THE VOLUNTEERING LIFE: HOW TO "TOUCH AND FEEL" THE CFP MOJO
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BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE | JUNE 2018
THE VOLUNTEERING LIFE: HOW TO “TOUCH AND FEEL” THE CFP MOJO
YOU CAN BE A KEY PART OF THE BIG WEEKEND WITHOUT TACKLING ANYONE. WE HAVE WITNESSES.
By Mark Purdy | #MPwritesCFP
Volunteering is fun. We know this because Allison Doughty once dressed up as a large cartoon cow. And she
survived to laugh about it.
“I was working in a volunteer position for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl,” recalled Doughty. “We were at a youth
football game or clinic to promote the game. And someone said we needed a person to put on the Chick-fil-A cow
costume. That person turned out to be me.”
And the experience turned out to be . . . perspiration-soaked. Yet strangely blissful.
“It was like a sauna inside that costume,” Doughty said. “And you couldn’t see well through the opening and you
weren’t allowed to talk. But I actually enjoyed it. People were coming up and hugging me and posing for pictures.
How can you not like that? I even have a photo of me presenting the trophy to the winning team while wearing the
costume. Of course, you can’t tell it’s me. But it’s me.”
As fate would decree, this unique experience also was good preparation for
Doughty’s current job. She is Director of Events and Hospitality Services for
the College Football Playoff. That means, among her other duties, Doughty
is the big cheese in charge of assembling volunteers for the championship
weekend.
Recently, Doughty was in the Bay Area to start that process. Fortunately for
her, she was not wearing a cow costume while doing so. But she was eager
to explain why people would want to sign up and participate as a volunteer
ambassador to the many different elements of next January’s festivities, from
the team hotels to the concerts in downtown San Jose to the major tailgate
parties at Levi’s® Stadium on game day.
“It allows people to get in touch with the event behind the scenes, kind of feel
the magic, peel back the curtain,” Doughty said. “You know, not every job is
exciting, but it’s unpredictable. You can be working as a volunteer driver and
sit around the room waiting for an assignment and then suddenly someone needs a ride – and it might be a well-
known or famous person or coach or broadcaster. And those people are interested in learning about the area, so
there can be good conversations.”
Volunteering is full of thrilling adventures. We know this because
One Malain McCormick has had some. Before
coming to work for the Bay Area Host Committee as Event Director for the 2019 College Football Playoff National
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Championship, she organized races for the Rock N’ Roll Marathon organization around the country.
McCormick learned how helpful volunteers can be at those races. But they do need instruction. Hence, on one race
morning, she was explaining to her troops near the finish line that they needed to be careful where they stood and
where they guided people.
“I was telling the volunteers how important it was to stay behind the yellow lines because there would be runners
coming through,” McCormick said. “And suddenly, an early-finishing wheelchair competitor came rolling so fast
down the street and bumped me and knocked me over. I just jumped up and said: ‘See? That’s why you have to stay
behind the line.’’’
McCormick is fortunate that in January, she can lean on another volunteer-assembling expert and guru: Carrie
Benjamin, the Event Manager for the San Jose Sports Authority (SJSA). Throughout championship weekend, most of
the off-field events will take place in San Jose. And the SJSA has been there, done that.
We have witnesses. Since 2012, Benjamin has assembled more than 5,000 volunteers for such major and varied
attractions as Super Bowl 50, Wrestlemania 31, NCAA basketball tournament games, the Tour of California bicycle
race and the National Figure Skating Championships. She thinks gathering the more than one thousand volunteers
necessary for the CFP will be no problem.
“As the community learns more about CFP and the National Championship coming to the South Bay, I think we
will have an easy time recruiting volunteers,” Benjamin said. “People are passionate about college football. I think
they’re going to want to be a part of this.”
Volunteering is not exclusive or elite. We know this
because there is a website page where people can sign
up to staff airport information desks or drive cars (or
potentially wear mascot costumes) for the Bay Area Host
Committee. And anyone can apply. That website page is
www.bayarea2019.com/2019Volunteer.
Volunteering can keep you nimble. We know this because
as championship weekend unfurls, the community
ambassadors assembled by Benjamin, McCormick and
Doughty may be assigned to all sorts of tasks. There will
be volunteers at lobby information desks in local hotels to
serve as “human arrows” and assist people with directions
or guidance to corporate or sponsor parties. There will be volunteers stationed at parking lot tailgate parties on
game day to make sure things are running smoothly--or to help put out fires if they’re not.
In other words, volunteers never quite know what will happen or where it will lead. Example: Billy Barnes parlayed
his experience as a volunteer with the College Football Playoff into a job with an NFL team.
How did that happen? Barnes was on duty at the 2016 National Championship in Arizona when, a day before
kickoff, Alabama’s players showed up at University of Phoenix Stadium for an official team photo . . . until someone
noticed that all the empty seats in the four stadium sections behind the photo risers where the players would stand
were covered with bright orange pompons. That’s right. The Clemson fan sections.
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“Someone yelled, ‘We need those pom pons off those seats before we take the Alabama photo,” Doughty said.
“Billy held up his hand and said, ‘No problem, I’ve got it.’ And he climbed up there and as fast as possible, made
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sure all those pompons were out of the way.”
Barnes clarified: “I didn’t singlehandedly lift hundreds of those pompons off the seats, but I definitely led the effort at
the end of a very long day at the stadium.”
“People saw that,” Doughty said, “and they thought: ‘If this guy will do that, a school or team will think he’s worth
keeping around.’”
Barnes’ volunteer job in 2016 led to a paid internship with the CFP in 2017, which led to an interview with the 49ers,
where he’s now the team’s Game Presentation and Live Events Coordinator at Levi’s Stadium - site of the 2019
College Football Playoff National Championship.
Volunteering is a learning experience. We know this because it’s safe to say that come January at Levi’s Stadium, no
pompons will be placed on seats one day too early.
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THE CEO ROOTING SECTION: RICK WILMER
A BAY AREA BLITZ FEATURE WITH A SILICON VALLEY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER TALKING ABOUT COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Rick Wilmer has been CEO of Mojo Networks, Inc., since 2014. He joined the company after more than than a quarter century of
experience at other Silicon Valley companies. Mojo Networks, with corporate headquarters in Mountain View, is a global leader
in cloud-managed Wi-Fi services and security.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLLEGE
FOOTBALL TEAM AND WHY?
The University of California Berkeley. Football has been in my family
blood going back two generations. My grandmother’s maiden
name is Belichick. My mom’s uncle, Steve, was a longtime college
assistant coach at the Naval Academy and his son is New England
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. My dad played football at Case
Western Reserve University before being drafted by the Baltimore
Colts. His decision to not play pro ball and utilize his engineering
degree led him to San Jose as an IBM employee in 1966. I was
co-captain of Leland High’s varsity football team and dreamed of
being a college player before blowing out my knee as a senior.
Fortunately, my dad’s emphasis on academics allowed me to enter
Berkeley as a chemistry major in 1980 and it was natural for me to
become a Cal football fan.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY REGARDING YOUR TEAM?
As Cal students, we attended games for free. My roommate and I developed a routine in my freshman year about
when to show up at the stadium, how much to drink before the game (enough but not too much), where to sit in the
student section, and the best places to go afterward depending on whether we won or lost. We always sat near the
upper middle of the student section for a great view of the field and maximized our immersion into the mayhem. As
freshmen, the Big Game was at Stanford and we watched it on television. As sophomores, our routine was fine-tuned
to attend our first Cal-Stanford game in person—but we didn’t anticipate how BIG the Big Game really was. There
were so many people and it took longer to walk to the stadium and longer to get inside. The only seats we found were
way down low with a pretty poor view of the field. Of course, this was 1982 when Cal perpetrated what many people
call the greatest play in college football history. From our perspective, it was hard to see. After all the laterals and Cal
players weaving their way through the Stanford band, the student section was chaotic. Stanford fans were cheering as
if they’d won. We saw the referees in a huddle. After what seemed like an eternity, they signaled touchdown. We were
jumping and screaming. Cal players were celebrating. The Stanford guys were in shock. I focused in on John Elway,
the Stanford quarterback, and could see his devastation. He wanted nothing to do with handshakes or congratulating
his opponents. In some deep carnal part of my brain, I relished that moment and knew that I was a diehard Cal fan
forever. A few days later, still a bit hung over but also elated, I was duped (for just a moment) by the fake edition of the
Daily Californian which Stanford students distributed around the Cal campus with a story that the NCAA had overruled
the officials and awarded the win to Stanford. It’s possible that I have a copy of that “fake” newspaper in a box in my
garage. Makes me think I ought to try and get on Antiques roadshow.
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4BIG PLAYS BY THE BAY
COUNTING DOWN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA’S 10 MOST NEWSWORTHY COLLEGE FOOTBALL MOMENTS
College football has been played in the Bay Area for 133 years with numerous great players and games—plus some remarkable
stories that have been forgotten. Bay Area Blitz contributor Mark Purdy has picked the 10 best stories and will count them down
in the monthly newsletter leading up to January’s College Football Playoff National Championship.
NO. 8: PLUNKETT BRINGS HOME THE BAY’S FIRST – AND STILL ONLY LONELY -- HEISMAN
Over the decades, thousands of players have suited up
for Bay Area college football teams.
Only one man has won the Heisman Trophy.
That would be Jim Plunkett, who in the 1970 season
quarterbacked Stanford to a conference title and Rose
Bowl victory. Along the way, Plunkett threw for nearly
3,000 yards with 19 touchdown passes and claimed
America’s most famous piece of individual football
hardware. A pretty neat story. An even better story is
how he got there.
Jim Plunkett, Heisman Trophy Award
Plunkett grew up on the east side of San Jose in a poverty-
stricken neighborhood, the son of a Mexican-American news stand vendor and his legally blind wife. Jim, as a
teenager, worked at a gas station and bagged groceries to enhance the family income even as he starred at James
Lick High School and was recruited by Stanford coach John Ralston.
By Plunkett’s sophomore season on campus, he had won the starting
quarterback job. He had an impressive junior year with 20 touchdown
passes in 10 games to put his name in the Heisman mix as a senior. But the
odds-on favorite to win was Mississippi quarterback Archie Manning, future
father of NFL stars Peyton and Eli. The secondary favorite was Joe Theismann
of Notre Dame. In those days, college football had limited exposure on
national television. To the rest of the country, Stanford was an exotic mystery
team on the West Coast and Plunkett was a largely invisible phantom.
Bob Murphy, the school sports information chief, hatched a plan. He asked
athletic director Chuck Taylor for some extra money to promote Plunkett’s
candidacy. Taylor’s first response was: “Forget about it—if he’s going to win
it, he’ll have to do it on the field.” But Murphy kept pestering his boss. and
Taylor finally relented. He provided Murphy a “campaign budget” of $350.
Murphy spent most of the money on postage. He sent personal notes to sportswriters and broadcasters across the
country, then printed up a cheap two-color brochure and mailed it to voters. Plunkett caught a break when Stanford
traveled east to Arkansas early in the season and upset the Razorbacks as he completed 22 passes for 262 yards,
a big performance in that era. He went on to throw 19 touchdown passes and ran for three other scores as Stanford
clinched the Pac-8 championship with two weeks left in the season. Plunkett was soon posing with the Heisman, the first
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player of Latino heritage to win it. The trophy then went on a shelf at his childhood home in San Jose, where his mother
5could only touch it and not see it.
On New Year’s Day, Plunkett and Stanford shocked heavily-favored Ohio State by beating the Buckeyes, 27-17.
Plunkett then began a NFL career with some speed bumps and potholes before he finally found success with the
Raiders by winning two Super Bowls. After retirement, he’s lived in the Bay Area and worked as a broadcaster. Since
1970, several other Bay Area players have been Heisman finalists. None has ever finished first in the voting. Plunkett’s
trophy remains a lonely sentry on that front, certifying him as Northern California’s greatest ever college player.
2019 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPUS MAP
A GLANCE AT WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE FANS DURING THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND
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Interested in being an ambassador for the community? Join the Bay Area Host Committee as a volunteer!
We are depending on more than one thousand volunteers to share their passion, enthusiasm and hospitality as volunteers to make the 2019
College Football Playoff National Championship a success. Volunteer opportunities will include supporting fan interactive experience’s at
Playoff Fan Central, assisting participants during the Extra Yard 5K, welcoming college football fans to the Bay Area and much more! If you
are interested in joining the team as a volunteer, please visit: www.bayarea2019.com/2019volunteer.
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Stay up-to-date on all the news of the Bay Area Host Committee by following along on
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social media, or by visiting us at BayArea2019.com. #BayArea2019 | #CFBPlayoffYou can also read
