Becoming 'Someone' in the Sports Industry!

When I first made my way into the big leagues of hockey back in 1980 for the Washington Capitals, my boss was Roger Crozier. He was one of the game’s all-time great netminders for Detroit and Buffalo and the Caps’ Assistant General Manager at the time. I was 25-years old and the luckiest guy on earth to be Roger’s personal assistant.

I was fortunate to be able to witness his creative mind in action every single day for a couple of years. My boss was the type of person that was so mechanically gifted. He was much more than your usual sports team jock. I loved my boss very much. He was my mentor. He knew that when he called me “Jimmy Boy” every morning, that he filled up my work tank for that entire day! But he also wasn’t bashful to provide moments of “tough love” when I needed it.

For every day he was in his office, came with a 9 AM meeting. Just he & I. The purpose: How were we going to better the Washington Capitals today? My job: Present him with such an idea regardless if it was good or bad. At the time, I didn’t understand how valuable that exercise was and what role it would play in my future. Roger taught me how to think. He conditioned my mind to be a creative thinker.

Roger knew me better than anyone. He had made dozens of visits to my junior hockey team in Regina, Saskatchewan just the year before my arrival in the Nation’s Capital (where he was scouting one of our players at the time). He was the type of guy that would call me at 2 AM in the morning to hear my comments on a certain player or when we lost five in a row to then see how I reacted? He never stopped thinking whether it was in sports or for business.

Towards the end of my first year in Washington with Roger, a meeting took place. One that probably changed my life and over time, inspired me to see the whole picture and become who I am today! This meeting was more about the making of a new me. It was the lecture of all time. Once I walked into his office, the door quickly shut behind me, something that never happened before in the hundreds of meetings that took place between the two of us. I sensed something was wrong. No small talk or personal stories did he tell. Roger just threw it at me in an instant with a tone in the voice I had never witnessed before. He blurted out: “Jim, what do you want to be in your life: SOMEONE or SOMEBODY? And know that my door will not open until you give me the right answer!”

I sat there. Nervous as all get up. His facial expression never changed. Actually, he started to look at some paperwork on his desk while I sat there with this ‘deer in the headlights’ look on my face and stunned by the moment at hand. Minutes passed. Roger blurted out again “the door’s not opening until I hear the right answer!!!” I looked at him, knowing the moment of truth arrived. I said, “Roger, I don’t know what you consider to be the right answer, but I am going to tell you what my gut says is the right answer”. Roger said… “go ahead”. I looked him in directly in the eye and said “I want to be SOMEONE!” He, without hesitation, went into this tirade and said “Jim, you’ll never be ‘Someone!’

He then paused. Thought of something. Picked up the phone. Called the operations department. Asked them to bring up the Mascot character’s head. Told me to put it on and tell him what I see? Looking like an idiot, I had this big character’s costume head on over my face. He told me to use my hands and show him what I was seeing? Out of my muffled voice, I stated “I can only see straight ahead” (Note: if you’ve never put on a Mascot’s head before, you do only see what is straight ahead. You can’t see left, right or below unless you turn your head completely to see).

After I made my statement of only seeing straight ahead, my boss went into another rant and quickly stated: “That’s right Jim, that’s why you will not be SOMEONE in your life. You can’t see anything to the left or right or even below. All you worry about is what’s in front of you. My boss knew that I was a comfort zone type of person. The type that did not venture outside. I was involved in the public relations department, mostly compiling statistics and writing press notes and publications, and I was happy to only worry about my job let alone my department or whatever else my colleagues were doing in their respective departments.

My boss’ lecture inspired me to see the whole picture. To be that “Someone” in my industry, I needed to learn how marketing could make PR… how PR could make a marketing idea sizzle… how community relations can be your best promotion, etc.… My boss then asked me to attend all of our department head meetings for a period of time. To just listen and take notes. It was the start of my actually getting a college degree, one that I am so grateful there was a person in my life that realized the potential I had and cared enough to coach it out of me!

E-Mail: loria@sfstampede.com