Sports Authority says farewell to Dean Munro

Dean Munro was here from the very beginning, when the San Jose Sports Authority was created to promote sports in our community in a way we had never attempted.

Now – 16 years later – we're saying farewell to him as he assumes new duties later this summer as chief of staff of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.

Dean was instrumental in bringing the NHL Sharks to San Jose and in the effort to build what is now HP Pavilion. During his tenure the city hosted sports events ranging from the NHL All-Star Game to Olympic Trials to numerous NCAA Championships and the World Cup of women's soccer. But he also broadened the mission of the Sports Authority to boost local sports in other ways, supporting the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, the REACH Youth Scholarship Program and the youth golf and life skills program that is now The First Tee of San Jose.

On fields and in arenas around our city as well as inside the Sports Authority offices, we will miss Dean. But his legacy is cheering fans, the crack of slap shots and the roar of race car engines. And his laugh.

Patricia Ernstrom
Acting Executive Director

Talk about fast-approaching – the third annual San José Grand Prix will be here in less than three weeks. The July 27-29 races have become the centerpiece of the local sports calendar and draw the largest crowds of any public event in the city.

Check out the 360-degree view from the grandstand seats you'd like to buy here, then check out the San José Grand Prix Driver Party to be held Friday, July 27 at City Hall Rotunda Plaza. Information on corporate suites and boxes at all five locations around the track is here. This is the event where race fans can meet the Champ Car drivers, get autographs, enjoy an upscale buffet dinner, participate in a silent auction of racing memorabilia benefiting the Canary Foundation and dance to live music.

Not since the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials has San Jose been host to a taekwondo event the magnitude of this week's U.S. Senior National & Junior Olympic Taekwondo Championships.

The competition, which runs through Sunday, July 15, will fill the McEnery Convention Center with more than 5,500 competitors and an anticipated 7,500 room nights.

The senior national competition forms part of the path for U.S. athletes hoping to compete next summer at the Beijing Summer Olympics. The top two male and female athletes in each of the eight weight divisions of the World Class Division advance to the Aug. 23-25 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Single-day passes are $10 for children 10 and younger and seniors 60 and older; $15 for adults. More ticket information is available from USA Taekwondo.

The RIOT professional boxing series that has sold out shows for 15 years in Monterey comes to San Jose on Saturday, July 14 when a six-bout card will be presented at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.

The 7:30 p.m. event schedule features four Bay Area pros including a 10-round bout for the California Junior Welterweight Championship and a women’s bout.

Readers of SportsLines can receive discounts by calling Jerry Hoffman at (831) 688-1604.

The First Tee of San Jose Invitational presented by Applied Materials will be played at CordeValle, A Rosewood Resort on Monday, July 16.

Applied Materials is the new presenting sponsor of this annual tournament, which is the primary fund-raiser for the Sports Authority's life skills and golf instructional program for youth, The First Tee of San Jose. Check here for the full list of participating sponsors for this year's event.

The First Tee of San Jose is now in the midst of its summer instructional season at Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course and Los Lagos Golf Course.

San Jose will kick-off its celebration of the 2007 Visa Championships – the national gymnastics championships coming to HP Pavilion and the McEnery Convention Center – by breaking the world record for most cartwheels performed at one time.

Gymnasts, local celebrities and personalities will be on hand to lead the effort to break the world record, scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 at the Arena Green adjacent to HP Pavilion at San Jose. Space is limited, so hurry and preregister to participate at USA Gymnastics.

Tickets for the Aug. 15-18 Visa Championships have been selling at record pace and are available here. Next month's SportsLines will carry details about other exciting activities and downtown events during the Visa Championships.

High school pools throughout San Jose, Cupertino and Sunnyvale will host the USA Water Polo Boys' and Girls Junior Olympics on consecutive weekends this summer. It is the second consecutive year that San Jose hotels have hosted these events and the third time the Sports Authority has worked with USA Water Polo on the Junior Olympics.

Two hundred forty-two boys' teams in four age groups – 12-under, 14-under, 16-under and 18-under – will fill the Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Cupertino, Homestead and Fremont high school pools July 28-31. The next weekend, Aug. 2-5, 169 girls' teams in those age groups will compete for national championships.