experiencees in professional sports (115th overall).

The influence of manager Joe Maddon has spread well beyond Wrigley Field now that he has pulled off what many Cubs fans thought theyd never see and led the team to the World Series.In a city where Jordan is still revered, the mantra of wanna be like Mike might soon be replaced by Joe Knows.At Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Business, where an MBA will cost you well over $100,000, theyre teaching Maddon. Harry Kraemer is a professor of strategy, the former CEO of pharmaceutical firm Baxter International Inc., and a Cubs fan. He can fill an hour with animated talk about Maddon.My whole lecture the other night was literally on how Joe Maddon is a perfect example of a value-based leader, Kraemer said. Ive got 80 students who are into this in a big way.Going back to his Tampa Bay Ray days, Maddons reputation as an off-beat leader has gotten a lot of headlines. Hes a no worries kind of guy who shrugs off any trips to negative town.During last seasons pennant race, when the Cubs ultimately fell short, he was a leader trying to keep a very young team loose. There was Maddon on the field petting a flamingo named Warren , one of the zoo animals he had brought to Wrigley in August 2015 for the Cubs and their families. A few weeks later, the Cubs wore onesie pajamas home on an overnight flight from Los Angeles. Every player was part of it and, if the team photo of the odd moment is proof, most if not all had fun.There are also the Maddon-coined slogans, like Try not to suck, that have found their way to T-shirts seen around town.`Control the controllable, that has been my mantra ever since he said it a few weeks ago, said Elaine Maimon, Cubs fan and Governors State University president who wrote an article in early October on Maddons managerial gifts.Its not just the sloganeering and the funny stuff that Maddon gets right, admirers say. He trusts his players and assistants to do their job, understands how they fit into the team and finds a way to get value out of a guy like light-hitting, 39-year-old catcher David Ross.Maddon himself couldnt play it straight when asked about his management style and who he has learned from.Michael Scott, probably the biggest influence, Maddon said Friday before Game 3 against the Indians, referring to the less-than-gifted manager from The Office portrayed by actor Steve Carell.Tom Gimbel, the CEO of the recruiting firm LaSalle Network and a Cubs fan, said the Series is a showcase for good management -- Maddon, well-respected Indians boss Terry Francona and the man who at different times has hired both. Cubs executive Theo Epstein hired Maddon, and he hired Francona in Boston when he was with the Red Sox.Its in the off-beat gestures where a lot of managers and business leaders hope theyre a little like Maddon. During one bad stretch of business at LaSalle, Gimbel said, he decided on a particularly miserable day that everyone needed a milk shake.It was crappy weather in Chicago and things were terrible, he said. Youve got to get people out of their own heads.Kraemer knows the value of such gestures. He said he spent hours sitting above dunk tanks at carnivals for Baxter employees so their kids could drop him in the water again and again. Nothing like dunking the boss.You end up finding ways to relate to people so you can influence them, Kraemer said. Hey, hes kind of crazy, too. Youre human like everybody else.Maddon worked in the shadows for years, first as a minor league player who never made the majors, then as a scout, coach and in other roles for 31 years before he became the Tampa Bay Rays manager in 2006.They dont see the amount of work (he) put in, Gimbel said. He wasnt a good professional player, he was a good student of the game.And without wins, the managerial tricks would soon look a whole lot less fun to the people he works for.If youve got a boss, and youre not delivering and your people are running around in pajamas, youve got a bigger problem, Kraemer said. Youre going to be fired.Not this year, and Maddon is quick to credit his former coaches for imparting common sense wisdom over the yearsAnd then beyond that, I think you take bits and pieces away from all the guys that you had, but theres a lot of guys you had that you thought did poorly, and you take a lot from them, also, because you never want to be that way, Maddon said. You gain experience, and you gain your ability or your ways in regards to doing things from those that are good, but you can really learn from the guys that you think do it poorly, too.---AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman contributed to this report.---Follow David Mercer on Twitter: (at)davidmercerAP Cheap Giants Jerseys .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. San Francisco Giants Gear . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Wholesale Giants Jerseys . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Giants Jerseys 2020 . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. This story is part of ESPN The Magazines Oct. 31 NBA Preview Issue. Subscribe today!Vancouver CanucksOverall: 116 Title track: 111 Ownership: 90 Coaching: 114 Players: 107 Fan relations: 106 Affordability: 121 Stadium experience: 115 Bang for the buck: 112 Change from last year:?-3The Canucks free fall down our standings continues. Vancouver was No. 43 as recently as 2011, when they lost to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. They repeated as Presidents Trophy winners the following season but still tumbled to 92 in 2012 -- and only continued to slip every year since.Whats goodNext to nothing. The product on the ice is terrible; the Canucks havent won a playoff series since that gut-wrenching finals loss, and they missed the postseason entirely in two of the last three years. Theyre in the triple digits in every category but ownership ... which ranks No. 90. Not good. Loui Eriksson was a nice summer pickup, and the classy Sedin twins remain the faces of the franchise. But they also just turned 36 and are nearing the end of their Cup-less careers.Whats badJust about everything. The Canucks play in the soulless 21-year-old Rogers Arena, which provides one of the worst stadium experiencees in professional sports (115th overall).dddddddddddd And Vancouver fans, who have never seen their team win a title in 45 NHL seasons, pay more than all but one of the 122 other teams in the four major leagues for the privilege. Thats an awful combination. Have we mentioned the team yet? Theyre second-worst in hockey in title track and coaching and fourth worst in players. Considering all that, its not hard to understand how only two NHL franchises (the Bruins and Maple Leafs) provide less bang for the buck.Whats newFan relations dropped 12 spots from a year ago - not surprising given that the Canucks offer the least frequent promotions, contests and giveaways in the NHL. And third-year bench boss Willie Desjardins clearly isnt inspiring much confidence around British Columbia after winning just 31 out of 82 games in 2015-16, with coaching slipping 22 places. At 114th, Desjardins is only six spots better than John Tortorella -- who lasted just one disastrous season in Vancouver -- was after being run out of town in 2014.Next: Toronto Maple Leafs ?| Full rankings ' ' '