Newton had vehemently denied that he ever asked for or received money to play at Auburn or that he was ever involved in soliciting money from any other educational institution.  Had Rodgers crafted this plan on his own, without ever informing Newton or his family?  If so, did he think no one would ever find out about it?

Whether Rodgers had authority to act on behalf of Newton or was acting on his own accord without Newton’s knowledge, we at least know that this man is up to some shady business.  His “job” entails matching football prospects with college programs, and works with Elite Football Preparation, a company that places athlete prospects in football camps in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Illinois.

What if I told you that Rodgers had clear ties to an NFL Players Association certified Contract Advisor?  Ian Greengross (here he is on Twitter) represents Greg Hardy, Titus Brown, Sam Hurd, Trindon Holliday, Amobi Okoye, John Denney, Brandon Fields, Trevard Lindley, Cyril Obiozor, Traye Simmons, and his biggest client is Darren McFadden.  His company, GAME Sports & Entertainment, is based in Chicago, Illinois, which is the same home of Rodgers’ Elite Football Preparation.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times reported that Greengross and Rodgers not only share the same city, but also share a joint bank account under the name “Greengross Athletic Management Enterprises.”  Rogers has also recently been on the record stating that Greengross pays him $2,000 a month.

On November 5, the NFLPA’s Committee on Agent Regulation and Discipline (CARD) issued a disciplinary complaint against Ian Greengross for violating numerous provisions of the NFLPA’s Agent Regulations while recruiting and representing players, and for the actions of Kenny Rogers, who is identified as Greengross’ recruiter.  Greengross is responsible for the actions of Rodgers if his conduct violates the Regulations.  Rogers is alleged to have misrepresented to prospective clients that he was an NFLPA employee, a Club official, and an official from a testing service, in an effort to recruit them.  He also is alleged to have recruited players while they were signed to agency contracts with other agents.

Greengross has already hired an experienced lawyer – David Cornwell.  My guess is that Cornwell’s expertise might enable Greengross to endure a less severe penalty than if he had gone with an attorney who is not as familiar with the NFLPA’s Agent Regulations, but I doubt even Cornwell will be able to keep his client away from any discipline.

The Spotlight On Kenny Rodgers Cannot Help Ian Greengross from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

An insane amount of people, a hot and muggy day, and a great celebration of a great team that brought the city and their fans on a great ride.  Even though the last couple of weeks has seen the Hawks championship team from last year diminish significantly due to the NHL’s salary cap, there will be no diminishing of Hawks love for the next season . . . just look at the Cubs-Sox Crosstown Classic, in which no one in Chicago cared about what was going on.  All everyone was talking about at the end of May/beginning of June in a baseball-crazed city was where the Hawks were going to be, which player someone saw at a bar, etc.

This is a picture we took in Joe’s Bar on Weed Street after Kane scored the OT goal (when he scored the goal, it seemed like everyone in the bar threw their drinks, notice the shirts in front of us):

And while “The Decision” captured the nation’s attention, Chicago, even without Lebron, D-Wade, or Bosh, has survived.  The Bulls were still able to put together a solid 3 or 4 seed in the East with the additions they have made so far: Carlos Boozer (Gold-Medal-Winning-Olympian cleaning up what Joakim Noah is not picking up on the boards, and putting up 20+ points a game), Kyle Korver (shooting the lights out with Derrick Rose driving and kicking to him), Ronnie Brewer (young swingman who D’s it up and can put up points), C.J. Watson (10 points per game as a back-up last year) and Kurt Thomas (playoff/veteran experience, and he gives that vibe of the vet that knows the ropes and doesn’t care who he is talking to/scolding, just as long as they get on the same page and win).  Talks have also escalated to the point that now the Bulls are closing in on Tracy McGrady, who will be a good back-up/occasional starter for Deng, especially since he has “unfinished business” with the Bulls (i.e. he has the desire to want to be good here); T-Mac can still invoke memories of when he was making All-Star and All-NBA appearances, and for a role player, his occasional scoring outbursts are more than good enough (as long as the price fits).  While it may seem like the Chicago Jazz, new Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau (who will instill that great Celtics “D” from the 2008 championship team), D-Rose (perennial All-Star, and one of the best PG’s in the league already), Noah (heart of the team, and it shows every time he is in the game), and Deng (was All-NBA Rookie First Team, and without his rash of injury problems, still a solid wing) will give the Bulls one of the best teams in the league, and it will be exciting to watch for an aspiring sports advocate/attorney.

The Cubs continue to disappoint, but with Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin now settling in as big-leaguers, Marlon Byrd becoming an All-Star (every game I’ve gone to this season, he has sprinted down the first base line on every ball he has hit in play, which exemplifies the type of player I would love to represent), and Geovany Soto getting closer to his form from his Rookie of the Year rookie season, they have a solid young nucleus that will be exciting to watch in the future.  Hey, us Cubs fans need something to look forward to. . . especially when the Sox are one of the hottest teams in all of baseball and are in the thick of the division title hunt with the Twins and Tigers.  And the Bears training camp begins soon, and that is always an exciting time in Chicago . . . especially when many of the players/coaches are on the hot seat this year.  It will be very interesting to see how new offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s offensive schemes improve a young and what-should-be explosive receiving crew.

My second year of law school ended up finishing well and I made the Dean’s List (top 25% of my class) for the second semester in a row.  I also found out I was accepted into the Joint J.D./L.L.M. degree program at The John Marshall Law School.  I will receive my L.L.M. in Intellectual Property, specializing in Copyrights and Trademarks, while also receiving my law degree.  While this adds another semester or two onto my already 4-year J.D. requirement, this will give me a chance to separate myself from the other students graduating law school at the same time as me.  Specializing in copyrights and trademarks can only be a plus for me becoming a sports attorney/advocate, especially because athletes now are multi-talented multi-taskers who want to excel both on and off the field.  I will have a duty to my clients to represent them competently and diligently, and in order for me to accomplish this, I need to be versed in different entertainment/sports related law.  Hopefully, this paragraph has given confidence to future law school students who also will work full-time during law school (as I have/will continue to do throughout school), because it does seem like (and is) a daunting task, but it is clearly doable.  And it is doable while also having fun and experiencing whatever city you are in.

During the summer session I took a class called, “Counseling and Negotiation,” during which we explored not only the techniques to lead client counseling sessions and explore your client’s concerns/problems, but we also explored how best to negotiate with difficult opposing attorneys and to get the price that your client wanted/deserved.  I could not help but think that this class will be helpful with negotiating player contracts or marketing opportunities . . . even though I still realize that the best experience will come when actually negotiating.  Next semester is Evidence, Trademark Law, and Trade Secrets Law . . . my schedule then will be three-nights a week for class, with work everyday and my duties as President of the Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Society at John Marshall.

The EMSL Board and I have already set our fall semester schedule.  I have once again teamed up with the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation and our Society will be hosting a School Supply Drive during the first couple of weeks of school.  If anyone is in the Chicago area and would like to donate, just let me know . . . all of the donations go to underprivileged and abused children in the Chicagoland area.  We are also hosting a Bake Sale to try and come up with some money for the organization, and we have other exciting events/discussions planned throughout the semester.

We are always more than willing to help out any sports or entertainment firms or organizations.  One of the other Board members has made a great contact with AMEC (Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel), and our Society now has become THE Chicago volunteer base for helping AMEC organize, promote, and host its events.  They also want to co-host our panel discussions.  For example, this semester we have set up panels consisting of Chicago-area Entertainment attorneys, and next semester, we are doing a panel discussion consisting of three sports attorneys/advocates.  If anyone is interested in coming to talk to our organization, get some free Chicago-style pizza, and meet eager young professionals who are very interested in what you as a sports advocate/attorney do, please let me know.

On a closing note, I think it is pretty cool that “Entourage” is now dipping into the sports world, with Ari potentially being the owner of the “new” football team in L.A.

As always, any comments, questions, or suggestions- just drop a comment.  I have a question for you though . . . ESPN and other sources have stated that Arn Tellem, Tracy McGrady’s advocate, has a strong relationship with Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.  I would like to think that these strong relationships between a player’s representation and a prospective team lead to more reasonable demands in negotiations from both sides, but, to quote Lebron, does it become “just business” when negotiations actually begin?

The Minor Leagues: Summertime Chi from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

With the NHL Draft less than two weeks away, most of my time this past week was spent on the phone. I’ve got a fairly respectable digital rolodex built up, and so it was pretty much as simple as going through it and calling any and every NHL scout I’d met this past season. For the most part, my goal in making a call is to just give them some information about Kuchin’s plans for next season and answer any questions they might have about him. I’m completely used to the fact that scouts don’t give agents any real information, but you can definitely get some sort of indication based on how interested they seem in the conversation. If a scout shows you that he wants to hear more, usually that means that I’m keeping that particular team in my “interested” column.

Besides just dealing with the NHL guys though, I’ve also been speaking with Alex Zhamnov quite often lately. So far he’s shown me that he’s nothing but a great guy, and I’ve expressed my appreciation for his help numerous times. It looks as though he and the owner would like to see Kuchin skate with the KHL club at their camp in July, and Zhamnov was kind enough to invite me out to attend the camp and discuss business with him in person. If all goes according to plan (which it won’t), I should be heading to Moscow sometime after my July 15^th birthday.

Now to get back to this past weekend – while I was expecting my schedule to return to the hectic, unpredictable state it was while Kuchin was in Chicago this past Winter, the weekend of his return started out fairly uneventful.

Saturday began with me running to get Kuchin a cell phone for him to use during his stay. Since Kuch doesn’t have a car, for the most part I was going to have to be on call as his driver while he’s in Chicago, so we needed some way for him to get a hold of me. Fortunately, now-a-days it’s just as simple as picking up a pay-as-you-go phone from any carrier you choose. This option is especially helpful when you have younger foreign clients who might be inclined to make longer than expected phone calls to girlfriends and family back home. Personally, I’d much rather have to reload the phone’s minutes a few times than get hit with the old $300 phone bill.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, it was off to the airport to get Kuch. His flight was set to land at 3:15pm CST, so I got there around 4:00 thinking it’d take a bit for him to get through customs. After about an hour into my wait though, I started to get a little nervous – what if he was being detained by Border Protection? Or worse – what if he missed his flight? Finally at around 6:30, Kuch strolled out through “Exit B” of the Terminal. But naturally, I’d already have something to make things interesting.

Apparently on his flight, Kuchin had made a new “friend” who was also flying from Moscow but needed to take a train or bus from Chicago to Lincoln, Nebraska. He asked for my help, and of course I wasn’t going to leave the kid alone in the middle of the fourth busiest airport in the world (citing only the most reliable source for information – Wikipedia). While I was searching for some information on my phone, he asked me if I’d ever been to Nebraska. When I told him I had, he then asked whether Lincoln was an exciting city. I couldn’t help but smile, pat him on the back, and explain “absolutely not.” Nothing against Lincoln, but outside of football season, I’ve never heard of it being a tourist hot spot. Luckily I was able to find him a decent fare on an Amtrak train leaving a few hours later, so crisis averted.

After we left O’Hare, I dropped Kuch off at the Dushkin’s house (his old host family in case you forgot) where he’d be staying (or I should say was planning on staying, but I’ll get back to that) while the Steel’s main camp was open. Kuch and Yakubov (who’s also staying with the Dushkins) said that they wanted to go bowling (big surprise) that night, but since I already had dinner plans with some friends, I told them I’d have to meet them up after I was done. For those of you who aren’t up-to-speed on my Facebook profile (which I hope includes at least someone), a couple weeks ago I started dating a girl who’s also from the Chicago suburbs. Her name is Lindsey and I’m not going to go into all the details, but basically we met through my long-lost roommate from my freshman year at OU, who just recently moved to Chicago and is dating her best friend. Let me tell you, it’s been a lot of fun explaining how all my “waiting” for other people and making phone calls all day is actually a real job – thank God I had that law degree to fall back on for some credibility.

Anyway, after dinner I was able to convince our little group to head over to the bowling alley and meet up with my Russian posse. Naturally, when I called to deliver the good news to Kuch and Yak that everyone was on board, they were both too tired and decided we’d do it another time. At least Lindsey was getting some early exposure to how unstable my schedule can get with my stable of young Russian clients.

So instead of bowling we decided to head out to our favorite karaoke watering hole, Ball Park. Let’s just say a couple weeks ago I stole the spotlight (although I’m probably alone in making that assessment) with my personal rendition of Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Let Her Cry.” And yes, I’m being serious. Unfortunately for the crowd of somewhere between ten and fifteen townies, I left my microphone at home this time. After a few drinks with our friends, Lindsey and I decided to head back to her place to kick it (sorry, inside joke) for a while with a little Lost Season 1 before we called it a night.

So while Saturday gave me a slight reminder of how plans can quickly change when a client’s in town, Sunday’s when it really began to kick in. Teddy (you remember Teddy, right?) wasn’t going to be skating with the Steel in their main camp, so the Dushkin’s wanted to know if Kuchin could come stay at my place beginning Sunday instead of Wednesday, as originally planned. I’d cleaned out the guest room for him over the weekend, so naturally that wouldn’t be a problem at all – just another change of plans to deal with.

I drove over to the rink around 5pm Sunday as Kuchin was finishing up with his on-ice stuff for the day. We met up with another Russian kid who’s in town for the Steel camp (and also happened to have played with Kuchin back in Russia growing up) and we decided to catch one of the Steel’s Rookie Camp’s games. The boys wanted to go see a movie afterwards, so I invited the new Russian along (let’s call him Sergei), as he was staying in a hotel on his own and didn’t have any friends in Chicago. And when I brought Sergei back to his hotel after the movie, guess what? Another change of plans! Kuch asked if I minded if he stayed at the hotel for the night. It wouldn’t really change my schedule around for tomorrow so he grabbed a few things out of his suitcase and I told him I’d see him in the morning. It’s funny when you work a lot with people from different cultures how you pick up subtle differences between them and Americans. Trust me when I say that having a structured itinerary is not a common feature of the Russian lifestyle.

With the Steel’s main camp officially opening this morning and a workout of Yakubov’s that I have to attend this afternoon, it’s going to be a crazy couple of days. At least at this point I know to expect the unexpected. Since I’ve got a lot to get done today, this is where I’m going to have to leave you. I’ll try to post some pictures and maybe some video from the Steel camp on the Rookie Duties Facebook Page and please keep the questions and comments coming. With that being said, have a great week and until next week…it’s time to hit the showers.

Rookie Duties: He’s Back! from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Well, it’s t-minus 25 days until the 2010 NHL Draft, and as usual, my schedule has been nothing close to ordinary. It all began Monday night when I received a Skype call from Andrey. As I know I have mentioned, we’ve been working to get Kuch his Visa for entry back into the U.S. this month. Small problem though – Andrey and his family were going to be traveling abroad for a few days, which means he needed his Passport with him and couldn’t submit it to the U.S. Consulate in Moscow. That meant that we were going to have to get everything in place so that the minute he arrived back in Russia, he could schedule his Visa interview. One key piece was his formal invitation letter, and I needed to get it to Andrey before his trip. So at 12:30am last Tuesday morning, I headed into my office to get the letter signed, scanned, and emailed out. Normally I don’t mind being in my office during odd hours, but with temperatures in the 90s and the air conditioning shut off in my office building for the night, things got a little sticky. By 1:45am I was dripping with sweat, but I got everything sent out and was finally able to call it a night. Some people might think I’m crazy, but I know I’ve preached before that if you want to be successful as an agent you have to always be ready to work.

Before the week began, I had planned on making some calls to NHL clubs regarding Andrey and the upcoming Draft. However, before I picked up the phone, I wanted to make sure I had answers to any potential questions I might be asked. Two weeks ago I spoke with Alex Zhamnov about getting a transfer card for Andrey for the 2010-11 season. Alex had been planning a trip where he’d be meeting with the Vityaz team President, and he asked me to call him back this past Thursday. Basically, I just wanted to get some confirmation that getting a transfer card would, in fact, not be an issue.

Overall, things still seem to be going smoothly. Alex spoke with the Vityaz President, and it doesn’t sound like there are going to be any problems getting a transfer card signed. I’m sure I won’t be able to completely relax until we’ve got the card signed and in the hands of his club for next season, but at this point, it’s enough to go off of when speaking with NHL scouts and management about Andrey’s plans for next season.

On Tuesday of last week, I had to deal with a minor phone crisis. My Blackberry Bold was starting to go out on me and it was looking as though I was going to have to get a replacement. Fortunately I had purchased the monthly insurance plan for the phone, but even with the protection plan, a replacement was going to cost me $125. At the same time, I was also eligible for a device upgrade, which meant I could get the iPhone 3GS for $199. To be honest, while my Blackberry was capable of doing some pretty cool things, I wasn’t all that impressed – especially considering the hefty price tag it came with. I decided to give the iPhone a try, and so far I couldn’t be any happier with my decision. I had been a little concerned about using a touch screen with the large number of emails that I have to send on my device, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how quickly you pick it up.  I’ve never considered myself and Apple person, but my recent experience may change that. Unless Blackberry makes some major strides, I don’t think I’ll be returning to them any time soon.

Besides my hockey work, things at the law firm have been picking up as well. I’ve got a couple of steady clients right now, and it’s been a nice little change of pace to my day. Not to mention, the additional income has been great. This week I should have a couple meetings with two of my clients, and have to get some of their applications filed with USCIS.

Later today, I’m actually going to be meeting fellow SAB contributor Ryan Ballard as he’s in Chicago for the weekend. We’ve been set up with another training facility not far from the United Center downtown, and the facility manager wants to show us what they can offer our hockey clients. While I’m currently still talking with the Academy of Human Performance about establishing a professional partnership with them, nothing’s set in stone at this point, and it never hurts to look into other options.

Also, I’m sure you all know that tonight I’ll be carefully watching Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. With the Hawks in the Finals for the first time since ’91, there’s certainly a buzz throughout the city and it’s a very exciting time to be a fan of the team. As I get more and more involved with clubs at the NHL level, my days of being “just a fan” seem to be numbered, so hopefully this will be the year the Cup returns to Chicago.

Well like I mentioned, I have to meet Ryan out at the training facility in the city, and with the road construction currently going on around here I better start heading out that way. I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend and have a terrific week ahead of you. And until next week…it’s time to hit the showers.

Rookie Duties: Turning the Heat Up from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

What a great time of year for sports.  The other week, I had Thursday night off from class, and this was the sports schedule (keeping in mind I am from Chicago): Bulls playoff game, Cubs game, NFL Draft, and Blackhawks playoff game.  Yes, I stayed in front of my TV basically the whole night…I mean, I had to get up to get something to eat, etc., but don’t worry, still didn’t miss a beat (I LOVE DVR).  What this all means, though, is that finals preparation and studying is even harder.  I basically had to unplug my TV over the weekend so I could start the preparation for the biggest time of year in school.

For most every law school class, the final in your class is 100% of your grade (I have had a couple midterms in some classes, but that is definitely not the majority).  That means even if you went to (and paid attention in) every single class during the semester and did the entire homework assignment for each night (like I have each semester), if you do not perform on the night of the final, you could be screwed like the Canucks are in the series against the Blackhawks (I know, shameless).  I approach each final as though I am an athlete preparing for a World Series game, a NBA Finals game, or a Super Bowl.  All of your preparation has been done during the semester, as long as you copiously took notes, did the assignments, attended class, and kept updating your outline…which, with the amount of money going to law school, I don’t understand how you don’t do that!  I am confident that I have put in the work throughout the semester to help me succeed, especially after completing and reviewing my outlines again before the final.

I take the day before my final, and the day of my final, off of work.  Usually the day before my final consists of getting up about the same time I get up for work, and revising/updating/reviewing my outline of the course the whole day.  I sprinkle in half-hour increments of relaxation, or working out, just to keep my mind fresh and not overloaded .  I stop around 6:00, and then relax the rest of the night, usually watching whatever sport is on, or Rocky, my favorite movie.  The day of my final, I will again review my outline, clean it up a little bit more, and print it out.  Around 1:00 or so, I stop and eat, and watch ESPN until about 3:30.  Then I hop on the El, and head down to school.  After the final, I bolt out of school as fast as I can so I don’t have to hear people saying, “What was the answer to blah, blah, blah…”, or, “What did you put for blah, blah, blah…”  What good is that doing for anybody???  You can’t change anything on the final, so just accept that you did as best as you possibly could, and gear up for the next one.  It’s like the mindset of a reliever, “Don’t let yesterday affect today.”  My first final this semester is Constitutional Law II on Tuesday, so time to start really buckling down.

Big things have been happening for our Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Society at John Marshall, and I will give updates on my next entry…you can also follow along here (although our Events section has not been updated yet – working on it).  Oh, and I had a couple tables reserved for my friends and I at Joe’s Bar on Weed Street in Chicago for the Mayweather-Mosley fight last weekend.  It’s a great place to reserve tables for a group of friends and watch a big fight, or any big game for that matter (good atmosphere, 4 huge projector screen TV’s plus HD TV’s all around three bars in the room we were in, had a waitress basically for our group and 4 others, and they had us in a roped off section so we weren’t jammed with all the other people there).  Nobody said that you can’t release some steam during finals preparation, especially when it’s still a couple weeks away from finals; in fact, I think it is a necessity to strike a balance during what can be a very stressful time.

Also, good luck to all of the athlete advocates and ballplayers out there hopeful for a call in a couple of weeks.  As I have said before, some of my buddies/ex-teammates have been drafted, and it was an exciting time for me, the one not even getting the call, so I could only imagine!  Oh, and Go Blackhawks!

The Minor Leagues: That Time of Year from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

We were shown this clip from the classic law school movie, The Paper Chase, during my orientation at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.  Before being accepted, many of us heard law school was “hell” and the professors were “hell’s hardest workers.”  Several students found this clip humorous and a wave of laughter erupted in the room.  One of the professors leading the orientation got up from his chair, and staring sternly at everyone laughing, walked to the podium.  My classmates’ laughter turned to slight chuckles (the professor is still staring, maybe he’s joking?), which turned to half-smiles (STILL staring, maybe I have something in my teeth?), which turned to those nervous, fake coughs people force when they want to cover up laughter (STILL STARING, he might actually throw a book at us now).  He reached the podium, and basically advised us to continue laughing now because fifteen to twenty percent of us will not be in this building next year, and if we don’t study twenty-five hours of the day, we are going to fall behind.  Hello, law school!

Thankfully, I took that professor’s words to heart and was able to be on the opposite end of the spectrum after my first year.  My name is Chris Scolire, and I am a 24 year-old 2L (second-year law school student), living in the bustling sports and entertainment city, Chicago.  I approached Darren about an idea for a potential column detailing my current life, which consists of reading/homework for class anytime of the day, working as a paralegal at a law firm, attending law school at night, and balancing that with my family, girlfriend, friends, social life, and breaking into the sports world.  I suppose I could also throw in balancing these with “El” train issues, but that itself would be an entirely separate column.

I want to write this column because I believe it will be interesting to show that however daunting, it is definitely possible and very rewarding to work with an intense load of full-time work and law school.  Maybe this column will calm people’s fears about going to law school, working, and making contacts in the sports world at the same time, or maybe it will discourage people (although I doubt this), but I hope readers find it helpful either way.  I also believe it will be interesting for established professionals who follow this site to read and comment on entries to help lead us young and passionate future professionals in the industry.

To give you a bit more information on myself, I am an evening student at John Marshall, meaning the typical three-year law school program is going to take me an additional year.  I have also applied for the joint J.D./L.L.M. degree in Intellectual Property Law at John Marshall, which would add an additional year.  I chose John Marshall because of their Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Society, their Intellectual Property program including the magnitude of I.P. classes they offer, and the fact that they had a reasonable evening program.  Before law school, I attended Carthage College, playing on their baseball team while majoring in Political Science with a minor in Communications, while also playing semi-professional baseball for the Addison Braves.  Some of my best friends were drafted; I heard their accounts of dealing with management and things their agents did for them that made their lives easier.  I saw how much they appreciated the little things their agent did for them, even just when an agent would pick up the phone when they called instead of talking to one of their secretaries every time.  I have worked and planned for several years to set a career path that will help me reach my ultimate goal of representing athletes: in high school, I started taking management and pre-law classes; in college, I worked at making contacts while playing baseball and enhancing my communication skills; and, I graduated college early to start making contacts in the city while attending law school and focusing on sports law, intellectual property rights, and counseling and negotiation.

I was recently selected President of the Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Society at John Marshall after serving as Treasurer.  I am working to get our organization’s name more recognition and our members, myself included, more opportunities to interact with sports agents/lawyers- not only in the Chicagoland area, but also across the country. Recently, we met with a sports attorney in Chicago who told us he would allow our organization to work on a case study with him this upcoming year.  This is something I particularly look forward to- getting a hands-on experience of what being a sports agent/attorney is like on a day-to-day basis.  I also have been in contact with a professor in the nationally renowned Sports Law program at Marquette Law School about advice on expanding our organization, and possibly meeting for functions with them in the future.

While I strive to develop the effectiveness of our organization, I also hope to guide our Society into helping others.  In addition to my board positions with the EMSL Society, I serve as the Chairman of the Volunteer Committee. This past holiday season I facilitated an extremely successful book drive with the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation, collecting well over 100 books for underprivileged and abused children in the Chicagoland area.  To be able to help children receive gifts for the holidays was an uplifting experience and I believe the contact I have made with this foundation will be extremely fulfilling.

I invite you to follow me as I work my way through law school and into the field, while maintaining strong relationships with my family and friends.  With finals coming up in a couple weeks and a busy season ahead, including one of my best friend’s wedding, Cubs season, Blackhawks/Bulls playoffs runs (hopefully), and concert season in Chicago, I will have much to share about the life of a busy, driven, young professional.  I will be writing entries as Darren deems appropriate. Thank you for your time and please feel free to comment: advice, tips, stories of your own, and what you would like me to talk about are all welcome.  One question I have is what classes (antitrust, business management, tax law, employment law, even real estate law?) do you think may be helpful for the future when representing athletes?

The Minor Leagues: Introduction from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Monday morning and afternoon was spent primarily on my computer. Over the previous couple of days, I had met a number of scouts at the Steel games and was fortunate enough to get some direct contact information from a few of them. I am meeting more and more people every single day, and as a person who’s not very good with names, I’ve relied heavily on my “MemoPad” in my Blackberry. Every time I walk away after meeting someone new, the first thing I like to do is grab my phone and plug in whatever details about the person I can remember. For the most part, I basically just like to jot down the names of the people, where they work out of, what leagues and regions they’re responsible for, and any other random relevant information that might have come up during the conversations. In some cases, though, when I’ve met a group of scouts from a single team, I can’t remember the names of everyone. Many NHL clubs have photos of their scouts listed, so at that point, at least I can go back and hopefully attach a name to the face. If you’re dealing with a team that doesn’t disclose much information on their scouting staff…well in that case, I’ll let you know the best solution when I figure it out myself.

That night, Kuch and Teddy wanted to go see a movie, and since I’d gotten my work done for the day, I thought it would be a nice way to relax for a bit. The amount of personal attention that a client wants from an agent generally varies on a case-by-case basis. In an industry like this, where trust is so vitally important, I prefer to spend more time with my clients in order to build a solid personal relationship as well. Teddy and Kuch are two great kids that seem to like having me around, so it’s been a very comfortable situation for me.

Last week, I got a work assignment from a Russian friend and former NHL’er, who’s currently skating in the KHL. This summer, he will be living here in Chicago and he needs to pack some size onto his 6’3”, 195lb. frame. He asked if I would mind checking a few places, and of course I told him that I’d be more than happy to help. A work associate recommended a facility not far from my office called The Academy of Human Performance, and so I set up a meeting with their managers for this past Wednesday. The guys over at the Academy are responsible for training some of the top college and professional athletes in the country including, among others, Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, and Tom Zbikowski. As a Notre Dame football fan, the plethora of Fighting Irish Alumni certainly gave me a solid first impression. The facility itself was fantastic, and the staff proved to be equally as impressive. With him, price isn’t an issue – he just wanted the best training he could get…and this place certainly fit the bill.

During our meeting, I threw out the idea of setting up a professional partnership between the facility and my company – specifically the Hockey Division. I mentioned how I’d eventually love to get all my hockey clients into Chicago to train for a few weeks at the end of each summer, just before players started reporting to their pre-season camps. It would give the kids an opportunity to get to know some of the other players we advise and ensure that they’d be in prime shape when they showed up for the first day of practice. The guys at the facility seemed to love the idea and we are going to see if we can start getting something like that set up for the Summer of 2011. As for this year, Kuchin’s really the only kid we’d probably send to a facility of this caliber.

Later that afternoon, I had one of those moments when everything just seemed to be falling into place. I received a call around 3pm from Chris (Sean’s father). He and a few other parents were trying to figure out where all their sons might end up playing in the 2010-11 season and he started to explain a few of the options he was considering. At one point during the conversation, he mentioned the fact that Sean had a friend playing for Shattuck. As you may remember from a few months ago, I recently met and had a couple of good talks with one of the Shattuck coaches. I told Chris that I’d give the guy a call and see whether he thought they’d have any room on their team next season. A lot of things would have to fall into place to get Sean playing for SSM next year, but the coaches there seemed to think he’d be a good fit. Really though, this was just a win-win situation for me. It gave me the opportunity to show Sean my connections within the sport, and at the same time, I was able to offer some value to the SSM program that they might not otherwise know about. As I said, things just once again seemed to be falling nicely into place.

My Thursday began early in the morning with another Skype conference with Andrey’s mother. I wanted to give her an update as to which NHL clubs I’d spoken with to this point and where I thought the interest level was. Things have been looking good lately and I know Kuchin’s mom appreciated me keeping her posted. I explained that this past weekend was going to be a busy one and that we should chat again sometime this week.

Before I continue with the details of our teleconference, I should back-track a bit and let you in on some information that I’ve been keeping out of my column. Ever since I started working with Andrey, another agent working with one of the larger NHL agencies, has been calling Kuchin and his family constantly. This guy apparently had told Andrey a while back that he wanted to help him with his hockey career. Long story short – the Kuchins began feeling as though they were being led on by this “agent” and that’s when they decided it would be a good idea to contact me. They asked me to follow up on some the promises that were being made and none of them seemed to have any substance behind them. Kuch liked what he saw from me, signed with my company, and I left the other guy a message letting him know that I, and my company, would be taking over from here. Unfortunately, the calls to his family continued. After another message and a conversation on the phone with him personally, I still wasn’t confident anything was going to change.

So…just as Andrey’s mother and I were about to say our “goodbyes” guess who called the Kuchin’s home??? Yeah…exactly. To be honest, I couldn’t believe this guy. I’d been trying to handle the situation civilly up to that point, but sooner or later, something’s gotta give. Knowing that him continuing to ignore my demands to stop harassing my client was a likely possibility, a few days before, I had printed up a couple copies of our firm’s “Cease and Desist” letters. I had addressed a copy to three different members of this guy’s firm, but I didn’t want to send them out unless it was necessary. Well that was my breaking point, and those letters were in the mail within the hour. I’m not really expecting much of a response back, but I’ll be ready if I get one.

Jump to Friday night – the real highlight of the week. The Team USA U18’s were in town to play the Steel, and that reason alone is enough to attract scouts from dozens of teams across North America. For anyone not familiar with the USHL, I’ll briefly explain how this works. The USHL is a Tier I Junior “A” league. Junior teams are comprised of players who are twenty years old or younger at the beginning of the season. USA Hockey, however, has a U18 team (players are eighteen or younger) that competes in the USHL. Since the Team USA players are competing against kids that are generally much older, it goes without saying that their squad is extremely talented and heavily scouted by NHL clubs. Last year alone, ten players from the USA squad were taken in the NHL Entry Draft. And while most scouts had their eyes glued to the red, white, and blue, I knew this would be a great opportunity for Kuch to shine…and he did just that.

With just over thirteen minutes to go in the first period, and the Steel already down 2-0, Andrey burst through the neutral zone, received a crisp head-man pass, and blew past the U.S. defensemen. As he went to make his move, a last-minute hook pulled him to the ice and all eyes in the rink flew towards the official positioned down low in the corner. Then came the signal hockey fans crave – penalty shot. While I knew Kuchin is one of the better shootout players in the league, I couldn’t help but be a little nervous. As he came bearing down on the net, he deked to his right, froze the tender, and sniped one in just off the near post. What can I say? The kid knows how to turn it on. It sure didn’t hurt that all this was going on at the same end where all the scouts had positioned themselves.

Besides his goal, Andrey had a solid first period, and at the first intermission, I knew that it was time for me to get to work. I began walking around the concourse and stopped to talk to a few NHL scouts I had become acquainted with the past couple weeks. I could see a few scouts from the Blackhawks sitting at a table, and that’s when I noticed two guys that I didn’t’ expect – Hawks GM Stan Bowman and Assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. Now these aren’t guys that I’d approach to talk about a client, but I’d been speaking with members of their scouting staff about Kuchin and thought this might be a good opportunity to introduce myself. Looking back, I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to walk over. Both Stan and Kevin turned out to be incredibly nice guys – two of the best I’ve met in hockey thus far (and I’ve met some really great people). They asked about Andrey, how I started working with him, and how things were progressing. Guys at their level generally don’t spend too much time worrying about scouting players who are slated to get drafted outside the top three or four rounds, and I let them know that I understood that. Nevertheless, I made sure to give both of them my card and let them know that they’re more than welcome to give me a call if they had any questions regarding Andrey.

I spent the rest of the game working my way through the seemingly endless line of scouts in attendance, and in all, I probably spoke with about 12-15 guys from six or seven different clubs. Generally, I don’t get much information from them (they know better than that), but all I really care about is getting information to them, and that’s what I’m always focused on.

Kuch ended up scoring again in the third period, but to be honest, I didn’t get to see much of the play in the 2^nd and 3^rd period. While a big part of my job involves scouting talent, there are certain times when that’s not what I’m in the rink for. This was one of those nights when I was there to sell. And thankfully, since Kuch was able to draw some attention away from the USA squad, my job that night was just a little bit easier.

Saturday evening’s game was fairly uneventful in comparison to the night before.  There were only a handful of NHL guys in attendance, and while I’d already spoken with those there, the lull in scouting action gave me an opportunity to continue building on my relationships with them. Two teams in particular have sent someone to almost every Steel game for the past couple weeks. Obviously they’re not looking solely at Andrey, but I know “he’s on their radar” and both these clubs have a number of late-round picks available this June. Needless to say, I’ve been working them pretty hard, and with only six games left in the Steel season, there’s no slowing down now.

As if the prior two days hadn’t already provided me with enough activity, with the Steel facing off in Green Bay at 3:00pm, after an early morning church service I decided to make the drive up. I ran into a few guys from two NHL clubs I’d been speaking with, and although I’d never met this particular crew, it was nice to continue extending my reach within each organization to help get Andrey the recognition he deserves.

The game itself turned out to be a thriller. While both teams looked fatigued after a long weekend of games, the boys battled hard and after sixty minutes of regulation and a five-minute overtime frame, it would all come down to a shootout. Who would’ve thought that the climax of the night would come before the first shooter would even reach the puck? Just as the Zambonis exited the ice, each goaltender skated out to their respective net. But to the surprise of everyone in the stands, including myself, they didn’t stay there long.  The two tenders took a stroll out to center ice, tossed off their helmets, and starting throwing haymakers like Tommy Hanrahan. If you’re confused by the reference, either see Slap Shot or you should probably stop following this column. Obviously I’m kidding…but no, seriously.

Four Gambler shooters were all it would take to snatch the extra point away from the Steel. With two cold goaltenders coming into a shootout, I was surprised there wasn’t more scoring but hey, I guess “that’s why they play the game!”

After a three-hour drive back to Chicago, it’s right back to work. This week I’ll be continuing to follow up on some leads with a couple different NHL clubs. There are still a few teams I haven’t run into where Kuch would be a great fit, so my primary goal for the next week or so is getting them in the stands. Hopefully, if they’re not at the game on Wednesday, the highlight DVD our company is mailing out within the next few days will get them there before the end of the season. And with that…it’s time to hit the showers.

Rookie Duties: Steeling the Spotlight from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

In the past year, I’ve gone through more changes in my life than I had in the previous five. Since last May alone, I got my dream job running the hockey division of a sports agency, graduated from law school, took and passed the Bar Exam, moved back to Chicago, opened up a law practice, started authoring this column, met some great people, and watched more hockey than most Americans do in their entire lives. My ride thus far has been nothing short of insane – spending most weekends in my car driving from one rink to the next, running on next to no sleep, and practically living off the revitalizing nectar of the coffee bean. To be honest, if I recapped everything that’s happened in my life since I started contributing to SAB, I’d be seriously testing your attention span as readers. So although I’ve always been willing to share details of my personal life and work outside the agency (i.e. my immigration legal work), I’m going to keep my highlight reel focused on the sports side of my life – in the end that’s what this column is all about. Alright, well get yo popcorn ready and here we go!

August 1, 2009. At this point, I have one client – Matt Szypura. I grew up playing club hockey with Matt and he had recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. While at UW, Matt had played four years of NCAA DIII Ice Hockey and was looking to take his game to the pro level. He knew I had gotten a job working with a large sports agency and asked if I could help. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started calling teams in the SPHL and CHL, but I knew getting him on a team wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Knowing most coaches aren’t going to know who Matt is, I start putting together a player resume for Matt. Basically all it contains is a profile picture, his career stats from Juniors and College, and a player biography – nothing too flashy but the final product is professional and gets coaches what they want without wasting their time.

September 26, 2009. After getting him into the Texas Brahmas (CHL) camp, Matt separates his shoulder. If I thought getting him a roster spot was tough now, how bad would it be now that he couldn’t skate for a few weeks?

October 28, 2009. Matt signs a Standard Player Contract (SPC) with the Chi-Town Shooters of the All-American Hockey League (AAHL). It’s not ultimately where we wanted him to be, but I knew we had to get Matt on the ice if he wanted a chance of playing at a higher level.

October 30, 2009. Matt plays in his firs professional game. Despite having a pretty good performance, Matt goes -1 and the Shooter lose to the Chicago Blaze 3-2.

November 7, 2009. While scouting at the Bauer International Invite here in Chicago, I have a great conversation with a coach of a team that has three players I’ve had my eye on. Sean (one of the kids I’m currently advising) is one of them, and the coach introduces us. We spent a few minutes talking but it was late and Sean’s team had an early game the next morning. I attended their game the next day and although they lost, I got a better opportunity to talk with some of the kids about who I am and what my company does.

December 13, 2009. My phone rings and it’s Matt – he’s getting called up to the Dayton Gems of the IHL. Finally, it seems as though his strong play on the ice is getting noticed.

December 27, 2009. While in Toronto for the annual Marlies Holiday Classic, I have a sit-down with Sean and Chris to discuss the future direction of Sean’s hockey career. Sean wants to play D1 college somewhere, so right off the bat we know there can’t be any agreements between myself and Sean’s family (remember those NCAA eligibility rules). I really like the way Sean plays and he seems like a great kid off the ice, so I let his family know that I’d be happy to help advise them through the recruiting process. Chris tells me that they like the dedication and drive that they’ve seen from me up to this point, and he gives me the green light to start distributing Sean’s statistics to U.S. college teams.

January 8-10, 2010. The International Silver Stick Finals are being played up in Port Huron, MI. Some of the rinks are over an hour away from one another, so I’ve been spending a lot of time in my car. I have some good meetings with a few parents and players about advising them, and by the end of the weekend it looks as though I’ve got a solid lead on a kid named Colin.

January 30-31, 2010. Shattuck St. Mary’s has sent their U16 team to the Chicago area to face off against both the Chicago Mission and Team Illinois. I get the chance to see some great games and players, and while I’d at one of the games, I meet Oren Koules – the then-owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. His son plays for SSM and he was able to find the time to fly up for the weekend games. We talked a few times over the weekend and he seems like a really nice guy – hopefully we’ll be crossing paths professionally in the not-too-distant future.

February 11, 2010. After hearing that a potential 2010 NHL Draft pick is interested in signing with me, we go out to dinner with his host family to discuss business. It seems as though things are going very well and that we’re on the same page with how and where we think his game should continue to develop. At this point I know I need to remain very visible and hope that my hard work will pay off.

February 12-14, 2010. Another weekend trip – this time to catch Matt’s game in Dayton and an ECHL game up in Toledo, OH. Not as much scouting for me as usual, but getting to see my buddy who coaches for the Toledo Walleye could be good for Matt and/or other future clients and their careers.

February 21, 2010. I receive the call I’ve been waiting for. It’s Brian’s host mother, Nicole, and after a week and a half of making phone calls and sending out emails to OHL and NHL clubs, Brian’s family is impressed with what they’ve seen from me and want me to represent their son. I already know that Brian is comfortable with me representing him, and in getting his parents on board, it looks like I just cleared the last major hurdle in getting him signed.

February 26, 2010. It’s been a busy couple weeks, but my company is extremely happy with the way the Hockey Division is coming together. While I’m in Indianapolis with three of my co-workers, the founder of our company lets me know that they’re promoting me…not a bad start to the weekend.

March 1, 2010. Brian officially signs with our firm. I should note that I’m still using a fake name, but I may be revealing his true identity soon – I just have to run it by Brian himself and get his permission.

March 5-7, 2010. This past weekend was yet another busy but productive one. After actually finding some time to spend socially Friday night, I drove up to Detroit where I’d be staying for the night. Unfortunately I was only able to get a couple hours of sleep and then it was up again early on Saturday – the qualifying rounds of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Championships were being played in Guelph, Ontario and I still had a three-hour drive ahead of me.

I arrived at the rink around 11am and they were just dropping the puck in the first game. Sean’s team skated away with an easy victory and after losing a game the day before, it seemed as though they’d be back on track to advance through the qualifiers. It was around 2pm EST, though, when I received an upsetting call from Nicole – she wanted to give me a heads up that an agent from another firm had been calling Brian and his family everyday. I knew that this guy had been calling last week, so just this past Wednesday I left him a voicemail letting him know that Brian had signed with us and asking him to stop contacting Brian and/or his family. Apparently he wasn’t getting the message (both literally and figuratively). I tracked down his cell number, but not surprisingly he didn’t answer that either. We’ll have to see how this develops over the next few days but needless to say I’m not happy about the situation.

With six months in the bag, who knows what’s in store for the next 26 weeks? Hopefully by the time I’m typing up my year in review, I’ll have Brian heading towards a successful NHL career with some of my other advisees not too far behind. If my work to this point as taught me anything, though, it’s that in this business, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.

Before I leave you for the week, I want to take a second to once again thank you all for your support over this time we’ve spent together. With my busy schedule and long weekends, sometimes the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down at my computer for a few hours to type this up. However, your thoughtful and encouraging posts, emails, and phone calls truly drive me to get this column to you week in and week out. While I certainly have gained a lot from this whole experience, “Rookie Duties” is really for you and I’m just happy to help in any way that I can. Please keep your comments and questions coming and I’ll continue to do my best to address them each week.

These next few days will be spent once again burning up the phone lines trying to get some leads on NHL scouts and their schedules. I’ve got some solid leads already but there’s still a handful of clubs that have been difficult to get a hold of. This upcoming weekend, at least one scout that I spoke with will be coming down to see Brian skate and we should have a few more in line for the next weekend as well. I hope you all have a great productive week ahead of you and until next Monday…it’s time to hit the showers.

Rookie Duties: First Intermission Report from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

While the Bauer Invite officially kicked off last Thursday night at Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, IL, I was out of town Wednesday and Thursday and didn’t get back to Chicago until around 8:40pm Friday night – and that’s where it all began. I knew the Soviet Wings 95s were going to be playing just miles from my home at 9:25 that night so I had to hustle. Fortunately, as with most tournaments, the rinks were running a little behind and so I was able to make it with time to spare. As the Zamboni was working its magic on the ice, I began to browse through the stats that I had printed off on both the Wings and their nemesis for the night, the Barrie (Ontario) Colts. I noticed that in the Wings’ first game of the tournament, a 2-1 victory, both their goals were scored by the same player – Artem Prokhorov. I decided to pay special attention to him and see if maybe the last game was a fluke – especially since when Artem stepped on the ice I noticed that he was also one of the smallest players on either team. After three periods and three goals for Prokhorov, I was convinced that this kid definitely had talent. Artem seemed to be a very fluid skater with good vision and excellent hands. There was one issue, however – his size. What makes things difficult, though, is that at the Bantam Minor level you’re dealing with 14-year-olds. At ages that young, you never know when a growth spurt could occur.

Besides age, though, a change in scenery could also make a huge difference in his muscle development. Over the past few years I’ve noticed a major flaw in the Russian amateur hockey system – lack of proper nutrition. In many cases it’s merely a monetary issue – most families in Russia can’t afford to buy the large amount of calories required by athletes competing at such a high level. And as for nutritional supplements such as protein powders and weight gainers that have become commonplace in North America  – I can assure you that for the most part such items are definitely not in the Russian family budget. I haven’t heard much of Russian amateur clubs providing nutritional assistance to their athletes, but it’s certainly something that, if properly implemented, could make a huge difference. It’s definitely one thing I plan on focusing on with all my Russian clients.

Anyway, I apologize for that digression. To get to my point, while I was impressed with some of what I saw from the young Russian squad, I needed to see more to be convinced. In addition, while the Wings handled the Colts by a final score of 6-3, there were a few players from Barrie that were very strong players and I made sure to make note of them.

So after a nice relaxing first night of play, Saturday morning started off with games at 7:00am at the Darien Sportsplex in Darien, IL. Knowing I needed to take advantage of having this much talent so close to my home, I managed to pull myself out of bed around 5:50am and head over to “the Plex” as we used to call it back when I was playing in these tournaments. I should note that one nice thing about the organization of the Bauer Invite was the selection of the facilities. Each age level had their games limited to basically two or three rinks which were close to each other in proximity. Thus, if you wanted to follow one age group, getting from game-to-game wasn’t too difficult. The 95s were playing in the three rinks closest to my home and the Wings were also a part of that bracket so I decided to follow them. Another factor in my choice to stick with the 95s was that I figured most of the scouts and agents would be lurking around the U16 games. For the most part, I heard that my theory was correct.

After watching my first game of the day, I wasn’t very impressed. Luckily, I decided to stick it out and see the next two teams. During that game I was able to notice three players on another team from Ontario that seemed to stand out among the rest of the kids on the ice. All three were forwards, but each had a slightly different style of play. While the flashiest of the bunch was also the smallest, I was extremely impressed by how “big” he actually played. At the same time, the other two were very solid physically and finished every check, but also had excellent vision on the ice. One final thing that really put it over the top with me was that all three players were gritty – each skated every stride like it was their last of the game. In my opinion, character can never be overlooked. If a kid’s constantly busting his butt, I’ll take him any day of the week over a slightly more skilled player that lacks a good work ethic. I glanced through my tournament program and noticed that the team’s next game wouldn’t be until just after 6:00pm back at Darien. I noted the three players in my notebook and highlighted their game on my schedule.

Next up – Soviet Wings vs. L.A. Selects at the International Ice Center in Romeoville, IL. The Selects are one of the top hockey programs in the States, so I didn’t’ want to miss this matchup. Physically, the Russians couldn’t hang with the bigger, stronger, and faster L.A. club. I was disappointed with the 6-0 score but really liked what I saw from a few of the Selects players. Before this tournament started, I decided that I wasn’t going to approach any players directly – I really felt that with kids this young, it just isn’t appropriate. Instead, I decided to find the head coach and chat it up with him for a bit. After a short talk, he let me know that he basically had an agent who he worked with and so he really couldn’t help me out. To be honest, I was just happy he decided to be upfront and not yank my chain around.

After the Wings/Selects, I headed back to Darien and met up with fellow SportsAgentBlog.com contributor and “Rookie Duties” follower Ryan Ballard. We grabbed a quick lunch and talked a little puck, but then it was right back to work scouting in the rinks.  We were able to catch some good games and noticed a few talented players but nothing that really jumped out at me.

From there it was over to my third rink of the day, the Rocket Ice Arena in Bolingbrook, IL, for the Wings second game of the day. This time they faced the Cleveland Barons, and while the score was much closer, the Wings once again looked flat and fell 3-2. Since registering six points in the Wings first two games, Prokhorov had been held to just one assist in the last two. In addition, with the Selects’ fourth straight win in Round Robin play, the Wings had been officially eliminated from competition.

By the time I got back to Darien for Ontario club’s second match of the day, I was completely exhausted but excited to catch the game I’d been waiting for all afternoon. Once again, the three boys I had noticed before played extremely well and their team was able to pull off a victory, which put them through to the quarterfinals. I had done a little small talking with some of the family members during the contest but I didn’t want to really flaunt the fact that I was an agent scouting their kids (although I’m sure it was fairly obvious) – parents can get protective when it comes to agents and rightfully so.

I knew I needed to talk with this coach at some point, and I decided to stake out the team’s locker room. As I caught him walking out, I first congratulated him on a solid win. Although he immediately seemed like a very approachable, friendly guy, he wasn’t extremely pleased with his team’s performance that night. Apparently the team had played games Wednesday and Thursday as well, bringing their total number of games played in the previous 72-hour period to six. When you include a nine-hour drive to Chicago in the same block of time, a little fatigue is certainly understandable. After talking hockey for a few minutes the coach asked which players I had been looking at. He agreed that the three I was most interested in were his three strongest players and told me I should see them skate when they aren’t as tired. I offered the coach my business card and he immediately asked for a few extras to give to some of his kids. Obviously I agreed and gave him all that I had left from the day. That’s when he did what I didn’t expect – he asked if I wanted to meet the three players I had been scouting. At first I was reluctant (or at least I wanted to appear that way) because I didn’t want to stress them out with anxiety the night before a big game. I was never a talented enough player to have agents coming after me at age 14, but I can imagine that while it may be exciting, the pressure that comes with the attention can be overwhelming. After the coach assured me that these kids would only be thrilled knowing that an agent had singled them out, I decided to talk with them for a bit. The coach pulled all three kids out of the locker room and I spoke with them as a group. I kept the conversation light and told them to just have fun and keep playing well. Their coach had suggested a few dates on their schedule that would be good for me to visit their town and watch them play at their home rink and so I also explained to the three boys that I’d probably be making a trip up to Ontario to see them play later in the season. While this is certainly true, I really just wanted them to know that their next game wouldn’t be a make or break performance. Like I said, the last thing I wanted to do was stress these kids out.

After talking a bit longer with the Canadian coach, I headed back to Romeoville to catch the rest of the games for the night. Nothing really blew me away, but I was still feeling pretty good about my encounter with the Ontario club just a few hours earlier. Their next game was scheduled for 7:00am Sunday, so it was going to be another early day. I spent Saturday night doing a little research on the Ontario boys and unfortunately didn’t get to sleep until about 1:30am.

On my way over to the Romeoville rink Sunday morning, I debated whether or not I should bring a “Box-o-Joe” from Dunkin’ Donuts to the rink. I’d been to enough tournaments to know the parents probably didn’t get to bed early Saturday night and it might be a nice way to get to know them. On the other hand, I was worried that buying coffee for everybody would be a little too much. In the end, I bought the coffee and shared it with a handful of the parents while others were a little hesitant. The coach also grabbed a cup while we talked briefly before the game. Although my contribution might not have gotten the reviews that I had hoped for, bringing it certainly didn’t seem to hurt and may have only made me stand out in the parents’ minds a little more.  In most cases that’s a good thing – a few of the parents did in fact thank me for my hospitality.

Unfortunately, while my three potential advisees had another strong outing, their team fell in the quarterfinals. After the game, I was able to talk a little more with the coach and parents and I even got the chance to watch some of the remaining games with two of the three boys before they headed home. While I didn’t want to ask for their contact information, I made sure they had my card and told them to call if they needed any help with anything. I also let them know that when I get my Ontario trip figured out, I’d get a hold of their coach and make sure the word gets passed along to them. It’s funny how I only had met the kids twice for a total of about 30 minutes but it was sad to see them go.

To top off the weekend, I caught a semifinal match of the 95 AAA Bracket (to that point I had been following only the 95 AAA Elites), and finally the 95 Elites Championship between the L.A. Selects and the Westchester (NY) Express. While the final game wasn’t exactly a nail-biter (L.A. won 7-1), I was able to meet with two other coaches and get some positive responses back from them. While most of these leads might not pan out to anything, getting our hockey division (and myself for that matter) exposure could never hurt.  You never know what breaks you might catch.

Rookie Duties: Taking the Next Step from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Mr. Smith is only one of the many amazing names that will be in Chicago at the conference. Some of the other great names include Jeff Gewirtz, Senior VP and General Counsel of NETS Basketball/ Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. Stephanie Varvadas, Managing Attorney for Nike Inc. Donald M. Fehr, Executive Director and General Counsel for the MLBPA, Richard J. Berthelsen, General Counsel for the NFLPA,  along with Professors Richard Karcher Director of Law and Professor Florida Coastal School of Law Center for Law and Sports, Vared Yakovee Professor at USC Gould School of Law and Editor-in-chief of Entertainement & Sports Lawyer, Gary R. Roberts from Indiana University School of Law and Gabe Feldman, Director of the Tulane Univesity Sports Law Program to name only a few.

35th Annual SLA Conference In Chicago Coming Soon from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules