Heroic Deeds

While I was watching the preliminaries to the closing ceremonies for these amazing Olympic games, all of the stories that were covered featured the athletes who had overcome previous adversity to finally reach the Olympic dream. Athletes such as Hannah Kearney and Steve Holcomb took center stage and were honored by the news broadcast. This caused me to think however about the role of the athlete as a role model and hero to entire nations. I found an article from a few days ago in the USA Today that considers the role that athletes play in the public realm. This article mainly focuses first on athletes such as O.J. Simpson and Tiger Woods who have had various publicity problems. It then progresses to analyze the actual role of the athlete in regards to being a role model. Finally, the part that was most interesting to me was the business implications to having a spokesman run into some kind of scandal. Surprisingly however there seems to be a very tiny effect on the brand itself. However, it does make sense because before the hero had been disgraced in some form after influencing perhaps thousands of consumers to use a product. The athlete only convinces the user to buy the product; once the product is bought, it must stand on its own. If the consumer liked the product, then the athlete endorsement would have lost much of its meaning. The only thing that having a spokesman or spokeswoman who is involved in a scandal will change within marketing is the effect that he or she will no longer be able to be as successful in this capacity. However, there are so many popular athletes to choose from that all marketing would need to do is hire another one. Saying this though, there are some athletes who would not be replaceable. The first image that came to my mind was Michael Jordan in his prime. He was the most recognizable figure in athletics and certainly one of the most famous people in the world. It is very difficult to find someone else who has that appeal. Luckily, or perhaps not, there are not many Michael Jordans in the world, so the dilemma of replacing one does not come along very often.

It is a shame however that we even need to worry about scandals. However, public figures are human as well and mess up just like the rest of us. The only difference is that their mistakes are broadcast on international news whereas many of our individual mistakes might not even be seen by another person. Public figures should realize that they are indeed held to a higher standard because they are essentially heroes to so many. Whether this standard is fair or not is not really even the question; the point is that athletes need to realize this standard and do their best to live up to it. When they don't, the public needs to realize that they are human, and while that doesn't excuse what they did, it does reinforce the tradition of sinful humans.

JAMAICA!

In watching the four-man bobsled, I am sorely disappointed that there are no Jamaicans. Obviously, I realized that there would be no Jamaicans bobsledding before the Olympics started, but the sad realization has now hit me. I love the movie Cool Runnings based on the Jamaican bobsled team, but I wonder how true it really is. I know that there was a Jamaican bobsled team in Calgary that had never run on ice before. However, I wonder how they feel about being made into a comedy. Obviously, some people, like myself, would not mind seeing themselves as a comedy, but I realize that some people would take serious offense to this. The flexibility within the movie is through the phrase "based on a true story." While working within this realm, filmmakers can really do whatever they want to the less essential facts as long as the general story is roughly approximate. In this case, all of the names as well as the albeit hilarious fundraising sequences are made up (at least according to Wikipedia). However, whether or not the sequences are exactly accurate or not at least emphasize the main point of the story in that if you have talent and enough desire, you can rise above any adversity that arises. The movie also shows how natural talent might be able to be translated in ways that you never saw before. Although the real Jamaican bobsled team did not come from Olympic sprinters, there were military men. They were obviously in shape and capable of becoming world-class athletes. However, watching this movie only makes me wish that we could see the underdog rise again.

World Differentiation

How many companies are there that don't need to worry about sales? After all, doesn't anyone who takes an introduction to business course learn that businesses are there to make a profit? Well, this story from the Winnipeg Free Press changes the rules. The reason that this business does not need to worry about finding potential business partners is because who would not want to have their brand associated with the standard for international competition? If you did not cheat and look at the hyperlink that I inserted a few lines ago, you might be thinking about a brand such as McDonald's or Wal-Mart that are simply everywhere. However, this brand is the famous five rings of the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is able to be extraordinarily selective as to the brands they associate with in and of themselves. In order to be associated with the IOC, the companies must be willing to sign an eight-year agreement. Even though many companies might be willing to do that, the IOC only allows 9 or 10 sponsorships at one time. Through this strategy of product differentiation, the Olympics logo has become a symbol of elite athletes and products. When a product can have this type of brand power that allows it to even turn away perfectly viable companies, you know that they're doing something right with this strategy. This is the type of product differentiation that companies should strive to achieve.

Pinstripe Pride

I am too young to remember a time without free agency. However, what I've heard about it sounds good to me. Think about it, an era where your favorite player could possibly play his entire career for your favorite team. I know, it's a crazy idea that seems foreign to people of my generation. Nevertheless, it did work once, and I believe it could possibly come around again if more guys were like Derek Jeter. I realize that he is the captain of a franchise that for many seems to symbolize all that is wrong with the free agency system. However, Derek is entering the final year of a massive contract that has kept him in Yankee pinstripes for his entire career. What does he want to do next year? Quite simply, according to a report I read, he wants to stay in New York for the rest of his career. How many players that have retired in the past 10 years can you think of who played their entire careers with one team? The most reason I can think of who actually played for more than a cup of coffee was Cal Ripken Jr. What a radical idea! Ripken played approximately two decades in Baltimore while many players today are lucky to spend two years in one city. The article I linked to earlier cites the fact that the Yankees might not be able to afford the big bucks Jeter will demand. If Derek wants to spend his entire career in New York bad enough, he won't demand more than the Yankees will pay. Also, there is no way that the Yankees would be cheap with Derek Jeter for public opinion sake. He is a popular player; the Yankees I do not believe would risk the public perception of being cheap with a player who has essentially been the face of their franchise. The Yankees are very frugal in only one way; they do not willingly pass out the title of captain. Derek is one of the few and is therefore in elite company. All in all, I hope that Derek stays with the Yankees. He is a great player, and I would hate to see anything that could result from a unhappy separation damage his reputation.

Who Owns the Podium?

Did anybody else watch the US versus Canada men's hockey game on Sunday? Well, you were definitely not alone. MSNBC got 8.22 million viewers to watch this highly touted matchup which was the second most viewed program in network history behind only election night coverage in 2008 which garnered 8.23 million viewers. Wow, it's crazy that the election of the leader of the free world barely outscored a preliminary round hockey game. Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome game; however, who would've known at the beginning that the game would be great? Apparently, everybody must have known. MSNBC has been around for a while, and they have broken some major stories. Why then would a hockey game be so important?

The first obvious answer is because simply it is the Olympics. However, there is a deeper reason why I believe that the game was so important. Near the beginning of the Olympics, Canada set a goal of leading the medal count on their home turf in Vancouver. According to an article that was previously written in the Houston Chronicle, Canada has spent $117,000,000 over the last five years on a program called Own the Podium designed to obviously knock the United States and Germany off the top of the podium as they have traditionally been. These Olympics have been about more than just good fun competition for the Canadians I believe. Until they won their first gold medal of these Olympic Games which was in fact the first Canadian gold medal won on home soil, the media continued to emphasize the fact that these athletes were all under immense pressure to win the first gold. Therefore, I would be curious to see what percentage of this viewing audience were fans of the Canadians. This group would seemingly be the most driven to continue this goal, which doesn't appear to be reachable at the moment, of becoming the top Olympic team in the world.

The Wide World of... Disney?

People continually worry about the fact that giant corporations are crowding out any hope of a successful small business. Some examples of this are Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and the Disney Corporation. Well, here's one more reason for those people to hate Disney even more.

ESPN, which is owned by Disney, hosts an annual weekend at Disney World that turns into a sports extravaganza. This huge event will be visited this year by a team that for many has symbolized the essence of athletic independence. The Harlem Globetrotters will affiliate their barnstorming game with the corporate giant of Disney. Some may see this as a simple business procedure that will mutually enhance both groups' exposure. Others however will see this as another victim of the age of capitalism and big business. Since the Globetrotters built their image through an almost circus style atmosphere, the affiliation will perhaps make some people believe that in order to be successful, the company must join the system.

However, I don't believe this is why the Globetrotters would join forces with Disney for this weekend. I tend to believe that the opportunity to broadcast the game to millions of people would be very hard to pass up. In fact, this almost seems like free advertising because they were invited to play; they did not buy their way in. All they need to do is get there and publicity is theirs. Any publicity is good publicity, so even if some may not like the idea of the Globetrotters affiliating with Disney, even if just for one weekend, this move will ultimately improve their business as well as help ESPN attract as many viewers as possible.

Globalization

Okay, I know I said that I would be in the middle of a series on an AAU basketball program I would build in Vermont. However, if a piece of news comes along that I can't resist, I will change my plans. This is one of those times.

A while ago, I wrote about the expansion of the NBA into Africa. I commented that "Bringing an NBA office to an area will only improve the exposure to the sport and will hopefully encourage athletes in that area to become more involved in the sport and develop into even better players which will therefore increase the quality of worldwide NBA talent." Well, it seems like this strategy is playing out in more areas. Check out this blog post on NBC Sports that reports that the NBA intends to set up a branch office in Moscow due to the fact that billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is hoping to buy the New Jersey Nets. It seems that this shows an especially strong desire to further globalize the NBA. This might open the door for more foreign ownership. The global economy is huge; it is much larger than just the American economy. Therefore, it seems like common business sense that the way to maximize profit is to invite investments from all sectors of the global economy. The only potential problem might be a cross-cultural since business is done differently in different countries. The NBA is a largely American business model, so as much as American business owners sometimes have problems adjusting to a global marketplace, foreign owners might also have problems adjusting to the American market.

However, I think this opens a brand-new door for foreign ballplayers. While there are many European players in the NBA, there are plenty more talented Europeans who are not being noticed. My theory is that if ownership can see these players right in their backyard, they will be able to more successfully integrate this talent. Diversity is a buzzword nowadays, so I believe that if the NBA wants to follow the lead of much of the rest of society, this is a great move that will develop their fan base around the world.