On the night of November 2, 2010, San Francisco anxiously watched as Brian Wilson threw his final pitch in Game 5 against the Texas Rangers. The umpire calls it a strike and all the hearts left in San Francisco stop beating for a crucial 5 seconds. The emotions felt after were uncontrollable. It was a big night for the Giants and all of their fans.During the parade the fans cheered and supported "fear the beard" all the way to Civic Center while the lights on Coit Tower were changed from red to orange. It was one of the few moments in San Francisco when everyone from bums to business men came together and shared the same level of pride and excitement. We all know how it feels to be a fan of a winning team, but how does it feel to work for a winning team? Luckily we have an insider's perspective from current students and alumni from the USF Sport Management program who worked for the Giants during the World Series.
Nick Tanza, from Cohort 31, grew up in Northern California and has been an avid Giants fan for 20 years. He started the USF Sport Management program with his mind set on working for the Giants. In the first year into the program, Nick landed a job in the Community Relations Department where he managed donation requests, assisted with field visits and helped with player appearanc
es. He also worked with Giants Enterprises, assisting with non-baseball events.There seemed to be a dark cloud looming over the office ever since the Giants were one game away from winning the World Series in 2002, but when Nick walked into the office on his first day of work in March he realized there was something special going on. "I never thought I would be on the field in Arlington when the Giants finally won and then be in the parade two days later,” said Nick. "There was a lot of emotion during all of these times and I think it stemmed from all the hard work the staff had put in during the season. The best part was sharing these moments with co-workers and friends."
Ty Glauser, Cohort 32, was able to work the sponsorship side and promotions side of the Giants business. Once there was knowledge around MLB that the Giants had a shot for the playoffs, Ty was able to deal wit
h peaking interest from sponsors who wanted to add more promotions to their season agreement. “Besides being able to witness the Giants win in Texas, the most beneficial experience I gained was being able to network with VP's and executives for MLB while working hand in hand with them from the NLCS and World Series,” said Ty.Other current students were lucky enough to get internships right before all of the excitement. The roller coaster season for the Giants kept the anticipation up around the office. "This was going to be a great experience whether they made the playoffs or not,” said Chris Davis, Cohort 32. “When they finally clinched in that last game, however, I was standing in the locker room watching the players spray champagne on one another and watching Freddy Sanchez dance. I was wondering if I should challenge him to a dance off and soon realized again why I chose this path," said Chris.
A very crucial step in becoming a professional in the sports industry is separating the identity between being a fan and a professional. With all the excitement going around it was hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere. “Everyone was professional and seemed to have a lot of pride working for the team. Moreover, everyone seemed to be having fun what they were doing, but at the same time were professional and realized they had a job to do,” said Ryan Jagoe, Cohort 33. The whole experience blended the line between professionalism and fan but Giants employees stayed poised and could not have asked for any better season.
