Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Heading Home

The Rillie Family is heading home today from it's USA vacation. Although it has been great to catch up with family and friends, I think we are looking forward to crashing in our own beds.

The only thing is, we are departing on Monday night (USA time) which is the final of the NCAA Tournament. I will have to have a word to my travel guide next time round about our scheduling.

Once I hit home soil I will have lots to catch up on in the world of blogging as I have been consumed by all the live TV action here.

Talk to you when I get to the other side of the Pacific.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL, it sounds like you're more in need of a Slingbox device more than an air ticket!

Anonymous said...

That is not funny.

Anonymous said...

Larry Sengstock the new Basketball Australia CEO

Anonymous said...

Larry the Legend

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25303027-12428,00.html

Anonymous said...

Australian basketball has a new hand at the helm to guide it through the next stage of its commercial reform after the legendary Larry Sengstock was named as the sport's new Chief Executive Officer by Basketball Australia.

Sengstock comes to basketball as an acknowledged leader in Australian sports management with exceptional experience in working with all levels of sport both locally and internationally, all range of commercial enterprises and with all levels of government.

One of the best credentialed sports and event management executives in Australia, Sengstock was the Head of Sport and Athlete Services for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. He was one of the original members of the bid team that secured the Commonwealth Games for Melbourne and then a member of the Organising Committee that ensured the Games were a stunning success. Sengstock joins Basketball Australia from his current role as Senior Consultant of International Projects with market-leading sports, recreation and leisure planning consultancy SGL Group.

The former Boomers star played 293 games for Australia during his storied on-court career and represented Australia at four Olympic Games (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) and four World Championships (1978, 1982, 1986, 1990). He won five National Basketball League Championships (1979, 1980, 1985, 1987) and was the NBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player in the league's 1979 inaugural season. The NBL Grand Final MVP medal has since been named in his honour and he is a member of both the Basketball Australia and NBL Halls of Fame.

Chairman of the Board of Basketball David Thodey said BA undertook an exhaustive search for someone with proven leadership ability and impeccable corporate credentials and were thrilled to find Sengstock.

"Basketball faces great challenges in the next few years but is also entering a period of unparalleled opportunity," said Thodey. "It was vital therefore that we appointed a CEO with a demonstrated track record - someone who has vision, drive and a proven ability to successfully manage a transformational agenda. Larry Sengstock clearly fits that bill and the Board were delighted that he was available."

"We underwent an aggressive recruitment process to find ourselves a best-of-breed business leader. That's exactly what we've found in Larry Sengstock, who more than ticks every box. The fact that he also happens to be someone who is an Australian basketball icon, and who has been intimately involved with the sport at every level, is an unbelievable bonus."

Thodey paid tribute to departing BA Chief Executive Scott Derwin, who was a major driving force behind basketball's reform process.

"Larry will benefit from the solid foundation he will inherit from Scott Derwin's ten-year tenure. Scott did what no one before had managed to do - he got the NBL and BA not just to work together, but to unify into a single entity. That is a remarkable feat and one that will bear enormous fruit for the sport in the long-term. He led Australia's national program through three Olympic Games and two World Championships, with the international on-court success of our teams during that period including multiple medals and one world title. Scott was a leader who demonstrated resilience, commitment and passion for the vision of Basketball 's reform. We owe him a great debt of gratitude."

Sengstock said he was looking forward to the challenge of growing the sport and finding ways to build linkages between the more than 600,000 participants and basketball's elite competitions and teams.

"I truly believe this is a time of opportunity for the sport," said Sengstock. "With the new men's national league set to be unveiled, Australia already having qualified for the 2010 senior World Championships, and the sport's stakeholders now unified and sharing a common purpose, we are poised on the brink of what could be a new golden age for basketball."

"I've heard plenty of people talk about basketball getting back to the success of the 1980s and '90s, but the reality is that we need to move the sport forward, rather than focusing on the past," Sengstock added. "Our goal is to bring the sport into the 21st century commercially so we can capitalise on basketball's huge participation base and international successes."

Sengstock will officially commence duties with BA on April 27

Mick Dundee said...

Larry Sengstock as CEO is the first wise decision the NBL has made in more than a decade. Let's hope he can flush out all the dead wood.

Eric said...

This seems a promising choice at the early stages.

They also revamped the BA website - check it out:

http://www.basketball.net.au/

Just out of interest - Anyone know what Sengstock's business experience with SGL centered on?

DJ Dudd said...

WHy is this news? Watch the T.O. its the bestest show on the internet

DJ Dudd said...

Hey IM THE REAL DJ Dudd, the post above is fake and not me (check IP's).

I think Sengstock is a bad choice.

J-Foxxx said...

See what dickheads do DJ Dudd?. I bet its DJ Rod getting very mad again, I LOVE those pics of him on the magazine covers too LOL.

Anonymous said...

Why did that Anonymous poster post all the text from NBL.com ?.

Regurgitating it all over the net, and on a blog, LMAO. hahahaha.

DJ Rod said...

Yes i will check the IPs soon.

Anonymous said...

that chinese post I translate and it reads JR you a funny guy. me think you blogg is bomb. see you at wedding.

DJ Dudd said...

I am the bestest DJ in the world. Buy my cds so I m ever Coolerer

Michael from Perth said...

Well in the 2nd of the worst kept secrets:

[url=http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=564523#]Conner Henry Sacked[/url]

Michael from Perth said...

well obviously html tags don't work in that case...

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=564523#