PROFESSIONAL
What I Like …
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Photo by: KATE WHITNEY LUCEY
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■ An insight: Sport at its core is meant to develop the human being’s mind, body and spirit. Our best athletes most often have played multiple sports, which I believe is best for personal development and athletic development. Regrettably, that method is happening less and less.
■ An influential person in my career: My late father. He was successful in large part because he was selfless, kind and empathetic while still maintaining a high level of ambition.
■ A timeless idea: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
■ A business deal: Can’t stand the cliché, but I like the result: “Win-Win.”
■ A sports facility: Home of the French Open, Roland Garros (especially Court No. 2).
Todd Martin
CEO, International Tennis Hall of Fame
■ What I do: Focus on the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s effort to serve the sport of tennis by preserving and promoting its history, celebrating its champions, and inspiring tennis fans and players around the world.
■ Where I’m from: East Lansing, Mich.; living in Newport, R.I.
■ Where I went to school: Northwestern University.
■ My first job: Caddying at the local country club when I was 12 or 13.
■ A sports event: Michigan State hockey games.
■ A hire: Someone who integrates well with the team. Bold enough to speak their mind out of the gate but humble enough to bide their time and get to know the team.
■ A brand: Apple. I resisted a long time but now am fully bought in.
■ An innovation: Shared calendars: Where would we be without them?
■ A pro league or team business initiative: NBA’s use of retired players in its community service activities.
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Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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■ A story that bears watching: Everything that is happening with the NCAA, conferences and the student athlete.
What I Like About …
■ My job: Never boring. Different things to work on always.
■ Tennis: Tennis is a game, a discipline and a puzzle all in one. Add the camaraderie and fellowship, and there is one heck of a challenging, fun and personally beneficial activity.
■ Sports: Camaraderie and the collective improvement of all who participate.
■ Sports business: Relationship building.
■ Sports media: Mike and Mike.
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Rod Laver
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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■ Sports technology: Shot Tracker when watching golf.
■ Competing: Adrenaline, puzzle solving, staying composed.
■ Sports fans: New York fans at night matches at the U.S. Open.
What I Would Like To …
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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■ Change: Increase productivity by having more human contact.
■ Change in what I do: Be at my desk less.
■ See more of in sports: Better preparation for the professional athlete to tackle life after 35.
■ See less of in sports: Ego.
■ See less of in sports business: Greed.
What I Don’t Like …
■ In General: Email is a time suck.
■ In sports: Making stories out of nothing. Yet, I love sports talk radio. … Just think we have so much dead air to fill that we fill it with nonsensical stuff but treat them as really important news items.
■ About sports fans: Level of expectation for their team(s).
PERSONAL
What I Like …
■ Heroes: Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe, John Havlicek, Martin Luther King Jr.
■ Players: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
■ Teams: New York Giants, Northwestern University everything, Michigan State basketball.
■ Cities: Stockholm and Paris.
■ Possession: Jack Kramer Pro Staff racket like one I used when I was young, from Dan Magill.
■ Memento: My great-great-great-grandfather’s Civil War discharge certificate and sword.
■ Time of year: Fall. A great time to be outside, pretty colors, great smells and football season.
■ Music: Colin Hay, Live, the Decemberists.
■ Books: Anything by Pat Conroy, especially “The Water Is Wide.”
■ Authors: Pat Conroy and John Irving.
■ Website: Hotwire.com.
■ App: Open Table.
■ Movies: “Field of Dreams,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Couples Retreat.”
■ TV: “The Blacklist.”
■ Concert: Colin Hay with the Jacksonville (Fla.) Symphony.
■ Food: Hot dogs.
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Photo by: THOMAS LOVELOCK / AELTC
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■ Dessert: Root beer float.
■ Cars: Four wheels and safe.
■ Quote: Not a quote, but Kipling’s poem “If” is spectacular. It has a special place in tennis: Verse is listed on the wall entering Centre Court at Wimbledon.
