Shadow People

Meet nine mighty forces who stand behind the men and women in the spotlight and help them succeed

SPECIAL REPORT

The Power 100

• The Power Players
• Big Leaguers You've Never Heard Of
• Forum: The BusinessWeek Power 100
• Power Bracket: Athletes
• Power Bracket: Coaches
• Power Bracket: Executives
• Roger Goodell: The Most Powerful Man in Sports
• Scott Boras
• James Delany
• Arte Moreno
• LaDainian Tomlinson
• Heidi Ueberroth
• Slide Show: Reporter's Journal -- Infamous Sports Moments
• Slide Show: MVPs Off the Playing Field
• Pro Athletes Show Him the Money
• The Detroit Tigers Are Roaring Again
• Don't Let That Smile Fool You
• A Family Feud Jeopardizes a NASCAR Brand
• Sports Lessons for the Business World
• Slide Show: The Power Panel

Bob LaMonte ESPN the Magazine

David Hoots ESPN the Magazine

Steve Clarkson ESPN the Magazine

Story Tools

• post a comment
• e-mail this story
• print this story
• order a reprint
• digg this
• save to del.icio.us

Mark of influence: Eschewing their own sponsor technicians, non-TaylorMade pros have been known to sneak by Liles' trailer in search of a club tune-up ESPN Magazine

From ESPN the Magazine

Dealmaker

Bob LaMonte

"Before we got involved, coaches were making $300,000," says LaMonte. "Now they're making $3 million." But the agent doesn't just fill his coaching clients' coffers. He also brokers deals that give them the kind of control most coaches just dream about. The 62-year-old agent's roster boasts Charlie Weis and an army of A-list NFL coordinators (Mike Martz, Mike Singletary, Jim Mora Jr., and Mike Sherman among them). But it is head guys such as Mike Holmgren, John Gruden, Andy Reid, Brad Childress, John Fox, and Mike Nolan who make LaMonte one of the league's most influential insiders. The contracts he brokered for Holmgren in Seattle, Reid in Philadelphia, and Sherman during his run with the Packers set a new gold standard, combining multimillion dollar compensation with unprecedented front-office control.

Mark of influence: For the 2007 season, LaMonte's head-coaching clients will rake in somewhere north of $36 million in contract money.

Architect

Janet Marie Smith

As the senior vice-president of development and planning for the Red Sox, Smith is in charge of Fenway Park's renovations. Over the past five years, she has overseen vast improvements in the fan experience at one of baseball's oldest and most overcrowded parks. With expanded concourses, less congestion, and additional seats perched above the Green Monster, Fenway has retained its 95-year-old charm while adapting to modern demands for more space and amenities. It's the same approach that Smith used with Atlanta's Turner Field and before that, Baltimore's Camden Yards, two retro parks that proved a fan-friendly stadium can enliven a city's dormant urban center.

Mark of influence: Since Camden Yards opened in 1992, a dozen throwback ballparks have helped revitalize urban areas.

Money Man

Steve Greenberg

The son of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg lasted a few years in the minors after graduating from Yale in 1970. He later became a player agent, negotiating baseball's first-ever weight-related incentive clause for Bill Madlock in 1981. From 1990 to 1993, Greenberg rose to prominence as the deputy commissioner of Major League Baseball and the right hand man to then-commissioner Fay Vincent. These days, as part of the New York City investment firm Allen & Co., the 59-year-old is who major league owners call when they need advice on selling a franchise. He recently brokered the sales of the Braves, Brewers, and Reds and helped the Mets negotiate naming rights for their new stadium, Citi Field.

Mark of influence: In 1995, Greenberg cofounded the Classic Sports Network, which was bought by ESPN and renamed ESPN Classic. Eight years later he founded CSTV, which was sold to CBS in 2006.

Maestro of Metal

Wade Liles

In the days leading up to a PGA Tour event, you'll find Liles camped out nearby in his spartan TaylorMade equipment trailer quietly tweaking and building drivers for TaylorMade's 80 touring pros, including John Daly, Sergio Garcia, Scott Verplank, and Justin Rose. Millions of dollars in prize money ride on each pro's comfort with his club, so Liles is in heavy demand. He balances a club's weight distribution with individual preference (he stores each pro's likes and dislikes in a laptop) and can construct an entirely new driver in less than 10 minutes. His handiwork helped power Garcia and Verplank to top-five finishes at last month's Tour championship.

Mark of influence: Eschewing their own sponsor technicians, non-TaylorMade pros have been known to sneak by Liles' trailer in search of a club tune-up.

Fix-it Man

Dennis Poppe

When Bob Stoops is angry about a blown call or upset about a bowl assignment, he doesn't call Myles Brand. He calls Poppe, the NCAA's managing director for football and baseball. The three-decade NCAA vet oversees both officiating and championship series for football and baseball, and he makes it his business to know every college head coach, AD and assistant equipment manager in the country. He knows how to glad-hand the pols, too. The 59-year-old Poppe has overseen the College World Series since its days in obscurity. Now that it has gone prime time, he's been in talks with the city of Omaha to build the popular event fancy new digs.

Mark of influence: For better or worse, Poppe helped bring both the BCS and instant replay to college football.