Being a huge fan of G-Men, I was on the edge of my seat the whole game. However, it was one play that showed why social media is a great companion for sports broadcasts. With the Giants leading 3-0 in the first quarter, Packers receiver Greg Jennings apparently fumbled the football after a catch. Game referee Bill Leavy went to the replay booth to review it. Leavy decided that it wasn’t a fumble, despite the game broadcast showing multiple angles that the ball was coming out.

Former Vice President of Officiating for the National Football League, Mike Pereira, is now Fox NFL rules analyst. His Twitter feed is a must-read during football games because of his first-hand knowledge of the rules and game. Here is what he said after the ruling on Twitter:

A short time later, with numerous tweets that continued to question the call, he tweeted this:

Within seconds, Pereira was on-air to discuss the call and controversy. The move perfectly shows how social media and sports have gelled. It enhances a game broadcast and sports reporting. And the NFL isn’t the only league to understand social media’s importance.

During the NBA lockout, the league established a Twitter account to counterbalance what the NBA Players’ Association was tweeting. In the NHL, all teams have their own Twitter account. The engagement by the New York Rangers’ Jim Cerny is really eye-opening and informative. The NHL Network even shows tweets from players on its bottom line ticker during highlight shows.

Major League Baseball isn’t left out. During the 2011 season, the league established the MLB Fan Cave, where two lucky fans lived and breathed baseball. The Twitter feed for the Cave is a little more newsy now. But, during the season, they tweet photos of player and celebrity appearances, as well as interact with fans.

From a PR perspective, it’s great for the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB to use social media to not only promote its respective games, it’s also great for growing the brand. That’s a winning game plan for any business, not just the sports business.

• 10 February 2012 : Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong
• 9 February 2012 : 5 Ways that Bloggers Are Like the Cool Kids in High School
• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
• 7 February 2012 : Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
• 6 February 2012 : Video: Job Interview Conversations That Should Be Had

Set the tone with your employees, teach them how to use it, and you’ll potentially have a quality brand ambassador.

His response to me was, “There’s no way in hell we’re letting our players on Twitter.”

And I thought, “Man, he doesn’t get it. He has no choice. His players will be on, and he’ll have lost the battle before it even begins.”

All of this brings us to the case of Rashard Mendenhall, the talented yet troubled Pittsburgh Steelers running back.

You see, like many of us, Mendenhall likes to use his Twitter account. And he seems like a genuine, thoughtful young guy, bent on not unfairly passing judgment on people, randomly speaking his mind like any other 24-year-old.

Clearly, however, no one ever counseled him as to how he should use it, as was evidenced by his Tweets following the death of Osama bin Laden. He wrote, “It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side . . .” He also tweeted of Sept. 11: “I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

Whether Mendenhall had a point or not, there’s just some subjects you don’t touch without damaging your personal brand — especially when they go against the grain of what 99.9 percent of Americans believe.

And so not only did he damage himself, but along with it, the brands he represents: the Steelers, the National Football League, and his principal endorser, Championathletic apparel.

The fallout was relatively predictable: a massive swath of national media coverage, widespread scorn, and of course, Champion dumped him.

Welcome to Tiger Woodsville Rashard! Champion said it was, “ending our business relationship” with Mendenhall since the athletic brand doesn’t think he “can appropriately represent Champion.”

In short, his personal brand became an unfortunate anchor weighing down the apparel line he was representing.

One would expect Mendenhall to react by being contrite, saying he learned from his situation and hoped to redeem himself, right? Naaah! He and his agent decided it made more sense to sue Champion for violating his contract.

“For Rashard, this really is not about the money,” Steven Thompson, an attorney representing Mendenhall, told the Associated Press. “This is about whether he can express his opinion.”

Now I’m no lawyer — although I did play one on “L.A. Law” opposite Corbin Bersen –  but when an employee says something stupid that embarrasses the brand the employee represents, said employer can relieve he or she of their duties in a heartbeat.

Sports law professor Jeffrey Standen seemed to agree, “An athlete contracts away his free speech rights in signing his endorsement deal.”

Ya think?

Look, Mendenhall has had a tough offseason due to no one other than himself. SteelersDepot, a popular fan blog, is even speculating he’ll soon be an ex-Steeler as the team’s owners, the Rooney family, has a low tolerance for embarrassing the team’s brand.

What Mendenhall’s agent needs to do is to wake up and consider the longterm personal brand of his client. He should be counseling his player is to step back and let this entire situation pass. Call it some toxicity relief. Just get on the field and have the best season of his young career.

To quote the late Issac Hayes’ background singers in the song “Shaft,” most important — for now at least — is for Mendenhall to just “Shut yo mouth!”

Aaron Perlut has spent 20 years in media and marketing – both on the corporate side and in agencies large and small. In 2009, he left Fleishman-Hillard to found St. Louis-based Elasticity, where his work focuses on helping companies manage reputation and market brands by “triangulating” integrated communications strategies between PR, social media, and search. He also generally sports a large mustache and consumes copious amounts of bacon. To learn more about him, visit GoElastic.com, AaronPerlut.com, or follow him @AaronPerlut.

Now I’ve been through my fair share of team building exercises over the years, from ropes courses to stupid scavenger hunts where you have to go into a diner and just say “burgermeat,” but recently I encountered the most amazing team building exercise – one that I will back 100% and recommend all agencies get involved in…Intramural Sports!

One random day, one of our new employees had an idea to start a Volleyball team. Volleyball, I know. He went to HR with the idea, got it sent to the CEO, got it approved and BAM! Team Volleyball was made. A skeptical e-mail got sent around asking for volunteers and surprisingly about 15 people signed up. Obviously we had some hidden skills that expand beyond landing feature stories in top tier national outlets and a team was born.

Okay so that’s the back story and this isn’t one of my clients or anything, but I definitely have to give the organization a shout out -NYC Social Sports Club. An organization run by some really cool people that just want to have a good time. They basically set up sporting events across the city, find some sponsors, refs, etc., and let the games begin. They map out schedules of games and such. It’s really amazing and very awesome.

Now I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not the most athletic person (even though I told my coworkers that I was awesome) and I’m definitely afraid of things flying at my face and breaking/scarring/scuffing something important. The first night we went we realized that our Thursday volleyball league was just a bunch of average Joes and Janes that wanted to have a good time too. Instant fun.

Of course there are always competitive people that can get sassy but regardless, NYC Social Sports Club sets you up with a bar to go to after the games – that typically end at 10. Great specials, great food, great time. Most of all, everyone still just wants to have fun. Drinking games, social atmosphere, networking, but most importantly team bonding. I found myself hanging out with coworkers I barely knew and never would go out with otherwise.

The organizers at the club definitely know how to party and they want everyone to have a good time  obviously, so points get awarded to the most social, spunky, and fun teams….regardless if they win or lose…My team’s defining moment of the season.

Win or Lose, it doesn’t really matter. The amount of exposure my company got from us being social, having fun with each other, can’t even be measured. Not only did I become better friends with coworkers, but we networked like crazy. Most of the teams are just groups of friends playing, but those groups have players in all different industries. Plus, drinking with the people that kicked your ass on the volleyball court afterward is pretty damn fun.

How awesome would it be to have Agency Wars on the court? How about Fox News vs. GMA vs. Agency? Umm, Team New York Times anyone? I honestly think that all of the members of media need to get involved in this just for the fun part alone! Check out NYC Social Sport’s Club’s Web site, and get a team going! Bring it up to your HR, your CEO, whatever!!! I honestly can’t see why a company won’t pay for their employees to do it, because its basically amazing PR for themselves…even if they lose every game.

Also, i’m pretty legit NYSSC Star of the week!!! Check it out  http://blog.nycsocialsportsclub.com/?p=19188

1. Know Your Milestones…
A brand can’t just go and hire any celebrity as their endorser, they have to be relevant. So who’s relevant at the Super Bowl? Well, this year it’s being played in Dallas so the marketability of former Cowboys greats like Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders, coach Jimmy Johnson, Moose Johnston and others increase. Also, you should know that the upcoming NFL Hall of Fame class is announced the day before the Super Bowl so any HOF shoo-ins make great spokespeople in and around Super Bowl Week– they’re already in town (save travel costs) and the media wants to talk to them. This year’s class may include Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders. The 2011 Super Bowl will also mark the 20^th Anniversary of one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever played, the (in)famous “Wide Right” game won by the New York Giants. We wouldn’t be surprised to see former quarterback Phil Simms and other Giants players popping up throughout Super Bowl Week (as well as appearances by Jim Kelly, the losing QB for the Buffalo Bills in that game). Also, the game serves as the 25^th Anniversary of the Chicago Bears famous Super Bowl win (MVP of that game was Richard Dent).

2. Scheduling…
It’s great to have a relevant athlete/celebrity endorser, but if they’re doing media and PR for multiple brands it can take away from your brand’s message. Some talent are able to book endless interviews even on back-to-back days, but brands need to be careful so they do not dilute your messaging. If your spokesperson is plugging multiple brands during the week, make sure your “media  day” is first to ensure your brand gets coverage and is not mistaken for another program. Add “media exclusivity” language in your contracts for protection. Also, consider using the talent on Monday after the Game when everyone is tuning in to listen to recaps (this day is underused by brands).

2a. Scheduling II…
The Super Bowl media locations are spread out this year. The media center is in downtown Dallas and the ESPN compound is in Fort Worth. If you have limited time with your spokesperson, make sure to lump in-town interviews together based on location.

3. Marketing for a Cause…
One thing we’ve noticed during Super Bowl Week is how many brands are now aligning themselves with causes or some kind of social responsibility initiative. It’s been truly amazing to see the brand messaging take a backseat to the cause messaging. We see it a lot with alcohol companies (currently, the messaging for Crown Royal & former Dallas Cowboys Coach & FOX Analyst Jimmy Johnson). Expect to see it with beer companies and consumer packaged goods companies at the Game too.

4. Spread The Word…
We’ve been saying this for a while now, but let us say it again, social media is a great marketing tool for celebrity-based programs. It’s cheap, it’s quick and it’s engaging. Be sure to enlist talent who has significant social media assets. Below is a sampling of athletes, coaches and broadcasters relevant to the Super Bowl space that engage with twitter:

• Mark Sanchez (Mark_Sanchez): 250,000+ followers
• Chad Ochocinco (Ochocinco): 1,460,000+ followers
• Troy Aikman (Troy_Aikman): 425,000+ followers
• Emmitt Smith (EmmittSmith22): 34,000+ followers
• Herm Edwards (HermEdwardsESPN): 22,000+ followers
• Trey Wingo (wingoz): 379,000+ followers
• Mark Schlereth (markschlereth): 58,000+ followers
• Deion Sanders (DeionSanders): 50,000+ followers
• Adam Schefter (AdamSchefter): 350,000+ followers
• Nick Mangold (nickmangold): 41,000+ followers
• Kurt Warner (kurt13warner): 79,000+ followers
• Terrell Owens (terrellowens): 651,000+ followers
• Peter King (SI_PeterKing): 464,000+ followers
• Michael Strahan (michaelstrahan): 467,000+ followers
• Drew Brees (drewbrees): 316,000+ followers

5. Pay For Value…
You do not need to overpay for talent at the Super Bowl. The difference between A–, B– and C–list celebrities are minimized because of the attention and willingness of the media to have all the athletes and celebrities on their air. Brands still need to hire the best level talent that your budget affords but you do not need to spend extra during this week.

Enjoy the “Big Game”!

David Schwab is the managing director of Octagon First Call, a company that consults brands and their marketing agencies on the best ways to use celebrity/athletes in marketing campaigns. For more information, check out www.celebrityacquisition.com, david.schwab@octagon.com or @david_schwab.

GRAND OPENING of the PRBC’s Sports PR Hall of Fame!  Grab a Danish and some orange juice, we’re about to get underway!

At the PRBC Sports PR Hall of Fame, we honor people from the sports world that have effectively mastered the art of public relations, for better or for worse.  This Hall encompasses athletes, managers, owners and even fans.  Nobody is off-limits, as long as they are linked to sports.

When deciding who should be included in the inaugural class, many factors were considered. We won’t go into detail about them here because…well…we won’t.

At it’s core, PR is about image.  And your image is defined, in large part, by your words.  So, we are proud to induct the following athletes into our “One-Liner” wing!

Michael Jordan – No other athlete before or since has crossed-over into mainstream pop culture quite like MJ.  The North Carolina native was asked to support civil rights activist Harvey Gantt in Gantt’s Democratic Senate campaign against Jesse Helms.  Jordan declined, using the greatest one-liner in sports sponsorship history, one so telling about his PR positioning that it is the first one-liner inducted into the Hall of Fame: “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”

Bill Shankly – PR is about helping the public see the importance of your client or event – or even your sport as a whole.  Then great British soccer coach Bill Shankly is easily our first-ever “Hyper-Hyperbole” inductee, thanks to one of the greatest quotations in all of sports, one that enrages and engages the public: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude; I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

Muhammad Ali – Nobody convinced more people to buy a ticket to a boxing match than Muhammad Ali.  In his fighting heyday, his interviews were as infamous as the beatings he dished out on opponents. He loved to draw attention to himself, which only put more attention on his bouts, which people paid good money to see.  Instead of one quote, here are four from The Greatest:

“[Joe] Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wild Life.”

“I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”

“If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.”

“It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.”

Thank you for attending this morning’s induction ceremony, and congratulations to these three athletes who mastered the PR one-liner.  Come back soon for our next round of inductees!

Oh, and before you leave, tell us what other sports figures’ one-liners belong in the PRBC Sports PR Hall of Fame?

• 10 February 2012 : Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong
• 9 February 2012 : 5 Ways that Bloggers Are Like the Cool Kids in High School
• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
• 7 February 2012 : Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
• 6 February 2012 : Video: Job Interview Conversations That Should Be Had

(Note: Marie and I know taking on the role as captain isn’t all rainbows and unicorns and we needed someone to play devil’s advocate. In true PRBC fashion, we turned to our resident devil, Cog, and asked if he would put together why, although our traits are important, it’s not that easy. You can see that post here)

A team captain needs to:

Be loyal. What is said amongst the team, stays amongst the team. Think of Robert De Niro in “Meet in the Parents” and the circle of trust. Players need to have confidence that in addition to their voice being heard, their captain will go up to bat for them when the time is needed.  If the team’s wrong wrong, there needs to be trust that the captain will explain why and how the situation can be handled differently to effectively move on.

Be patient and understand the players. Similar to sports teams, each employee takes on a certain role within the team. There will be extroverts/introverts, clowns/dictators etc. It is up to the team captain to understand what motivates each individual to nip problems in the butt. Leader needs to know each individual’s strengths and weaknesses in order to use them to their best ability. Pair up the employee that thinks outside the box but has bad grammar with an employee who’s straight laced and sleeps with the AP style book .

Know how to motivate, not deflate. Effective leadership is a tricky thing. Leaders have a job to do and that’s to lead, but one has to be careful to not deflate your entire staff’s motivation in the process. When some leaders get frustrated they take the doomsday approach – “the whole world is going to end if you don’t do this.” One might see this as an effective technique, but it also has the potential to backfire. Look, your staff probably knows when something is important, but emphasizing that there’s no hope can lead to hopelessness. If your employees are under the impression that you’ve given up, then what is their motivation?

Never point the finger. As a leader if you are angry about an issue, your first response might be blasting your staff as a whole, which sometimes can include finger-pointing of specific individuals to the masses. As much as you might be tempted to single out certain people, it’s better to deal with them on a one-on-one basis. As an employee, when your manager lets you know you’ve done something wrong – that can be a hard pill to swallow in the first place. If that same person is scolded in front of his/her other colleagues – that will cause unnecessary tension and embarrassment.

These are traits that we believe are vital for any captain to know. What would you add?

• 10 February 2012 : Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong
• 9 February 2012 : 5 Ways that Bloggers Are Like the Cool Kids in High School
• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
• 7 February 2012 : Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
• 6 February 2012 : Video: Job Interview Conversations That Should Be Had

How did you become the PA for ESPN’s Mike and Mike?

First, I got the job after applying for an internship in the “program integration” department. I had no idea what “program integration” was, but I wanted to work at ESPN my whole life, so I read the description and applied. I didn’t get it, but my resume was forwarded to the radio department because of all my experience with radio at college. Months later I went to a job fair to try and introduce myself to as many people as possible. I ended up meeting a program director and was hired as the intern in the fall of 2004. From there I worked just about every waking hour doing any and everything they asked me to. I was hired as a part-time employee at the end of my internship, and became full time about two years later.

After talking with Rob about his daily tasks and getting an inside look at Mike and Mike we felt it would be more beneficial to really just get a broken down version of his day and the life of radio.

3:00am
I sneak out of the bedroom and immediately turn on ESPNews. I have to go to sleep by 8 or 9 PM every night, so it’s important that I catch up on all the sports that started after my head hit the pillow.With the TV on in the background, I log in to my work desktop and go through emails. I get about 100 – 150 emails a day, so I like to go through them before I get to the office. If I don’t, I’ll waste between 30-45 minutes just reading them all. Also, I start the “Headlines” packet. The packet is a streamlined version of all the research notes and story summaries that we get. I skim through the AP newswires and add stories I think we’ll talk about, and eliminate all the stuff I know we won’t mention. That gets sent out to Mike & Mike, as well as many other people at ESPN (including TV anchors).

4:00am
By this time the headline packet is usually done, leaving me 20 minutes to shower and get dressed (not to mention breakfast, if I’m lucky). Clothes are picked out the night before and in the living room. This awards me more sleep and I can get dressed without waking up my wife. (Note: Men, you should write that down). On the way to work, I listen to ESPNews again on my satellite radio, just to be sure I didn’t miss anything. As long as it hasn’t snowed, I can get to work by 4:45 AM. If it snows, the whole day starts earlier than 3 o’clock. No one plows at 4:30 in the morning. Ever.

4:45am
Once at work it’s my job to get the control room ready to go on the air. Working with the TV crew, I test the microphones and get my commercial playlist ready to go. Once the show starts, I am the last line of defense before the sound goes through your speakers. Almost all of the sound that is heard on the show is played by me. Things like rejoin music and sound effects are all fired by me from the control room. Greeny does have his own sound board that he uses, but that’s mostly for cuts from players, coaches, etc. I have control of basically everything from the control board in front of me. Throughout the show, I send story ideas to the staff, and keep track of all the billboards that are read. If there’s a big story and the Mikes are going to be on Good Morning America, I talk with their producers in New York and coordinate the things with our TV staff as well.

10:00am
After the show, Liam, the producer, and I assemble all the liners and other post-show production that needs to get done. We sit down with the Mikes and record all of that stuff. I send it out to various affiliate radio stations later in the day. We also have a post-show meeting with the radio and TV staff where we talk about that day’s show, and plan the following day.

11:00am – 2:oopm
The after show meeting usually ends around 11 AM every day. After that, I create the promos for the next day’s show, as well as those for our owned and operated stations. Once that’s finished, I meet with Liam to discuss what tasks need to be completed for the next day’s show and we go over guest ideas. Depending on which one of us has the better relationship with the guest, we’ll try and find contact information to get them on. If there are any new songs or drops that we need, I’ll find those and load them into our database. If I sneak a lunch in there somewhere, I can usually be out of the office by 1 or 2 PM.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

What is your favorite experience, so far, working at ESPN Radio?

My favorite memory is watching the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills during a break. I was working on GameNight at the time, but I remember the entire staff just sitting there in awe and giving our take. For a second, I thought, “Wow, I’m getting paid to do this.” Then I looked at the clock, yelled, “Here we go,” and we were back on the air. The host was saying exactly what we just talked about. For a 19 year old kid, that was pretty cool.

What do you love most about working at ESPN Radio?

What I love most about working at ESPN Radio (and especially Mike & Mike) is basically having a direct line to the most powerful people in sports. All the commissioners listen every day, as well as numerous players, coaches, and agents. If I say something to Greeny and Golic and they use it on the air, it’s basically like I’m getting a chance to tell the most powerful people in sports what I think. Can’t beat that!

In addition, Greeny and Golic are great to work for. They really allow the entire production staff to offer their ideas and feedback. I can’t imagine two bigger hosts who are easier to work with.

Rob Guerrera is a 25 year old production assistant for ESPN Radio. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Quinnipiac University in 2006, and has been at ESPN since the fall of 2004. He also writes the blog “Stats Don’t Lie” where he brings his “realistic” view on all things sports from Mike & Mike in the Morning. Rob lives in Hamden, CT with his beautiful and very understanding wife, Erin

As always, if you have any additional questions/comments for Rob post them below and we’ll see if he can spare a few more minutes for some answers.

• 10 February 2012 : Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong
• 9 February 2012 : 5 Ways that Bloggers Are Like the Cool Kids in High School
• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
• 7 February 2012 : Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
• 6 February 2012 : Video: Job Interview Conversations That Should Be Had

Oh sure, we’re typically a hyper bunch, a bit aggressive, too, and maybe a little paranoid that we’re missing out on the next big thing that we should be getting our clients or organizations into. But for the most part, as a whole, communications professionals come from vastly disparate educational and professional backgrounds, and that, to me, is what makes this business interesting.

I know terrific comms people who, in a former life, were lawyers, teachers, ad men/women and a whole slew of other vocations, and had little to no formal education and maybe even training in this business when they first got into it. And they are thriving in their current positions and loving every minute of it.

I also know people like my friend Kate, who has an amazing educational background in communications from a well-respected university that has prepared her for what is already a great career in this business. And then there’s my good buddy Jeff Esposito, who like me, came from the wide world of sports, and spent years pulling out gems of random information from hundreds of pages of stats, creating cool promotions and arguing with coaches after the 10^th loss in a row to just do one interview with the media. I’ve been there, and you better believe it prepared me for what I’m doing now.

That doesn’t mean that Jeff and I are any less qualified to be great professionals in PR as anyone else, nor does it make us any better because we come from outside professions. It just makes us professionals, and I know we both have to work our asses off to make up for our lack of formal education in this business, and I think we’re both fine with that.

My point to all of this is that in this recessionary economy, when we are seeing more and more people from professions and backgrounds other than communications and PR, we shouldn’t be the profession that is so quick to jump down the throats of those who are looking for something more enjoyable and fulfilling in their careers. We should embrace this, as it means that the communications profession is a growing, vibrant and highly-respected profession.

IMO: It takes all types to be a successful communicator. Some are bold and brash. Others are quiet and reflective. And still some are a mix of the two. Each can be successful in their own way. And as long as you have a bit of wisdom, a lot of patience and a major drive, a lot of different people from various backgrounds can be successful communicators.

And that’s something we can all be proud of. So what is your background story? How did you finally become a communicator? Me? I have an undergrad degree in exercise science; a master’s in sport management and spent four years working in collegiate athletics media relations before switching over to more traditional PR.

What’s your story?

• 10 February 2012 : Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong
• 9 February 2012 : 5 Ways that Bloggers Are Like the Cool Kids in High School
• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
• 7 February 2012 : Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
• 6 February 2012 : Video: Job Interview Conversations That Should Be Had

These stars win championships (or compete for them every year), donate money, work in the community, sponsor brands – they do everything heroes should do.

Heck, Drew Brees has helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with time, effort and money – and just last night brought the Super Bowl trophy to his adopted hometown. It didn’t complete the economic and social recovery, but it gave the city something wonderful to rally around.

But you know what?

Villains are much more intriguing than heroes.

Tiger Woods dominated the sports pages for over a decade for winning tournament after tournament after tournament – in dominating fashion, no less. But after salacious details of his personal life leaked out, he became a news and entertainment story, as well.

Boxers like Lennox Lewis ruled over their sport for years, but nobody ever garnered the attention of powerhouse “bad boy” Mike Tyson. Even after serving jail time for a rape conviction, the public could not get enough of him, in and out of the ring.

Exhibit A:

Enough said.

A quirky all-star who does a “heel turn,” to borrow from professional wrestling (when a good guy becomes a bad guy), by playing with guns in his workplace, all of the sudden becomes a national news story. Rumors of high-stakes locker-room gambling debts overtake the game-winning shots from the hands of one Gilbert Arenas. We identify him not with the play on the court, but what he confessed to in front of a judge.

My question to you is this: What is it about sports villains that make them so intriguing? Why does their villainy trump their heroics? And why do we allow them to stay relevant in the media?

• 10 February 2012 : Doing It Right & Doing It Wrong
• 9 February 2012 : 5 Ways that Bloggers Are Like the Cool Kids in High School
• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
• 7 February 2012 : Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
• 6 February 2012 : Video: Job Interview Conversations That Should Be Had

As a former sports PR guy, a career I immensely loved and was extremely passionate about, but also grew out of for many reasons (to understand a majority of those reasons, check out my friend Jeff Esposito’s excellent PRBC post about working in sports PR from Friday here), I have both fond memories of that profession, and a sense of understanding now that moving on from it nine months ago was the right thing for me to do.

Jeff gave an excellent rundown of what it is like to work in PR in the sports world. Yes, it can be incredibly exciting, and yes, you do get to work around some amazing athletes. And there are many other benefits and fantastic qualities to working in that profession. But it has its downsides—many of them—and after spending more than five years in the profession, where I was incredibly fortunate to rise all the way to being the youngest NCAA Division I football media relations director in the country at just 23 (while at Illinois State), I made the rather difficult decision last February that it was time for me to move on, find a better quality of life—certainly one that didn’t require me to work seven days a week, nine months out of the year—and explore new career adventures.

And that’s really what this post is about: moving on from what you thought was your career passion. The part of a profession you thought you would work in until you retired; the profession you got two degrees in and invested a big chunk of your life. How do you move on from that? It isn’t easy. Trust me.

The doubts of whether I made the right decision still persist. They probably always will. You see, for me, working in sports—like so many others who have joined that business (and the fact that literally millions of people want to work in sports, which drives down industry-wide salaries and drives up the hours that people in the business typically work is an issue for another post)—isn’t some job you drag yourself to every day. It is YOU. It’s everything that you are. And stopping that constant process of always being ON—always being ready to work or to pitch in wherever needed (and there is ALWAYS something more that needs to be done when working for a sports team)—can be very difficult. But the passion, the excitement and the sheer enthusiasm that almost everyone I have ever encountered that works in sports has for their job is intoxicating. It’s wonderful, but it can also be suffocating.

Thus, the need to move on. The need to start anew. Get a fresh perspective on what I want out of my career and my adult life. And that can be incredibly fascinating and exciting, as well. But it can also be quite scary and frustrating, as the thoughts of my previous professional life find a way to creep back in to my mind from time-to-time. I think I do a pretty good job of taming those thoughts, as I absolutely love what I do now at RLM PR in Manhattan, where I work with a slew of tremendously innovative and exciting companies—which really was a driving force for me to leave sports, as I realized I have a pretty big entrepreneurial spirit, and I wanted to be around more people and companies like that.

But for those who are currently struggling with thoughts of leaving their career passion, for whatever reason—maybe it doesn’t pay well anymore, maybe it’s just taking up too much of your life and you want some quality and balance back, or maybe you have just outgrown what you thought you loved, but you have no idea how to get out of that profession—don’t fret. You’re not alone. Plenty of us have been through that dilemma before, and I’m here to tell you: We understand your concerns. We really do.

The thing is…you have to find what ultimately makes you happy. And I’m still one of those people who believes in at least attempting to balance my personal and professional lives. And that’s why I made the decision to move on. Because I wanted that balance back in my life. And I have it now. And I haven’t looked back since. Because for me, no matter how exciting working in sports was, it was equally draining—mentally, physically and on those whom I loved and cherished—and that just wasn’t the life I wanted to live for the next 40 years.

So, to those who have been through a similar situation before, please, share your thoughts below, and offer some wise advice to our wonderful PRBC readers facing similar questions about their career passions. And if anyone needs some guidance about changing careers, I’m always here to help at ktrivitt [at] gmail.com.

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• 8 February 2012 : Drop the Salesman Mentality
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