Bear Down Chicago

[jmaxey01-blog]

108 things every Cubs fan should know

One for each year since Cubs won the World Series

A fun article that any Cubs fan would find interesting and entertaining! Lots of information within this article by the Chicago Tribune.

[jmaxey01-blog]

Wrigley Field and the famous Wrigley Field sign that is known around the world. Our class was lucky enough to walk through the dugout and take pictures pretty much on the field. Very interesting and exciting experience. Will absolutely have to go see a game now!

[jmaxey01-blog]

Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs

On Friday, June 22, 2018, our class was able to tour Wrigley Field. It was actually the first time I personally had ever been to Wrigley Field. Even though I had grown up in the city and lived in the city suburbs for the past 10 years, I never really knew the influence Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs had on their surrounding neighbors. Assistant Director of Service Excellence for the Chicago Cubs, Brad Nagel, informed a few of us that they try to be “good neighbors.” This entails them shoveling the sidewalks, picking up garbage, etc. 

Along with learning what Wrigley does now, we learned a lot of interesting facts about Wrigley from several years ago. For example, Babe Ruth’s famous hitter happened at Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series where he pointed to where the ball was going to go, and he was completely right. We also learned that the Chicago Bears played at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970. The Bears were called the Staleys for the first season but then renamed themselves to coordinate with the Cubs. The Chicago Cubs are actually the second oldest baseball team in the MLB, second only to the Boston Red Sox. 

Top Five’s

1.     Wrigley Field

     a.     Originally opened in 1914, Chicago’s Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs. It is the second oldest ballpark in America, second only to Boston’s Fenway Park

2.     Scoreboard

     a.     The old-school scoreboard is also still manually operated. Despite its prominent placement, it has never been struck with a batted ball. Golfer Sam Snead teed off from home plate and hit it once, though.

3.     Babe Ruth

     a.     Babe Ruth’s famous called shot happened at Wrigley Field. During the 1932 World Series, The Babe pointed to centerfield to indicate exactly where he was going to send the ball next, and he did it.

4.     Bradley Nagel

      a.     Nagel is the Assistant Director, Service Excellence for the Chicago Cubs. He supports and oversees the Fan Experience Department while supervising the Wrigley Field Ambassador Program.

5.     Good Neighbors

      a.     Wrigley Field tries to be a good neighbor. They understand that their stadium is within a community, so they try to be respectful and thoughtful to keep everyone happy so that they can continue to be a part of their community.

[jmaxey01-blog]

Great recap of the 2018 March Madness leading up to Final Four!

[jmaxey01-blog]

Loyola University Chicago

June 21, 2018 our sports class went to Loyola University Chicago. We were lucky enough to meet with Bill Berhns who is the Assistant Athletic Director for Loyola. Although Loyola isn’t really known for their athletics program, the majority of the class knew of Loyola’s basketball team for making the March Madness Final Four this last season. 

Unfortunately, Loyola’s athletic department is not well known outside of the Final Four. The school is mainly focused on academics, much like University of Illinois at Chicago. Berhns is trying to change this in a way that makes athletics an important part of the school.

Top Five’s

1.     Sponsorship

     a.     There has been a change in sponsorship (someone filling in, and it is not the most ideal situation. People who are interested in the program have grown exponentially.

2.     Admission

     a.     Admission is not cheap to go to Loyola. They are trying to keep admissions numbers high. The incoming freshmen class was the highest number this year. They Don’t have enough on campus housing and are trying to build enough space. They are now needing to hire more faculty to handle all the incoming numbers.

3.     Athletic Events

     a.     Loyola is trying to get students to attend games. It is hard since it is more of an academic school than a sports school. The school does not have a lot of school pride for sports. But they did end up having 1,000 students try to come to a game, which is most they ever had.

4.     Increasing Awareness

     a.     Having a Chicago market is key. They increased their Twitter following. Loyola is wanting more engagement in the athletics department. Loyola is the largest sports program in Chicago (college-wise).

5.     Successfulness

     a.     Loyola is incredibly lucky to have a good team that works well together. Players work for the better of the team, not for individual success. The school has to be realistic with fans. They are hopeful for not a let down of the season, and to keep the momentum going. They are seeing seeing students grow as athletes and as people.

[jmaxey01-blog]

Loyola University’s Athletic Department! We were lucky enough to watch some on the Loyola Ramblers basketball players practice. Extremely nice group of people that welcomed us into their arena that seats 5,000 people. So amazing that this team made it to the Final Four this last season. 

[jmaxey01-blog]

Growing up on a dairy farm, one might imagine the daily thoughts about one’s future would start at about the same time as the 5:30 am buzz of the alarm, as I pulled myself up, rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Hard work. Every day.

Very interesting article written by Garrett Klassy who is actually the new Athletic Director at University of Illinois of Chicago. Klassy is able to explain what he is trying to do for UIC in his own words through this article. He is very humbled to be allowed into this department where he plans on making many changes to help create a better program for not only the school, but for it’s students.

[jmaxey01-blog]

University of Illinois of Chicago

Our class was able to visit the University of Illinois of Chicago baseball field on June 20, 2018. We had our meeting with Kyle and Ryan in the school’s suite box. We learned many things about their athletic department, but one thing that really stuck out to me was that the school doesn’t really have a lot of branding for the school/athletic department. As you can see in my previous post about the UIC Baseball Field, you don’t really see any logos or advertising for the Flames, which is the UIC mascot. The only advertising I actually saw were on the seats, but unfortunately people sit on those which will cover the school’s logo.

The athletic department has a new program director, which seems to be benefiting their program because he is open to new ideas and willing to make a changes that will benefit the sports department in the future. Unfortunately, the department has run out of money, so budgeting for new things has become extremely difficult for them.They have gone to 4FRONT, which is a company that helps programs bring in awareness in other ways.

Top Five’s

1.     4FRONT

    a.     4FRONT is an organization they UIC works with to find other ways to advertise their program. 20%of the things you couldn’t do or have the time to do, 4FRONT does it.

2.     Growing Pains

    a.     Expanding a department can come with a lot of growing pains. People get comfortable with what they already know and want to keep things looking a certain way for a long time. This is why 4FRONT was brought in for a fresh face, a new way that things are done in the program. Everyone has to be open to what others think and do.

3.     Goal

    a.     UIC Athletics’ goal is to prepare the athletes for post graduation. They are also looking for engagement to better their students. Creating a student with good academics and good athletes is key.

4.     Saying Yes

    a.     Having a boss that’s willing to listen to ideas is key. It becomes more of a two-way street working together to come to a solution.  UIC is trying to say yes as much as possible when people have new ideas.

5.     Challenges

    a.     Awareness is a struggle

                  i.     Having people think sports doesn’t mean anything at this level.

b.     There is not a lot of school pride

                  i.     Lack of the “party scene”

                  ii.     Not the typical four-year university experience

c.     Not many school logos around campus

                   i.     They ran out of money

[jmaxey01-blog]

Here is a list of all the events that are to happen within Soldier Field during 2018

[jmaxey01-blog]

Soldier Field - Chicago Bears

On Tuesday, June 19, 2018, my Sports class, through Roosevelt University, took our first “field trip” to Soldier Field. We were fortunate enough to meet with Dave McClamroch, Tanesha Wade and a few of their colleagues. Dave McClamroch has been the Director of Corporate Partnerships at Chicago Bears for the past tow years. His team of experts included Tanesha Wade, Director of Events and Entertainment at Chicago Bears, Christine Christopoulos, Corporate Partnerships Coordinator at Chicago Bears, Casey Gunthorpe, Corporate Partnerships Design Coordinator at Chicago Bears, and Justin Gentile, Suite Sales Manager at Chicago Bears. All were very welcoming and informative on their specific duties within their program. Our group of students were lucky enough to go inside of the Chicago Bears locker room where we had a group discussion on each of the speakers jobs. We were also allowed to go outside into the football stadium and into the video room where all controls are for filming games and shows within Soldier Field.

Top Five’s 1.     Foot in the Door

     a.     There are a few ways to get your foot in the door within the sports industry. Minor league sports are a good place to start in the field, though it is not the best way to do so. Internships are key.  Another way is to get your Masters Degree in a specific sports field that will help you receive a job.

2.     Christine

     a.     Christine runs all the coordinating and plans the trips for the Bears team. She is the only one that does that specific job, others may have a team, but she runs it on her own. 

3.     Justin

     a.     Justin sells the premium suites for each Chicago Bears game. His goal is to make sure every single suite is filled for every single game. He talks with possible buyers during game days. Spends a lot of time on LinkedIn to find potential candidates for buyers. 

4.     Tanesha

    a.     Tanesha oversees events and activities on game days for the fans.

5.     Social Media

     a.     Use social media, aka Instagram, to help plan and set up specific events. Christine uses certain Instagram posts for templates on place cards, or types of gifts to use, how to plan events, how to personalize the out reach to fans. 

[jmaxey01-blog]

Chicago Bears locker room and football field!

[jmaxey01-blog]

University of Illinois in Chicago Flames baseball field overlooking the Chicago Skyline. How beautiful is that??