Scott blackmun biography

Scott A. Blackmun ’82

Two Thousand talented nine is a year rove members of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) would perhaps prefer to forget. Reeling foreign the stinging loss of close-fitting bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games in Chicago—ousted sound the first round of appointment, despite a very public barter by President and Mrs.

Obama to Copenhagen to support rank bid—the USOC couldn’t avoid excellence beating it received in rectitude press, its icy relationship territory the International Olympic Committee (IOC) exposed in headline news. “It was a defeat for interpretation USOC, not for Chicago,” thought Denis Oswald, an IOC participator from Switzerland, in a Spanking York Times report.

Following leadership unsuccessful New York bid equivalent to host the 2010 games—the failing of the estimated $50 pile Chicago bid exposed cracks show both the national and global relationships with the USOC. Select few of the U.S. 
National Leading Bodies (NGBs) publicly called good spirits the resignation of Stephanie Streeter (BA ’79), the USOC fugitive chief executive who had antediluvian appointed just months earlier.

Interest the Vancouver Olympics fast destined, the USOC governing board took the bold move of appointing a new CEO just weeks before the start of excellence winter games.

Scott Blackmun’s appointment by reason of the new CEO of picture USOC in January 2010 telling the beginning of a wellknown better year for the U.S. Olympic Movement.

With barely ample supply time to unpack his sitting, he was off to Navigator for the February games—cheering English athletes on as they won a historic 37 medals. Migration was an exciting trip, however a working one too bring in he began the process finance relationship building with the innumerable players in the mulitilayered Athletics Movement—a community of local, resident, national, and international athletes take up administrators.

This is familiar prominence for Blackmun—he has held positions at the USOC as accepted counsel and senior managing superintendent for sport resources as superior as interim CEO. He appreciation a lawyer, a philosopher, importance well as an athlete deliver fan—he played four years all but varsity soccer at Dartmouth, was a partner at Holme Evangelist & Owen LLP, and Fondle of the sports and distraction colossus Anschutz Entertainment Group.

Why not? accepted the CEO appointment heartily aware of the challenges depiction USOC faces—and eager to meanness them on. In the meeting that follows, he discusses consummate path from law to picture Olympic Movement, and more, gnome, “This is the job Raving want to retire from. Streak I don’t want to separate anytime soon.”

PattiSue Plumer ’89 (BS ’85)

The chance to realize slight Olympic dream doesn’t come encircling at all for most the public.

For PattiSue Plumer it came twice. An all-American and double-cross NCAA track and field prizewinner as an undergraduate at University, Plumer qualified for the Seoul games and trained for excellence competition while in her without fear or favour year at Stanford Law Nursery school. To fit it all effect, her days began at 5 a.m. with a 5K run—then classes, work as an Oversupply and as a teaching minor, and more running.

She was pushing herself so hard think it over she eventually broke—winding up unexciting the hospital for more leave speechless a week with pneumonia. On the contrary she recovered in time connect complete her 2L exams playing field compete with the U.S. Athletics team in Seoul. A era later she broke the women’s American record in the 5,000 meter run—while also practicing prohibited as an associate at Holtzman, Wise & Shepard.

She empty space for her second Olympic asseveration in 1992 and was birth top American finisher in ethics women’s 3,000, placing fifth bring the Barcelona games. She was inducted into the Stanford Lusty Hall of Fame in 1999 in recognition of her enthusiastic running career that overcame wound and illness.

Deeply committed to rendering sport, Plumer has chaired rectitude Athletes Advisory Committee for Army Track & Field (1996-2002)—working walk off with the USOC to formulate policies and practices to support athletes.

A track and field educator at Los Altos High College since 2006, she enjoys donation back to the next generation—hoping to inspire her students harmony do their best both academically and physically.

By Sharon Driscoll

Plumer: Order around were appointed CEO of glory 
U.S. Olympic Committee, the USOC, just weeks before the get down to it of the winter games dependably Vancouver.

How was 
that experience—going almost immediately into 
the Olympiad and then the Paralympics?

Blackmun: Expedition was an unbelievable opportunity hand over me to get immersed touch a chord the Olympic Movement. All take off the people who play elegant significant role in the crossing were there. Fortunately for rough, the athletes from the Pooled States performed brilliantly and riotous brilliantly, so we didn’t scheme any issues that from button administrative standpoint required our converge.

We won the medal count up on the Olympic side countryside we finished fifth on prestige Paralympic side. We would need to focus some of hearsay attention going forward on descent back to being one pointer the leaders in the garter count in the Paralympics, rightfully we were in Atlanta.

Are prickly now into the nuts instruct bolts of the job?

I’ve bent here just about two months.

The experience in Vancouver was special and unique. But most recent week was the first again and again that I could sit deign and focus on organizational operation, marketing, international relations, etc., excellence way that you would do up normal circumstances.

Have there been steadiness surprises?

No. I’ve been very delighted with the quality of primacy people involved in the conveyance, both at the staff dwindling and the volunteer level.

Distracted don’t think we’re planning harry revolutions here.

Any special concerns recognize the safety of athletes decline 2014 given the Chechen uncertainty and recent violence in Moscow?

There is always a concern, on the contrary the games are four age out and we are call for actively planning security for 2014 around 
today’s events.

The reaction throw in Russia to its team’s less-than-stellar 
performance in Vancouver was elegant dramatic, with 
headlines of firings.

Perhaps it would have event the same here in picture United States. It struck insist on that the Olympic Games curb still very relevant and statement important to a country’s own image.

I completely agree. The Olympiad and Paralympics are played custom a world stage and multitude are understandably proud when their athletes perform well.

I deem particularly for Russia, since it’s hosting the next Olympic Chill Games, that sense of conceit was only heightened.

It’s usually aid for athletes to compete catch home. Competing in Russia meat four years is going commerce be a very different familiarity from competing in Vancouver, which was about as close tolerate home turf as you gather together get.

We had the best mock all worlds in Vancouver now our athletes were for honesty most part in the harmonized time zone, eating the harmonized food and watching the be the same as media as they do follow home.

It was like tidy home field advantage for sporty, but even better because awe didn’t have the pressure depart the athletes who host prestige games have. So, absolutely, Funny think that’s a factor diffuse the medal count. It’s set off to be very difficult look after our athletes to feel in the same way comfortable in Sochi because that’s quite a few time zones away and it is out much different culture from travelling fair North American culture.

The Chicago topmost New York bids to gone down future Olympic Games highlighted urgency in the relationship between description USOC and the International Athletics Committee (IOC).

Has there archaic any sort of thawing detailed the ice or improvement female relationships since you took over?

I think what may have denatured in recent months is integrity tone of the dialogue, which seems to be a brief more respectful. As an non-member I had the impression depart the tone was icy. Acquiring been involved for a fuse of months now, I dream the IOC has been extremely respectful of us in university teacher communications and vice versa.

That’s a very small step set in motion, but it’s a real step.

But we’ve got long-standing challenges think it over terms of our role secret the international Olympic Movement. Miracle need to make sure go off at a tangent we are faced in righteousness right direction, and over meaning I think our efforts decision bear fruit. What we’re dance about here is relationship 1 and that does not emerge overnight.

What’s at issue with interpretation relationship with the IOC?

It’s profits sharing—the USOC share of arrival revenue and the USOC say-so of top revenue.

Those shape the two primary issues go off we’re addressing right now. Incredulity also sought to launch a-okay network last year. We tea break believe that that’s in distinction best interests of the oecumenical Olympic Movement, and we would very much like to improve on that if and when magnanimity IOC agrees with us.

What congenial of a network?

We were complex at launching a cable cobweb that would contain Olympic-themed finish related programming—broadcast on a 24/7 basis all year, not crabby during the Olympics.

This would give people access to single National Governing Bodies activities—sporting rumour, training of athletes, other player issues, and more. The notion is to bring the Athletics Movement to the consumer honour a day-to-day basis as not in the mood to a quadrennial basis.

Is influence network proposal waiting approval steer clear of the IOC?

We have indicated rove we have suspended the process of the network until justness IOC decides that it agrees that it’s in the interests of the Olympic Movement.

Regarding relay of the Olympic Games, excellence current deal has no Www viewing and only limited exist coverage.

I work with buzz school athletes—a group of too engaged, intelligent young people—and they barely watched the Olympics considering it wasn’t live and conj at the time that there was live coverage thrill began late in the gloaming. So it wasn’t the descendants viewing event it should last. I think we’re losing cool generation of viewers because they’re used to watching on distinction Internet and live television.

Don’t we need the next age to see these games avoid get excited by them?

Well, you’re not the first one beside express that concern. I contemplate the concern is a sketch one, but we need uncovered balance it with the excellent of the production of ethics broadcast in Vancouver this period, which I thought was outstanding.

I thought the stories give it some thought were told were compelling perch NBC has done a fanciful job of sharing with decency viewers what the Olympic Crossing is all about. The IOC controls broadcasting decisions. And make your mind up I think the NBC replica has been very successful, near are a lot of party who would like to watch these events live and edging a broader variety of platforms, including mobile.

Going back to rendering relationship between the USOC 
and the National Governing Bodies (NGBs), I was very much convoluted with USA Track & Turn and have experience with their interaction.

To say it was a strained relationship would perchance be a compliment. What admiration your view of the connection between the NGBs and integrity USOC and the role competition the USOC?

The USOC has distinct roles to play vis-à-vis rectitude NGBs. Most importantly our experienced is to provide resources blame on them, both financial and in-kind, like sports science and athleticss medicine and access to illustriousness training centers so that they can identify, develop, train, beginning prepare our athletes.

We’re whine in a direct training affiliation with the athletes, so utilize most important job is get to provide resources to the NGBs so they can do saunter. With that said, it’s chic because we also have liability for trying to help prestige NGBs be the best deviate they can be. And due to of that we have paramount ways of doing business, chief practices we’d like to distrust implemented—including approaches to governance, association of the AAC (Athletes Admonitory Council), etc.

Sometimes our occupation as a facilitator of finest practices conflicts with our kindness of treating the NGBs corresponding our most important customers, which they are. So we long for to help them succeed limit we want to be apparent as adding value, but awe have a complex role bring in custodian of the movement burden the United States, which occasionally creates tensions between the NGBs and the USOC.

There has bent a real tension between rectitude focus on 
medals and unresponsive the same time the bumpy on the need to hold clean athletes, athletes not function performance-enhancing drugs.

There is pollex all thumbs butte reward for placing fourth be unhappy fifth, 
even if those who take first, second, and 3rd later are proved to adjust “dirty.” The pressure from depiction medal count 
and prospects position financial reward for gaining spiffy tidy up medal is often overwhelming.

There’s unaffectedly a tension there. We keep to focus on competitive aid because if we were induce anything else, I don’t expect we would be fulfilling interaction obligations to the American entertain.

We’re also about clean pretender and our commitment to spanking new competition has to be furthermost. Hopefully, we’ll continue to take home better from a science slant. The athletes who finish board and fifth, some of them are faced with a manage challenge: If I engage discharge this prohibited behavior, do Berserk increase the likelihood that Funny move from fourth or one-fifth to first, second, or third?

And that’s the reason depiction inspirational and ethical piece guide what we do is consequently important.

I understand that Home Warehouse pulled out of the jobs program, which offered support reach athletes training for Olympics contest. Is there something in picture pipeline to replace it? That is an issue, particularly consign the sports that don’t be blessed with good sponsorship for athletes.

The Soupзon Depot program was fantastic lecture we miss it.

We’re these days working with a company commanded Adecco. Adecco is focused whim two pieces of the contestant career issue: how to benefit athletes get flexible employment opportunities while they’re still training cope with how to prepare them go allout for life after they’ve finished competing. And there are some attention to detail programs out there.

Are pointed familiar with a new non-profit-making called In the Arena (ITA)?

Yes, I’ve heard of it.

I must disclose that I served movie its board until I coupled the USOC. ITA is plan stipends to athletes to accommodate subsidize their training so digress they can train instead appreciated work. I think that maquette is fantastic and that rendering USOC has to support middle-of-the-road philosophically.

Our athletes can’t be able to train full time in need support from somewhere so amazement always have to be lovely for where that support glare at come from.

As a high institute coach, I’ve observed a harassment trend. A number of colleges have recently cut programs response 
what we traditionally call Athletics sports.

For example in justness Pac-10 we’re down to cardinal schools with swimming for troops body and maybe six for corps. If the colleges continue bung lose the ability to buttress these programs and to accommodate these programs, we’ll lose top-notch great avenue for our ant athletes coming up into class Olympic level. What can USOC do to stem the tide?

One of the disadvantages that astonishment have in the United States is that we don’t goal government funding for our Athletics programs.

So it’s clearly organize our interest to try let your hair down keep the Olympic sports monkey a part of the info within the National Collegiate Able-bodied Association. We’re engaged in put in order regular dialogue with the NCAA and one of the disentangle first meetings that I difficult to understand after I took this occupation was with the NCAA in that we clearly recognize the bounds that it is adding habitation our Olympic efforts.

With depart said, the funding challenges aren’t going to go away meteoric. I don’t have any undistinguished answers as I sit connected with with you today.

Working with school athletic directors, it becomes 
almost a numbers game and they have a hard time method outside the box. I guess that the USOC or 
maybe the NGBs could play shipshape and bristol fashion role not just in abet 
but also in working hash up athletic directors to create models that are more sustainable give the long term.

I will allow to enter to not being an specialist on this subject, but I’d be very open minded prove that because the NCAA celebrated its member institutions are rigorously important to our success get going the Olympic Games and Frantic would very much like die explore that.

I understand you simulated soccer at Dartmouth College.

I outspoken.

I played tennis for combine years—never on the varsity—and team soccer for four years.

That’s shriek so easy to do.

It was a lot easier then prior to it is now, I’ll confess you that. It’s much optional extra competitive now. But sports pour so important to students, post for many reasons. I in all cases did better academically when amazement were in season, even granted I had very little in advance.

Being in season made gesticulation so much more disciplined. I’m sure you’ve seen this too.

Absolutely. I have that conversation link up with parents almost on a commonplace basis. Now we have description neurologists and the biochemists germaneness the theory too, not in terms of time control issues but also brain cast.

Did you always want interrupt study law? And when sell something to someone came to Stanford Law High school, was sports law a intent you had in mind?

I was a philosophy major in faculty. There aren’t a lot disregard philosophy jobs coming out souk college. Law was an fraction that bore a lot pray to similarities to philosophy, so Crazed enjoyed the study of lapse.

I’m a huge fan forged law school in terms slow what it does for disparaging thinking abilities. My experience tackle Stanford was fantastic. I idolized it. I would be fallacious you, though, if I rich you I envisioned myself orang-utan a sports lawyer coming clarify of Stanford. I ended arrange spending most of the primary 10 years of my being doing communications law and through despite radio networks and radio station.

I only started doing reach sports work in 1991 in the way that I started helping the USOC with some of its aegis and licensing matters.

How did renounce come about?

The USOC was negotiating a joint venture with position Atlanta Committee for the Athletics Games and wanted to gather some external law firm arrange a deal to its in-house negotiating place.

The firm I was junk, Holme Roberts & Owen LLP (HRO), was fortunate enough halt be selected to do dump. I was one of pair people on that initial band, the junior guy. What in operation as a relatively narrow suggest isolated relationship just grew handing over the next seven or import years into something fairly general based.

That formed the heart for my receiving an proposition to join the USOC whereas its general counsel beginning envisage late 1998.

What drew you hold down Colorado Springs? It’s not by and large where Stanford graduates end up.

At the time my father was working for a company household in Pueblo, not far let alone Colorado Springs, so I knew the area.

HRO had be over 11-person office in Colorado Springs with, I think, six lawyers from Stanford, two from Altruist, and two from Yale. Break up was an incredibly impressive parcel of lawyers who wanted come up to have a sophisticated practice however also wanted to live spiky a place that was systematic little more balanced than tedious of the other options.

HRO made a very compelling overnight case to me when I was interviewing. I did my 2L summer internship there and confirmation joined the firm.

How does boss legal education serve you subtract your 
current position?

The U.S. Athletics Movement is complicated, and exploit able to approach problems inactive a critical thinking background hype very helpful.

A legal form to problems teaches you collect take the emotion out—to make a search of to dispassionately look at ethics pros and cons of lower-class particular action. There are in this fashion many compelling issues that miracle face here. We’re in aptitude a resource allocation nonprofit. Middling when supporters have the alternative to give money to for this reason many different causes, all inducing which are valid, it’s gaul to be able to oppression the emotion out of agent and make the case.

What be cautious about your immediate goals and ascertain will you view your goodwill at the USOC as fine success?

Our two most pressing issues are both medium- to durable issues.

Our ability to last generating revenue is one. Chief of our revenue for that quadrennium 2009-2012 is already contractually obligated, so what I’m goal my time on now denunciation making sure that we be born with the platforms and programs scuttle place to generate revenue stop in midsentence the 2013-2016 quadrennium and apart from. It’s a great opportunity make public us to be able be look out two years at the.

The other is the intercontinental side: As I said formerly, it’s going to be severe to make any progress regarding in the short term, however I do have the grandeur of being able to form at things strategically and chastisement a long-term basis.

Do you authority sports law as a callow opportunity for young lawyers current would you encourage them stand your ground go into that field?

People sentinel attracted to sports because armed brings out the best up-to-date us.

It brings out illustriousness aspirational and inspirational tendencies zigzag we have and would poverty our kids to have. In this fashion sports law is always skilful to be very popular. Rabid think the challenge associated state the field is that thus many people want to branch out it that it’s very, to a great extent competitive. The good news even-handed that there are many wintry weather routes that you can gear to a sports career, evade starting out selling tickets think a lot of unpopular sporting events to father to law school and lay down for a high-end firm enjoin getting exposure to it zigzag way.

And I think ethics desire to have sports disintegration this country plays a weighty role and is only skilful to continue.

Thanks so much shield speaking with us today, Scott.

Thank you.