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LEADERSHIP
A Business Champion
Richard M. Smith 10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM
If they awarded gold medals in the game of business, Peter Ueberroth would have several. In his 20s, he founded a travel company that he grew to become America's second largest. Next he served as organizer of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the first privately financed Games and a huge financial success. From 1984 to 1989 Ueberroth was commissioner of Major League Baseball, a job in which he restored profitability to a sport in which most teams had been losing money. Today he's a director of Coca-Cola and chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee. In the latest in his series of interviews as part of NEWSWEEK's partnership with the Kaplan University M.B.A. program, NEWSWEEK Chairman Richard M. Smith spoke with Ueberroth about what young managers do right—and do wrong. Excerpts:
SPORTS
If You Build It, Will They Pay?
Johnnie L. Roberts 10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM
Two diligent, if hapless, would-be sports entrepreneurs couldn't resist the pecuniary opportunity at hand. It was April 18, 1923—opening day of the new Yankee Stadium. A $2.5 million marvel (the equal of $30 million now) built on a 10-acre parcel in the Bronx, it was reputedly the first ballpark to be heralded a "stadium." No other sports venue rivaled the size of the "House That Ruth Built," as the place was soon known. And it was worth every cent of Babe Ruth's annual $52,000 salary. Swinging mightily on that chilly inaugural day before a festive crowd of 74,200, Ruth hit a home run to bring the Yankees a 4-1 victory over the archrival Boston Red Sox. But the luckless entrepreneurs missed out on the electrifying action: one had tried to sell his ticket for $1.25, 15 cents more than the official $1.10 admission. The other guy was holding out for $1.50. Police arrested both for scalping.
A Devil Of A Baseball Season
Mark Starr 9/25/2008 12:00:00 AM
I'm not comfortable with the modern grading system—I don't like to dispatch 'A's too readily. But this baseball season, with four down-to-the-wire division races and one tight wild-card fray, has, at the very least, been a solid A-. Major League Baseball has once again proved as adept as the NFL in creating new winners and losers every season. And if in the rise-and-fall category, there were more examples of the latter—New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres—but the most dramatic and surprising entry is certainly one of the former: the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays, whose rise is more akin to a resurrection.
The Ryder Redemption
Mark Starr 9/18/2008 12:00:00 AM
For the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, U.S. captain Hal Sutton came up with a brazen strategy to launch his team. He would start the competition by pairing the top two players in the world, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, ignoring any history suggesting that the two men didn't care for each other, as well as any indication that the two were uncomfortable with the decision and would prefer other partners.
MLB: First Use of Instant Replay
9/4/2008 12:00:00 AM
Baseball's first use of instant replay backed an onfield call of a home run for Alex Rodriguez during the ninth inning of the New York Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.
GOOD LIFE
4 Hours In the Bronx
Elisa Mala 8/30/2008 12:00:00 AM
The only New York borough not situated on an island boasts some of the city's most colorful and entertaining attractions. And it's an easy subway ride from midtown's hotels.