history lesson about the South.
■ Attend an NCAA championship. I played football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, wrestling and softball. Perhaps because I played competitive softball until the age of 69, I am especially grateful for the competition, sportsmanship and athleticism I saw during the Women’s College World Series at Oklahoma City, which I call the University of Oklahoma Invitational. what a dynasty!
■ Having been a YMCA director and coach. Sure, I’ve given up a lot of Saturday mornings after working all week, but there’s something special about seeing it all unfold for a young boy or girl. Watching them learn to play, be part of a team, compete but most of all enjoy. In Stillwater, I had the opportunity to coach basketball to a young man named Chris Holt who went on to have a solid and respectable sports career in high school. I felt real joy coaching Chris as he worked hard to improve and was able to enjoy his own progress as he developed.
■ My wife, Sharon, enjoys attending and watching sporting events. This has been a huge blessing, as we probably watch over 100 Pittsburgh Pirates games in person or through MLB Extra Innings each year. We also watch Steelers and Oklahoma State games together and this year we plan to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder and a few of my other favorite NBA teams.
■ The opportunity to work for David J. Stern. A life-changing experience that gave me the opportunity to develop and demonstrate my skills as a professional sports executive and sports marketer and also made me a much better teacher when I returned to my university life. It also gave me the best mentoring experience I have ever had.
Finally, I am grateful to all the extraordinary men and women I have taught over 34 years, beginning at Robert Morris University, Ohio State University, the DeVos program at of Central Florida, the Vinik Program at the University of South Florida and now retired as a Professor of Practice at the University of South Carolina. I have had the privilege of teaching and mentoring future SBJ Forty Under 40 honorees, television personalities, national championship coaches, general managers, entrepreneurs, collegiate athletic directors, agency executives and professional sports personnel. Absolutely one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’m in a fantasy football league with students I had in class in the early 1980s, I have a kid named after me (thanks Hunter Lochmann and Sutton), and I can go to almost every major city in the United States and dinner with one or more of my former students from Sutton. I have fond memories of class trips to Los Angeles and London, the Fox Sports Speaker Series, and great experiential learning projects with real-world clients.
Finally, thank you dear readers and happy Thanksgiving.
Bill Sutton ([email protected]) is Professor of Practice at the University of South Carolina, Director Emeritus of the Vinik Graduate Sport Business Program at USF, and Principal of Bill Sutton & Associates. Follow him on Twitter @Sutton_ImpactU.
