Fox Sports President Eric Shanks and Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby have shared a foxhole.
Literally.
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Bob Bowlsby shakes hands with Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff of the Army.
Photo by: JOINT CIVILIAN ORIENTATION CONFERENCE
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In August, the two executives — unbeknownst to each other — signed up for the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. Run by the U.S. Department of Defense, the weeklong course is designed to give business leaders a hands-on opportunity to see how the military works and participate in military training exercises.
Shanks and Bowlsby are business partners — Fox Sports carries Big 12 games — and speak regularly. This fall, Shanks publicly pushed back on the Big 12’s expansion plans, which would have increased the rights fee Fox pays to the conference.
But neither knew that the other one had signed up for this conference. They were both surprised to see each other at the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C., on the conference’s first day.
The fact that Shanks and Bowlsby were part of the same conference is especially surprising given how difficult it is to join. Defense Department officials have to nominate participants. Typically, they have to weed through hundreds of nominations to fill 30-40 slots.
The Defense Department goes for “influential leaders in their professions, organizations and communities … to bring together a geographical, professional and cultural cross-section of influential Americans who are leaders in their fields.”
— John Ourand
