By Dalton Lee, Baldwin Wallace ’11
Goodkind on the All-Star stage.
In late February of this year, the NBAs best gathered together in Salt Lake City. Amidst the snowcapped mountains, beautiful city streets, countless celebrities, and basketball legends, they celebrated All-Star Weekend. The historically quiet Salt Lake City erupted into the mecca of culture for four days. The weekend saw a G-League player dominate the slam dunk challenge, a performance by rapper Post Malone, and Lebron James’s first loss as an All-Star team captain. Among all the chaos, relishing in every moment was Mike Goodkind, Boston Grad AM. As the In-Arena Host for the Utah Jazz, Goodkind had the opportunity to act as the host for Sunday night’s All-Star Game. Far from the average Sunday at work, Goodkind was living out a dream held since his youth.
Growing up as a Knicks and Yankees fan, Goodkind realized he wanted to work in sports at a young age. He has fond memories of attending sporting events with his dad and would insist that he wanted to be down on the court or field with all the athletes. Goodkind wasted no time in pursuing his dream, getting permission from teachers and broadcasting his first game during his sophomore year of high school. Maintaining that drive into his undergraduate education, Goodkind started working for BU TV at Boston University as a sophomore. It was also this year that birthed the dream of starting a new chapter of Phi Tau in Boston. Having first been exposed to our fraternity through his brother, Daniel Goodkind, Franklin & Marshall ’13, he grew incredibly close with the men in the Xi chapter and wished he could have those experiences for himself. Finding other like-minded individuals, the group contacted the Executive Offices and expressed their interest in forming a new chapter. Getting the go ahead and added support from our recruitment officers, the chapter had 20 men after only a few events. It was then that Goodkind knew this was for real. As the associate chapter continued to grow and find their footing, Goodkind completed his undergraduate studies and set out for LA to pursue a position with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Throughout his career, Goodkind has held positions with the Red Sox, Fox Sports, Houston Rockets, and finally landed his dream role with the Utah Jazz.
Goodkind with NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver.
Back in Salt Lake City on February 19th, all his hard work and drive had finally come to fruition. Goodkind discussed the honor of getting to meet celebrities and be in the presence of NBA legends. On his feelings during the event, he expressed, “On Sunday when I was hosting, the courtside was overwhelming—Fat Joe, Kareem, Doctor J, Janelle Monae—that brought a lot of excitement, but the pressure was high. Once the game was going, the adrenaline took over. It went by in a blur, and I barely got to talk to anyone.”
Although he has yet to be initiated, Goodkind embodies the Phi Tau spirit and mentality. It is the hope of our organization's leadership that we will be able to hold a special initiation ceremony for Goodkind at this year's National Convention in Las Vegas.