Nomar Garciaparra’s signed (and washed) jersey? A Joe Montana football? One of Pedro Martinez’s baseball hats? Or how about a Ray Bourque game-worn, jersey? Tickets to a last Cal Ripken baseball game? Finish line seats at the Boston Marathon? Floor tickets to a Celtics game? And all as a tax write-off?
All of the above and more will be auctioned off at the Business of Sports Club’s “All About Sports” Charity auction to be held Friday, September 21st from 7:00-11:00 PM in Spangler. HBS’s Business of Sports Club, whose primary objectives are to educate its members about the unique business characteristics of the sports industry and to prepare its students for a career in sports, will host this inaugural benefit event. According to club officials, the auction will celebrate sport and the importance of sport in the lives of the people at Harvard Business School and in the Boston and Massachusetts community. And it will be the school’s first semi-formal party of the year. The Event MC will be Bob Lobel, the award-winning sportscaster from WBZ channel 4.
The “All About Sports” Auction will raise money for the Massachusetts Sports Partnership (MSP), a Massachusetts-based not-for-profit sports commission with a statewide mission to enrich the region and the quality of life for all citizens of Massachusetts through the development and growth of sport. Not only has MSP established the lauded “Grants for Girls” program, a program that provides grassroots funding for girls’ sports programs in Massachusetts, it has pioneered the development of a bid fund largely responsible for bringing such big ticket events as the NCAA Women’s Final Four and the US Olympic Gymnastic Trials to Boston. The NCAA Women’s Final Four alone is expected to generate over $25 million for the Massachusetts economy.
Known as the “Athens of America” due to its rich cultural past, Boston’s history, like Athens’, is largely rooted in sport. A testament to athletic institutions and a tradition of sport that extends beyond city borders, Massachusetts itself is the birthplace of sports such as volleyball and basketball, the birthplace of athletic institutions such as Fenway Park and Longwood, and the former home of athletic greats such as Babe Ruth, Larry Bird, Bobby Orr, and current greats such as Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, and Nomar Garciaparra.
