FROM THE EDITOR

Legends are people who listen to, challenge and support their cohorts. They lead by example. They are inclusive and inspiring.
Susan O’Malley, who worked for the late Abe Pollin, founder of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Washington, D.C.; and Peter Luukko, who worked for the late Ed Snider, founder of Comcast Spectacor, were often hilarious and more than a little self-revealing as they talked about working for legends over decades, day to day, during SEVT.
Abe Pollin was an awesome philanthropist. He would read in the newspaper about someone who had no car to get to work and would call Susan to buy that person a car.
He built two arenas with his own money, something Ed Snider did as well. Susan recalled the trip to a cornfield in Landover, Md., where Abe said, “I’m going to build the best arena in the country right here.” That was Capital Centre. And he did it again 20 years later, taking her to a crossing in downtown D.C. where you rolled through stoplights for fear of carjackers, and said the same thing. Isn’t this a great place for an arena?
Ed Snider always encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit in others. Peter recalled the summer ribfest he tried at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, that lost $30,000 the first year, $90,000 the second. Ed declared his love of the ribfest both times. He did not want to quench Peter’s entrepreneurial spirit.
And it paid off. To get people to come to Wells Fargo Center early during the hockey playoffs, Peter and the Flyers created a block party, complete with those same rib restaurants, those same cool bands. Each time, they made hundreds of thousands of dollars. “Sometimes your failure is the root of your next success,” Peter told the Sport, Entertainment and Venues Tomorrow crowd in Columbia,S.C.
Legends have big personalities and big quirks. Asked the most difficult thing in working for their particular legend, Peter quipped: “His four wives.” Every time Ed remarried, Peter had to redecorate the Director’s Room.
Susan said they secretly called Abe “Mr. Magoo.” He liked to play the dumb blond, pretending he wasn’t the smartest one in the room even when he was. He taught her to keep her eye on the ball. “I can get a little passionate, a little crazy, and he would say, “‘End game, end game.’”
Asked when they personally knew they loved the business, Susan admitted to being a fan of the National Anthem, not just the song and sentiment, but that moment in time. “I saw the National Anthem 1,018 times; I never missed it. I loved that moment because I would look around and think every sign, every person, every giveaway — that had been my job and this had come together,” Susan said.
That story prompted Peter to share that he plays over and under for $10 with his hockey GM — would the National Anthem go over two minutes, three seconds? The longest ever was 2:20.
God grant you many years to enjoy the meaningful moments, the Anthems of our biz.