Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
The Wake-Up Call
Well, all of the Lebron James controversy has come and gone, and let's count the winners and losers in terms of public relations.
Winners:
James: Yes, Lebron. He made his money. He got the teammates he wanted. He will get more endorsements. The question now is can he handle the new hype.
The Heat: Miami is a crowded media and sports market. All of sudden, the Heat are a legitimate power and player for the first time in about four years.
Dan Gilbert: The Cavs owner won a lot of respect in his hometown with his rant about James leaving town. He looks smart, for now.
Paul Brown: His spirit rests comfortably knowing he still is the greatest thing in Ohio sports history.
Will Smith: Seriously, his song from the 1990s about Miami will likely get airplay again. After his kid's disastrous Karate Kid movie, Will needs the good karma.
Losers:
ESPN: The World Wide Leader came off as somewhat of a buffoon. They were railed by talking heads for putting on the 60-minutes of Lebron. And the ratings were curious at best. They drew 10 million viewers, but if you were listening to the hype this was supposed to the biggest thing since MASH went off the air. The Pro Bowl, which was derided by he media, drew more viewers. Very curious.
City of Cleveland: Let's face it. God does not like you.
James: Let's face it. The City of Cleveland does not like you.
Art Modell: Let's face it. The City of Cleveland hates you even worse. James did not help ease that pain.
Winners:
James: Yes, Lebron. He made his money. He got the teammates he wanted. He will get more endorsements. The question now is can he handle the new hype.
The Heat: Miami is a crowded media and sports market. All of sudden, the Heat are a legitimate power and player for the first time in about four years.
Dan Gilbert: The Cavs owner won a lot of respect in his hometown with his rant about James leaving town. He looks smart, for now.
Paul Brown: His spirit rests comfortably knowing he still is the greatest thing in Ohio sports history.
Will Smith: Seriously, his song from the 1990s about Miami will likely get airplay again. After his kid's disastrous Karate Kid movie, Will needs the good karma.
Losers:
ESPN: The World Wide Leader came off as somewhat of a buffoon. They were railed by talking heads for putting on the 60-minutes of Lebron. And the ratings were curious at best. They drew 10 million viewers, but if you were listening to the hype this was supposed to the biggest thing since MASH went off the air. The Pro Bowl, which was derided by he media, drew more viewers. Very curious.
City of Cleveland: Let's face it. God does not like you.
James: Let's face it. The City of Cleveland does not like you.
Art Modell: Let's face it. The City of Cleveland hates you even worse. James did not help ease that pain.
What's in a name?
The New Jersey Nets might be changing their name. Ok, so the naming this was a joke by their new owner, but it got us at Brett thinking about image. With the new Greenville hockey team looking for a new name (they feel Chiefs should stay in Johnstown, and let us hope that Grrrowl does not come back), and still some lingering resentment over the Drive, we wondered why do people fall in love with a sports name.
They offer a shared togetherness even if that togetherness can be duplicated elsewhere.
Say Tigers in the Upstate (or in our office) and you are talking about Clemson. Of course, if you are in Alabama, you are talking Auburn. Somewhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you are talking about Detroit baseball. In the days before mass media, it was easy to name a sports team and use the same name over and over again. For a short period in the 1930s, Pittsburgh had NFL, NHL and MLB teams dubbed the Pirates. In other years and eras, there were dual New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinal playing separate sports in the same town.
Can you imagine that today?
At some point, branding became a key thing and sports teams started seeking unique names. I remember in the late 1980s, a trivia question about naming the only sports teams out there that didn't end in the letter S. (A: Red Sox, White Sox and Jazz). Now, well, there are scores of names out there that are no longer interchangeable -- Thunders, Magic, Bobcats, Lightning -- come to mind. Millions of dollars are spent marketing those names. It is rather amazing.
An interesting side topic of this is when to change. Long ago the aforementioned Jazz played in New Orleans. The name made sense. It doesn't in Utah, but the name stuck. When the Seattle SuperSonics left the great Northwest, they became the Thunder.
Which is better? Who's to say?
They offer a shared togetherness even if that togetherness can be duplicated elsewhere.
Say Tigers in the Upstate (or in our office) and you are talking about Clemson. Of course, if you are in Alabama, you are talking Auburn. Somewhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you are talking about Detroit baseball. In the days before mass media, it was easy to name a sports team and use the same name over and over again. For a short period in the 1930s, Pittsburgh had NFL, NHL and MLB teams dubbed the Pirates. In other years and eras, there were dual New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinal playing separate sports in the same town.
Can you imagine that today?
At some point, branding became a key thing and sports teams started seeking unique names. I remember in the late 1980s, a trivia question about naming the only sports teams out there that didn't end in the letter S. (A: Red Sox, White Sox and Jazz). Now, well, there are scores of names out there that are no longer interchangeable -- Thunders, Magic, Bobcats, Lightning -- come to mind. Millions of dollars are spent marketing those names. It is rather amazing.
An interesting side topic of this is when to change. Long ago the aforementioned Jazz played in New Orleans. The name made sense. It doesn't in Utah, but the name stuck. When the Seattle SuperSonics left the great Northwest, they became the Thunder.
Which is better? Who's to say?
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