Marketing Value
sandcrabs May 13th, 2008
Well, we’re back from Vegas. Congrats to Shlink Lincoln and Golf Cheese Hoes on their union. It was a lot of fun and Shlink finally made an honest women out of GCH. Now comes reality. Good luck.
Now, let’s get to what annoys me today. I get when a league wants a certain matchup for their championship. Magic and the Lakers against Bird and the Celtics? Epic. Yankees versus the Dodgers? Again, you really can’t go wrong there. However, when it starts to become so obvious that an entity’s will comes out and things are done that questions no longer get asked, but accusations arise, there’s a problem. Of course the NHL wanted Wayne Gretzky in the cup finals. It didn’t matter who the Oilers played against. Just get the Great One in there. It’s good for the sport. What I’m talking about are those instances where you really know something’s up. Who can forget Michael Jordan pushing off to make a last second shot in the 1998 NBA Finals? Hell, it was Michael’s last year (for a time) in the NBA. What a better way to send out the best player ever? Of course, with David Stern at the helm anything’s possible. I wouldn’t doubt if he and MJ have a love-child somewhere as much he used to gush over Jordan.
And what about Superbowl XL? Nobody from the NFL wanted a team from BFE and one of the smallest markets to win it all. After all along with the Raiders and Cowboys the Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the largest fan bases. Great for the game, excellent story for a storied franchise. However, the calls started to get so outrageous that one had to wonder.
Which brings me to the current NHL playoffs. Now, from a marketing standpoint what a better match up than to have your best, most recognizable player (Sidney Crosby) go against your best, most recognizable team (Detroit Red Wings). Think of the merchandising! Crosby’s rookie card and autos fetch a nice price and he’s only been in the league a few years (Ask Shlink Lincoln about that auto rc). The Red Wings probably have the largest following in the lower 48. Year in and year out they have been a model of excellence and consitency. People in Detroit love the Red Wings much more than the Pistons, Tigers and Lions combined.
What gets to me, again as I sit and watch the Pens/Flyers game, is how obvious the NHL want for Crosby to be in the finals. Philly continues to get called for extremely questionable, ticky-tack calls while Pittsburgh is free to do as they please. Call it a little bit of homer syndrome (after all, I’ve got a new box of cards riding on this with Shlink) but holy crap! At least make it look good. The disparity of calls is edging toward the ridiculous. Tripping, hooking and holding calls are flying at the Flyers (like how I did that?) but the Pens are allowed to get more physical with each shift. Not being able to play your game severly hampers a team. Philadelphia has to be more cognizant of what the officials are going to call will Pittsburgh can just go balls out. Again, at least make it look good.
Now I’ve railed on officiating before, and until the major leagues decide to do something about it I will continue to do so. As the old saying goes, those who can play. Those who can’t coach….and those who have a mental disability, are blind and generally can’t count to 2 without taking their shoes off, officiate. Damnit! That was interference you hack!
