Shoutouts: On hiring a college football “CEO” or a Japanese big-leaguer

With the B/R Blog serializing Playbook over the last few weeks—have you downloaded your free ebook yet?—we haven’t had a chance to do any Shoutouts for a while, so let’s get to it. Let’s lead off with a couple of sharp “explainers” about the biz side of things.

How a College Football Program Conducts a Coaching Search by Adam Kramer

Great stuff on the business of bringing in the CEO of a big-time college football program.

This is not just about appointing a new face for the program. This is about (hopefully) hiring a ceiling-less revenue stream.

“It is truly the CEO of an organization,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said. “This is part of the business, and you have to figure out how to manage it.”

Words like “CEO” and “business” ring true at a time where the sport is thriving. This is about embracing a school’s brand and ensuring that it continues to thrive. Or, it is about jump-starting it altogether.

How the New MLB-Japanese Baseball Posting System Will Change the League by Zachary D. Rymer

Another well-written business piece, as Rymer gives an overview of the new posting system and its implications. Rymer places this new system into the changing financial and competitive landscape of baseball, which includes new restrictions on international spending and teams locking up their young stars early, partly because even small-market teams are flush with cash.

Learning to Loathe Houston Rockets Guard James Harden by Joe Flynn

Remember when everybody loved James Harden and his shaggy beard and his offensive game? Joe Flynn writes about how NBA fans have turned on the Rockets guard, and why. The main reason: Harden is terrible on defense, and he’s seen as a flopper. One or the other might be OK, but you can’t get away with both!

UFC on Fox 9 Bold Predictions: Insiders on Ratings, Benavidez and More by Jonathan Snowden

Snowden and Chad Dundas offer two “takes” for the price of one in the runup to last weekend’s card. They start with an interesting take on TV ratings and what they mean, in the wake of Snowden pointing out that Fox advertises the UFC broadcasts during NFL games.