On Our Board:
Greg Jamison

Don't overlook financial impact of smaller sports facilities

Major arenas and stadiums have a positive economic impact on cities by luring sports fans and tourism dollars to their communities. The six NCAA championship events held here and Olympic events such as the U.S. Figure Skating Championships brought thousands of people to San Jose.

Often overlooked, however, are smaller facilities that primarily serve the local recreational athlete but also host regional and even national championships. Logitech Ice of San Jose is a great example. While it is the Sharks' official training center, the facility's four ice surfaces also host dozens of local, regional and national events. In March Logitech Ice will host the USA Hockey Girls' and Women’s National Hockey Championships over a two-week period. It will bring 1,000 participants here and probably as many traveling companions, and 5,000 hotel room nights have been booked as a result. Managed by Jon Gustafson, the facility does a terrific job of serving local recreational, figure skaters and youth and adult ice hockey teams as well as helping local hotels by booking rooms over weekends.

San Jose has approximately $25 million set aside from a ballot measure for the construction of a soccer and a softball facility. Finding sites is challenging, but when they are completed, they should experience the same level of success in serving local athletes and also attract tournaments here.

Hope you enjoy reading this month’s version of SportsLines.

Dean Munro
Executive Director

Membership in the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame rises to 57 Tuesday night when Jennifer Azzi, Bill McPherson and Walt McPherson are inducted in dinner ceremonies at HP Pavilion.

The San Jose Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner will also honor five current athletes: Jeremy Lin of Palo Alto High and Jeneba Tarmoh of Mt. Pleasant High as Male and Female High School Athletes of the Year; Kinji Green of San Jose State and Cassie Perret of Santa Clara as Male and Female High School Athletes of the Year; and Stephanie Ching of Cupertino as Special Olympian of the Year.

Over its 12-year history the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame has celebrated the sports heritage of the South Bay from high school to professional and Olympic levels while raising funds for high school sports and the Special Olympics. Tickets for the dinner begin at $200 each; sponsorship packages range from $2,000 to $15,000.

The annual dinner is an event of the San Jose Sports Authority, San Jose Arena Authority, HP Pavilion Management/San Jose Sharks and the City of San José.

Kenyan Duncan Kibet and Russian Silvia Skortsova won the men’s and women’s division of the inaugural Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon on Oct. 8.

The winners paced a field of 12,000 through downtown to the accompaniment of rock music and screaming cheerleaders. Kibet’s time of 1 hour 22 seconds was the second fastest ever on American soil. Skortsova finished in 1:09:17.

Go here for full photo coverage of the race.

San Jose State’s 31-21 victory at New Mexico State last weekend made the Spartans eligible for their first postseason bowl since the 1990 California Raisin Bowl and ran their record to a surprising 6-2.

Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against undefeated and 14th-ranked Boise State will be the Spartans’ toughest test of the season.

Tickets for this important game are available here or at the Spartan Stadium ticket office.

The San Jose chapter of The First Tee® is finishing its first full year of operation on a high note as the nation’s best new chapter.

The award kicked off a year in which 1,900 students participated in some element of the life skills and golf instruction program. The First Tee of San Jose Invitational presented by AT&T at CordeValle Golf Club in July netted approximately $60,000.

A draft comprehensive plan has been developed that projects more than 3,500 golfers participating in the program by 2008.

Texas Tech, coached by Bobby Knight, and Nevada, formerly coached by Stanford’s Trent Johnson, come to HP Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 3 to face Stanford and Cal, respectively, in the 10th anniversary Pete Newell Challenge.

Stanford plays Texas Tech at 3:30 p.m. followed by Cal-Nevada at approximately 6 p.m. Knight likely will be within single digits of retired North Carolina Coach Dean Smith’s record as college basketball’s winningest coach. Nevada will bring 6-11 Nick Fazekas, a preseason All-America and Wooden Award candidate.

Tickets for this college basketball doubleheader, kicking off an HP Pavilion basketball season including the Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament and the NCAA San Jose Regional in March, are available at the arena’s ticket office and here. The event honors Newell, the 90-year-old coach who won an NIT title at USF, an NCAA championship at Cal and an Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Rome Games.

Six Bay Area soccer teams -- including both the Santa Clara men and women -- were awarded berths in the NCAA tournament opening Friday.

Despite a regular season-ending loss, the Broncos women's team earned one of the four No.1 seeds and will open the playoffs at 4 p.m. Friday against USC in Buck Shaw Stadium. That game will be followed at 7 p.m. by Stanford against Nevada, also at Buck Shaw. Cal opens its playoff run at 5 p.m. Friday against Auburn in Tallahassee, Fla. You can see the full 64-team women's bracket leading to the NCAA College Cup in Cary, N.C., on Dec. 1 and 3 here.

On the men's side, Santa Clara is seeded 10th overall in the 48-team field. The Broncos drew a bye in the first round and will play the winner of the Creighton-Washington match at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Buck Shaw Stadium. USF will play New Mexico in the first round with the winner playing at Cal at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Go here for the complete men's bracket leading to the College Cup in St. Louis on Dec. 1 and 3.

Greg is the most influential figure on the San Jose sports scene as president and CEO of the San Jose Sharks and manager of the San Jose Sports and Entertainment Enterprises’ ownership group. He came to San Jose in 1993 from the NBA Indiana Pacers, where he was vice president of business operations. He had previously been marketing director for the Dallas Mavericks.

Beginning in San Jose as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Sharks, Greg has been key to developing the organization into a local sports conglomerate that includes HP Pavilion and its many events, Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, Logitech Ice, Sharks Ice at Fremont, the SAP Open men’s tennis tournament and the San Jose Stealth indoor lacrosse team. In 2001 Jamison put together the local investment group that purchased the Sharks from Gordon Gund III, the original owner of the NHL franchise.

Greg is a native of the Pacific Northwest who earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) College and a master’s in administration from Colorado State.