POSTED: Monday November 16th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mike Moran's Sports Corp Spotlight - The USOC At A Major Crossroads
A column by from Mike Moran with his own opinions and musings devoted to all things in Sports in our town and around the area, and the “buzz†for everything from the Olympic athlete to the Weekend Warrior.
November 15, 2009, #32 The USOC At A Huge Crossroads
In 1894, two years before the launch of the Modern Olympic Games in Athens, a pair of American business and sports leaders, James E. Sullivan and William Milligan Sloane, gathered in New York and created the United States Olympic Committee……..over the next 115 years, the USOC rose to prominence and prestige among the world’s National Olympic Committees, the richest and most powerful of the family, and American athletes dominated the Summer Games and the U.S. hosted the Games eight times, the most among all nations……..that was then, this is now, and the venerable USOC has arrived at the most challenging crossroads in its history…….it is about to undertake yet another major review of its governance structure (its seventh since the 1978 passage of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act by The Congress), another search for a chief executive (there have been no less than 13 since that 1978 restructure – an average term of 2.4 years for each leader), and under the leadership of Chairman Larry Probst, the 12th person to assume the role in those 31 years…….the ongoing turmoil has engulfed the organization again in conflict, but what can happen in the next few weeks and months can alter that trend and shape the USOC’s future indelibly for the best……the USOC announced last week that former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will chair an independent advisory commission to assess the organization’s controversial governance structure with the task of recommending changes, if needed, in the size, structure and operating practices of its 11-member Board of Directors……….while it escapes reason to me that the USOC needs to ask a former Professional Sports Commissioner with zero Olympic experience to head up such an agenda, it is a good sign nonetheless………it will be the makeup of the commission that is crucial to its ability to make the critical recommendations to the Board and Probst, and see them implemented…….I hear former USOC Executive Director Harvey Schiller may be one of the commission members and that is a good start….his near five-year term as the organization’s top professional staffer is the most productive era since the retirement of the estimable Col. F. Don Miller in 1985………here’s some other suggestions for Tagliabue………..Olympic swimming gold medalist Donna de Varona, one of the most influential women in American Olympic history…….former Congressman Jim Ryun of Kansas, a three-time Olympian, Harold Burson, the founding chairman of the distinguished PR firm Burson-Marsteller and our nation’s most influential public relations executive in history, a man who has contributed much already to the USOC, Olympic Hall of Famer and decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson, one America’s greatest athletes and citizens, tennis great Billie Jean King, and USOC President Emeritus Bill Hybl of Colorado Springs, one of the most honored stewards of the American Olympic movement since 1978…….at the same time, Probst and his Board have named a search and screening committee for the next Chief Executive Officer with a timetable of nailing down the next professional staff leader by the end of the year……..the names of its membership offer a great mix of men and women who have a clue about the Olympic family, its athletes and its mission, which offers hope that the next CEO will not be another corporate product with no background in, or understanding of, the complex mission or emotions of the USOC and its vital National Governing Bodies and Member Organizations that form the foundation of its existence……..it includes USA Hockey chief executive Dave Ogrean, representing the NGB Council, Olympic diving great Micki King, representing the U.S. Olympians, Board member Mike Plant, an Olympic speedskater and the most vocal Board member demanding change, and two current athletes………in the aftermath of events that began with the jaw-dropping ouster of Olympian and CEO Jim Scherr in March as well as the ill-timed announcement of a USOC television network that angered the IOC, the debacle in Copenhagen that saw Chicago shoved out in the first round of the 2016 host city election, and the contentious struggle over the agreement reached by Colorado Springs to keep the USOC in the city for the next 25 years, this is a golden opportunity to make things right and get the ship off the shoals……..already, the Board has responded to intense criticism from the National Governing Bodies with concessions that include an outreach and engagement process with the key constituent groups that invites representation and transparency, an element sorely lacking in the last restructure in 2003 that resulted in the downsizing of the Board after the implosion of 2002-2003 that led to embarrassing Congressional Hearings and a media circus……so, though my view and advice have been devalued and unrequested by the organization I served for almost 25 years as its chief spokesman and voice since my retirement in 2003, I offer some respectful suggestions:
q Select a man or woman as CEO who truly understands the Olympic family, has a sports and business background, leadership skills which recognize professional talent with respect, and who can walk on the same path in our world as the pro sports commissioners, the NCAA, and become the face of the USOC in media appearances and gatherings of the companies that sponsor the USOC and the millions of Americans who want to support the effort.
q Give this individual the challenge and the freedom to hire a great staff, carry out the blueprint and build a team that makes the nation proud. Leave the CEO alone to do the job without interference, micro-management and politics.
q Recognizing clearly the fact that the USOC has been the recipient of a controversial $53 million commitment by the city of Colorado Springs and its residents to retain its national headquarters for the next 25 years and build it a gorgeous new downtown headquarters and improve training facilities, tackle these humble recommendations:
q Commit to holding every one of its major events in its hometown for the future as a gesture that brings the city and its populace in distressed economic times a return on the investment it has made, including all Board meetings, the Olympic Assembly of over 1,200 people, its Olympic Media Summit prior to each Games, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies, annual Official Sponsor and Supplier meetings, and the resumption of the U.S. Olympic Academy.
q Undertake an outreach and public relations effort in the city as soon as possible, with the goal of restoring the USOC’s image and profile in its hometown. Visit schools, take seats on the boards of local charities and important business organizations, host community events and festivals at the Olympic Complex, and get out to meet the citizens.
The USOC’s passionate, dedicated staff already demonstrates the spirit of volunteerism, outreach, community support and civic contribution on an annual basis. These 300 men and women are valued members of the community who are constant ambassadors for the city.
Colorado Springs embraced the USOC in 1978 and welcomed it as its new national headquarters when no other city wanted it. The city has been a warm and generous host since, and deserves better.
q Revive the presentation of its longtime, prestigious major annual awards, which have all but vanished in recent years, including the Olympic Torch Award previously presented to individuals like President Gerald Ford, William E. Simon, Col. F. Don Miller, Bud Greenspan, Bonnie Blair and Baaron Pittenger; The Olympic Shield, previously awarded to the likes of Tenley Albright, Dr. Evie Dennis, Walter Bush, Bill Martin, Frank Marshall, and vintage old guard leaders like Ted Stevens, Larry Hough, Howard Miller, Bob Sheppard, Joe Kearney and Don Hull; and the General Douglas Macarthur Award, the USOC’s highest honor, presented in the past to individuals like Bill Hybl, George Steinbrenner, Dr. Henry Kissinger, John Krimsky, Bill Martin and some guy named Mike Moran.
q Reach out aggressively to those individuals who have made significant and crucial contributions to the growth and the history of the USOC, and who make up the rich deposit of the organization’s institutional memory, but virtually ignored or avoided in the last few years, led by Bill Hybl. Once again, Hybl has stepped to the plate to come to the rescue of the USOC with the announcement last week that the El Pomar Foundation will provide the millions to complete the commitment by Colorado Springs to complete the new headquarters building and the other improvements. This is on top of Hybl’s prior rescue efforts that begin with the creation of the first USOC Ethics Committee in 1991 after a huge scandal, his service as President twice, and the establishment of special independent commissions that bailed out the USOC after the ’91 mess and the 1998 bid city scandal..
q Enlarge the Board of Directors to include direct representation from the vital constituent groups that are the foundation of the organization – the National Governing Bodies, the Disabled in Sport groups, the Olympians Alumni organizations, and former Presidents, Chairs and CEOs………yes, like Hybl.
q Task my old Media and PR division with once again taking the Chair and CEO out on the road to communicate openly and directly with the crucial news media…..go to USA Today, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC Sports, Sports Illustrated, Associated Press, the network Morning shows, the Foreign Press Center in Washington and others to deliver the message and provide access.
q Rebuild the important personal relationships with reporters, columnists, broadcasters, bloggers and others in the media who shape image. Return every call and e-mail, grant access to leadership, respond with a voice when required, not text messages and vapid corporate-speak, canned responses.
q Understand and embrace the obligations to the media and the men and women who cover the Olympic movement at a time when budgets and the economy are threats to newspapers and magazines, and which require new, imaginative and cutting-edge media relations that recognize and take advantage of new media opportunities and methods of communication which evolve almost weekly.
q Read the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act from cover to cover. It will outline the mission of the USOC, which is simple…….it does not require millions of dollars spent frequently in some vague search for the USOC mission. It’s right there. Cherish and support the athletes and their National Governing Bodies……..support and foster amateur sports and fitness among Americans…….create opportunity for everyone in sport, promote the Olympic ideals and principles, and make Americans proud of the best of our youth that reach for their dreams.
It’s not rocket science.
Mike Moran, Director of Communications
The Colorado Springs Sports Corporation
1631 Mesa Ave., Suite E
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
(719) 634-7333, ext.1011
Coming up:
Feb. 4- USA vs. Finland Women’s Pre-Olympic Ice Hockey Game, World Arena, 7:00 p.m.
Coming In 2010
May 10- Sports Corp Golf Tourney, Cheyenne Mountain Resort
June 27- 88th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
June TBA- Sports Corp College Football Kickoff Luncheon
July 30-August 1- 2012 Rocky Mountain State Games
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Keywords · USOC · The Colorado Sports Corporation · Mike Moran
Name: Mike Moran
Organization: Colorado Springs Sports Corporation
Email:
Phone: 719-634-7333, ext. 1011
URL: http://www.thesportscorp.org
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