Individual tickets ($35) and tables (table for 7 for $245) are still available but going quickly for the debut of our Sports Executive Speaker Series which we are hosting with the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center on February 18th from 7:00am-9:00am in Portland at the U of O Center in downtown Portland.

I was on NBC Portland (KGW) last night on their "Sports Sunday" show to discuss the Super Bowl ads as well as to discuss the latest with the NFL and NBA Collective Bargaining Agreements and if work stoppages in both leagues loom on the horizon.

Super Bowl XLIV is coming up this Sunday in Miami. Over 100 million people are scheduled to watch the game on TV and many of those people will be hosting or attending Super Bowl parties.

If you missed my conversation with Yahoo! Sports NFL reporter Charles Robinson from this past weekend, I invite you to listen to it ON DEMAND by clicking here.

If you listen to Sports Business Radio, you know that one of my favorite athletes is Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash. Not only is he a brilliant basketball player, but he's also a fascinating guy off the court. From his business efforts to his charitable efforts, I've followed him closely over the years.

We put out this press release today that I thought our audience might be interested in seeing:

I had J. Isaac, the Senior VP of Business Affairs for the Portland Trail Blazers join me on our Portland-only edition of Sports Business Radio on 95.5FM The Game this afternoon. I used to work with J. when I worked for the Trail Blazers.

Johan Bruyneel is to cycling what Phil Jackson is to NBA coaching. Except Johan is not only the coach, but he's also the GM and team President. All you need to know is that Johan Bruyneel has fielded 10 cycling teams for the Tour de France - the event some call the most grueling sporting event in the world - and Bruyneel's teams have won 9 titles. Not a bad percentage.

As I've mentioned on Sports Business Radio and via our other platforms, Sports Business Radio and the Warsaw Center at the University of Oregon are teaming up to create a Sports Executive Speaker Series. We'll host one event per quarter in 2010 and feature a key decision maker from the world of sports at each of our events.

Its no secret that local newspapers are dying off across the United States. Its a topic I've wanted to discuss on Sports Business Radio for quite some time. On this week's show I was joined by former Washington Times sports business reporter Tim Lemke.