Tuesday, June 8, 2010

More on Bernert, Ashley Walker and Ariya Crook-Williams

Former Sparks president Kristin Bernert says she left because she has no passion for the job anymore. She was easily one of the friendliest people in the Sparks organization, and she will be missed.

Also today, Ashley Walker was waived by Tulsa just a week after getting there, along with second-round draft pick Amanda Thompson.

For the stat junkies, Storm Basketball has broken it down.

ESPN has an informative piece about Ariya Crook-Williams of Long Beach Poly - a longer version of my profile of the ranked prep star on May 1. Today players headed to Colorado for USA Basketball trials. Good luck to all.

OK, off to the Sparks game.......

3 comments:

Patrick Meighan said...

"Former Sparks president Kristin Bernert says she left because she has no passion for the job anymore. She was easily one of the friendliest people in the Sparks organization, and she will be missed."

Sue, can you give us an idea of Kristin's role within the organization, specifically? What exactly is it that she does, or did? What precisely will the Sparks be losing, here? On a scale of 1 through 10, how big of a loss is this for the Sparks? And is it possible that her departure has anything to do with the Sparks' slow start this season?

Thanks,

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

Sue Favor said...

I've posed the question to Sparks public relations representative Alayne Ingram, and am awaiting a reply.

Sue Favor said...

Patrick,

This is from Kathy Goodman and answers your question:


There are basically two parts to a sports business--on the court and off the court. A general manager's job is to oversee all aspects relating to basketball operations--scouting, recruiting and hiring players, managing the salary cap issues, hiring and supervising the coaching staff and trainers, etc.

The President of the team, on the other hand, is in charge of the business side of the team--managing ticket sales, sponsorships, marketing, community relations, PR, and game presentation.

Of course, the two sides of the business are entwined--and different teams organize themselves in different ways. Some teams have the same person as their President and GM, running both sides. Some teams (and most in the WNBA) have head coaches who also serve as GM's. It just depends on the skill set of the people involved.