Topic: AL Central Division

Sports Business: The New Yankees Boss

Over the past two decades, Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner has ceded more and more of his role as team spokesman to his PR consigliere Howard Rubenstein. More recently, as speculation on his deteriorating health has ...READ»

For-Fee XM Radio and the Enjoyment of For-Free Experiences

I've spent a lot of time this week, at the urging of FC, commenting on various news items that struck my fancy. Do please allow me now to share a somewhat lengthy story of a more personal nature. (I trust the indulgence worth the ...READ»

The Secret Power of Space

If you're a Set Designer at heart, you probably have people tell you that office space doesn't really matter. "People can work anywhere," they'll tell you. "Just give them a desk and a comfortable chair." Those skeptics a haven't ...READ»

Change the Baseball Schedule

Five of the fifteen games on the major league baseball schedule today are rained out (so far). A week ago, the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians had a four-game series snowed out. And according to Billy-Ball, a daily rundown ...READ»

Incentive Clauses Gone Bad

Incentive clauses are an integral part of the sports world -- and often go awry. READ»

• Why Incentives Are Effective, Irresistable, and Almost Certain to Backfire
• CEOs Who Risk Big for Big Paydays

Fast History: 80th Anniversary of Babe Ruth’s 500th Homerun

When Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 500 homeruns at Cleveland’s League Park 80 years ago, it was just another day at the office for the oft-smashing Bambino. But for baseball-crazy America, it was ballpark magic. Eight ...READ»

Yankee Holler

What do you do when you've assembled the best talent in your industry and you still can't make it happen? When everything looks good on paper there is still no guarantee. The Yankees are facing this question this season. They were ...READ»

Sports: Red Sox, Yankees No Match For…the Buffalo Sabres?

There has been some buzz this week about a new study conducted by Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. The 2007 Turnkey Team Brand Index ranks the local brand strength of every team, from 1-122, in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. The ...READ»

How To Play Beane Ball

The Oakland A's Billy Beane has perfected the new rules for winning at baseball -- on the field and in the books. Some say that he's a genius who has mastered the future of the game. He says that doing more with less just means playing by the numbers.READ»

The Biggest-and Newest-Name in Sports Stadiums: Populous

The sports-architecture titan HOK Sport Venue Event rechristens itself.READ»

• Most Innovative Companies in Sports

Are These Consultants Really on the Level?

No, they're flat wrong! It may sound good on the surface, but a level playing field will always warp a good game.READ»

Team National Night...Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

South Florida - Team National Night is June 17...in St. Louis...when the Cardinals take on the Detroit Tigers..Come join us! Adding to the excitement and anticipation that's already building for our Summer National Convention, June ...READ»

The Next Step for Urban Wind Power: Water Tower Turbines

Cleveland State University professor Majid Rashidi intends to prove that small-scale wind power can be cost-effective on city roofs with a turbine design using the same principle that lets airplanes fly. Rashidi's turbine, in ...READ»

The 10 Faces of Innovation

In an exclusive book excerpt from the general manager of Ideo, we meet the personality types it takes to keep creativity thriving--and the devil's advocate at bay.READ»

Ten Outrageous Marketing Stunts

Many marketers misjudge the razor line between buzz and bust when it comes to offbeat marketing campaigns. When these crazy stunts work, they can be very successful, often resulting in millions of dollars in free advertising. When they fail, they can cause spectacular embarrassment, cost jobs, and even attract lawsuits.READ»

• The Top 10 Most Outrageous Marketing Stunts Ever
• 8 Buzz-worthy Advertising Campaigns

Sports: Is A-Rod Worth $1 Billion? It Might Not Be As Crazy As It Sounds

Well, that didn't take long. When the New York Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs Monday night, the baseball season, for all intents and purposes, ended. Forget the battle between Arizona and Colorado, in an NLCS that ...READ»

U.S. City of the Year: Chicago

Skyscrapers, green roofs, and house music -- a very American metropolis. READ»

• Five Things You Don't Know About Chicago
• Fast Cities 2008

The Most Valuable Player in Sports is ... this Doctor

James Andrews has become a hidden force in sports -- rescuing careers, changing the outcome of games, and making billions for stars and teams -- by mending the world's best athletes (like the 62 pros on the previous pages) and driving medical innovation.READ»

• From Under the Knife to the Hall of Fame
• Dr. James Andrews' All-Star Baseball Team
• How Surgery Led 12 Star Quarterbacks to Victory

The Gene Bubble: Why We Still Aren't Disease-Free

When the human genome was first sequenced nearly a decade ago, the world lit up with talk about how new gene-specific drugs would help us cheat death. Well, the verdict is in: Keep eating those greens.READ»

Star Power: Dr. Andrews' Patient List is a Veritable Who's Who of Sports

Andrews has treated thousands of athletes in his 35-year career. How many of the 88 Hall of Famers, all-stars, and up-and-comers do you recognize?READ»

• The Most Valuable Player in Sports is ... this Doctor
• High Profile Sports Patients of Dr. James Andrews
• Big Game Trophy Hunter

Catering to the Masses

Levy Restaurants knows how to feed a crowd--with discipline, a helping of creativity, and, as needed, a dash of resilience. Plus the occasional lasagna.READ»

Beyond the City Limits

The founders of Vigilante, a fast-growing ad agency, aim to understand the realities of urban life -- the people who live there and the ideas that originate there.READ»

Michael Jordan

They say absence makes the team grow stronger. His Airness proved them correct when he ditched his barely scratched Louisville Slugger for a trusty old Wilson in 1995.READ»

David Rockwell Has a Lot of Nerve

This was the year that business lost its nerve. Innovation? Imagination? Who could afford them? But David Rockwell, the design visionary behind some of New York's hottest restaurants, the Academy Awards theater, and even the sets for the Broadway smash Hairspray, keeps on taking chances -- and building great spaces with a point of view.READ»

Reinvent Yourself

Andrew Tuck sits in a stylish loft in New York City's Soho neighborhood with some of his life's work spread before him. There's his philosophy book, published by a top-drawer academic press, which he wrote in the 1980s while working ...READ»