How You Play the Game: Lessons for Life from the Billion-Dollar Business of Sports - Hardcover

Colangelo, Jerry; Sherman, Len

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 081440488X ISBN 13: 9780814404881

Publisher: Amacom Books, 1999

Synopsis

Looks at the life and career of the owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks

About this title

About the Author

Jerry Colangelo (Phoenix, AZ) launched his career in sports as second-in-command for the yet-to-be-born Chicago Bulls. He was next invited to start up another expansion team, and served as general manager of the Phoenix Suns, eventually buying the team in 1987. He also started the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, the Arizona Rattlers arena football team, the Phoenix Mercury women's basketball team, and was instrumental in bringing the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team to Arizona.

Len Sherman (Scottsdale, AZ) is author of Big League/Big Time, The Good, the Bad, and the Famous, and other books.

Reviews

A welcome change from most business books written by sports celebrities, Colangelo's work is refreshingly free of such tired chestnuts as "a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins." With Sherman, Colangelo has fashioned a largely autobiographical, crisply written book that incorporates his business philosophy. Colangelo's professional career began in 1966, when he became the assistant to the founder of the Chicago Bulls, Dick Klein. After learning the ropes in Chicago, Colangelo jumped to Phoenix in 1968 to become the general manager of the NBA's newest team, the Phoenix Suns. His big break came in 1986, when the team was put up for sale and Colangelo formed an investment group that purchased the Suns for the then record price of $44.5 million. Colangelo's ability to acquire the Suns stemmed from his fundamental business philosophyAthat a person must put him or herself in a position to act decisively when the right opportunity presents itself. Colangelo put himself in the right place at the right time by creating ties to the local business community and by establishing a reputation as a dependable business partner. Those same factors came into play several years later, when Colangelo cobbled together a consortium to which Major League Baseball awarded an expansion team that became the Arizona Diamondbacks. Colangelo and Sherman have neatly meshed the highlights of Colangelo's 30 years in the sports world with useful business advice to create one of the better books in the sports/business genre.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The owner of the Phoenix Suns (National Basketball Association) and the new Arizona Diamondbacks (major league baseball) gives us his autobiography from his humble beginnings in Chicago to his current status as the owner of these two successful franchises. Colangelo discusses his accomplishments and failures in the sports industry and offers insight into how professional sports work and what they must do to remain successful, especially through marketing, community service, and ethics. By staying true to who you are, where you came from, and what you believe and know...you will be able to maintain your balance and equilibrium and fight your way through obstacles. By keeping his word and knowing his competition, Colangelo has earned the respect of his peers and business partners. Difficult to put down, this readable book provides a look at big-league sports in todays society that will appeal to sports fans, executives, and curious business students.Steven J. Mayover, Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 081440488X
• ISBN 13: 9780814404881
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 255