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I’m going to tell you a great little story. It’s one that I love to share with people.

When I first started out in sports management, I was faced with a problem. The company I worked for managed an Olympic athlete that according to Australia Post, received more fan mail than Santa Claus did at Christmas time! Now don’t get me wrong, excess fan mail is a good problem to have. But disappointing thousands of fans because you can’t manage it, is not.

So there I was sitting in my office as a junior surrounded by finger paintings, drawings and letters from all over the world. I didn’t have the time nor the manpower to open them all let alone respond! Each letter represented a disappointed fan, well at least that’s how I viewed that mountain of mail.

Struggling for answers, I couldn’t help but think that this problem has been solved before by other sport stars and their management. Straight away I thought of my childhood hero Michael Jordan, surely he received lots of fan mail? What did he do? How did his management handle it? Gee, I would love to know the answers.

As crazy as it sounds, for the next couple of weeks I couldn’t help but replay that question over and over. How was Michael Jordan’s fan mail handled?

A few weeks later, I’m sifting through this Olympic athlete’s fan mail and the phone rings. It’s a mother in the USA wanting a poster of our Olympic athlete for her child. Great, I thought, another fan request, just what I need!

Reluctantly I had to explain my problem to her. “Thank you for your request but I can’t promise anything right now, I’m currently inundated with fan requests and I have limited resources,” I said.

She was extremely sympathetic to my situation (which was odd as most fans who want something aren’t) and I soon found out why. Her next line would leave me staring into space. “You know, I might be able to help you, I use to manage Michael Jordan’s fan mail,” she said.

Excuse me?

Turns out her husband previously worked at IMG, Michael’s management group. She and another woman (both wives of IMG executives) would go into the IMG office each week to help with Michael’s fan mail. I was completely shell-shocked. We ended up scheduling a conference call with both ladies and discussed the whole strategy which was heavily backed by Nike.

There are over six billion people in the world and the one person responsible for managing Michael Jordan’s fan mail picks up the phone and calls me!!

I don’t believe this was coincidence, I mean what are the odds? No, there had to be a better explanation. Was it the law of attraction? The Secret? Think and Grow Rich? Maybe.

The lesson here is to never underestimate the power of your mind, for what you think about ultimately drives what you get in life. Thoughts certainly drive your daily actions and maybe, just maybe the actions of those around you, even if they are half a world away.

Player agents don’t have the best reputation in the sports industry right now. From betting scandals to inappropriate dealings with a young girl, the spotlight is well and truly on player agents and their role in sport.

Ask most people in sport business what they think of agents and they’ll tell you that they are nothing but money hungry, over protective, egocentric, fast talking suits with a million dollar grin and dog eat dog mentality. While agents like that do exist, not everyone conforms to that stereotype. Every industry has its good guys and bad guys.

I’ll be the first to admit that most agents are brilliant at making money but lack the mentoring skills needed to guide an athlete off the field. That’s not to say there aren’t agents who can do both….. but they are a dime a dozen.

One columnist this week described agents as “yes men.” I’ve touched on this subject before. And to be honest it’s the single biggest reason for the lack of really great agents.

A yes man is someone who bows to the every command of an athlete. They say what the athlete wants to hear, not what they should hear. They sprout fantasies rather than the reality. They are exaggerate the truth and are rarely candid. A yes man doesn’t say no for fear of the consequences.

A lot of athletes grow up surrounded by yes men. When a young kid shows enormous talent, parents, coaches, friends and sporting bodies treat the prodigal talent very different to your average kid. Don’t want to upset the superstar. Often the kid gets away with things other kids wouldn’t. If you don’t believe me, read Andre Agassi’s autobiography and notice how he was treated at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy compared to the other (less talented) kids.

This “special treatment” is hugely unfair on the young athlete. Much like a spoilt kid cracks it when they don’t get their own way, a young athlete might find it hard to accept criticism or be told what to do.

When a player agent comes into the life of a young athlete, it’s just another yes men being added to the entourage. Yes I can get you a free car. Yes I can get your image on the back of your favourite breakfast cereal. Yes I can get you into that party. And so on.

With each yes, it becomes harder to say no.

Most good agents either get burnt badly for saying no and conform to the yes men OR they walk away from the management game. And that’s why there are very few good agents. Personally I’ve been guilty of saying yes to athletes despite their ridiculous requests or expectations. I’ve also been extremely candid and experienced the awkwardness that comes with that.

Sports agents rely on a great talent to survive in a competitive industry. It’s their livelihood. So anything that threatens that livelihood (saying no and upsetting the athlete) is risky business. The athlete is more important to the manager than the other way around. The athlete knows this.

The problem is by trying to always appease the superstar, agents never enforce decisions that are in the best interests of the superstar. It super sucks but that’s the reality and why there a very few good agents.

I had the pleasure of hearing one of Australia’s great female athletes talk at a function last week. I won’t mention any names, but for a long time, she has been a fantastic ambassador for women’s sport.

When asked by an audience member, her thoughts on women’s sport not receiving the publicity the men get. Her reply took a few by surprise. It was blunt and controversial. But I thought it was a great insight and one I should share with you.

Her argument was that people follow sport because of the characters sport attracts. And great characters are not always great role models if you know what I mean. Just like any good movie, you need heroes and villains to create scandal and controversy. Unfortunately women’s sport doesn’t have this character X factor and that’s why it doesn’t get a lot of publicity.

There are a few other factors at play but you’ve got to admit, she makes a good point. Deep down most NRL and AFL fans love the product of footy just as much as the hoopla and entertainment that surrounds it. Just look at the attention the recent Ben Cousins documentary received.

People love scandal and drama, especially women, yet when it comes to sport it’s the women who steer away from the drama. Women’s sport is like the teacher’s pet in the classroom, an honorable student but also the most boring with no friends.

It’s not surprising the biggest grossing industries for women are music and film. These industries are full of characters. To stand out, you have to be! Publicity is a game so you’ve gotta play it.

Let’s look at the sports with the highest profile women. Tennis and swimming are two examples. Tennis has a long history of tantrums, bad behavior, controversial fashion and interesting personalities. And swimming has had its fair share of catfights, tears and twitter faux pas. These sports are full of good, bad and ugly stories. Which makes them interesting.

Fortunately for the girls, they have one of the biggest selling tools at their disposal. It’s called sex appeal. If you’ve got it, why not flaunt it? Like it or hate it, the Lingerie Football League has built a thriving business out of it. *I know more guys who watch this over other (female) sports. Sad but that’s reality.

Remember, this post was written after hearing the views of one of our country’s great female sport stars. Someone who has been at the coalface of their sport and understands the challenges of attracting media attention and hence dollars.

As a sports manager the last thing I would advise clients is to play up and misbehave. But I do believe there is room for some cheekiness, especially for women (and men) in sports that struggle for publicity and popularity.