Los Angeles – Jack Wienert, executive director of ESPN Original Entertainment Events, is a big, gregarious, mountain of a man. He spots Russ Cline as they both are hurrying down one of the many tunnels “back-stage” in the Staples Center during the first day of the XGames in Los Angeles . “Yo, Russ.” Big bear hug. “Great to see you again. I've been running into your people everywhere; how we doin.' ” After a 30-second conversation, they're off again in opposite directions.

“That is one brilliant man and a terrific human being,” Russ says. “We've been together on every XGames production since they began. Wonderful guy to work with; really cares about his people.”

At this, the tenth annual incarnation of ESPN's Summer XGames, tens-of-thousands of people pack the “Sponsors' Village” and grounds around the Staples Center in 90-degree heat, watching the gravity-defying, impossible-looking tricks and skills the “street” skateboard finalists matter-of-factly demonstrate. According to Cline, this is the biggest first-day gate in the history of the games. Sponsors are thrilled, competitors are soaring, and fans are right in the middle of all the action. It's half sporting event, half interactive youth festival celebrating all that is part of the “right-now, the very hip,” a confluence of the world's best alternative athletes strutting their stuff in the heart of LaLa Land.

Amidst the din and seeming confusion that accompanies an event of this magnitude (tens of thousands of spectators on site for four straight days, more than 800 volunteers and 1,500 regular staff, live broadcasts on ESPN and ABC Sports, etc.), Russ Cline is in his element. Since graduating from Jewell in 1971, Cline's passion for action and his native entrepreneurial spirit and drive have contributed to the creation of some of the most spectacular and popular sporting and entertainment events in America over the past three decades.

Balance, faith, commitment, passion and risk are key in the way Russ Cline approaches his personal and his business life. As president and CEO of the RCA Group, he oversees a diverse group of companies involved primarily in major entertainment and sports event productions and corporate sponsorship development and fulfillment enterprises. He is also a devoted husband, father, doting grandfather, and one of the most popular Sunday school teachers at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

After 10 years heading up the marketing program for the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, Cline founded United Sports of America, which annually produced more than 100 motor sports events in the United States , Australia , Puerto Rico and Canada . At the same time, he started Russ Cline & Associates (now RCA Group), which gained international experience as the producers of Davis Cup and Fed Cup competitions worldwide, and whose client roster includes ESPN, ABC Sports, the National Football League, Global X Challenge, the United States Tennis Association, the International Tennis Federation, and artists such as the Rolling Stones, George Strait, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, and Michael Jackson. He also co-founded the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (now the National Lacrosse League) in 1987, and is currently the co-owner and president of the Philadelphia Wings. And who could forget the “Monster Truck” concept? It was Russ Cline and his partner who worked together to create what became a pop culture phenomenon.

His latest venture, Image Impact, is a software company that has created tools that detect, index and value sponsorship signage and product placement in filmed and televised events. Cline has taken on the challenge to set the worldwide standard for valuing sponsorships in an industry that generates $28 billion annually, worldwide. ESPN, ABC, the NFL, MasterCard, Lifetime Network and others have already contracted with the new company. William Jewell graduate David Feyerabend ('03) is playing a key role in the development of this new venture.

With his background and experience in orchestrating entertainment and traditional as well as nontraditional sporting events at venues all over the United States and in Europe, Cline decided to take on the challenge of the “AND1 MixTape Tour,” raising it to an entirely new level of popularity and exposure.

The tour began as an underground, five-city street basketball event and has now become one of the largest national summer tours in the country (30 cities) and is gaining international attention as well. Each tour stop consists of a free “Open Run” where local players have the chance to showcase their talent and try out for a spot on a team to challenge the touring AND1 team in the main event that evening. ESPN has picked up on the popularity of the tour, airing 10 episodes during the summer of “Streetball: The AND 1 Mix Tape Tour.” The tour's tremendous success over the past two years is a tribute to Cline's understanding of marketing, entrepreneurial opportunity, and phenomenal organizational and logistical abilities.

Cline would cringe at being called an entrepreneurial genius, although those who know him well wouldn't hesitate to use that term. He likes to think of himself simply as a mentor and teacher. He has a passion for learning and making sure the people in his life are learning as well. Important to the corporate culture at RCA Group are educational and personal development opportunities that Cline emphasizes and often leads.

In spite of the frantic pace at RCA's corporate headquarters in Prairie Village, Kansas (it feels as if you are in the midst of a very busy emergency room), there is an atmosphere of calm and clarity. One morning a few weeks prior to the XGames in Los Angeles, Cline gathered the 30 or so members of his staff who were not on the road planning or orchestrating one event or another (RCA Group employs more than 100) to celebrate a young staffer's birthday and to update them on the progress of the “AND1 MixTape Tour” that was playing Madison Square Garden the following night. He was reminding all of them about the best way to deal with the intense pressure and stress that most of them must deal with in their jobs everyday. “Never be afraid of failure, but always anticipate success, and always remember the difference between passion and obsession,” he said. “If you are obsessed with doing your job you will lose. Obsession is pressure that comes from the outside. If you are obsessed with something, it will end up possessing you. But passion is something altogether different. Your passion is part of you; it comes from deep inside. Real passion gives us energy and insight, understanding and compassion. And will lead you toward success.”

Tom Boehm, executive vice president for administration and finance for the RCA Group, says of his boss, “Russ has an incredible mind and incredible leadership abilities, and he isn't afraid to take risks. He knows how to build and lead teams. He is always teaching, coaching and encouraging the people around him. He makes us better people by his incredible passion and faith. Russ is a totally dedicated family man, yet he somehow manages to run one of the most ambitious, demanding, and intense companies of its kind in the world.”

Cline's thirst for teaching and learning is also apparent as he stands in front of his packed adult Sunday school class discussing Selwyn Hughes' Christ Empowered Living, listening carefully as an elderly woman explains her thoughts on trust and faith. Wherever his business life takes him (and it could be London, Miami, Paris, New York, L.A., or Madrid on any given week), Cline does everything he can to make sure that he is home to teach his Sunday school class. Like everything to which he commits his time, teaching this class is a true passion for him. “I missed two Sundays in a row and it made me feel so empty,” he told me. “Not because I missed them, but because I wanted so badly to teach those two lessons and share with the class. I actually felt covetous of those that experienced what I missed.”

Cline's passion for Jewell is equally impressive. “I was a non-traditional student at Jewell. I was working full-time and going to school full-time, and even though I never spent a night on the Hill or attended a fraternity party, I got a great education,” he remembers. “Now my son is starting at Jewell, and what really impressed us while we were looking at other colleges is Jewell's tradition of educating the whole person, intellectually, personally, and spiritually. You can learn to be a mathematician or chemist at a lot of good colleges. You can take classes in business accounting or Spanish or history online and at shopping malls and places all over the world. But at Jewell we do more. There is real focus on building character and responsibility. Students are prepared for real success because they are in a community with very strong values and a commitment to helping young people grow spiritually as well as academically. We offer parents what they really want for their sons and daughters, an environment that will help them mature into responsible, caring, and clear-thinking individuals capable of doing great things in the world and living fulfilling personal lives.”

When he heard about the accolades from the College's #1 and #2 national rankings from The Princeton Review, Cline's reaction was, “And we're just getting started.” Standing in front of Greene Hall as the new first-year students were taking the traditional “Walk Around the Quad,” Russ and his wife, Melanie, a 1978 graduate of Jewell, were watching for their son to pass by with the other new students. Russ turned and said, “You know, we really do things right at Jewell. What a great feeling it is for me today to be here, so full of pride and love as a father and also as a trustee of this great college.”