Joseph DeStefano

I am a Junior in the Isenberg School of Management at Umass Amherst. I'm majoring in Finance and minoring in Resource Economics. I have various skill and work experience, most of which is outside my field of study. Working anywhere from customer service to coaching basketball teams has given me valuable experience working and dealing with people in different settings and scenarios. I am in the process of completing the course and test to become a certified IAABO basketball referee. Mathematics and Problem Solving are some skills that I identify as personal stengths.

I have always loved sports even though I only played basketball competitively growing up. The Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots have always dominated my sports interest. I was never any good at baseball and never really had a passion to play. My loyalty and support towards the game of baseball does not allign with my playing career, mostly because of my father passing down his Red Sox fanhood.

The Red Sox revival from 2012 to 2013 is one of the most rewarding feelings as a longtime baseball fan. In my lifetime I have went from the agony of watching Aaron Boone celebrate a heart wrenching walk off home run, to being lucky enough to see TWO Red Sox World Series victories. The Red Sox teams of 2010-2012 caused me as a Red Sox fan to experience embarrassment and at times question if I really want to continue to be a fan of a group of men who managed to pull off a historic collapes and then continue to not work that much harder but may have put much less than the desired effort forward. Did you know there were reports of Red Sox reliever Bobby Jenks SNORTING FRIED CHICKEN.. This offseason the Red Sox organization seemed to be trying to simply regroup, stay relevant and look forward to improve the franchise and the brand. Improve the Brand they have with the Hands Down comeback story of the decade finishing atop the AL in the regular and Post Season. I believe the Red Sox will win the World Series and even if they don't they have made me proud yet again to be a Sox fan, not because of the success but because they are again a team we can simply be proud to be fans of again. Go Sox!