Anthony Camardi

Anthony is a senior sport management major from Canaan, CT, who is interested in sport broadcasting; thus, he is looking forward to seeing the Olympics up close and personal to compare against what he previously has been only able to watch on TV.

Lauren Silvis

Lauren is a junior marketing communication major and is one of three students on the travel squad from Ellington, CT. She will serve as the group's chief of protocol while in the U.K., so it will be her job to ensure that there are no "international incidents" involving any delegation members.

Jason Titelbaum

Jason is a sophomore sport management major from Peabody, MA, whose desire is to see and understand what it takes to put on a major sporting event . . . like the Olympics. Memo to Jason: Wish granted.

Ryan Coseo

Ryan is a junior majoring in accounting, so I guess he will be in charge of the delegation's finances! Perhaps more importantly, though, this resident of Ballston Spa, NY -- just a stone's throw from the racetrack at Saratoga Springs -- is looking forward to seeing the Olympic equestrian events at Greenwich Park.

Dan Colton

Dan is a sophomore sport management major and is from the place in Massachusetts -- Plymouth -- where the Pilgrims landed in 1620 (and where there is a really famous rock to mark the spot). Attending an Olympic Games is on Dan's bucket list, so he will be able to check that one off as early as this summer.

RJ Suhre

RJ is a sophomore sport management major from West Harrison, NY, and among other things, he is passionate about baseball. Memo to RJ: FYI, baseball will not be on the program at the London Olympics.

Laura Madaio

Laura is a two-sport student-athlete (field hockey and softball) who could not otherwise travel abroad during the school year, so this junior sport management major from Paxton, MA, decided that going to the 2012 Olympics in London was her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Nick Varney

One of three delegation members from Ellington, CT, Nick is a sophomore sport management major who has a connection to the Olympics via his uncle, who has been a coach for the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton team.

Dennis Rinaldi

Dennis is a sophomore sport management major from West Harrison, NY, and is another enthusiastic conscript in the University's London 2012 delegation. So much so, in fact, that he has been assigned the task of leading our "down-time" social activities.

Maria Francese

A sophomore sport management major from Dalton, MA, Maria Francese hopes to witness a medal-award ceremony at the Olympics with a U.S. athlete atop the medal stand and the American flag being raised to the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Emily Savino

Emily plays basketball at the University and was pumped to learn that we have tickets to women's basketball at the Olympics. This junior sport management major is from Ellington, CT, and her summer highlight will be (wait for it) . . . becoming an aunt for the first time!

Lydia Lefevre

Lydia is a sophomore sport management major from New Hartford, CT, and seized this opportunity to travel to London because of her longstanding desire to visit Europe. Hopefully, the Olympics thing won't be getting in her way!

Jenn Mears

Jenn is a junior majoring in marketing communication, and together with Heather, forms the first sister combo in Seminar Abroad program history. All parents are due a huge debt of gratitude for their support -- financial and otherwise -- but the Mears are doubly due with two on board!

Heather Mears

Heather is a junior management major from Amherst, MA, and has been so anxious to begin her Olympic experience that we assigned her the task of keeping track of the countdown to the Opening Ceremonies (now, how cruel was that!) . . . which as of today is 135 days to go!

Marisa Harris

Marisa was the very first student to let me know that she was "definitely" interested in going to the London Olympics . . . even before the announcement of the University-sponsored trip was made! Marisa is a junior marketing communication major/MBA candidate from Wethersfield, CT.

Seminar Abroad 2012: London Olympics!

This summer, 15 Western New England University students will be going to the Games of the XXXth Olympiad, which is the formal reference for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Sport Management Professor and Department Chair, Dr. Sharianne Walker, will accompany me as lead faculty chaperone. Much more will be written in the weeks to come, but for now I'll start with successive posts of the Fab 15 roster "reveal."

Coming to Western New England University: NY Mets GM Sandy Alderson

In a popular speaker program at Western New England University called "For the Love of the Games," baseball's Mr. Fixit -- Sandy Alderson -- will talk about his career in professional baseball spanning 30 years with the Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, MLB, and now with the NY Mets.

The event on October 20, 2011, at 7 p.m. in Sleith Hall is free and open to the public.

Justine Siegal to Visit Western New England University

The first woman to pitch batting practice in the Major Leagues, Justine Siegal, will be the inaugural guest in a new program called "Brown Bag Lunch Series: People Who Inspire," at Western New England University on September 15, 2011. Ms. Siegal, founder and executive director of Baseball for All -- an advocacy group that promotes opportunities for girls and boys to play baseball -- will talk about her passion for the sport, her childhood dream of pitching for her hometown Cleveland Indians, and the lessons of perseverance that brought her to where she is today. Ms. Siegal also served as an assistant coach for the Springfield College baseball and first base coach for the Brockton Rox, an Independent League professional baseball team.

USA Soccer President to Speak at Western New England College March 31, 2011

Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation and president of The Kraft Group's MLS New England Revolution, will be the next guest speaker of the Center for International Sport Business signature program, "For the Love of the Games," at 7 p.m. on March 31, 2011, in Sleith Hall at Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Bob Paul Remembered

Within the past year, the Olympic Movement lost three giants who contributed mightily to the spirit and vitality of a global event that in their lifetimes was transformed from an itinerant adjunct to World's Fairs to the greatest sporting festival on the planet. While the passings of longtime IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch (89) in April 2010 and Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan (84) in December 2010 were marked with due acknowledgement, the death of Bob Paul (93) in January 2011 escaped most peoples' notice. Bob was the U.S. Olympic Committee's longtime aide-de-camp who served officially as press chief and unofficially as historian and archivist, in which role he was regarded as the "keeper of the flame." I first met Bob in 1987 when I was as an intern there and we reconnected three years later when I returned to the USOC in a full-time capacity, which was the beginning of a wonderful friendship that spanned more than two decades. Bob's encyclopedic knowledge about Olympic lore was epic as it was legendary, and everyone from journalists to sport officials to young interns came to be made aware of this fact. No question was too arcane for Bob Paul, and people were constantly amazed about how much he knew about events dating to the earliest Olympic Games, and in such exquisite detail, that they would be forgiven for thinking that Bob was present at the first Olympics of the modern era . . . in 1896! Those who knew Bob knew that he had a penchant -- an obsession, really -- with getting the facts right. And he made it his mission to ferret out and correct mistakes about sport history, especially when assertions of fact made their way into print. He penned hundreds, if not thousands, of letters to writers and editors of publications wide and varied, and he spared no one; not even the vaunted New York Times. He did this not to create an air of superiority; rather, to Bob, it was important for journalists to "get it right." Coincidentally, all three men -- Samaranch, Greenspan, and Paul -- attended the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, which would be their last; but on that occasion Bob Paul was the senior man, a still lucid and articulate gentleman of 92. A recipient of the "Olympic Order," the IOC's highest award, Bob hardly mentioned this fact as he was humble and honorable throughout his professional career as he was in life. And that is a good measure of a man by any standard.

Ironic Twist?

At the same time the sport of soccer is gaining some momentum in the USA with its national team advancing to the knockout stage (versus Ghana today at 2:30 p.m. ET) of the World Cup, the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, NY, is shuttering its operations at the 35,000 square-foot facility due to lack of funding.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575329002167594086.html?mod=WSJ_worldcup_left_TopStories

USA Fuels TV Ratings

The stateside following of Team USA at the 2010 World Cup has thus far amounted to a 68% increase in TV viewership over the event four years ago, according to Nielsen Media Research. Broadcasts of Team USA's group stage matches on ESPN, ABC, and Univision averaged 11.1 million viewers, with the USA-England match drawing 17.1 million.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/usa-ratings-up-big-in-2010-world-cup/

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/u-s-game-draws-big-numbers-for-espn/

One More Thing....

Sitting in the soccer stadiums of the World Cup when South Africa was playing, I was fascinated by the seeming spontaneity of the crowd singing an African hymn that was at once beautiful and spine chilling. It was about the only time the vuvuzelas fell silent, and it was an emotional experience to see tens of thousands South Africans -- black and white -- singing in unison and waving their vuvus to the rhythm of the chant-like beat. I was so moved by the haunting number that I asked the South African woman sitting next to me what it was called. She said "It's called Shosholoza, and we sing it at major sporting events like this." Subsequently, I learned that it means "go forward" and is a signature piece in Clint Eastwood's Invictus, by the a capella group, Overtone. You can listen to it here-->

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2ivbm_ykTRE&feature=related

Next Up: London 2012!

Golden Bear is all packed up and ready to go for the next one!

Post Script

I must say that I was impressed by how the students immersed themselves in the total experiences that this program offered, and I was proud of how they conducted themselves as global citizens and goodwill ambassadors for the USA. Perhaps for some of them, this was a transformational experience that will spur them to a different calling than they previously mapped out for themselves (possibly in an international environment). But I think for all of them, it was also an eye-opening -- and hopefully empowering -- experience that made them realize that they can make a difference in other peoples' lives, as they did with the children of Soweto or by the simple act of giving someone a friendship flag pin. For me, this is one of the enduring benefits and highlights of these seminars abroad. I would like to thank my traveling partner and faculty chaperone, Dr. Dan Covell, who conducted the spring course and summer seminar, and who kept everyone in line and on schedule. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the students' parents for their support of their children in making this trip a reality, and for their trust and confidence in Western New England College in allowing me to take them to a country beset by some pretty serious problems and challenges. If the students' testimonials are any indication, I think I can safely declare 'Seminar Abroad 2010: FIFA World Cup/South Africa' a complete success, and start counting the days until 'Seminar Abroad 2012: London Olympic Games.'

Closing Thoughts

While the World Cup organizing committee was seriously challenged when it came to security, crowd control, concessions, traffic flow, signage, electricity, etc., it was on balance a magnificent and overwhelmingly positive experience. I have never been to a sporting environment -- Olympic or otherwise -- that rocked with such human joy and excitement! And not only at the four venues we visited, but also in the streets, squares, parks, and just about everywhere we went . . . the South Africans' passion and energy were off the charts!

Dr. Dan Covell

"In one of the many articles I reviewed concerning the World Cup, I read that many supporters of soccer in the United States take pains to try and convince others of the merits of 'the beautiful game.' The author noted that sports become more popular when the games speak for themselves. Such was the case in South Africa. It was a chance for a soccer novice like me to see the game played at its highest level. Also, who knew that you could get frostbite in South Africa?"

Dave Quackenbush '13

"Our seats at the World Cup matches were to die for, the atmosphere in the stadiums was crazy, and the fans' passion was electric! The trip was awesome; never did we have a moment that was boring or lame!"

Kevin Shaker '11

"The entire trip was unbelieveable, but for me the most memorable experience was walking into Soccer City Stadium and seeing the passion of the South African people and feeling their pride in hosting Africa's first World Cup!"

Michael Jones '11

"The whole experience opened my eyes to a world I had not seen before and made me realize just how fortunate I am. It was amazing, and I am already planning my next trip!"

Nick Starr '13

"This program went above and beyond my expectations! I saw firsthand how sport can unify a country; it was unreal, inspiring, emotional, amazing, and spectacular!"

Spencer Severs '12

"This trip gave me the opportunity to experience a totally different culture that I would not otherwise have had a chance to see. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'm glad I took!"

Ally Ostler '12

"I learned a lot more about soccer and South Africa than I ever would have if I did not participate in this program. It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience!"

Sean Healey '12

"For me, the most memorable part of the trip was the visit to Soweto; the images of how some of the poorest South Africans live and their desperate conditions were compelling...but not in a good way."

Dan Gould '11

"Unbelieveable! I loved every aspect of this program -- the matches, the sightseeing, the people -- I enjoyed it all! And now I can say that I went to the World Cup and toured South Africa!"

Shawn Fitzpatrick '12

"This was unlike any other experience in my life. I may attend another World Cup, but I will never have an experience like this again!"

Dave Fitzpatrick '10

"I'll probably never be able to experience anything like this again, and in some respects it was life changing. Also, seeing the USA compete in the World Cup is something that I will remember forever!"

Tim Conrod '11

"In a word, it was a 'stellar' experience! It was the perfect mix of new friends, culture, and international sport. Now, I would love to go to an Olympic Games to complete the picture!"

Home Sweet Home!

Friday, June 18, 2010--JFK International Airport. After more than a day of flying and waiting in airports, we returned safely to the USA this morning, and as you can see in the photo, everyone is present and accounted for! Admittedly, we are a bit tired, but I think the smiles tell the story! (Photo courtesy of Dennis Jones)

Time to Say "Bye-Bye"

It's hard to believe, but a week has flown by like the speed of light, and even though we packed in AT LEAST two weeks' worth of events and activities -- and a lifetime of FUN -- over the past eight days, tomorrow will be our last day in South Africa. Tonight, we will attend our fourth and final soccer match; this one between South Africa and Uruguay right here in Pretoria. Thus, this probably will be the last post from South Africa. If I am able to, I will send a post during our brief stopover in Dubai early Friday morning, and then I will conclude this blog with some personal reflections next week. It's been an incredible experience, and as has been said innumerable times . . . this truly has been an opportunity of a lifetime!

Tale of the CISB ID

Every member of our delegation has an identification card as seen in this photo, and besides making us look like we're VIPs, it has important emergency information on the reverse side. Significantly, however, this ID card has come in handy on several occasions that our driver, Mpho, was trying to get us closer to the soccer stadium for drop offs and pick ups. Somehow, we managed to talk our way past police and event security by "flashing our badge" and getting to a preferred spot within a short walk to the stadium entrance! Shhh . . . keep this on the down and low as we don't want to let the cat out of the bag!

Western New England College at the World Cup

I was informed that there might be a couple blog readers stateside who are PROSPECTIVE Western New England College students. Here's a shout-out to those of you who might still be on the fence about coming to our wonderful institution. Think about it: right now, at this very moment, we are at the FIFA World Cup . . . and we would love to have you join us on our next Seminar Abroad program, to the 2012 Olympic Games in London or the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil! Join the Western New England College family and become a Golden Bear!

Down Up Front!

Sean Healey records some of action on the pitch at Soccer City in Johannesburg.

Three Muskateers

Nick Starr, Dave Quackenbush, and Michael Jones stop for a photo while on tour at the FIFA International Broadcast Center.

Golden Bear Daily--Final Edition!

When he's not touring, shopping, and attending soccer matches, Dave Quackenbush writes and publishes the Golden Bear Daily on location in South Africa! You can read all about it at www.wnecgoldenbears.blogspot.com

Blog Alert and Reminder

Here's Tim Conrad at the TUT internet cafe, blogging away like a maniac! You can read it at
http://wnecworldcup2010.blogspot.com/

Seminar Finale

Today, Dave Quackenbush and Kevin Shaker presented their topic at seminar on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Brazil, the only five-time (as of today) champion.

Banner Redux

Recall an earlier post wherein I lauded several of our crew for fighting through the crowded banner-hanging real estate at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. Well, here is another photo of what I was referring to! Virtually the entire stadium was ringed with English banners save for a couple American flags . . . one of which was hung by Western New England College students!

Institutional Exchange?

At our meeting with Tshwane University of Technology officials, preliminary discussions were had about a student and faculty exchange between Western New England College School of Business and TUT Division of Marketing, Logistics, and Sport Management in the near future.

Shown in photo from left are: Eric Rapuane, Will Grimes, Curt Hamakawa, Neels van Heerden, Dan Covell, Yvonne Joseph, and Shadrack Nthangeni.

Visit with TUT Students and Faculty

On June 15, we met with students and faculty of Tshwane University of Technology, who graciously hosted us to a delightful luncheon of traditional South African fare. Our students lauded the meeting as one of the highlights of the trip, because they had the chance to exchange information and ideas, and hold frank discussions with their South African college peers.