Can’t resist posting this ad promoting FIFA 12, starring Steve Nash and Hope Solo. Pretty funny stuff. Would love to have seen the actual shoot. (And I still don’t understand what you get when you cross a gorilla and a leopard….)
Category Archives: Seattle
Mariners Make Us Remember What We Loved About the Sonics
Last Friday, a Major League Baseball team did an unprecedented thing. They celebrated another sports franchise. Even odder, in this case, it was a former franchise.
The Seattle Mariners didn’t make any new friends in David Stern’s office by providing the city it’s first chance to collect 16 legends from a team that no longer exists, and get them together for a tribute. And odd as it may seem, the Mariners may have been the most logical host for this type of party.
The Mariners were just entering Major League Baseball while the Sonics were having their first glory days in the late 1970’s. And then the two teams shared the job of electrifying the sports community in the mid 1990’s.
So for 30 brief minutes, a baseball stadium full of Green and Gold celebrated what we miss about the Sonics. We miss the people, the characters. We miss guys with nicknames like The Glove, The Reign Man, Slick, X-Man, Sleepy Sam, the Hawk, and Downtown. Guys who were recognizable by first name only – Nate, Lenny, Detlef, Dale, Bernie, Vincent and Desmond. We miss Michael Cage’s giant afro, Jack Sikma’s freakishly large frame, and George Karl’s Space Needle tie.
I appreciate what Jack Zurencik and Pete Carroll are doing by flipping over the entire rosters of the M’s and Hawks. But a team achieves cult status and hero worship when there’s a core group of players that you root for. You wanted Gary to get a ring. You knew that Hersey Hawkins could score 6 more points a night if he played somewhere else, but you loved he was bombing three’s for us. There was something about George and Nate that made you think you could ask them to dinner and they’d say yes.
The Schultz led Sonics never quite got that. And tellingly, no one from the last 5 years of the franchise were represented as a Sonics legend. It’s true, we didn’t adore the 2003-2008 versions of the Sonics that got rid of Gary. Ray Allen is the best 3 point shooter of all time, but he wasn’t Det. Nene, Robert Swift, Jermoe James, insert big stiff here….. none of them were Cage, Brickowski, Sikma, Lister or Perkins. When they left for OKC, we mourned the loss of the guys who didn’t actually play anymore.
I still don’t think we care all that much about bringing back a generic NBA Sonics club that looks like any other NBA club. But that doesn’t make us miss “Our Sonics” any less. Ask any sports fan in Seattle, and they can tell you where they watched Game 5 vs Denver, Game 7 vs Houston, Game 7 vs Phoenix and Game 7 vs Utah. You don’t even have to say the year. We all just know what games you’re referring to. There was a connection to those guys – not to the franchise, but to the guys – that made you happy when they won, hurt when you lost, and want to fight anyone from Phoenix.
So good for the Mariners for bringing back those guys. I hope their front office took note. It’s not about rally fires or a moose. Bring in players who are also great characters, let us connect with them over a long period, and we’ll come back to Safeco.
Nobody asked me but, here are a few thoughts about the Sounders, Manchester United & the MLS
Nobody asked me but…
If you spent $150 on two tickets to see Manchester United play the Sounders, and were disappointed or surprised at a 7-0 score, you shouldn’t be. You SHOULD have been surprised and delighted that the Sounders first team held one of the most expensive and well coached teams in the world to a single goal in 45 minutes.
Manchester United has one of the world’s top 5 strikers, Wayne Rooney. They have possibly the greatest center back duo in all of soccer, Ferdinand and Vidic. Just about every player on their team is a starter on their country’s national team. They have one of the world’s greatest coaches. And amongst all their superstars, they have a bench full of players who happily share time supporting the studs. It’s a football factory, and really only rivaled by Barcelona. For Montero, Keller and company to play those guys 0-1 was a real surprise.
Now unfortunately, the 2nd half happened. I understand Sigi Schmid’s dilemma. In all reality, no Sounder is ever going to make the English Premier League. This is the only chance anyone on the roster has to play against guys like Rooney, Carrick, Ferdinand, Nani, etc… So as a coach, you gotta let your guys enjoy the moment, even if they are totally overmatched. And what you saw in the 2nd half was a situation where players who can’t start in the MLS got turned into mincemeat by a vastly superior group of athletes.
But there was much to appreciate about the game, even the 2nd half. For one thing, you should have been amazed by how fast all of the Man Utd players were. They weren’t just better soccer players. They would have won a track meet, basketball game and frisbee toss. Also, it was a blast to watch Rooney. It’s easy to ask, “How was he so open for those goals.” It was actually simple. He was guarded. Then he quietly snuck away about 40 yards from goal. He’d get the ball an dmake a pass. And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he’d have made a 30 yard run, gotten a pass, and put the ball in the back of the net. That’s not just one player doing his job. It’s a gifted athlete being on the same page with 10 other players and orchestrating a “play” without the benefit of a huddle.
So was the MLS embarrassed by this? I say no. People need to get it. The MLS does not and never will compete with the English, Italian, French, German or Spanish Leagues. It can, and should someday, compete with the Mexican, Swedish, Norwegian, and maybe even someday the Dutch league. It would be a perfectly reasonable goal that the MLS becomes the best league in North America, and the top feeder from this hemisphere for players to European Leagues. It would be great if the hardcore soccer enthusiasts followed the MLS to see which young studs from Columbia, Panama, etc… were going to end up in Europe. And it would be great for MLS fans if you knew that your best players were going to end up playing on top teams someday.
Part 2 on this topic to come in a follow up post.
2 Weeks to Rock and Roll Half-Marathon
I was recently asked the following. “So, after the lip surgery, funky knee thing, bizarre disc thing in your back, and freakazoid frostbite incident with the dry ice, did you finally accept that the fates are telling you to bail out of the 1/2 Marathon?”
Well, I’m actually THAT stubborn. I’m not bailing out. I just stopped writing about the training.
There’s no question that I’m going to be one of the slower perfromers. I’ve done a few 8 mile runs so far, and it’s clear that while 13 miles will be doable, my time is not going to be impressive.
But with 2 weeks left, there’s still time for some slight improvements. Barring any other “out of left field injuries,” look for some results here 2 weeks from today.
A Few Shots From the Nick Cave Exhibit at SAM
We had the chance last week to check out SAM Remix at the Seattle Art Museum. Now, a few weeks ago, I complained about the lack of unique events in Seattle. So of course, here comes the slew of unique events – SAM Remix being one.
If you haven’t checked out SAM Remix before, it’s definitely worth blowing a Friday night for. You get to bundle together some cocktails, a trip through a cool exhibit, 1000 or so party revelers, and some wild cards, all in a single evening. It happens every quarter, so I suggest you add it to your “date list.”
Anyway, I didn’t take pics from the party, but I did break every rule at SAM and took pics of the exhibit itself. Apologies to both SAM and Nick Cave, but the exhibit was pretty cool and should be shared.
Opinion – We Need New Events
Now this may not seem like a fair post, since I go to more marketing events than the average person should. But for a community as creative as Seattle, I’m beginning to think the networking event space has become pretty tame and uninspired. Don’t get me wrong – the people are great, the venues are fun, and there are certainly more than enough to choose from. Shauna Causey’s Twestival is awesome, and so is Gigs4Good, but there’s room for more creativity. Here are a few things that strike me.
1) We need to train up a slew of talented moderators. It’s tough to admit this, but moderated panels are starting to become the death of a good event. 5 people on a panel is too many, and we don’t need to ask each person the same question. Let’s put together a diverse panel, let them talk about their expertise, and have moderators ask pointed questions. We should move away from round-table, generic subjects that the people in the crowd can just as well comment on.
2) We seem to use the same speakers over and over. I love that Seattle wants to promote its home grown stars. And I get that there aren’t 500 local celebs to choose from. But it does seem like we burn up the star power of these folks by putting them everywhere. There are only a few events like the Ignite series where we get to see a cavalcade of new speakers that don’t have much experience. And this is great, because it’s a safe environment where people get to work out the kinks in their presentation style, in front of audiences who are forgiving and encouraging. We need a few more places like this, where speakers can take the stage and gain the experience to hit bigger venues. Let’s break away from the usual 20-30.
3) We need diversity in the subjects. I think it’s time we go a little bit outside the echo chamber. Let’s talk to four Bay Area VC’s and find out why they think Seattle is a Tier 2 Startup city. Let’s invite oil companies and find out why the rest of the country doesn’t mirror our love for green tech. Let’s listen to politicians explain to liberal Seattle why people still vote Republican in other parts of the country. Basically, let’s bring in people that don’t already think like us. What do we have to lose?
4) Can we do something new? Sure, I like standing around and drinking a vodka soda at happy hour with colleagues. But I also like “doing things” in the few hours I have to spend on these events. I think NWEN does a nice job of mixing it up. You have some educational events, some pure networking events, and some that are a hybrid of both. But overall the whole scene needs more Trivia Quiz, Karaoke nights, ping pong tourneys, miniature golf outings. We need more places for startups to “launch” their companies in front of a crowd of 200, and networking orgs like SMC Seattle to partner more with volunteer orgs like Seattle Works. I think it would be way more fun to work at a food bank with my Seattle Marketing colleagues, than just belly up to a bar.
These are my quick thoughts on the matter. I’m not complaining at all, and I think we still have a wealth of interesting people to talk to at these events. But maybe, just maybe, we have some room for improvement.
Drugstore CEO Talks Technology
From TechFlash.comI’ve always raved that some of the most dynamic, powerful, inspiring bosses that I’ve worked for during my years as a technology marketer have been women. I guess “growing up” in an environment like RealNetworks, where everyone was pretty dang smart, you just didn’t see much labeling of team members by gender.
However, it’s easy to look around the web sites of technology companies and notice there are far more pictures of men in the “Executive Team” pages. So, I was really interested to hear the perspective of Dawn LePore, the CEO and Chairman of Drugstore.com, at the recent TechFlash Women in Technology event.
3 thrings stuck with me from Dawn’s conversation.
- The crowd was 30-40% men. I think these kinds of event are more powerful when both genders are in the room. We have lots ot learn from each other, so I was really excited so many men in the audience.
- Dawn’s main advice was pertinent to both men and women. She spoke a lot about her career path, and it’s clear that she wasn’t promoted out of luck or chance. She made a real decision at some point in her career that she was going to be an executive. So instead of just executing upon the tasks given to her, she sought out mentors who get help get her to the next level. She understood that merely doing her current job well wasn’t going to get her keys to her own corner office. He was going to have to be trusted to to the job of the people abover her if she wanted promotion. I think too many people do their job well and expect to be moved up, rather than seeking out help on how they can attain the next level.
- It was also clear that she had to make difficult family choices, but her and her family made them unapologetically and without regret. She made the conscious choice to forego a family until she had risen to the top level. Her husband made the choice to stay at home and be a house husband to help her attain her goals. These are hard choices, but when you are shooting for the stratosphere, hard choices need to be made.
One final thing resonated throughout the Q+A. Women from both large and small tech companies grabbed the microphone and asked Lepore how she adapted to a world where she was such the minority. I think it’s aninteresting point for men – and women – to keep top of mind. That even in organizations that handle workplace gender differences with the utmost care, there is still usually a disparity between the number of men and women in the halls. It’s something to keep in mind, that no matter how hard you try to level the field, there will still be a majority / minority dynamic at play.
Finally, I think Lepore glossed over something we all should at least think about a litlle. One reason there are fewer women in technology excecutive positions, is that fewer women are entering the technology workplace in the first place. We need to figure out why so many of our bright and talented women students aren’t considering careers in math and science. I would have liked to hear her talk more about this.
Reminiscing about the Harlem Globetrotters
I grew up in New Orleans, and if memory serves, the New Orleans Jazz left town for Salt Lake City when I was but a wee young ‘un. (Did you ever think about why a team in Utah would call themselves the Jazz? It would be like Seattle calling their team the “Heat.”)
But I do remember at least every few years, getting to go to the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena to see the Harlem Globetrotters. When you are a kid, it doesn’t matter that it’s not a real game, you just think they are the greatest players in the world. Meadowlark, Curly and the whole crew.
I’d forgotten about the Globetrotters for a while, but I’m pretty freaking tempted to take a walk back down memory lane and check them out when they visit “The Arena that Was Sponsored by Key Bank When There Was a Tenant Worth Sponsoring an Arena For” on Feb 20.
And this video from MyNorthwest.com is getting me that much closer….
Sports Stars, Suits and Cocktail Dresses
Wednesday night, Seattle’s top names in the sports community gathered in Benaroya Hall for the 76th Annual Sports Star of the Year Awards.
If you are any kind of fan, then you need to attend one of these. Part cocktail party, part ESPY’s, it’s a unique collection of season ticket holders, athletes, corporate sponsors, coaches, front office execs, broadcasters and writers. You feel like you “almost” recognize just about every person in the room, but no one looks in place in their suit and tie.
This year had its share of highlights, but the sentimental moment for me (predictably) revolved around Dave Niehaus. There was the standard video montage, but it was made more special by the man who introduced the clip. I can’t explain exactly what made it so cool, but seeing Keith Jackson – the real Keith Jackson – on stage seemed surreal. I know he’s a WSU grad and former KOMO broadcaster. But when a national legend takes time from his schedule to pay tribute to the memory of our local Play-by-Play man, you begin to appreciate the breadth of Niehaus’ popularity.
Kudos to the Seattle Sports Commission for doing a great job pulling this event together. They did a great thing by saving it when the P-I went out of business.
It goes without saying that a room full of sports stars, legends and fans makes for a great party. Try to fit this in your 2012 plans next year.
Pre-Game Intros from Seahawks Win vs Saints
So, this video isn’t very high quality, but it would be cool if I could find a few other full length clips from closer angles. Maybe a few of you will find it fun.