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Weekend Plans With Universal Sports President Scott Brown: Basketball And The Big Game

In the week leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, many network execs pack their schedules full of media events, fan festivals, and fashion shows. But while others descend on Glendale, Ariz., to partake in the festivities surrounding the big game, Universal Sports President & General Counsel SCOTT BROWN continues to keep an eye on the net’s ever-expanding roster of sports programming. Universal Sports is gearing up for its broadcast of September’s World Cup of Rugby in England, with Brown responsible for all aspects of distribution. However, this week’s focus was primarily on the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, set to begin Monday in Colorado. As if that were not enough, he also gave the keynote address for Monday’s Triathlon Business Int’l Annual Conference at the Marina del Rey Marriott. But Friday and Saturday are designated for family time with his wife and two boys. Here, Brown tells THE DAILY his plans for this upcoming weekend in the City of Angels.

HOOP DREAMS: I’ve been traveling a lot, so I’m looking forward to a weekend at home. I have two sons -- ages 10 and 12 -- Friday night we are planning on having a family movie night now that we are all back in town together again. Sleeping in on weekends is a fantasy of mine. It doesn’t really seem to get fulfilled very often. I love to sleep, but unfortunately it is just one of those things that is unrequited love. Saturday is kids’ sports day as are most Saturdays. My wife is a professionally trained pastry chef, formerly of Spago in Beverly Hills. Our favorite breakfast/brunch spot is the four of us around our kitchen table. We enjoy having Sunday brunch and my wife puts out a pretty nice spread. It is a great time for us. We all get to enjoy the benefit of her full-culinary attention. We are deep into basketball season right now. Both of my boys play, and we are actually starting up with Little League as well, so not a lot of down time on the weekends. And of course on Sunday it’s the Super Bowl. We are going to a friend’s house for the game, so we’ve got that to look forward to.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: When I can get out, I enjoy golfing. But I think, like most golfers, you don’t ever get to play as much as you would like. We are big skiers too. We try to get to the slopes when we can. I actually made a commitment this year to do more of that and make it a priority. The weather hasn’t been great for skiing out here in California the last couple of seasons, but we are not going to let that stop us this year. Pleasant winters don’t normally make for good ski conditions. Last month my wife was able to join me in Beaver Creek for the Alpine World Cup. We had a great time out there checking out the venue where the World Championships will be held and to experience a World Cup, which neither she nor I had been to. The racecourse was not open to the general public but I skied the rest of the mountain. I did not get to go down Birds Of Prey, which is probably a good thing. These days we like getting out to Mammoth Mountain. It is just on the edge of being a tolerable distance, about 300 miles from L.A.; you can drive it if you are sufficiently motivated. We’ll drive out on Friday, ski Saturday and Sunday, and then drive home on Sunday night. That is always a solid weekend for us when the snow is good.

FATHER KNOWS BEST: My guilty weekend pleasure is my Xbox One. My sons and I play "MADDEN" together, and "NBA2K." I’m a huge science-fiction fan, which is my escape. I’m a big fan of authors like WILLIAM GIBSON, NEAL STEPHENSON and JOHN SCALZI. I am probably one of the few people in America that is not on Facebook or Twitter. I enjoy technology, but it seems like social media is a full-time job. I am a big backpacker and enjoy spending time sort of off the grid. I have an annual trip that I take my two boys on up into the High Sierra for a week. We’re 200 miles from the nearest cell phone tower and completely detached. That is something I grew up doing and I am having a lot of fun experiencing it with my boys. Now my wife is not really a fan, so it’s the boys' trip. I come back sporting my mountain beard for as long as my wife lets me get away with it. I enjoy doing yard work. I fired our gardener a couple years ago and kind of took it all in-house. But my wife recently made me rehire him because as it turns out, I don’t have enough time to do everything that needs to be done. I still enjoy getting out on the weekend. It’s therapeutic.

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