Tag: football

Senior defensive backs Nate Lowis and Andrew Ralph reflected on the past four years at WashU with Assistant AD for Communications Chris Mitchell.

What made you come to WashU?
NL: I came to Wash U because I could participate in a high level of athletics while receiving a world class education and remaining close to home.

Andrew Ralph

AR: I came to WashU for the chance to play college football and to receive a great education. WashU gave me the opportunity to excel both on and off the field, and I knew from the people I met that WashU was a great fit for me.

What have you learned from playing under head coach Larry Kindbom for four years?
NL: I have learned to always trust yourself.

AR: Coach K was a big part of my decision to play at WashU in the first place. While I’ve learned a lot from him about football (probably more special teams’ info than I could have imagined), he’s taught me a lot more about how to be a great man. The thing that’s always stuck with me is how much Coach K cares for each of us, not only as players but as people.

What is your favorite part of playing defense?
NL: I get to be the one making the hits.

AR: I love the energy and emotion that go into every play of defense. Whereas offense is a bit more composed, a lot of defense is effort and will. I’m a pretty passionate player, and being on the defensive side of the ball allows me to play with my personality all the time.

How special is it to be named a team captain?
NL: It is an honor and a very humbling experience to be named team captain.

AR: It was really special to be named a captain for this football team. These guys are some of the brightest and best people I’ve been around, and for them to choose me as a captain is an honor.

What is your favorite football memory at WashU?
NL: My favorite memory of Wash U football is making the playoffs last year.

AR: My favorite WashU football memory came from last year. After beating Chicago on their field, we found out that we had won both the UAA and the SAA, the latter giving us an automatic birth to the playoffs. For all that to happen in front of family/friends was a really cool moment.

What are your future plans upon graduation from WashU?
NL: I plan on attending law school next year. I am currently in the process of applying and I hope to remain in St. Louis.

AR: After graduating from WashU, I hope to work for a consulting firm. I’m also interested in the business side of sports.

Guest Blogger: By Caroline Ballard, Sports Information Intern

Two BSBA graduates will be honored for their skills in the classroom and in sports this month. Katie Chandler and J.J. Tomlin are recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Student Athlete Award. These two graduates have exhibited strong leadership ability and sportsman-like conduct in their respective sports of soccer and football.

Kathryn Lane Chandler

Katie, majored in marketing with a minor in psychology, and has been a leader on the Bears Women’s Soccer Team for four years. As captain, she led the team to the Division III National Championship for the first time in school history this year.

Katie, a forward, won the NCAA Championship “Most Outstanding Offensive Player”.

She started all 24 games in her final season and recorded a team-high 12 goals and four assists for 28 points. She was named UAA Offensive Athlete of the Week four times in her final season.

Katie concludes her college soccer career ranked second in school history in game-winning goals (16) and seventh in goals (37) and points (87).

Katie was also named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III All-America Team this year.

John James Tomlin    

J.J. majored in marketing with a minor in the business of sports. He is a three-time all-University Athletic Association and two-time all-Southern Athletic Association honoree, he concluded his career as the most decorated quarterback in school history with school records in completion percentages,  completions, passing attempts, passing yards, total offense, and TDs – 83, if you’re counting.

Off the field, J.J. is WashU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, and also serves as vice president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He has been active with the Special Olympics, food drives, shoe drives and various service projects in the area.

Photos: James Byard / WUSTL Photos

Before Super Bowl LI kicks off in Houston, analysis of the game’s economic impact on the city is already underway. Olin’s director of the Business of Sports program, Patrick Rishe, weighs in on the financial forecasts and concludes it’s best to wait until the game is over to measure revenue reaped by the local community. Here’s an excerpt from report in the Houston Chronicle:

Last year, right before Super Bowl L (that’s 50 for non-Latin speakers) in the San Francisco Bay area, Rockport guesstimated — without doing a full analysis — that the event would bring in $350 million for local communities. The official post-game analysis, done by a firm called Sportsimpacts, found the actual amount was closer to $240 million.

That study also incorporated both indirect and induced spending, and accounted for out-of-town spending and displaced tourism. But author Patrick Rishe — the director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis — cautions against trying to draw parallels between different reports, since every firm has its own assumptions and methodologies and set of expectations from the host committee.

“Comparing economic impact studies across Super Bowls is risky business,” Rishe says, “and ultimately, a futile one.”

The former St. Louis Rams have already played their first game in their new home, the Los Angeles Coliseum. And the covered football stadium in St. Louis sits empty for the season with no sign of another NFL team in sight. L.A. public radio station, KPCC, wanted to know what happened to the St. Louis Dome after the Rams’ departure. Off-Ramp host Kevin Ferguson interviewed Jason Rosenbaum at St. Louis Public Radio for an update.

Olin’s Dan Elfenbein, associate professor of strategy, was asked what he thought the city should do with the Dome. Elfenbein said leveraging the region’s existing facilities is probably the best way to move past the Rams’ departure, “especially if it’s re-purposed in a way that brings folks from other places into St. Louis in order to spend money and engage in the things that we have here in the community that are entertainment, civic and cultural.”

Listen to or read the story here.

Sports Illustrated talked to Olin professor Glenn MacDonald about the possibility that the Rams football franchise might leave St. Louis.

“MacDonald says that the future of St. Louis without the Rams looks similar to the city’s future with the Rams, and as far as cities’ economies go, professional sports teams don’t have much of an impact. Plus, he says, among the ranks of NFL teams, the Rams likely fall near the bottom of the heap in terms of bringing dollars to their city.”
Link to article.