Reviving the New York Knicks was supposed to be part of the plan for two-time NBA All-Star point guard Baron Davis. Instead, Jeremy Lin has taken the league by storm in leading the Knicks while Davis, whose injury-plagued season made way for Lin’s improbable story, finds himself in the later stages of his career.

Photo by: PATRICK E. MCCARTHY

Only time will tell whether Davis can overcome his injuries and salvage his playing career, but either way, Davis, the 12-year veteran now on his fifth NBA roster, has set himself up for life after basketball as he maintains an entrepreneurial approach to his life outside of the NBA. Whether it’s making a movie about gang life in Los Angeles or launching networks on YouTube, the single, 32-year-old Los Angeles native can afford such pursuits with a portfolio built to fund a variety of business interests ranging from movie production to digital media ventures to a TV show.

It’s a luxury that comes with earning about $150 million since Davis was selected by the then-Charlotte Hornets as the third pick of the 1999 NBA draft, according to his longtime agent Todd Ramasar.

While the engaging Davis is quick to put his immediate focus on recovering from a back injury and returning to the court, he complements that effort with a broad business vision that focuses on entertainment.

“I have always had the spirit for being an entrepreneur and I am willing to step out and manage my own business off the court,” Davis said, relaxing in the Knicks’ plush suburban New York training facility after a recent team practice.

Davis (at 1999 draft with David Stern) walked his checks to the teller in his rookie year. Photo by: NBAE / GETTY IMAGES

Managing his financial life today is starkly different than when Davis was a 19-year-old rookie living in Charlotte after being raised by his grandmother in South Central Los Angeles and attending UCLA. On paydays his during his rookie year, Davis would drive down to the local bank and stand in line to personally deposit his hefty paychecks.

He made more than $2 million during his 1999-2000 rookie season, but he wasn’t about to squander his newfound wealth.

“I tell young guys now that when they give you the money, they don’t give you the instructions with it,” Davis said. “I’d heard of other athletes who had lost their money, so I’d go to the bank and cash those checks myself because I wanted to know that the money was mine. For a 19-year-old, these were huge checks, and it took the lady at the bank a few times to know who was this young guy cashing these checks.”

He says he saved most of his paychecks during that rookie year as he followed his one investment rule: Know where your money is.

“A fool and his money shall soon part,” Davis said. “You have to trust the right people and you have to respect money.”

Today, Davis takes a far more sophisticated approach to his finances. For the past five years, he has employed a cadre of advisers to help him preserve his wealth while also allowing him the financial freedom to pursue his outside business interests. The inner circle includes his contract agent Ramasar, who works for BDA Sports Management and who was also a teammate of Davis’ at UCLA. BDA also handles marketing and public relations for Davis.

In addition, Davis employs Chad Gordon, a high school friend and former Wall Street analyst, to manage his non-basketball business opportunities.

Davis’ financial portfolio is kept separate from BDA to prevent any conflicts, and Davis runs most of his non-basketball deals through Gordon.

“You don’t want your agent and business manager in the same boat,” Davis said, looking to avoid conflict between his agent and his money advisers.

Related story: Baron's portfolio and the 5 percent solution

Ramasar has negotiated most of Davis’ NBA contracts, including the five-year, $65 million free agent deal he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008. But maximum-contract days are likely over for the NBA veteran. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who acquired Davis through a trade last year, waived him before this season began as part of the NBA’s amnesty provision that allows teams to wipe off one player’s contract deemed to eat up too much salary cap space. (Though cut in December, he will still collect his remaining $25 million on the deal.) He was signed by the Knicks for the $1.4 million veteran league minimum.

Davis and his advisers, with an eye to the China market, did a deal with shoemaker Li-Ning. Photo by: ICON SMI

Outside of his playing contracts, Davis has taken an aggressive, yet nontraditional, approach to his endorsement relationships, which Ramasar takes the lead on.

“Aside from negotiating [NBA] contracts, I also solicit endorsement deals for Baron,” Ramasar said.

One of those deals was an equity stake deal he helped Davis broker with Vitaminwater three years before it was sold to Coca-Cola in 2007 for $4.1 billion. Sensing an early opportunity with the company, Davis took an unconventional approach to landing the deal. He was familiar with Vitaminwater and used the product. Wanting a closer relationship, he invited company officials to his house in Las Vegas and pitched them on why they should include him in the company.

“I was a 23-year-old making a presentation to them on being an investor,” Davis said. “I wanted to participate on the back end and work with the company to create ideas. I had connections in the hip-hop community and in sports, and I wanted to explore being part of the brand.”

Davis cashed out after Vitaminwater’s sale to Coke. He declined to disclose his profits from the deal.

Currently, he has an endorsement deal with the Chinese shoe company Li-Ning and he has an equity deal with Colors Power, a Chinese sports beverage company.

“Given that China is such a growing market, the deals made sense,” Gordon said. “Opportunities come in, and we put the traditional analysis to it to determine what makes sense and what doesn’t. I vet the opportunities and we go back and forth. But Baron is like flypaper. He is very well-connected and brings in people.”

In addition to Ramasar and Gordon, Davis has partnered on some projects with Cash Warren, a classmate from the prestigious private Crossroads School in Santa Monica, Calif., who is also the son of former UCLA basketball great and actor Mike Warren, best known for starring in the critically acclaimed cop drama “Hill Street Blues.”

Much of Davis’ off-the-court focus revolves around the film and Web content industry under his Verso Entertainment venture. Davis created Verso in 2004 as a way to operate within the film industry and is the company’s primary investor. He picked the name Verso, which means the reverse side of a page, to reflect the duality of content in telling stories to inform and entertain.

Under the Verso flag, Davis has five movie production credits to his name, most notably “Crips & Bloods: Made in America,” a documentary that chronicles gang life in Los Angeles. The documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, but it failed to receive widespread distribution and has not been a major moneymaker.

To learn more about the film industry, Davis interned during the offseason at the well-known entertainment law firm Ziffren Brittenham in Los Angeles. But it’s been a slow, and costly, learning process. His biggest mistake was believing that his success as an NBA player would simply transfer to his efforts in the movie industry.

“I did some gap financing for a movie, and the gap financing went from three months to 2 1/2 years,” Davis said, declining to reveal the total losses. “I was too headstrong without doing enough due diligence. It was a tough lesson.”

Davis produced the documentary “Crips & Bloods: Made in America” and took it to Sundance in 2008. With him are (from left) director and co-producer Stacy Peralta; co-producer Cash Warren and wife, actress Jessica Alba; and executive producer Quincy Jones III. Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

Davis has been able to offset the losses by establishing what has proved to be an effective multipronged approach in managing his financial portfolio. Cornelius, N.C.-based Cornerstone Financial Partners leads his money management along with Convergent Wealth Advisors in Los Angeles, which handles the portfolio’s international investments. UBS Financial Services in New York manages Davis’ traditional investments, like stocks and bonds (see related story).

Cornerstone has been quarterbacking the portfolio since 2008, and Davis has been with UBS since 2004. Convergent was brought on board within the past year. In addition to the three financial advisers, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Savitsky, Satin & Bacon works as the portfolio’s accounting firm.

Each year, Davis holds an annual meeting with his advisers to set the strategy, and then he has quarterly conference calls to keep track of his financial performance.

“What we have created for Baron is a little unique,” said Jeff Carbone, founding partner of Cornerstone Financial Partners, which also counts NFL players and NASCAR drivers as clients. “We all work together as his investment team, and for Baron, it is not trying to be rich anymore. It is trying to preserve the wealth.”

The three portfolio advisers hold regular calls to review account performance. While Davis takes a more hands-off approach during the NBA season, Gordon always is involved.

These days, the placements are increasingly targeted in digital media, a reflection of Davis’ growing interest in that sector. Davis invested an undisclosed amount in a website called ibeatyou.com, which allows users to compete in a variety of contests and quizzes. In April, he is launching the YouOffendMeYouOffendMyFamily (YOMYOMF) network on YouTube. The channel is aimed at Asian pop culture, with content overseen by film director Justin Lin of “Fast & Furious” fame. Davis also has invested in the recently launched Network of Champions channel, also on YouTube, which Davis touts as a premium entertainment showcase for other athletes.

Ramasar said Davis and his partners are paid by YouTube to deliver original content but would not disclose specific terms.

“The strategy is to provide and explore digital media outlets,” Davis said. “Digital media, viral content and channel programming is where today’s connectivity is.”

Not surprisingly, Davis is a voracious consumer of digital and social media as he invests in startup digital networks.

“I am all over the place when it comes to the sites I visit,” he said. “It is everything from The Wall Street Journal to Wired magazine to Bleacher Report.”

It is up to Gordon to help assess options and protect Davis from overspending in any new venture.

“Baron sees those media properties as a platform for marketing and branding to the direct face of the consumer,” Gordon said. “There is a lot of opportunity in social media, and no one has perfected how to monetize it. But for him, it is about providing content to fans.”

Not all of Davis’ broad business interests are going digital, though. His latest project is a pilot he is creating to be pitched later this year to various television networks called “I Love Boom,” a reality-based sitcom about the life of an NBA player.

“The show will be pitched in the offseason,” Gordon said. “It is not certain whether that will go under the Verso umbrella or in partnership with another company.”

Davis also is shopping a series of children’s books to publishers. The first book, titled “Trading Card Genius,” is co-authored by Davis’ seventh-grade teacher and loosely mirrors Davis’ own experience in school of learning math by using facts and figures off the back of player trading cards.

Both projects meet Davis’ desire for creative outlets outside of basketball and speak to his post-career plans of being focused on various media ventures.

“When it came to basketball, I have always had a great imagination,” Davis said. “I’ve always wanted to dabble in different areas. Tapping into my creative side and writing side is something I’ve wanted to develop on my own.”

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Call it the Baron Davis 5 percent plan.

That’s the amount financial advisers allocate to Davis to fund his nontraditional private placements and business ventures that tend to land in Web content and other entertainment production deals.

“Baron has a lot of entrepreneurial spirit, and people are constantly coming up to him, so part of what we have to do is go through those offers,” said Jeff Carbone, a founding partner of Cornelius, N.C.-based Cornerstone Financial Partners, which manages the portfolio.

The 5 percent is a conservative amount suggested by Cornerstone and it’s kept separate from Davis’ personal portfolio. His regular investment portfolio is made up of 40 percent equities with holdings in traditional stocks and mutual funds, along with 50 percent in municipal bonds, fixed income and a limited amount of real estate holdings, including a ranch Davis owns in Idaho along with two other residential properties. The portfolio’s remaining 10 percent is targeted for alternative investments, such as hedge funds, commodities, oil and precious metals such as gold.

The equity-based portion of the portfolio is made up of a 5 percent allocation for investment in large-growth companies with more than $10 billion in revenue, and a 7 percent allocation in large-value stocks and safe-play utility stocks. Another 8 percent is invested in mid-cap stocks, 7 percent is put in small-company stocks, 10 percent is invested in international stocks and about 3 percent in emerging markets such as Brazil and Chile.

Davis’ bond portfolio includes a mix of municipal bonds, corporate and convertible bonds, and international bonds.

Unlike his early days in the NBA, Davis is becoming a more conservative investor with a portfolio reflecting a decreasing tolerance for risk. Five years ago, the makeup of his portfolio would have been directed more toward the equity markets.

“When I was younger, I would take lots of risks, ” Davis said. “I am very close to my money now but I do let the experts dictate to me what is the best way to invest. If I can make 10 percent, that would be wonderful.”

Davis is on the mark, given that from 2007 to present, his return is averaging about 10 percent, according to Carbone.

“Baron has come a long way,” Carbone said. “He has matured and is more financially minded. His risk tolerance is moderately conservative and his risk has come down as he gets closer to the end of his career.”

Though Davis has lost money on some of his off-the-court ventures, he has been helped by his respectable savings rate that Carbone said averages about 30 percent, along with full participation in the NBA’s 401(k) plan.

“As he made more, he has spent more, but he has good saving habits,” Carbone said. “He has saved a lot of money and he has done a good job in setting himself up.”

Davis is not involved in the day-to-day decision-making strategy but is active in managing his portfolio.

“When Baron is in a meeting, he is tuned in to what is happening,” Carbone said. “He makes the final decisions but he relies on his investment team.”

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Baseball
The Baltimore Orioles promoted Kevin Cummings to director of ballpark operations.

Scott

The Milwaukee Brewers hired Justin Scott as director of grounds. Scott was manager of groundskeeping for the Kansas City Royals.

Bill Gluvna took a job in marketing and communications at Boras Corp. Gluvna was media relations manager for the Washington Nationals.

The Class AA Southern League’s Pensacola (Fla.) Blue Wahoos hired Tommy Thrall as broadcaster. Thrall was a broadcaster for the Quad Cities River Bandits.

The Class A California League’s Stockton (Calif.) Ports hired Griffin Shibley as group sales manager.

Basketball
The Charlotte Bobcats named Jerome Hubbard communications coordinator and promoted Seth Bennett to senior vice president of marketing, Flavil Hampsten to senior vice president of ticket sales and database marketing, Kay Lowery to senior vice president of human resources, Michael Wandell to senior vice president of partnership marketing, B.J. Evans to executive vice president of communications, Josh Rosen to director of communications and Andre Walters to executive vice president of legal affairs.

Colleges
The University of Central Florida named Zack Lassiter senior associate athletic director for external operations. Lassiter was associate athletic director for revenue generation at the University of Utah.

Jacksonville State University named Ed Lett associate athletic director for external affairs.

Rochester Institute of Technology named Renee Carlineo assistant athletic director.

University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi will retire as of June 30 but will remain as an assistant to the president.

Facilities
Infineon Raceway named Michael Re ticket operations manager.

Football
The Buffalo Bills promoted Marcey Bryant to senior director of event services and brought back Joe Frandina as director of construction management.

The Chicago Bears hired Phil Emery as general manager. Emery was director of college scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs named Ted Crews vice president of communications. Crews was senior director of communications for the St. Louis Rams.

Golf
The Senior PGA Championship hired Bo Schlemmer as operations manager and Lance Hall as corporate hospitality sales manager.

Hockey

Linnertz

Doolittle

Walters

The American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch promoted Maggie Walters to director of communications and marketing, Kimber Doolittle to sponsorship services and ticket manager and Amanda Linnertz to community relations and Crunch Foundation manager.

Law
Travis Leach left Snell & Wilmer to head a new sports and entertainment legal practice at Jennings Strouss & Salmon.

Marketing

Goldblatt

Banks

Momentum Worldwide promoted Jason Banks to vice president director of sports sponsorship and Ari Goldblatt to director of business leadership.

Media
The Big Ten Network promoted Jeff Katz to local sales manager.

Brian Peterson was named head of communications at Esri. Peterson was vice president of corporate communications for Fox Cable Networks.

Hornish

Outdoor Channel Holdings named Tom Hornish president and chief executive officer. Outdoor Channel named Christy Benson to director of affiliate marketing and hired Russell Cooper as director of affiliate sales and marketing for the Central Region. Cooper was regional vice president of affiliate sales for the Eastern Region at The Inspiration Networks.

Motorsports
NASCAR promoted Scott Warfield to director of NASCAR Media Group/entertainment and marketing communications, Amanda Ellis to senior manager of NASCAR competition communications and Jason Christley to senior manager of NASCAR competition communications, development series. Kurt Culbert was named director of stakeholder communications, Zack Albert manager of sport services and Matt Ciesluk director of strategic media projects.

Multiteam Companies
Palace Sports & Entertainment named Adam Schneider senior vice president of events and booking. Schneider was a partner at InsideOut Sports & Entertainment.

Olympics
Canada’s Own the Podium program named Anne Merklinger chief executive officer.

Lease

Tokyo 2020 named Yuko Arakida sports director. Arakida is chairperson of the Olympic Council of Asia and an Olympic gold medalist in volleyball.

USA Karate named Jake Lease chief executive officer.

Soccer
FC Dallas promoted Jimmy Smith to chief financial officer.

Sporting Goods and Apparel
Columbia Sportswear promoted Adrienne Moser to vice president of global apparel merchandising and design.

Finish Line named Jay Custard vice president of digital marketing. Custard was vice president of global e-commerce at Crocs.

Hibbett Sports’ Gary Smith, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will retire June 1.

Nike promoted Bert Hoyt to vice president and general manager of Western Europe, Roland Wolfram to vice president and general manager of global football, Tom Peddie to vice president of global sales and Ann Hebert to vice president of North American sales.

Nautilus’ chief financial officer, Michael Mulholland, resigned.

Other
The WWE named Eric Pankowski senior vice president of creative and development. Pankowski was senior vice president of creative affairs at Reveille.

Awards and Boards
The Orange Bowl Committee named O. Ford Gibson president and chairman of the board. Gibson is also chief executive officer at Gibson Development Partners.

Gentry 21st Century Systems named Nicholas Flaskay to its board of directors.

People news
To have your personnel announcements included in the People section, please send information and photos to Brandon McClung at 120 W. Morehead St., Suite 310, Charlotte, NC 28202, or email them to careers@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Electronic photos must be a jpg or tiff file for Macintosh, 2.25 inches wide at 300 dpi. Color only, please. News items may also be sent via fax to (704) 973-1401. If you have questions, call (704) 973-1425.

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The Women’s Sports Report in Columbus

The Greater Columbus Sports Commission held its second annual The Women’s Sports Report, presented by KeyBank and its Key4Women program, to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day and the 40th anniversary of Title IX. From left: Columbus Crew reporter Ashleigh Ignelzi, Fox Sports Ohio studio host Dionne Miller, three-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith of the Seattle Storm and commission founder and Executive Director Linda Logan. Photo by: ELLEN DALLAGER

Curling comes to Philly

The Philadelphia region hosted the USA Curling National Championships at IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pa., Feb. 11-18, and athletes, coaches, officials and partners enjoyed a welcome reception Feb. 10 at the Field House restaurant in Philadelphia. From left: Lauren Oreskovich, Local Organizing Committee co-chairman; Larry Needle, executive director, Philadelphia Sports Congress; Leland Rich, past president, USA Curling; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; USA Curling CEO Rick Patzke; IceWorks co-owner Jim Watson; organizing committee Chairman Lisa Shaw and member Sean Bianchini. Photo by: KAIT PRIVITERA / PHILADELPHIA SPORTS CONGRESS

Keepsake for an AHL captain

AHL President and CEO Dave Andrews (right) presents 2012 AHL All-Star Classic honorary captain Bill Barber with a framed photo during the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony on Jan. 30 at Caesars Circus Maximus Theater in Atlantic City, N.J. Barber is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and coach of the 1998 Calder Cup Champion Philadelphia Phantoms. Photo by: AHL

Return of Hot Stove Cool Music Roundtable

Theo Epstein, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations, and Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons hosted the annual Hot Stove Cool Music Baseball Roundtable presented by Greenberg Traurig LLP at Fenway Park’s State Street Pavilion on Jan. 30. From left: Greenberg Traurig shareholder Gary Greenberg, Boston Red Sox EVP and GM Ben Cherington, Epstein, Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neal Huntington and Greenberg Traurig shareholder Bob Sherman. The roundtable is a special addition to the Hot Stove Cool Music event series, which raised more than $300,000 for Epstein’s Foundation To Be Named Later. Photo by: FOUNDATION TO BE NAMED LATER

McCormick honored by stadium managers

Mike McCormick, principal at McCormick & Associates in Greenwood, Mo., received the Stadium Managers Association Lifetime Achievement Award at the group’s annual conference Feb. 8 in Palm Springs, Calif. McCormick (second from right) was joined by previous Lifetime Achievement Award winners (from left) Ron Labinski, Populous founder; Bill Wilson, former Qualcomm Stadium manager; and Rick Nafe, vice president of operations for the Tampa Bay Rays. Photo by: JOE IUCCI

Setting up the season in San Diego

San Diego Padres Vice Chairman and CEO Jeff Moorad (third from left) joins (from left) broadcaster Mark Grant, first baseman Yonder Alonso, outfielder Cameron Maybin and catcher Nick Hundley during one of the many FanFest Forums on Feb. 11. The event drew almost 18,000 to Petco Park. Photo by: ANDY HAYT / SAN DIEGO PADRES

Ohio University claims NSF Case Cup Competition

Sports MBA and sports master’s program students from 10 schools, along with directors and judges, participated in the NSF Case Cup Competition at the National Sports Forum in Oklahoma City Jan. 30-Feb. 1 (above). The winning team (below) represented Ohio University (from left): Director Jim Kahler, Danny DuChene, Allie Pisching, Hallie English and Brett Brecheisen. Photos by: ALEX DECINO

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PROFESSIONAL

Green in Hawaii with husband Ron Green Jr. of the Charlotte Observer and daughter Molly Photo: COURTESY OF TAMERA GREEN

What I Like …

■ An influential person in my career: Max Muhleman has meant so much to me personally and professionally. He believed in me early on and gave me so many wonderful opportunities to learn and grow. He was always available for guidance and collaboration. He provided an amazing combination of wings and safety net to a young girl who was so eager to learn.

■ An out-of-the-box idea: Integrating sponsor product into the experience with relevant activation vs. slapping a logo on a wall, i.e., airline offering first-class seats in an arena. This requires real creative thinking by people who understand the sport and the fan perspective for it to truly be authentic and relevant.

■ A business deal: Integrating green initiatives into stadium designs and renovations.

■ A sports facility: Carmichael Auditorium was really special, but I do love the fact that we have a building that pays tribute to the all-time great Dean Smith! Of course, Augusta National is unparalleled.

■ An innovation: Twitter and how it works so well with the live aspects of sports.

■ A story that bears watching: Where college football ends up. There’s been so much change and shake-up over the last 5-10 years and it’s far from over. When it does settle, what will college football look like?

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

■ A sports event: UNC vs. Duke basketball game — though it causes me more anxiety than I care to experience and certainly I prefer the matchup more when the Heels come out on top.

■ A brand: HBO — because of how they’ve evolved their brand and remained an innovative leader in the entertainment world. Home Box Office was such a novel idea when it began, and the idea of watching current movies in your home was terrific back then. Now, they set the bar for original programming, and their sports features are award winning. Their current documentary on Joe Namath is outstanding.

■ A pro league or team business initiative: The First Tee Program. The PGA Tour and others have found a way to use golf to teach both the game and life skills toyoung people who can use both for years to come.

■ An idea or invention I wish I had thought of: Figuring out that you could sell $5 cups of coffee in a country used to paying 50 cents for a cup.

■ A fantasy job: Teacher.


What I Like About …

■ My job: The collaboration with clients and our internal teams. We have such deep resources and experience, and when we galvanize those minds with engaged clients, the work is so rich and so rewarding. Clients who treat agencies as partners and allow for a “safe environment” of exploration on concepts truly get more for their investment.

■ Sports business: The variety. Working on a college sport or Olympics or something with the NFL … they all bring unique opportunities and challenges.

■ Competing: Preparation. Having the time and resources to be uniquely prepared.

■ Sports fans: Sports fans are so amazing to me. What they are willing to put up with underscores the passion more than anything else. Whether it’s game-time changes days before an event in college sports or traffic into a NASCAR race, fans stay committed. And the smack talk is hysterical — especially around our office.


What I Would Like To …

■ See: The danger of pricing the average fan out of the experience of attending a live sporting event, if that hasn’t happened already.

■ Change in what I do: Our programs are better when we are seated at the table with the client. It’s hard to build strategies without having a voice.

■ Eliminate: ACC Sunday night basketball games..


What I Don’t Like …

■ In general: I don’t like “no.” I believe there are solutions and methods of getting to “yes” for every challenge.

■ In business: When people say it’s not personal, it’s business. Of course it’s personal. People invest a lot of time and energy into work and it often defines individuals. You ever notice that the phrase is really used when it’s convenient for someone as an out clause? What they are really saying is that it’s not personal to them.


PERSONAL

What I Like …

■ That would surprise those who know me: That I cry easily at movies and shows, whether it’s Disney or horror or an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.”

■ About myself: I’d like to think that I’m always true to my word.

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

■ Heroes: Abraham Lincoln, Dean Smith and Stephen Colbert.

■ Players: Currently, Cam Newton and Kendall Marshall.

■ Memento: Tiffany’s crystal football to celebrate the Carolinas winning an NFL franchise.

■ Music: Let’s just say that my 12-year-old daughter is contemporizing my taste. I’m waiting for her to load some new songs from Flo Rida on my iPod, and I’m hoping I can change her mind about James Taylor!

■ Book: “Water for Elephants.”

■ Authors: Pat Conroy and anything my husband writes.

■ IPad app: Nike GPS.

■ Chores: Really? Is this in the “like” category?
 
■ Movie: “Love Actually.”

■ TV: “Boardwalk Empire,” “Modern Family,” “The Good Wife.”

■ Artist: My daughter. She’s really talented, and I love her work!

Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

■ Food: Cheeseburgers and homemade fries.

■ Dessert: My mother-in-law’s pecan pie and red velvet cupcakes.

■ Drink: A nice Cabernet Sauvignon and anything by Robert Foley.

■ Scent: Gardenia.

■ Singer: Darius Rucker.

■ Quote: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” — Albert Einstein

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