Memphis Going To The Hall!

Today the city of Memphis and the USFL will have someone going to the Football Hall of Fame: Reggie White. You see, before he played for the Eagles, Reggie White was the defensive end for the Memphis Showboats, of the USFL. While the NFL rejected the city year after year, the USFL did not. When the league came to town, the city embraced it as well as Reggie White. The Minister of Defense recorded 23 and a 1/2 sacks in two years in Memphis. Not only was he a fan favorite while at the University of Tennessee he was the shining star while with the Showboats. So for all those fans, who followed the Showboats, sit back and enjoy the ceremony today because it is a chance to remember the memories that he provided to the city.

The Pot calling the Kettle Black

I always find it funny and a little hypocritical that European nations, the majority of the time, turn their nose down at American culture as well as American behavior. Having experienced this several times, I am somewhat amussed that these nation's ills always seem to find thier way out of the closet during the World Cup or any other international sporting event. Look at the behavior of the Hooligans that has taken place during the past couple of weeks. Several European countries police forces, have sent officers to deal with thier country's hooligans. Interpol, International Criminal Police Organization, has a database of hooligan fans, from around Europe. When I was studying in London, I got a behind the scenes tour of Arsenal. Arsenal spent $7 million dollars on a security system to deal with hooligan fans. Well the only team here that would spend that much on a system like this is the Eagles. It has also been revealed, to unknowledgable fans in the States, the major problem that black futbol players are experiencing with racism. While we, as Americans, have our own issues with race; I have never known, in the past 20 years, American fans to begin emitating monkees when a black player entered the game. As I have stated we have our issues with race but we have come a long way in terms of confronting race head on. So I wonder which nation is uncivilized now? Last time I checked thier were no monkees in our stands!

The Pot calling the Kettle Black

I always find it funny and a little hypocritical that European nations, the majority of the time, turn their nose down at American culture as well as American behavior. Having experienced this several times, I am somewhat amussed that these nation's ills always seem to find thier way out of the closet during the World Cup or any other international sporting event. Look at the behavior of the Hooligans that has taken place during the past couple of weeks. Several European countries police forces, have sent officers to deal with thier country's hooligans. Interpol, International Criminal Police Organization, has a database of hooligan fans, from around Europe. When I was studying in London, I got a behind the scenes tour of Arsenal. Arsenal spent $7 million dollars on a security system to deal with hooligan fans. Well the only team here that would spend that much on a system like this is the Eagles. It has also been revealed, to unknowledgable fans in the States, the major problem that black futbol players are experiencing with racism. While we, as Americans, have our own issues with race; I have never known, in the past 20 years, American fans to begin emitating monkees when a black player entered the game. As I have stated we have our issues with race but we have come a long way in terms of confronting race head on. So I wonder which nation is uncivilized now? Last time I checked thier were no monkees in our stands!

Houston We Have a Problem!

I am extremly disappointed in myself because I bought into the hype of surrounding the US Soccer team. I let myself believe that they really were the 5th best team in the world, knowing in the back of my mind that this was truly a pipe dream. I knew we were in trouble when I watched the friendly matches and the one thing that I noticed was that we are not a physical enough team to compete with the European teams. If we want to compete against these teams we are going to have to find 11 guys with the size of Oguchi Onyewu, Gooch. We need 11 men with size and speed of Terrell Owens and the attitude Ronnie Lott, and here in lies the problem. If the United States actually wants to win a World Cup by 2010, as has been proposed, soccer is going to have move out of the suburbs and into the inner city as well as into the rural areas. US Soccer is going to have to attract athletes that want out of the situation that they currently live. People can talk about how much heart the US team has, but heart ain't going to get it done on the international stage in which the national team currently plays. As a friend pointed out we are good enough to compete in CONCACAF but we are not prepared to compete against the European teams. Think about this I can gaurantee you that the majority of the US players come from comfortable backgrounds, meaning middle to upper middle class. Compare thier backgrounds to the backgrounds of the Brazilian players or the Mexicain players and you will probably notice a stark contrast. We will not win a World Cup until the soccer's image moves away from soccer moms and orange slices to the way the rest of the world plays: a physical tough game.

Striker Magazine and Nike

I love to watch international soccer, so I decided to buy some materials to prepare me for the World Cup. One of the publications that I purchased was Striker magazine. Flipping through the pages there is one glaring fact, Nike spent alot of money on advertising. In fact they are the only advertiser. If you look at the photos that accompany the articles it is hard not to notice the Nike swoosh. This is just the latest blurring of commerce, sport, and journalism. When I bought this magazine I was hoping to find objective articles concerning the World Cup and the international footballers, not international players that are sponsored by Nike. I feel a little dupted by this, because there is no objectivity what so ever because the magazine is based upon Nike's marketing agenda. I know people,who:would say that this is a brillant branding ploy. How do we get people to buy a magazine, whose sole intent is to enhance Nike's reputation as a leader in soccer/football gear? Nike has been trying to become the leader in soccer for the last 15 years, overtaking Adidas. So in this attempt they are trying to enter the world of journalism as well? I wouldn't feel so bad if the name Striker was replaced by a giant swoosh; then it would be buyer beware.

Memphis fans, alot has happened since I last posted

Alot has happened since I was last online. Shawne and Darius have left for greener pastures; there was a big surprise! 20 changed to 34 but stayed in the South and the biggest shocker Gostowski was drafted by the Patriots. Calipari has agreed to a 16 game conference schedule to help CUSA's RPI. Today Jerome Woods was released by the Chiefs and our baseball team might have a winning record this season. All in all a busy three weeks.

Am I The Only One?

Last night I tried to watch the NBA playoffs and I believe that I saw something that is truly unbelievable: Marv Albert has gone blonde. Can it work that way? Can he go from a black toupe to a blonde one and no one notice? Did he have to kill a golden retreaver puppy to get that rug? I don't know maybe I was hallucinating?

Part 2

Well I am a week late on part two of my discussion of the Memphis Grizzlies but I lost total interest in this post. It is spring time hear in Memphis and there are too many other things to do besides sitting inside watching basketball. The next sporting event that I look forward to watching is the Kentucky Derby presented by Yums Brand, i.e. KFC. I understand why Yums Brand would want to be associated with the Derby but why would the Derby sell it's sole to KFC. To me this ranks up there with the idea of the Master's having a title sponsor. As a person who educated in the field, of sports marketing, I still beleive that there are a handfull of events that are sacred and the tradition is more important naming rights. The Derby is one of those events, as is the Super Bowl, World Series and the Master's. When you think about the Derby do you think about fried chicken? No, you think about mint juleps, people dressed to the nines, and the fine horses that make it all possible. What is next The Master's presented by Wal Mart? Why not John Daly is sponsored by Hooter's.

The Memphis Grizzlies and Their Attendance Problem

It has been discussed ad nausium this season as to why the Memphis Grizzlies are not drawing fans to the game and I have the answer. Pundits want to blame the median household income and the fact that the majority, of the city proper, residents live below the poverty line; while this might play a small role in the low turn out it is not the main reason. The reason why they do not have a larger fan base is due to thier poor branding efforts. What? When the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver it took team management 3 seasons to change their logo and colors. To some this might be a trival matter but it helps when the team looks like it belongs in a certain city. Teal, red, white and brown do not reflect the city of Memphis. when the team did roll out a new logo and colors they did it in a manner that was simplistic and trite. They tried to link the new colors with the musical past and heritage of the city by calling the blue Beale St. blue. Which leads me to the next problem thier advertising campaign in which the team arbertrariliy intertwined images of music with the Grizzlies without making a deeper link with artists that came from the city. They threw something together and hoped it would stick and it really hasn't. Thier marketing strategy is the equivilent of throwing darts in the dark, just throw it and hope it gets close. Tomarrow I will have part 2 of my analysis.