Greg Crawford On Sports Biz +Small College Hoops

Greg Crawford covers D-1 college basketball for Comcast SportsNet, CSNNW.com (www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball, but he never forgets the "little guys" of college basketball and that is why each Sunday he covers small college hoops and another love of his, sports business.

ADOPTED TEAM---- Much the same as I do for CSNNW.com, where I have adopted the Cal State University Bakersfield Roadrunners for the entire season, in my blog here I have adopted the Oregon Tech Hustlin Owls.

The Owls did not have the best week in their storied basketball program, shocking they lost twice. Losses came at the hands of Southern Oregon (non-league game) and Lewis-Clark State. Not all of bad however, as they defeated a really good New Hope Christian team, 77-72.

But today, I would like to once again talk about the iconic Coach of the Owls, Danny Miles. First off, I really appreciate the fact that Coach Miles often writes to me on various subjects, way beyond basketball and I appreciate that very much. But more importantly, once again, I have to mention, why in the world is Danny Miles not in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

To everyone's credit, Coach Miles is in every other Hall of Fame you can think of, as it relates to his profession.  It truly is a crime that he is not in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. And in case you question my thoughts on this, just go ahead and look at who is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, that states my case the best.

The good part about all of this, I am sure the quality of person Coach Miles is and what you hear about him everyday, he probably could care less about this subject and never even thinks about it. That is why I, along with many other people need to keep reminding the basketball world and beyond, that it is a joke that Coach Miles is not in the Basketball Hall of Fame, the gold standard for basketball hall of fames.

And for people reading this, I have no horse in this race, except doing the RIGHT THING. Despite the fact that Coach Miles writes to me, we really are not friends, we have spoken personally twice. So in conclusion, I am a humble person, ask anyone that knows me, but also I am powerful figure in the world of basketball and I am not going to stop writing about or talking about this subject, until it happens.

Eastern Oregon---Don't look now, but Mountaineers are 12-0, coming off a great sweep this weekend of the Tacoma schools, members of the Northwest Conference, Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran. Both of those schools are so tough to beat on the road, so there is no disputing this is a wonderful Eastern Oregon team and I can hardly wait to see them in person.

It also once again proves how great the Cascade Collegiate Conference is, when it comes to men's basketball. Outstanding coaches, up and down, make for good basketball teams and that is what the CCS is all about, not to discount great student/athletes.

Multnomah University----Curt Bickley has his team playing their best basketball of the season as they go into a stretch this week that sees them play three consecutive nights, starting Thursday against Portland Bible, Central Bible and Valley Forge Christian. 

The Lions are exciting to watch, so get out there this week if you are in the Portland, Oregon. Game time each night is 7:00 pm

Clackamas CC Cougars---As I write this on Sunday, November 25th, after I am done, I will be heading over to watch the championship game of the CCC Cougars annual Thanksgiving women's tournament, which starts at 3:00. It should be a wild, high scoring affair, as the host Cougars take on Umpqua. Looking at what has happened so far, both teams easily could score in the 100s. I love up and down basketball, always have.

Pacific U (Forest Grove)---When Pacific University hired Tim Cleary to be their basketball coach in 2010, I said to myself, watch out, he will bring a winner to a school that for many years has not had good basketball.

My thoughts are proving out, as the Boxers just completed a sweep in Hawaii, over two tough opponents. Of course, it does not hurt that the Boxers have one of the most exciting players in the state of Oregon, no matter what the level, in Danny Brakebush, who is showing why many schools wanted the Central Catholic product to play for them.

Northwest Conference better watch out for Pacific, if they don't, well.......

In addition to his many duties bringing you news about basketball, Greg Crawford writes a Today's WORD and narrative each morning, to help people make their lives better personally and/or professionally. As of today, over 16,000 people receive Today's WORD. If you would like to get Today's WORD free of charge each morning, just email gregorycrawfordspeaks@gmail.com and put WORD in subject line.

Please follow Greg on twitter @wchoops and he will also respond to all questions and comments, you can reach him at either gregorycrawfordspeaks@gmail.com and crawscorner@gmail.com

Greg Crawford On Sports BIz + Small College Hoops

OIT----My adopted small college team for this season in Craw's Corner, the Oregon Tech Hustlin Owls, had the proverbial good and bad week.

Traveling to Reno, to play D-1 Nevada-Reno, OIT hung in the game almost all the way, finally losing by 11 points 86-75. This game was another snapshot of just how great college basketball is on all levels in the United States. Even though there are basically seven different levels in college basketball, it is fair to say on any given night, any team can beat their big brothers in men's basketball.

The Nevada-Reno game was an exhibition, so does not count on the win-loss record, but a tough loss in Rocklin, California on Saturday night did count. After winning on the opening night of the Willam Jessup tournament, beating the hosts, Saturday night was a different story as the Owls lost by nine points to Cal State-Maritime.

The Owls hope to get back on track Tuesday night the 13th, when they face Multnomah University of Portland, Oregon in Klamath Falls.

NWC---Sticking with the team of just how good college basketball is, Pacific University (Forest Grove) played a great game on Friday night against D-1 Portland State, losing by 19 points, but getting a great performance from Danny Brakebush, who will be one of the star's of the Northwest Conference this year.

It should also be noted, not only is Pacific greatly improved, but Linfield and Lewis Clark both have excellent teams, so get out and watch some basketball in the NWC.

Clackamas Community College---It will be a big week for Clif Wegner's Cougars, as they play two good opponents at home, one Friday night, against NW Indian School at 7:00 pm and then come back and play Sunday afternoon against Bellvue CC, at 2:00. These are must see games.

Multnomah---The Lions got back to winning on Saturday night, thrashing Reed College, 94-39. It is expected that a much more competitive game will take place Saturday afternoon, the 17th, when the Lions host Simpson 3:00 pm. Great chance to take the kids to watch some great basketball, with a tremendous family atmosphere.

Concordia----After a brutal opening to the season, playing Oregon, Portland State, U of Portland and Eastern Washingon, all D-1 teams, Concordia was able to defeat Multnomah this past Tuesday. They face a real challenge on Tuesday night the 13th, as New Hope Christian comes to the NE Portland campus. New Hope has one its best teams ever, so a good test for the CAVS.

Now for some sports business.

ESPN---For a network that many said in 1979 would only last for a couple of months, now into its 34th year, the latest estimate is that ESPN's value is 40 billion.

Owned by the Walt Disney company, it is estimated that 57 percent of Disney's operating budget comes from its cable companies, which of course is led by ESPN and a distant second Disney Channel.

Bottom Line---If you have an idea, never give up on it, until you have exhausted all possibilities.

The McCourts----Jamie and Frank McCourt use to own the Dodgers. The they got a divorce, Jamie received out of the settlement a paltry $131 million. Little did she know at the time the Dodgers would sell for $ 2 billion.

Now, we are all sure not out of greed, she wants the divorce settlement re-opened, says she got cheated and deserves more. Actually taking all the greed out of this, plus the sickness, she probably is right, when you just look at the financial aspects and the numbers.

Bottom Line----More to come on this one, more drama and hatred as well, sadly.

AEG----Were the braintrust at AEG, led by Phl Anshcutz happy to see Mike Brown go as the Lakers coach. Probably so, considering AEG owns a share of the Lakers, not to mention they own and operate the Staples Center. 

A failing Laker team is bad for business, in the still competitive LA sports market, let alone AEG is for sale at present, at an estimated price of asking price of 8-10 billion.

Bottom Line----The 10 billion is in play, with a successful Laker team.

This Blog is brought to you by Greg Crawford. Greg is the COO of Greg Crawford Speaks (http://gregcrawfordspeaks.weebly.com and Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management (http://kiyokawacrawfordsportsmanagement.weebly.com)

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Greg Crawford On Sports Biz + Small College Hoops

ATTENTION READERS: Starting and each and every Sunday, throughout the college basketball season, I am going to write the first half of my blog on sports business and the second half on small college basketball.

This blog is brought to you by Greg Crawford Speaks. To learn more about Greg Crawford Speaks, please go to http://gregcrawfordspeaks.weebly.com. We can help you become a better public speaker/presenter quite easily and at very reasonable fees. Also if you are looking for a great speaker for a lunch, dinner or conference, legendary voice of the Blazers Brian Wheeler is your person. His message is powerful, informative and will have you on the edge of your seat.

The Great Debate----With the so tragic and painful to many from the results of hurricane sandy (i do not capitalize hurricanes, they do not deserve it) of course it started the great debate, "When do we play and how will playing sports have either a negative or positive impact".

I will say after September 11th, sports seemed to do its small part to bring us together. It is a tough call, what to do in these situations and it is one time I think politicians get beat up unfairly. Of course the biggest sports play or not play with hurricane sandy was the playing of Nets, Knicks and running the NYC Marathon.

The debate is two fold, the phycological issue of a tragedy and the economic impact, which often means needing many city resources to spend money to make money. In this case, I would have played the all games, but would not have held the marathon, as it was cancelled correctly. Just too many needed resources in other parts of NYC were needed for clean-up and security, that would have had to be taken away for the marathon. Despite the fact it would have meant huge dollars for the city, plus many people working that will now not be, it appeared to be a correct move.

What do you think, would love your opinion in the comment section below, or you can always email me with your thoughts of any subject either to crawscorner@gmail.com or gregorycrawfordspeaks@gmail.com

James Dolan---Sticking with the tragedy in NYC, I hope this changes. The Dolan family, run mostly by James Dolan, that owns the world's greatest arena, at least they say so, Madison Square Garden and the second richest team in the NBA, the New York Knicks, estimated to be worth $800 million, issued a memo to all employees last week saying they would need to take a vacation day if they were not able to make it to the Knicks/Heat game on Friday night. Is it called insensitive.

Baseball Ratings----For my money, Fox does a terrific job with covering baseball and especially the World Series. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver have sustained the test of time, but what has not sustained the test of time is the TV ratings and number of viewers.

Do you realize that to this day, the highest number of viewers ever to watch a World Series game was in 1980, it was the sixth game of the World Series between the Phllies and Royals, that attracted an audience of 54.9 million.

Sadly, the opening game of this year's World Series, had an audience of 12.2 million. Even sadder, that game was only the fourth time in World Series history that two present or former Cy Young winners were the starting pitchers. Of course the match-up was Zito vs Verelander.

High School Football---You know it had to happen and will continue to happen. The Ohio High School Athletic Association was issued a restraining order this past week by Judge Richard McMongagle not to start the playoffs, because of a dispute from teams, as to if a forfeited win during the season, would actually count as a win for any team.

The Judge has not rescinded the order and the playoffs will continue and go on. Point here, rightly or wrongly, we have seen the courts involved in all areas of sports, because it is such a big business, but now it has reached the high school level.

NOW For Small College Hoops

OIT---Much like I have started doing in my blog for CSNNW.com, adopting a team to follow each year on the D-1 level, which is the Cal State U Bakersfield Roadrunners, in this blog each Sunday, I have now adopted the OIT Hustling Owls.

And why not, they are the defending NAIA Division 2 national champions and they have a coach in Danny Miles that it is a joke he is not in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. This is not to mention they have a legendary state of Oregon broadcaster in Bobby Thompson and the school has the best college president in the country in Chris Maples.

So each Sunday, starting next week watch for some great tidbits and info on OIT basketball.

Concordia---Hats off to Brad Barbarick, Concordia head coach for taking on as tough a pre-league schedule as an NAIA team and member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference will ever do. In order, after today, the Cavaliers will have played, U of Portland, Oregon, Portland State and Eastern Washington. Wow. And I think people on both sides of the ball this past Friday night would have to admit, Concordia should have beaten Portland State, losing by three 96-93, in probably one of the greatest games ever in Portland State's Stott Center.

Attendance---You are really missing something in California, Washington or Oregon, if you do not go out and see a small college basketball game. Whether it be D-3, NAIA, Community or Junior College, plus the great Christian leagues that have teams like Multnomah and Portland Bible that I watch often. The games are family friendly, great admission and concession prices, so just get out and go please.

Clif Wegner---Congrats to Clif, the award winning coach of Clackamas Community College Cougars men's team for putting on another great Clackamas Community College basketball jamboree this past Saturday. Great teams, lots of fun and what players they have in the NWAACC.

Not to mention you never know who you might see at Clackamas Community College. Saturday it was great to see Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Dave Husted and his wife Michelle, who will be following the Cougars all year long. Of course it is a complete joke Dave Husted is not in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, 21 careers wins, plus four US Opens.

For more Greg Crawford's blogs on CSNNW.com, please go to:

www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball-------Crawford's Court
www.csnnw.com/pages/golf------Crawford's Clubhouse

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Greg Crawford On Sports Biz, Edition 8

Into the 8th week of doing Greg Crawford On Sports Biz, really appreciate the many emails and feedback that you have sent to me. Plan to keep doing this as long as I can on either Saturday or Sunday for your reading enjoyment.

Please also do not forget to read Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball and Crawford's Clubhouse, www.csnnw.com/pages/golf each week at CSNNW.com. On to today's sports biz column.

More Sports---Several people with lots of money are starting to make waves that they want to start sports networks. Of course the leaders now are Comcast/NBC, Fox and ESPN. One of most vocal about having his own sports network is Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp and of course the person that stirs the pot greatly with all of his Fox networks.

One of the driving forces behind people creating new networks beyond the financial aspects is that there is not a hotter property in the world right now than the NFL and soon the NFL Thursday night package will be up for grabs at an estimated $1 billion per year. And to think that is just for eight games.

Maybe someday, someone will explain the fascination of the NFL, but you can't buck the trend. Fans are fanatic about it, fueled by fantasy football and gambling of course, two things gladly I am not involved with.

In reality for next 25 years, I see nothing stopping the NFL from becoming even more popular, with the exception of former players pursuing legal action in regards to concussion injuries which could have a huge impact on the financial picture of every team and it is something everyone should keep their eye on for the near future.

Monday Night---Speaking of the power of the NFL, nothing ever tops Monday night, not to mention the continued powerful force of the Green Bay Packer name. A perfect example of this is the Monday night game on September 24th. Per STUBHUB, the average ticket price for the Seattle Seahawks who are hosting the Packers is $67.26. For this games, the average price people are purchasing tickets on STUBHUB is $241.00, a mark up of 258 percent.

Monday night football and the Green Bay Packers cache continues and probably forever.

SEC---The most powerful college football conference, the Southeast Conference, is set to to debut their own network in 2014-15, which you have to bet will be modeled similar to the Big Ten and Pac-12 networks.

At present the SEC has TV deals with the CBS and ESPN which were set to end in 2024, but now have to be renegotiated because of expansion by the league of adding Texas A&M and Missouri. The current payout from these contracts is 55 million per year, divided equally among all schools, but that number is expected to jump close to 70 million in the next couple of years.

It is interesting to note that during the 2011-12 season, the average viewership for each SEC football game was 4.4 million, compared the average for the Pac-12, of 2.1 million. Surprisingly basketball viewership does really well in the SEC with an average viewership of 1.2 million per game, once again compared to the Pac-12 of 783.000 for the 2011-12 season. The Pac-12 number will obviously climb this season with the Pac-12 network coming onboard.

NHL---The impact of the lockout is wide and varied throughout the entire National Hockey League. Some teams are standing pat, not doing any layoffs and trying to use their employees with other properties that have ownership in varied other sports interests.

The same can't be said for every team, as a few teams have laid off employees, cut salaries for some staff, including coaches and senior executives by 50 percent and support staff by 15 percent.

Teams are also offering up to 5 percent interest for fans that have already paid their season ticket monies, rather than refunding, although every game missed will be refunded or credited by all teams in total.

It is safe to say that NO one wins in a lockout or strike, documentation and history can prove that over and over.

ATTENTION: If you are looking for a great speaker for lunch, dinner or conference engagement, please think about Portland Trail Blazer broadcaster Brian Wheeler. Brian has a powerful message to deliver and will have everyone on the edge of their seat. For more information, please visit, http://gregcrawfordspeaks.weebly.com

Emails on today's column to crawscorner@gmail.com or twitter @wchoops

Greg Crawford On Sports Biz, Edition 7

About Greg Crawford: Greg Crawford loves sports business, that is why he loves writing this column and most important wants readers to totally enjoy this.

Greg Crawford is the COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management, http://kiyokawacrawfordsportsmanagement.weebly.com , which also includes Greg Crawford Speaks, http://gregcrawfordspeaks.weebly.com.

Greg Crawford also writes three blogs each week for CSNNW.com, Crawford's Clubhouse, www.csnnw.com/pages/golf and Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball. Greg also works part time in the cancer unit of Adventist Medical Center.

Greg strongly encourages everyone to read, "Marketing Outrageously, Redux" by Jon Spoelstra, a book he reads at least once per month.

Boston Red Sox---It is rumored, but also denied by the Fenway Sports Management, owners of the Boston Red Sox that the team is for sale. Of course it is for sale, every sports property is for sale for the right price. And as we all know, sports teams are not valued realistically as they for the most part are emotional buys.

And since the Dodgers were purchased earlier this year for slightly over $2 Billion, you have to think the iconic Red Sox franchise could easily garner close to $1.5 billion.

For the real facts, Fenway Sports Group owns not only the Red Sox, but also the underperforming elite soccer franchise, Liverpool FC. In addtion, FSG owns 80 percent of the New England Sports Network, which the two largest franchises shown on the network are Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins.

With the dumping of major salaries last month by the Red Sox, a lackluster season, it might be time to buy for the right person. My question to you, would the Red Sox be a franchise that you would like to own? Obviously, the team does not want to continue a backward slide on the field, going back to the years when the Red Sox, were the Cubs of Boston.

My hunch here is the Red Sox will sell in the next six months to a group that has strong ties to New England sports.

Chris Hansen---Hansen, the well known fund manager who wants to bring both hockey and basketball back to Seattle, really has to be given some credit for the job he has done in navigating his plan through the politicos in Seattle and getting approval to build a brand new arena.

Now, he has to have teams to play in the a brand new, expensive building. It will not be hard for many hockey teams to move to Seattle. There are plenty who would want to make that move today. It will be a little more difficult for a basketball team, but someone will. Quietly, the NBA insiders will tell you, that Seattle is important to the NBA, which a team in Seattle ended in 2008 after a 41 year run, of course moving to Oklahoma City.

While the common thinking is that the Sacramento Kings will move to Seattle, do not be shocked if it is the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee by most accounts is the LEAST valuable franchise in the NBA, estimated to be worth somewhere around $300 million. The Bucks are owned by United States Senator Herb Kohl, who bought the franchise in 1985 for $85 million.

Of course at one point if Kohl sold the franchise, he would have faced serious political consequences from his constituents in Wisconsin. But that is more than likely a mute point at this time, as Kohl has announced he will not seek re-election.

If Hansen dangled even close to $400 million in front of the Bucks, I would think that they have to bite and bite in a hurry. One other important issue here is that the Bucks are on a year to year arena lease, making it even easier for them to leave. Right now I put Milwaukee way ahead of Sacramento for being the next Seattle............

Biz Bites----Of course it was a great move for Notre Dame to move to the ACC, for all sports except football and hockey. It will increase revenue greatly and in my mind will also help Notre Dame win an NCAA basketball championship in the next five years, write it down, it is going to happen.

Top sellling MLS jerseys, of course number one is David Beckham, followed by Thierry Henry, Landon Donovan and Fredy Montero. Represented there is LA, New York and Seattle. Have you ever bought an MLS jersey? In most cases they retail for $99.00, but do have higher prices in some markets.

Under the radar this week, was the resignation of MSG sports head Scott O'Neil. Scott gets a lot of credit for overseeing so far what has been a successful $1 billion renovation of Madison Square Garden, adding value to MSG properties through some heavy duty sponsorship agreements with companies like Chase and Coca Cola and bringing Knicks and Ranger tickets prices into the 21st century. Look for O'Neil to land a big time job soon, with an NBA team, he will be a much sought after executive.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops

Greg Crawford On Sports Biz, Edition 6

About the writer: Greg Crawford has been studying sports business ever since his father Don took him to play golf when he was 8 years old. Now 54 years later, he still loves sports business and studies it all the time. He is often asked to speak to groups on the subject in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Greg follows one and one person only in the world of sports business, Jon Spoelstra and he strongly encourages everyone to read Jon's best seller, "Marketing Outrageously, Redux".

But as Greg often says to groups, his most important work is done in his part time job in the cancer unit of Adventist Medical Center, in Portland, Oregon.

Greg is the the COO of http://kiyokawacrawfordsportsmanagement.weebly.com and also writes columns three times per week for Comcast SportsNet and CSNNW.com, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball and www.csnnw.com/pages/golf.

Greg always encourages people to comment on his writings and loves reader involvement, whether it be pro or con. Enjoy today's column please.

Stephen Strasburg---I really have no opinion on the decision to shut Stephen Strasburg down by the Washington Nationals as they prepare for the MLB play-offs. Strasburg is a super-star, has a bright future and is one person that seems to captivate everyone in the ballpark when he pitches. Of course the Nationals say they are looking to the future and want to keep the sometimes fragile right arm of Strasburg healthy. Actually only they know what should be done here, for my money.

But what I do know is the impact that Strasburg has on attendance when he pitches in the any major league ballpark. Since 2010, the average attendance when Strasburg has been the starter, is 33,214. That comes from 45 starts. Out of those 45 starts,  only one game attracted less than 30,000 people, that was in 2011 at Chase Field, home of the Diamonbacks when just over 29,000 showed up.

Surprisingly in his 25 starts since 2010 in his home ballpark, the average attendance for those starts has been 31,142, below his league wide average.

This we do know, Strasburg is important to major league baseball and its future, so everything possible should be done to keep him healthy.

Sad Attendance---How in the world can you have a first place ball club in major league baseball and your home attendance average is so pathetic. Such is the case of both the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, who both play in magnificent ballparks.

So far this year the Orioles have averaged 25,2000 and the Nationals 29,700. In a recent home series that the Orioles had with another first place team, the Chicago White Sox, the average attendance for the four game series was 11,000.

It is also fair to say, there are probably 10 cities in the United States, Canada or Mexico, who do not have major league baseball,  that would sell out every night with first place teams. 

Looking over all of these numbers, it now appears it is legitimate to at least say, did Major League Baseball make huge mistake putting the game back in Washington, D.C.? Not only is the Washington Nationals attendance figures a disgrace, they obviously have also saturated the baseball market in the D.C. /Baltimore corridor.

The Shoe Battle---Rumors are flying all over the place that Dwayne Wade will make a big move soon and leave Nike (Jordan Brand), for Chinese Sportswear Company Li-Ning.

The obvious here is that it would give Wade some separation from LeBron James, who has his own Nike brand and a chance to work with a fairly new company that is struggling at present.

Wade and James have become great friends, but this is just one more example of friendship in most cases means nothing when it comes to money and Wade is going to get a bundle for signing on with Li-Ning as its top athlete.

There is going to be many more sportswear companies coming out of China, who are going to go after American athletes as endorsers, but it is going to be a long, long time before anyone can challenge the superiority of Nike. Nike is so strong, they may never be over taken in the market place.

$$$$$$---It is an interesting year in Major League Baseball and especially when it comes to the business side. Only one team in the league's seven teams with the highest payrolls is guaranteed to make the playoffs, that is the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees with the highest payroll in Major League Baseball at $197 million per year, are for sure on the bubble to make the postseason. Other top seven payroll teams are getting ready for next season, including Philadelphia, LA Angels, Miami and Boston Red Sox.

Funny how sports works. The payroll of the contending Orioles, Rays and Oakland,  combined is only 3 million over the Yankees total of $197 million.

You make the call, perhaps it is people and not always money that can bring out a winner.

NFL---I was slightly amused this past week about a subject that is so not funny. The NFL will be donating $30 million to advance the cause of player safety, the largest single donation the league has ever made.

But the league can't get their act together to bring back their regular officials, which also heavily involves players safety and is the most single important issue that the GMs, coaches and players are complaining about with the substitute officials on the field.

It should also be noted something has to give here, some NFL sources I have been talking with have told me the league is so bitter over the attitude of the regular officials, they are convinced in their own mind they can go with the substitute officials for the rest of the season.

As much as I side with the regular officials, there has to be a point in time when they have to start worrying about are we going to have job in the future. The NFL under Goodell has been pretty heavy handed as is obvious, I do not see them budging much on this issue, unless about five games on one weekend could decided by poor officiating, as could happen. Never underestimate the opponent, otherwise you will come out on the short end of the business side.

crawscorner@gmail.com or twitter @wchoops

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Greg Crawford On Sports Biz, Edition 5

About Greg Crawford---At the age of 62, I am trying to slowly build my own Greg Crawford Brand. I write this sports business blog because I have loved sports business since I was 10 years old. As for building my own brand from scratch, in the last year:
1. I have become the COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management, working with my best friend Gordon Kiykokawa---http://kiyokawacrawfordsportsmanagement.weebly.com
2. I have started Greg Crawford Speaks and work closely with Portland Trail Blazer broadcaster Brian Wheeler, check us out, http://gregcrawfordspeaks.weebly.com and contact us please.
3. I write three times per week for CSNNW.com, Crawford's Clubhouse and Crawford's Court and alos appear 20 times per year on Comcast SportsNet TV.
4. But perhaps the most important thing I do without question is work part time in the cancer unit of Adventist Medical Center, a major hospital in Portland, Oregon.

So perhaps you can start over at 62 and I really appreciate you taking your time to read this blog.

Jon Spoelstra---Really appreciate the feedback from readers who have gone out and purchased "Marketing Outrageously, Redux" by Jon Spoesltra. It you want to improve your life either professionally or personally,  or both, reading this book is a must. Make the move today and buy it.

USC Trojans---Lots of people love to beat up on USC, but they probably might be laughing at all of us. Not only do they have a great chance to win the national championship in football this year, but for the record they are going to sellout every home game. Yes, pretty big, considering capacity of the Memorial Coliseum in LA is 93,607.

Of course the big draw is Oregon on November 3rd, but the Trojans have a following and they are putting up big bucks to watch the team.

It is also worth noting, as they openly admit to keep up with the Oregon Ducks, the Trojans have opened the $70 million John McKay Center, which is 11,000 square feet of meeting rooms, weight rooms, academic centers and a tribute to many past Trojan athletes.

USC has been playing football at Memorial Coliseum since 1923 and in talking with school officials their hope is to be there for the next 90 years, with no plans to build a new stadium. USC athletics is truly a brand of its own, no question about it, think what you want, but they are going to be a force in athletics for many years to come.

PAC-12 Network---In an open letter to all Pac-12 fans and beyond, the Pac-12 network has said to all its fans that if they want to watch the network and they have DirecTV, they should change providers.

Unless, I am totally being fooled and it is strictly a bargaining ploy, by saying this the Pac-12 network says they will not be able to work out an agreement with DirecTV anytime soon.

For this coming season alone, the Pac-12 network will be broadcasting 12 non-conference football games, 20 league games and 135 men's and women's basketball games.

Before leaving this item, the Pac-12 Network has hired Bill Walton to do analyst work on their basketball games, why in world are they not hiring Dan Belluomini, who is the best college basketball analyst in the country and also the true historian of west coast college basketball.

ESPN---I work for their major competitor, but it does not mean I can't admire and respect what ESPN does and has accomplished.

Since its first day in 1979, the network has grown as fast as any business in the United States. Revenues in 2012 are expected to exceed $8 billion (yes that is with a b) and the number of employees will exceed 7,000.

The Bristol Campus is located on 123 acres and currently has 18 buildings, with plenty of room for growth.

Andy Roddick---Naturally everyone should retire at the ripe old age of 31 years, so good for Andy Roddick. Speaking of building a brand, Roddick's earnings from tennis over his career are just over $20 miilion. His earnings from endorsement deals, triples that.

Roddick has a great career of winning events, 32 ATP World Tour Titles and 33 David Cup matches, but shockingly, he won only one Grand Slam event, the 2003 U.S. Open.

Bottom line here, you can build a brand by winning often, even if you don't win the big ones.

Nevada---Cary Groth, athletic director at Nevada since 2004 announced her retirement this week. Two candidates that I would hope Nevada would look at and people I have grown to respect greatly are Torre Chisholm, AD at Portland State University and Dave Haglund, Commissioner of the powerful GNAC Conference, both of these men are good people and without question great administrators.

Hopefully you can also read each week: www.csnnw.com/pages/golf and www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketall

Hopefully you can also listen every Sunday night on Blog Talk Radio: All times PDT.

East West Hoops Loop, Greg Crawford and Jovan Alford, 8:00 pm
CO Golf Show, Greg Crawford and David Ogrin, 9:00 pm
Jesse Henry BBQ Show, starring Jesse Henry, 10:00 pm

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please email me at crawscorner@gmail.com and please follow on twitter @wchoops