Bud Selig ~~ "Perspectives on Ethical Leadership - A View from the Commissioner"

[Goober]

Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig will give the keynote address Nov. 27 as a part of Ethics Week at the Wisconsin School of Business. Selig’s remarks, titled “Perspectives on Ethical Leadership – A View from the Commissioner,” will be in Grainger Hall.

A question-and-answer session will follow his talk, which is open to the public.

Selig, a 1956 UW-Madison graduate with bachelor’s degrees in history and political science, has served as the Commissioner of Baseball since 1998 and has led the industry since 1992. His talk to business students and faculty will offer reflections on ethics and professionalism, specifically how he established ethical principles within the Milwaukee Brewers organization, Major League Baseball’s headquarters and the industry as a whole. Selig will also offer his advice to students making their way in the business world.

Selig is the ninth commissioner in the history of Major League Baseball and the former owner of the Brewers. He returned the national pastime to Milwaukee – his hometown – in 1970.

Two years ago, Selig established the Allan H. Selig Chair in History at the university. The chair will support a new faculty position focusing on teaching and research on the development of professional sports and their national and social contexts, such as race, gender, labor relations, economics, and how sports influence and reflect broader social change. The Selig Chair is expected to allow the university to be a leader in the emerging field of American sports history.

Selig plans to return to campus after his retirement to write his memoirs and help contribute to his legacy in the field of history.

http://bus.wisc.edu/knowledge-expertise/newsroom/news-features/2012/11/20/MLB-Commissioner-Selig-to-Address-UW-Madison-Students-Nov-27

I'm going to this next week. I plan to ask him about the ethical implications of Jeffrey Loria promising to bring a winning team to Miami, and then trading away almost all of the talent on the roster the year latter. Any other suggested questions?

[NAHSTE]

http://bus.wisc.edu/knowledge-expert...tudents-Nov-27

I'm going to this next week. I plan to ask him about the ethical implications of Jeffrey Loria promising to bring a winning team to Miami, and then trading away almost all of the talent on the roster the year latter. Any other suggested questions?

Ask him about the unethical practice of 1-game playoffs in baseball.

[Villain]

Ask him why black American kids prefer basketball and football.

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8661291/mark-buehrle-says-miami-marlins-lied-multiple-occasions

Drop some quotes from that article when you ask him about the Marlins.

[Guest]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/14/the-marlins-are-not-a-baseball-team-theyre-a-kelptocracy/

Are $10 million in administrative fees a good thing for an owner to charge to his team?

[Goober]

I went to the Bud Selig speech this evening. His speech and the Q&A session lasted for just over an hour. He didn't say anything groundbreaking but he had some interesting anecdotes. The questions asked were amateur level, unfortunately; some of the shit people asked has already been beaten to death and was a waste of everyone's time. I've done my best to summarize everything I can remember in the bullet points below.

* Bud started the speech by talking about the Black Sox scandal and how it led to the creation of the commissioner in MLB. He emphasized how the commissioner's job is to protect the game of baseball, and that everything is done in the best interests of the game. He also said that Babe Ruth saved the game.

* He talked about Revenue Sharing, and said it is his goal to give every team hope each year. Said the balance playing field has been great lately. 20 different teams in the playoffs the last 5-6 years, no repeat champion from 2002-2011.

* On drugs and steroids, he said that originally he had no power over the players to stop them. Everything had to be collectively bargained, and the union has always fought testing. Talked about the progress that has been made since the Pittsburgh Drug Scandal in the 80's. He also talked about asking for George Mitchell's help to find the problems with the game. He said this is the only time a sport has let an outside party in to help resolve a problem.

*He shared a story about traveling to Washington D.C. with Hank Aaron during the steroid hearings. When Aaron was asked what the game of baseball meant to him, Selig said that Aaron's answer brought tears to his eyes, but did not disclose what he actually said. Latter Selig remarked to Aaron, "Who would have thought that in 1956 when we first met, that you would break Babe Ruth's home run record and I would become commissioner."

As for the questions,
* On banned substance lists and the experimental surgeries used by players like Bartolo Colon: Selig said that he would be talking to team doctors at the owner meetings and there would be further discussions about the experimental surgery. He said baseball has an extensive list of banned substances that is constantly growing.

* On the Marlings trade: The kid who asked about this was a dumb ass. He asked, "Do you think the Marlins trade was okay for the game?" Should have asked about Loria. Selig said he asked Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa to review the trade, as well as a few current baseball executives. Everyone said the trade was fair from a talent perspective. Selig said there was no historical precedent to overturn the trade otherwise. He said he didn't think it was as bad as the trades Charlie Finley made with the A's in the late 70's. Selig noted that during that time, Finley had taken to answering the phone by saying, "Finley's Meatmarket" in order to further anger Bowie Kuhn.

* On Ryan Braun: Selig dodged the question hard, and just said his office didn't agree with the ruling.

* On the Designated hitter creating a competitive imbalance between the leagues: Selig said that Joe Torre has been asking him to look at the issue, but he doesn't expect anything to change any time soon. Noted it didn't seem to hurt the Giants in the World Series.

* On potentially contracting the Twins in the 90's: Said that it was never seriously considered, and that the Twin Cities are a great baseball town, and he is happy they finally got a new stadium.

* On the Mets: Selig said he is happy with the way the Wilpon's have run the team, and with their current spending. He never considered forcing them to sell the team.

* On Milwaukee as a Baseball town: He said that when the Braves left, people said that Milwaukee couldn't work as a baseball town, but recent history has proven that wrong. He shared that recently an unnamed owner asked, "How the hell are they able to draw 3 million fans in Milwaukee?"

* On players using twitter: He said there's no way to follow what all of them say, but overall he is very happy with the way the players represent themselves.

* On labor peace: He said that the lost World Series in 1994 broke his heart. He credited Tom Glavine, the player representative for helping to reach a deal in 2002, and Michael Weiner for his continued work.

That's all I've got for now, I will try to add more latter, and clean up the formatting. If you guys have specific questions feel free to ask, it might help me remember something that was said.

[Senser81]

* On Milwaukee as a Baseball town: He said that when the Braves left, people said that Milwaukee couldn't work as a baseball town, but recent history has proven that wrong. He shared that recently an unnamed owner asked, "How the hell are they able to draw 3 million fans in Milwaukee?"

Step 1: Make yourself commissioner. Put daughter in charge of team.
Step 2: Move your team to NL Central, schedule as many home games as possible against the Chicago Cubs.
Step 3: Allow Cubs to illegally sell tickets en masse directly to ticket brokers. Cub fans forced to go to Milwaukee to see team.
Step 4: If stadium conflict arises with Wrigley Field, have Cubs play games in Milwaukee.
Step 5: Profit!!