When I joined the Hartford
Whalers in April of 1997, it was already known that the National Hockey League
team was going to relocate because of revenue issues with their building at the
time as compared to many other venues in the league. After a month of debate
and sourcing, the ownership did pack up the club and chose to break ground in
Raleigh, North Carolina where the locals were in the process of building a new
facility for the North Carolina State college basketball team. Our ownership
would help invest into the new arena and take over management of the venue as a
result.
So it was a very limited
stay for me in Hartford and the Tar Heel State here we would come. I was
spending much of my time during the month of May setting up our new offices and
commuting by airplane to-and-from Kansas City and Raleigh. Wendy and the girls
stood back in Missouri primarily so that the kids could finish school and to help
get the house ready for sale.
My role with this
particular job was as the Director of Public Relations that included the
community relations department for the club. My first task after arriving for
full-time duty on June 1st was to unveil the team’s name – Carolina Hurricanes,
our logo and new home and road uniforms. I didn’t know anyone in the city at
this point and knew that the NHL was pressing our franchise to get everything
released and out to the public! I quickly contacted the Raleigh Chamber of
Commerce and asked for recommendations on whom they felt was the best special
events planner in the area? I was told of a young gal that was the best there
was in the Carolinas but was so busy. They gave me her cell and I proceeded to
call. She answered and was doing a promotion at a Gentleman’s Club. I was
thinking …Hmmm? The best there is? OKKK!! She told me I could meet her at the
club as she was terribly busy with many projects. I had to as my clock was
ticking against me! After an hour conversation, she agreed to take on my
project to be the decorator of our logo unveiling press conference but had just
two weeks to pull this off! We ended up having a super dynamite press
conference and everything went off splendidly and my gal totally outdid herself
and made me look like a hero to the locals that packed the hotel conference
room for their first glimpse of this brand new NHL team!
Soon afterwards my time was spent meeting all of the top area executives from Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh to Greensboro as well as with North Carolina Governor (Jim Hunt), other regional political officials and charitable organization leaders. Many breakfast and lunch meetings did I have during this period of time! I, who loves breakfast meals, started to fear those 7 AM meetings simply because many of my guests would give me grief if I did not join them for a bowl or dish of GRITS! I was definitely trying to make myself accepted by the locals and to be hospitable but I would not give in to the demand of sampling this Southern dish! J During these gatherings, I was trying to see how our NHL club could be of assistance and for the players to fit in with their own causes?
One of the best things for
me early on was getting involved with the Jimmy V Foundation, named after the
popular and legendary basketball coach of NC State Jim Valvano. There I met
members of the Valvano family – Jim’s wife Pam and daughter, Nicole. The
Hurricanes were a sponsor of the Jimmy “V” Golf Classic, one of the area’s
premier events that brought in a great number of national celebrities and
sports heroes not to mention many of the ESPN Sports Center anchors. It was a
very memorable event for me to shake hands with so many people I’ve seen on TV
or read about in the newspapers!
During my first few months
living in Raleigh, I grasped the fact that this area was NASCAR Country and
that the charities all staged golf events.
They were the means of fundraising. The Carolinas had some of the
country’s finest courses including the Pinehurst Country Club, which hosted the
U.S. Open during my year of work (and will again in 2014 for the men and ladies
PGA tour!) I convinced our Hurricanes’ owner that we needed to invest in golf
as our way of supporting the community. He agreed! So I set out to negotiate sponsorship
packages with the Nike Tour, U.S. Open and some of the charity events like the
Duke (University) Children’s Classic. It was my gate entrance to the golfing
fraternity and gave our club immense exposure right out of the gate!
Once our hockey season
opened up, my world began to take conflict. I was traveling back-and-forth
between Raleigh and Greensboro frequently for games and other team activities.
This was a 150-mile trip taxed to my car each time. Not to mention the hundreds
of community events that we coordinated for the club and numerous player
appearances. Within the first year, my car put on just under 30,000 miles.
One of my more memorable community
promotions was setting up Kristi Yamaguchi - the former Olympic figure skating
champion - to visit Greensboro for an appearance to help promote her “Stars On
Ice Show” that would soon be appearing in North Carolina. Kristi knew me very
well and had worked closely with me twice before in Kansas City. It was fun
seeing her again! Same for Chris Berman of ESPN fame. He was such a huge hockey
fan and a ticket holder for the Hartford Whalers. Our owner made it a point to
fly Chris to Greensboro for a few games so that he could stay in touch with the
club. During one of our conversations I had told Chris that he once before had
branded me as "Jim FOLK LORE" (vs. Loria) when I met him at his ESPN headquarters
in Bristol, CT. He remembered and laughed as I told him how honored I was to be
included in his “Hall of Nicknames!”
As the
season wore on and travel continued, I started to reassess my wanting to remain
working in the Big Leagues. I missed much about life working in junior hockey
and after discussing these feelings with my wife, a decision was made to vacate
and see what opportunities might be available for me to explore?
So we put
our house up for sale. I quickly put feelers out to the rest of the hockey
world. I told my boss during my exit interview that I was not going to be
looking for an NHL position or even one in the minor pros. My heart was set on
returning back to Junior Hockey where I would like to now take on a franchise and
lead it plus help mentor the staff so that they could one day eventually move
up the sports industry ladder!
And that would take my
family and I to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with one more story to tell!
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