To be honest, I kind of did a lot of thinking in this offseason and I wanted to go back to playing golf because I loved playing golf again. It had nothing to do with not even wanting sponsorships or if there wasn’t availability there. I just used to love playing golf, I used to love going out to the course everyday and some of that stuff can kind of get in the way. This year, I wanted my focus to be golf, and golf only and just not even worry about that other stuff.

His father, Mike Moore, echoed his sons sentiment in a recent ESPN article, “It’s not about money — it wasn’t going into the year and it isn’t now,” Mike Moore added. “It’s about aligning himself with products that befit his game. … He has a way that he enjoys looking and a way that he enjoys playing the game. He’s a very unique individual and he feels it’s important to be true to himself.”  Unique is right. Moore, at various times throughout the season, has sported a headband, flashy v-neck sweaters with ties and puma shoes (just like a pair people where on the streets) but with golf spikes attached – all items purchased by Moore.

So was it worth it? Moore’s answer would be an astounding yes. Moore finished this season with personal bests of a 70.46 scoring average, just over $2.2 million in earnings and his first PGA Tour victory.  Furthermore, that $2.2 million in earnings is over $1 million more than he earned in his previous season on tour. So to all pf Moore’s naysayers who bashed his decision to forgo $300-500K, he quips “less is Moore.”

My colleague Douglas Sanders with The Sports Link introduced me to the new service, which strives to make it easier for athletes to connect with their fans by providing “text only once, but update fans everywhere” convenience.  If an athlete sends a text message to MogoTXT, MogoTXT can automatically forward that message to the athlete’s fans on MogoTXT, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and all other websites.

Terrell Owens, Shane Battier, Chris “Beanie” Wells, Santonio Holmes, Jordan Farmar, and even Mr. Holdout, Michael Crabtree, are on board, along with many more athletes and rising journalists.  Some entities use the service more than others.  T.O. is updating the world on his life almost every second of the day…Beanie Wells, not so much.

In addition to providing ease and convenience to athletes, MogoTXT is able to aggregate the fans of an athlete that are located on several different websites into a single large audience to enable the athlete to achieve critical mass much faster for purposes of fan relations, marketing, advertising, etc.  The theory is that the service will empower athletes and their agents to strike better endorsement deals by enhancing athletes’ reach and providing marketing data.

MogoTXT can also facilitate revenue generation for athletes and their selected charities by working with athletes and their agents to feature desirable ads and clickable links to additional content and ads at the bottom of the athletes’ text messages before these messages are displayed on MogoTXT and also distributed to fans on all of the major social networks.

And for the Yao Mings and Kobe Bryants with huge international appeal, MogoTXT can also translate the messages into foreign languages on a near real-time basis.

Best of all, the service is free for its clients and their fans.

One of the biggest weekends of the year in Gainesville, FL.  While Tennessee looked pretty weak against UCLA, the Gators should never take them for granted.  HHR looks at arguments for both teams.  Happy Rosh Hashanah to all my Jewish people!  Leigh Steinberg will be on the new Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California Wall of Fame.  How about my client, Pete Parise?  He has appeared in all 5 of the AAA Memphis Redbirds postseason games, racking up 4 saves in the process without giving up a single run.  I’m just a little excited about that.  Here are some stories I missed over the past week:

Baseball

• Another great piece by Doug Glanville.  He is turning out to be an excellent writer [Keeping It Real].

Football

• Tank Black tells his story for the first time [Tanked!].
• A football agent’s life, month by month [The agent cycle].
• Jake Delhomme isn’t losing his endorsement deals anytime soon [He can throw; can he pitch?].
• Put a client on a practice squad before sending him to the Browns? Harsh [Sources: Agents steering players away from Browns].
• The Patriots were the driving force behind the 5-year maximum length of rookie contracts drafted #17-32 overall [Patriots’ role in altered CBA ‘clarified’].

Entertainment

• He’s playing an agent on a show girls love [Interview with Robert Buckley, The New Ladies' Man on 'One Tree Hill'].

Sports Business

• From the geek at the sports network to the cool guy at the business network [Darren Rovell: CNBC’s Multi-Beat, Multi-Platform Game-Changer].

Braun is quickly becoming a star and a fan favorite since entering the league in 2007.  He won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2007, and came in third in the voting for the 2008 NL MVP.  Braun has kept his agent Nez Balelo (CAA) busy.  During the 2008 season Balelo negotiated an 8-year contract extension with the Brewers, allowing the potential superstar to earn between $45 and $51 million.  In addition to the recent AirTrain deal, Braun has been involved with several other off-the-field opportunities.  The slugger is currently working to develop his own line of aluminum bats, and is developing his own t-shirt line with Affliction Clothing, a company owned by a pair of his friends.  He also has an endorsement deal with Remington, which allowed him to shoot a viral video with supermodel Marisa Miller.

AirTran has recently been working to increase its presence in the Milwaukee region; General Mitchell International Airport has been made a focus city of the airline.  Part of their marketing push has been via the Milwaukee Brewers.  The company recently brokered a deal with Braun’s team for the naming rights for the right field picnic area.  This seating zone will be called the AirTran Airways Landing Zone for the 2009 season.  The airline also has endorsement deals with Donald Driver, Danica Patrick, and Matt Ryan.

Being a casualty of the economy myself, I know how hard it is to find a job, let alone one that pays well. While athletes are still making their millions, we may see in the near future that the size of the contracts decrease. Rule of thumb seems to be contracts get bigger and bigger, but that may all change. The next draft will be that of the NFL draft, and I believe those prospects entering the 2009 NFL draft and the agents representing them will soon realize the dollars may not be there like in the past.

In the ’08 draft we saw number 1 pick Jake Long sign a 5 year $57.75 million contract, making him the richest offensive lineman in the NFL. We also saw Matt Ryan sign a 6 year $72 million contract with $34.75 million in guarantees. Those numbers are staggering in any economy. With the Lions most likely landing the number one pick it will be very interesting what kind of money they are willing to spend. Let’s not forget that Detroit has been hit hard during this economic downturn.

When it’s signing endorsement deals, free agents, draft picks, or in the Yankees and Mets cases filling brand new stadiums, things as we know it in the sporting world has most certainly changed. It’s now just a matter of how long will this last.

Honestly, a sports agent’s work is really never complete. There are not enough hours in a single day to accomplish everything that a sports agent could potentially do for his clients. In today’s business, a sports agent has new duties, which include: find endorsements, organize charity events and set up meet-and-greets with potential love interests. Book travel arrangements, arrange financial services and put a spin on controversy. Besides finding the endorsements, the rest is done free of charge…talk about pro bono work! As an agent, you now must also wear some other hats, those being: life coach, business advisor and wish granter. If you are not willing to add these jobs to the traditional role of being an agent, then it is time to find the door. You are replaceable, bottom line. There are too many hungry, greedy, starving agents out there looking to poach your clients the second you slip. Do everything you can to meet what the profession currently demands of you and then think outside of the box to do even more.

For instance, Jason Peck brings up the idea of adding transparency to your business. Advantages include your potential clients knowing more about you at the outset, creation of trust, and others valuing your honesty. All three elements sound good to me. Peck gives a shout out to Dynasty Athlete Representation as being the only sports agency that he knows of that is in the business of blogging. And I will agree with Peck that most of my success thus far with Dynasty stems from the fact that I decided to start this blog and make my agency transparent. I have nothing to hide, and I believe that there is a lot of equity in this blog other than the money obtained from the sponsors located on the right sidebar of this page. This is my way of thinking outside of the box to bring a new element to the business of sports representation. It allows me to stay abreast of current sports agent issues, build connections with others in the industry, promote my clients, and much more. How will you shift the balance of power in this profession?

By the way, go ahead and friend Dynasty on MySpace.

If you are an aspiring sports agent, you constantly hear about how to break into the industry. While getting your foot in the door is the first step, what do you do after you accomplish that? There are plenty of challenges that will arise after you land your first gig and I believe this hypothetical will touch upon a few of them.

After months of cold-calling and introducing yourself to agents who act completely uninterested and emailing your resume out over and over again until your own spam filter tells you to stop, you land your first internship with a top sports agency. Of course, you’re thrilled beyond words and you feel like you’re on top of the world (as you should because breaking into the business is no easy task).

After you complete your unpaid summer internship, you receive an offer to become what amounts to a full-time unpaid intern. You are told that if you prove yourself over the next six months, you will be hired on as a full-time, paid staff person.

Similar to everybody else in the working world, you have to start at the bottom of the food chain. You have honed an incredible work ethic and undying passion for the sports representation business. You have always wanted to be a sports agent and you’re willing to do anything in your power to achieve that goal. While the offer to work full-time for free sounds almost inhumane, you shrug it off and find a second job as a bartender, which will boost your income just over the poverty line while you get your feet wet at the agency.

At the end of 6 months, you have performed well enough to be hired on as full-time paid employee. You treated everyday during your “probationary period” as if was going to be your last. Every morning you walked into the office, you felt like you had arrived for another interview. You put the pressure on yourself to perform and it paid dividends. Now you are eager to transition to your new position and actually get some respect around the office. Instead of being widely recognized for having the fastest 40 time to the coffee station, you now have the opportunity to get some sales and marketing experience. You are psyched and ready to get the ball rolling.

You begin your full-time position in the fall right before the football season starts. Perfect timing! You start off doing sponsorship calls to procure endorsement deals for clients and put some extra money in their pockets. The work is fun and you get an adrenaline rush every time you close the next deal. After nearly 3 years of working in the marketing division, the luster starts to wear off. You have learned just about everything there is to know about finding and securing sponsorship opportunities for athletes. While you enjoyed interacting with the athletes, going to parties and other functions, and just being in the game in general, the job has become monotonous and you are ready for a change. You believe that you have paid your dues and you don’t see why you can’t start training to become a sports agent.

The only problem is there is really no upward mobility. There are already enough established agents in the office and there isn’t any place for you. You aren’t sure if you want to leave, as you work for one of the top agencies. After all the hard work you have put in to establish yourself, you know if you leave, you will basically have to start all over again at another agency. You also thought about going out on your own, but you are reminded by the fact that for the last 3 years, you only made $30K a year and you have hardly any savings. The harsh reality sits in that starting your own agency isn’t a viable option. You have also thought about completely hanging it up.

You are in your mid-twenties and you want to start a family in the near future. Everybody keeps telling you that if you become an agent, you are always on the road and it’s very hard on the family life. At this point, you can stay put, go to another agency, or get out of the game.

What would you do…?

Please check out The Real Athlete Blog (Real Content for Real Athletes). It features a diverse group of qualified sports professionals who will share their insight on issues related to an athlete’s performance, everyday life, and post-athletic career. If you are interested in being an expert contributor, please send an email to Matt at matt@accessathletes.com.