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1. MARK AOYAGI, clinical assistant professor at the UNIVERSITY OF DENVER,is an expert in sport and performance psychology, including the areas of teamcohesion and athlete satisfaction: "Because the players involved in thesteroid report are adult professional athletes, other teammates will not beshocked or dramatically affected by the report. There is such pressure, evenfor established stars, and there is such a small margin separating the greatfrom the players who don't make the league. As a result, there won't be a bigrevolt against the players who are found to be using steroids. The playerswill not fault their teammates who try to maintain that edge to stay in theleague." Aoyagi earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology with an emphasis insport psychology from the University of Missouri. His B.S. is in exercise andsport science and psychology from the University of Utah. He also has a M.S.in kinesiology from Georgia Southern University. He is a sport psychologyconsultant and has worked with Division I athletic departments, as well asprofessional and Olympic athletes. Note: Aoygai will be traveling but will beavailable for calls, or reporters can leave messages on his cell. NewsContact: Kristal Griffith, [email protected] Phone: +1-303-871-4117(12/14/07)
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2. NORMAN SAMNICK, an attorney with BRYAN CAVE LLP and the former generalcounsel for the NY Cosmos, has dealt directly with drug use among players andobserved the long-lasting effect it can have on their ability to negotiatecontracts and endorsements: "Regardless of the commission's findings, justhaving their name on the list of suspects can impact the reputation of manyplayers, hampering their ability to negotiate future sports contracts andendorsements." Samnick is available to discuss the potential impact to aplayer of having their name on the list of suspects released by the MitchellCommission. News Contact: Sabrina Strauss, [email protected] Phone:+1-212-576-2700 (12/14/07)
3. ROBERT JARVIS, professor of law at NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY in FortLauderdale, Fla., teaches and writes about sports law: "I don't think thereport will have any consequences. The CBA is locked down hard on this issue;most of the players who will be named have either admitted their use, retiredor both, and the only people who Mitchell talked to already had gone publicbefore they saw him. In addition, Mitchell and his investigators were suspectfrom the beginning due to their conflicts of interest, so anything he came upwith is tainted from the get-go." News Contact: Laura Snyder,[email protected] Phone: +1-814-867-1963 (12/14/07)
4. DARREN PRINCE, CEO of the sports marketing firm of THE PRINCE MARKETINGGROUP, dealing firsthand with troubled athletes and celebrities, from DennisRodman to Anna Nicole Smith, has implemented a variety of successful marketingcampaigns in similar situations that have kept his clients more marketablethan ever. Working with some of America's biggest sports and pop culture icons-- and some of the most infamous -- Prince feels the players in question willbounce back: "This may set back baseball while the report is in the limelight,but it will still continue to remain America's favorite pastime. Baseball ismore popular than ever before, regardless of the controversy in latter years,be it Bonds or McGwire. The marketability of these players and the sport as awhole will remain intact. There are a variety of brands that will still lookto them for endorsements, given they take the proper steps to make this wronga right." With more than 10 years of experience in the sports industry, Princecan speak on the topic of damage control and rebranding of troubled athletes.News Contact: Sweta Shah, [email protected]
