The Harsh Reality of Sports Management: “Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black” by John Feinstein

“Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black”, by John Feinstein, sets the primary basis of the harsh reality of the sports management field. Sport management includes the functions of planning, organizing, leading and evaluating within the context of an organization. (Masteralexis, 2009: 26) In this book, Feinstein clearly depicts a real life story of a few men who saw potential in a somewhat run down golf course, and how they used the aspects of sport management to run a successful U.S. Open Golf Championship. An unbelievable amount of time, work, commitment, dedication, blood, sweat, tears, and devotion go into managing and running such a prestigious event as the U.S. Open. This book however not only grasps the attention of how important these critical aspects of the field are in managing an event such as the U.S. Open, but it forces the reader to realize and understand what it takes to be successful and to make a name for yourself in this field of business. Everyone obviously has an idea of what takes place at a major championship on a golf course, but what most not everyone realizes is what goes on behind the scenes. Not everyone can fully comprehend just what is takes to get the players on the course to play or the extensive work that goes into making the golf course appear the way it does. Feinstein’s main objective in this book is to shine some light on just what it takes to run an event such as the U.S. Open and to contribute acknowledgement to those of whom work extremely hard for the event to happen.

The basis of how the golf course Bethpage Black even came into the picture for the ideal course for the 2002 U.S. Open to be held traces back to the people that ran the championship. The vision of this championship being held...

... middle of paper ...

...to influence the minds of those who helped him along the way. He empowered them to help him and work together toward the goal of having the 2002 Open at Bethpage. This in itself is very inspiring. If one man can take such a huge and what seemed to be unachievable goal at the time and collaborate with others, and capture their attention, I feel like I can do the same with any aspect of the workforce.

John Feinstein wrote this book primarily to illustrate just what it takes to run the U.S. Open. Majority of people do not realize all the work that goes into the days, weeks, months, and years of planning and organizing this big event. Although “Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black” predominantly focuses what it takes to run and manage a prestigious golf tournament, it also establishes critical aspects of what it takes to make it in the field of sports management.