James H. Warsaw, former president of Irvine-based Sports Specialties Corp., passed away at the age of 61.
According to the Los Angeles Times,
In 1928 his father, David Warsaw, founded Sports Specialties Corporation, which was the first company to sign a licensing contract with a professional sports team. While creating and manufacturing sports souvenirs at his Chicago-based company, he came up with the idea for ashtrays in the shape of Wrigley Field and selling them to Cubs fans. He approached Cubs owner Phil Wrigley for permission to sell them at Wrigley Field and won him over when he agreed to pay him a “royalty” on every ashtray sold. In addition to the ashtrays, David patented a miniature ceramic baseball player, whose head bounced on a small spring. Today this doll is known around the world as the “bobble-head doll”.
Jim Warsaw entered the family business in 1969 along with his brother, Robert. Together the
Under his leadership Sports Specialties secured the first “Authentics” license agreement in professional sports when the NFL “ProLine” was created in 1984. In addition, the companys signature 100% wool sized caps, The “Pro”, were the first contracts for “on field” authentic headwear for the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and Major League Baseball, the 1992 Olympic Basketball Dream Team, as well as over 80 countries in the International Baseball Association.
A short time after the sale of Sports Specialties to Nike in 1993,
“Jim has been a great friend of the Lundquist College of Business and will be greatly missed. He touched many of us here in a deeply personal way. Despite his long battle with Parkinson's, his spirit was indomitable,” said Dean Dennis Howard. “His relentlessly positive nature, his self-effacing humor, his love for his alma mater and for 'his students' in the Warsaw Center were defining qualities of his personality. All of which made him such a special and endearing person.”
University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer added, “With the passing of Jim Warsaw, the University of Oregon has lost a great friend and a true source of inspiration. Jim had an irrepressible energy and a spirit that made you believe anything was possible. We are indebted to Jim for his strong commitment to Oregon. Our hearts go out to the entire Warsaw family at this very difficult time. The entire University of Oregon community will very much miss its good friend Jim Warsaw.”
“The Warsaw Center was his passion and the students his pride,” noted Paul Swangard, Warsaw Center managing director. “He worked tirelessly to assist hundreds of students enter the sports industry and through them will have a lasting impact on the business he loved. As one of those former students. I'm forever grateful and was truly fortunate to call him my friend.”
In addition to being a dedicated friend of the Lundquist College of Business and the University of Oregon, Jim served on many boards across the country, including the Los Angeles Sports Council, the Giving Back Fund, the University of California, Irvine Athletic Advisors Board, the National Board of Governors of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, the Brain Imaging Center at the University of California-Irvine College of Medicine, the Byron Scott Children's Charities, and more. He also founded the James H. Warsaw Foundation to Cure Parkinson's Disease, cofounded the Cure Parkinson's Program at the Giving Back Fund, and was a leading national patient advocate to cure Parkinson's Disease.
In addition to his brother Robert,