Category Archives: Sports

A Few Notes About the Tiger Woods Debacle

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Marketing, Media, Sports

Yes, I’ve succumbed to the Tiger Woods scandal.  I think there are a few items of this story that make it different than the ordinary tabloid affair.

1) The effect this will have on golf:  Golfers didn’t become multi-millionaires for consistently finishing 13th until Tiger got to town.  A huge percentage of golf fans are simply Tiger fans.  Phil vs Tiger is completely different than Phil vs “That other guy.” Sponsors were paying big money for Tiger, which meant TV networks could charge more money to Golf advertisers, which more money was going into the Prize Pool of each tournament.  Companies are already having to trim marketing costs.  This is a great excuse for companies to pull money out of Golf.  If you were the 45th ranked player in the world, you may have found this funny when the story broke, but your check for finishing 13th just got smaller.

2) Why the Tabloid Web sites are crushing the Sports sites: I can’t think of a better example of the power of search driving news consumption.  For the reasons listed in Section 1, the sports sites like ESPN.com have been loathe to dig too deeply into the story.  There’s a lot of hand waving and things like, “Yeah, Tiger’s in some controversy over there, but let us tell you all about the upcoming Alabama vs Texas game.”  ESPN needs this to go away, so they can get back to the business of reporting on Golf and Tiger’s domination in the sport.  To the sports sites, Tiger taking time out of competing in Golf is comparable to the New York Yankees deciding to sit out one season.  Or having the the entire rosters of both 2009 NBA All-Star teams take a year off to travel the globe.   But, ESPN’s decision to pretend it’s not a “big deal” is not fooling anyone.  People are just going to their favorite search engine, typing in “Tiger Woods,” and getting the juicy stories from other sources, like TMZ.  It’s another example of why in the news aggregation business, we really need to ensure all web sites get a level playing field to broadcast across.  You can’t trust news sources if they are in the pockets of the people paying the bills. 

3) Seeing the Inside Mechanics of Tiger’s Spin Machine: I don’t know about you, but I’ve been shocked at what seems to be near PR incompetence from Team Tiger.  Now, it’s possible that his transgressions are so monumental that cutting them down to 2 porn stars, a pseudo-madame, a reality show wanna-be and a few other random floozies, is actually a big win because they’ve managed to keep the other 90 quiet.  If that’s the case, then all of Team Tiger should be ashamed for not reigning him in earlier.  It’s also possible that their whole strategy of keeping him away from cameras for the last 10 years was specifically designed because they knew he’s been an eventual PR nightmare ready to explode.  But it does seem like all of the companies with money invested in Tiger should have been able to assemble a PR “Dream Team” to handle this better.

4) The Unfortunate Duck and Cover Strategy:  With some regard to number 3 above, I think it’s incredibly sad that Team Tiger’s best exit plan is to throw Elin under the bus.   According to some web sites, there’s a claim that Elin is demanding, “Your family or your golf.”  This would be a convenient excuse for Tiger to disappear to Dubai for 12 months and avoid having to discuss this issue with anyone.  The public perception would be that he “loves his family so much,” that he’s giving up golf to make it right by them.  The reality would be that the wife would be placed in the position of “Bad Guy” to anyone who watches golf.  Plus, sponsors, other golfers, advertisers and golf fans would all be cheated by having a year without the best player in the world.  The great thing about team sports, is that no matter what mess you find yourself in, you have an obligation to the rest of your team.  Alex Rodriguez couldn’t take a year off.  He had to go out every day and get heckled by fans, because he was ONE of 25 New York Yankees.  Kobe Bryant was ONE of 12 LA Lakers.  Those guys had to stick their pride in their back pockets and still compete against the best athletes in the world.  It would be sad if Tiger used the excuse of “My wife doesn’t want me to play” as a way to duck the criticism he deserves. 

Those are the thoughts of the top of my head.

SonicsCentral.com Reviews Candidates

Posted by Andy Boyer in Economy, Politics, Seattle, Sports

SonicsCentral.com has done a good job of keeping us up to date on Seattle candidates’ views on the NBA returning to Seattle.  

Props to David Nelson of the P-I for asking these questions:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/insidebelltown/archives/182579.asp

Joe Mallahan:

I think we have to work very hard to attract an NBA team back to Seattle. That particular proposal I haven’t examined closely. The NBA’s not coming back if we don’t provide an arena that’s at NBA standards, the NBA’s come a long way. We have to figure a way for private and public dollars to partner to make that happen but it has to be done in a way where it’s not on the backs of the taxpayer. I am committed to working fervently to get a team back. The NBA is a huge part of our culture.

…With the tax payers paying their fair share. That’s a complex formula that we’re going to have to work on and partner with the private interests that are interested in owning an NBA team. As a community we blew it and we have to recover, it’s a big part of our history and culture and I would be very proud if I could help bring a team back.

Mike McGinn:

I need to know more about the proposal before committing to supporting it. My key issue here is ensuring that we’re making a wise investment of public resources into the arena and not finding our self in a position where the city ends up on the hook, these are pretty serious budget times. I’m open to a renovation of Key Arena, but I have to see what the payoff is.

We have to be careful with taxpayers and we have to make sure we’re doing the right thing for the surrounding business district, the arena, and Seattle Center. But I’m certainly open to people making the case.

Sportsmanship Takes a Backseat

Posted by Andy Boyer in Sports

What a weird week in sports, eh? I had a bad feeling the stars and moon were misaligned when I watched the Little League World Series last Sunday.

Now, NO ONE is willing to write or talk about it. In fact, during the game, the announcers left it alone. But if you watched the LLWS Championship, you saw it. California was leading int he 5th or 6th inning, close to putting it away, and the Cali pitcher plunked the Taiwan player. It was about the 2nd or 3rd HBP of the game for the Cali kid. I don’t think he’s malicious, he just has a crappy curveball that has a tendency to act more like a heat seeking missile than a breaking pitch.

Anyway, the Taiwanese kid gets it in the back, and instead of trotting down to first base, kind of does a slow walk, Albert Belle style, glaring at the pitcher with that look of, “I didn’t fly 32 hours to get nailed by some George Bush loving surfer boy. You best not look at me punk.” Now, the pitcher may not have seen the look, but the one guy who DID, was California’s 6’2″ 220 pound first baseman. (Yes, those dimensions are accurate and quite stunning for a 13 tear old.) Now he’s pointing at the Taiwan kid to head to first, which he smartly does, and play continues. The whole thing took 5 seconds at most, but we almost saw the first brawl in LLWS history, and no one wanted to comment on it.

Which brings us to today’s 2 clips: First, we see the brilliant (sarcasm) GK from DC United, Josh Wicks, take his team out of real contention for the US Open Cup by stomping on Fredy Montero. Then we see the equally brilliant LeGarrette Blount sucker punch a player and then try to take on the Boise State fans, his teammates, the police and anyone else trying to calm him down.  Good times.

(Fast forward to about 3:20)

 

Did FC Barcelona Force Sounders FC Into Their First Marketing Non-Win?

Posted by Andy Boyer in Marketing, Seattle, Sports

If you’ve read this blog a few times, you know that I have unabashedly praised the management of Sounders FC since Day 1.  I admit I’m a little biased due to my previous professional relationship with a person in a high level of management there, plus my overall interest in soccer.  But I have objective arguments for how much I admire their work.

That being said, I’m not going to shy away from saying that tonight’s match with FC Barcelona left me underwhelmed for the first time out of the 11 or 12 games I’ve attended so far.  On one hand, maybe my expectations were too high.  The best team in the world comes to town, I want to see magic.  And in the first half, I saw some really cool things from Messi, Xavi, Henry, etc..

Then a funny thing happenned at halftime.  The Sounders decided that this was indeed a friendly, and they didn’t need to play any regulars for the second 45 minutes.  After all, the team is 2/3 of the way through their season, in a playoff hunt and coming off their worst loss of the year.  It made tactical sense to rest the starters.

And so for the first time all year, they forgot who they were.  They confused themselves with the Seahawks and 1996-2003 Mariners.  They forgot that out of the 65,000+ who came to the game tonight, 25-30,000 of them had never been to a Sounders game before.  They forgot that the MLS is the MLS.  And for the first time all year, they forgot to put on a show.

The result was 45 minutes of second half football that resembled 2 people kicking a ball of yarn away from a cat.  The Barcelona second team seemed to be under strict orders not to attack the goal until at least 10 passes had been completed.  (And yes, we were counting as they passed the ball easily from one side of the field to another.)  The Sounders first team is a very competitive MLS team.. With all due respect, the Sounders second team is made up of guys who can’t play on a first team in Norway or Sweden.  I don’t say this with contempt.  I’m just saying when I fire up my Xbox 360 and play Fifa 09, a game with about 1.2 gajillion players in its database, the guys on the Sounders reserve squad are not in that database.

So, imagine you are the Sounders management.  Your immediate response is, “Andy, what do you want?  I brought you Chelsea and Barcelona.  Oh, and we’re in 2nd place.  Oh, and we made it to the US Open Cup Final. So take your blog and smoke it.”

And that is an argument I can totally agree with.  So maybe next year, bring me one of Chelsea and Barcelona.  And maybe bring me someone else not so good that we can actually compete with.  Maybe AC Milan and Watford.  Or Tottenham and PSV.   Or maybe the MLS needs to give the teams a week off o they can book friendlies and not get screwed by the schedule.

My rambling point, is that the MLS lost out tonight when Barcelona’s subs playes Seattle’s subs for 45 minutes on front of 65,000 people that paid full price to see at least one of the teams play starters all night long.  Or if you were going to sub everyone out, at least do it at the 50 minute mark and pull them off the field to a standing ovation.  Instead, we got one half of fun soccer, then the teams sneaking the players off the field at halftime, with a level of play in the second half that simply confirmed for soccer haters why they dislike the sport.   Blame it on the MLS, blame it on Barcelona, or blame it on the Sounders.  But I think for the first time, they allowed a crowd to leave the stadium saying, “I don’t get what the excitement is all about.”

Non-Sounders MLS Game, A Review

Posted by Andy Boyer in Seattle, Sports

Ok, I’ll admit I’ve crossed over into soccer nerd-dom.  I actually consciously and purposely sat down on my couch to watch an MLS game that didn’t involve the Sounders.

In my defense, the game that drew my interest tonight involved the team ahead of the Sounders in the standings (Houston Dynamo), and the team the Sounders play in the US Open Cup final (DC United).  Plus, now that we’re not in conflict with any World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup or Confederation Cup games, it was the firsttime to see all the teams at full strength for quite a while.  For example, I had no idea the Dynamo had like 4 or 5 US National team players (Clark, Ching, Holden, Brad Davis and someone else). 

But the reason for my post here, is that after watching the game being played in Houston, I can see why the game isn’t attended well in other cities.  You really couldn’t help but feel for the poor fans of Houston.  The PA Announcer seemed to treat the game as some sort of minor league football or basketball game.  His cheesy cadence, tone and enthusiasm made me feel like I was at a hockey game or rock concert.  It didn’t feel like a soccer game at all.

I couldn’t tell if the stadium was custom built for soccer – because it looked a lot like they took over the Rice University football stadium, so I apologize if it’s nicer in real life than it looks on TV.

Anyway, I guess my point is that I have a new appreciation for Sounders management for treating Sounders games like a real soccer game, not a minor league baseball game.   Sure its a little hammed-up, but at least it’s not Houston.

Fun Stats With the MLS

Posted by Andy Boyer in Sports

It’s Sunday and about 122 degrees in Seattle, so with time to goof around, I thought I’d do some quick stats analysis on the MLS Playoff race.

In the East, it looks like everyone but New York is still in the hunt, as the other 6 teams have between 21 and 30 points. In baseball terms, that means the 6th place team is 3 games back with 13 to play. So, that’s a pretty close race. In the West, it’s a similar chase, with 5 teams between 27-32 points, and a 6th team lurking with 23. So in the American system, realistically 12 out of 15 teams have chances at 8 Playoff births, so that seems to indicate a pretty nutty race to the finish.

 

 

 

So for fun, let’s say we played the same way as the EPL, and just had everyone racing for the title without a playoff system. On the left is what you would get as you enter the final third of the season. Still a remarkably tight race. Everyone is chasing Houston, but 11 teams are still really within 3 games with 11 or more to play.

So, two questions: 1) Why does the MLS have such a competitive race down the stretch, and 2) How does this compare to a league like the EPL?

Question 1 is interesting. One *could* surmise that the talent is of low enough caliber in general that most of the players are kind of the same. You could also surmise that the hardest thing to do in soccer is score, and the MLS just doesn’t have enough scorers so you see a lot of ties. Another acceptable answer is that in the middle of the season, players are asked to join their National teams for World Cup Qualifying, Confederations Cup or Gold Cup. The best players get picked away, and they are probably on the best teams, so all of a sudden a top team loses two-three starters and gets drubbed a few times.

 

Now let’s compare “Points per Match” between the EPL and MLS. Quite simply, the best teams in EPL win more than the best teams in MLS. Which confirms our theory of a lack of good scorers leading to more ties.

Now, it’s easy for a snobby European to say, “Playoffs have no business in soccer. We use tables and season long standings to decide our league winner.” (Which is true, except they also have an FA Cup Tournament which is really a long playoff, and also, in the lower divisions top 2 records automatically get promoted, but the 3-6th place teams battle in a 4 team playoff to see who else gets to move up.)

While I would ordinarily side on the side of English football and tradition, I have to admit that having the Sounders in the middle of a 6 team race for 4 Playoff spots is pretty exciting. 

However, is the playoff system causing more ties?  Are teams just trying to get a single point in order to be the 8th best team? If that’s the case, maybe the EPL system would be better for the MLS.  So what do you think is better – a league where everyone is in the hunt the last few months of the season, or a league where there is more motivation to get a win instead of a tie, even if it means more teams eliminated earlier?

Chelsea v Seattle – What to look for

Posted by Andy Boyer in Seattle, Sports

I’ve been asked a bunch by my non-soccer fans what to expect from today’s friendly vs Chelsea.  Here are a few thoughts about what “success” looks like, in no particular order.

  • A sellout crowd – Weekend afternoons in July are a premium in Seattle, especially sunny 90 degree ones.  So to get 65,000 people to spend one of them watching an exhibition soccer game is a pretty neat feat.
  • Big showing from Supporters Group – This is  really their only chance to impress the European Supporter Groups, so expect the Brougham end to be loud, lead the crowd in some good chants, and have some creative signs.
  • A Chelsea win – After all, they are one of the top 5 or 6 teams in the world.  You’d expect Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, Terry, Essien, Malouda, etc… to put on a pretty good show, even if it is pre-season, and put in a few goals before half.
  • Some good showings from the Sounders – In the 2nd half, it would be great to really see some young Sounders step up agains the young guys from Chelsea.  Look for Montero and Zakuani to really be featured as they try to play themselves into a potential European contract, which would be great fot the MLS.

All told, I think if the Sounders played competitively and went down 2-0 at half, then played a 1-1 or 2-2 tie in the 2nd half vs the Chelsea reserves, everyone would be happy.  The crowd should have a blast, the Sounders will gain some experience, and for one of the first times, a European football team will roll into the U.S. and see this as a potentially fun place to end their careers.  If we see a 38 year old Didier Drogba or Frank Lampard in a Sounders jersey in 5 or 6 years, this may be why.

 

If I Ran the MLS

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Sports

This seems so easy, I still don’t get why they don’t do it.  The day after the MLB All-Star Game is the only day during the calendar year in which there are no sports on TV.  

This should be the MLS’ biggest TV spectacle of the year.

Every rivalry game should be being played today, all at the same time, all at the stadiums that will have the most fans.  Joe Fan should tune into a pre-game show, then see 90+ minutes of high intensity soccer programming.  With 8 games going on, at an average of 2 goals per game, there should be about 16 goals, or one every 6 minutes.  You can pick one or two games to feature, and then cut in to the other games whenever a goal is scored.  There would be so many highlights, you wouldn’t even have time to go to the fridge.

In fact, if you needed to, you should pay ESPN so you can be on both ESPN and ESPN2 at the same time with different programming, so there is an East Coast game and West Coast Game on live on each channel, so by switching between channels, you get access to 4 games, and highlights from the other 4.

Once that framework is set up, there is really no end to the fun you can have with it. 

If I Ran the MLB All-Star Game

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Sports

I have 2 requests.  

1) The broadcast crew would NOT be made up of the Fox National Crew.  Fans, press, players or some combination of the three would vote on 3 local crews, each who would do 3 innings of the game.  Or maybe it’s 2 crews that get voted in, and the host team crew.  Or maybe one current crew, a crew of retired guys and the host crew.  You can toy with the details.  But get me a couple of innings of Vin Scully.

2) On each league roster, the longest tenured MLB player who has never mad an All-Star game makes the team.  If you’ve been a backup catcher since 1996, or are a 43 year old left-handed middle relief curveball specialist, well you deserve one chance to see the big stage in your career. 

That’s all I’m really asking for.

A Good Article on Community Stadiums

Posted by Andy Boyer in Marketing, Seattle, Sports

With the Sounders selling out their entire season, it’s easy to forget that the rest of the MLS is not sharing the same attendance success.

BigSoccer.com has a good article about how Frisco, TX (suburn of Dallas), used their MLS squad as a way to get an entire community complex developed, and how everything works together in a nice synergy.  Perhaps there’s a way to do something similar with a basketball/hockey/concert arena type complex in Seattle?