Steeler Draft Options

Many early NFL mock drafts predict the Steelers will take Oregon St. RB Steven Jackson with their first pick, #11 overall. I don't buy it at all. First off, the Steelers don't like to draft RBs that high and are probably thinking they can get a quality back in a later round. Plus, if there is a shut down corner, or even more likely, a big offensive tackle, available, that's where they'll go. And it looks like Ohio St's Chris Gamble or Arkansas' Shawn Andrews might be there at the 11th pick. If they are, forget Jackson.

My solution is for the Steelers to deal a mid round pick to the Bengals for Corey Dillon (which is all it seems it will take to get him), then use the first round to grab a player who fills another need of theirs. That way, they could fill more holes in their lineup than they would be able to if they stayed where they are in the draft.

There are still over 2 months to the draft and there are a lot of factors still to consider and events to go down, we'll see how it plays out, but no matter what (and no matter how much I'd like to see a stud back in the Steeler backfield) I'd be VERY surprised if they use a first rounder on a RB.

Tivo!

Oh Tivo and it's remote, how I love thee!! Now Preening on the Coffee Table: The TiVo Remote Control

While this may be one of the best gadgets ever created, the DirecTV version I own has some flaws: the TV Power button is the same size as and is right next to the '1' button, sometimes causing eme to turn off the TV unexpectedly, and the 'Clear' and 'Enter/Last' buttons are the same size as the other buttons around them, making reutrning to the channel you were previously watching difficult. But for the overall joy that this remote brings me, I'll more than overlook a few design flaws that seem, at least as this article seems to imply, that were added on by DirecTV.

Fox Baseball ads

The scene is a rehabilitation center somewhere, possibly in a hospital. A man with braces on both legs is attempting to walk again using his hands and bars to hold him up since his legs are clearly not strong enough to support him. A trainer is assisting the man, encouraging him to walk towards him.

Suddenly, the trainer turns away, his attention caught by something off camera. The man falls backward awkwardly but the trainer offers no assistance. Instead, the trainer is transfixed, staring offscreen. Finally, his lips move a little and we hear him say, “Giles always crushes that pitcher.” The fallen patient exclaims, “Can I get some help here?” but gets no help, only a finger advising him to wait.

From what the trainer says, you’ve figured out that this is a commercial for a baseball team. Absurd as it may be and as little as it may have to do with baseball, somebody has decided that this is the best way to get people to watch baseball on TV. That somebody is an executive at Fox television, the real power that rules baseball.

Through the magic of baseball’s Extra innings package, anyone can watch baseball games televised on the various regional Fox Sports networks around the country. You can watch almost every major league game on most nights. Besides the fact that the game of baseball is being played, there is another similarity to what each of these channels airs during the games: this same tv ad.

The only difference is a subtle dubbing of the line spoken by the trainer. In Pittsburgh, you hear “Giles always crushes that pitcher.” In San Francisco, “Giles” becomes “Bonds”. In Cincinnati, it’s “Griffey” who does the crushing. And so on, with each regional network dubbing their stars name into the line. That is the only change in the ad as it airs from New York to Los Angeles.

The obvious question this raises is not the important question. The obvious question is who in the world thought this was an effective commercial, that somehow a baseball game was so compelling that it causes people to completely lose track of their surroundings resulting in disastrous results. This isn’t the only ad that Fox runs in this manner. They have been doing it for over a year now and while there is a miniscule amount of humor buried in the commercial, what I take away from the ads are how stupid and pointless they are. There is no connection to baseball and nothing that makes someone want to attend or even watch a game. They are dumb and pointlessly stupid commercials.

But there is a bigger issue: who runs baseball and are they looking out for the welfare of the game and its franchises?

The Pirates are not one of baseball’s elite franchises. To be successful, they need everything to go right for them and they cannot afford to waste money. They have in the past and it has crippled them, on and off the field and they are still struggling to rebound. Their money management is so tight that any extra dollars spent promoting the team must be welcomed, perhaps to the point where they are not concerned about the long term effect these Fox ads are creating.

The best way to promote baseball, if you’re not Bill Veeck, is to promote the game. If you are able to sell fans on the game, you can be more confident that they will return year after year since the game stays the same year after year. The allure of PNC Park has already worn off. Pierogi races don’t draw fans. Fireworks can’t be shot off every gamenight. Bobbleheads come and go. Selling the game also leads to a deeper understanding of the game, an understanding that can find reason t support the local nine through dark times if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

A fan of the game comes to watch the players perform and even if the team is not good, there is something in every game that a fan can watch and admire and may not see again the entire season. A fan of fireworks comes to the game, doesn’t pay attention to the game, is more easily agitated when the team is losing and gets most excited after the home team has gone to the clubhouse.

However, despite its need to develop a strong fan base, Pirate marketing efforts have been laughable. Not since their “We Play Hardball” campaign of the late 80s have the marketing efforts focused on the game and the team. The success of the early 90s and the large crowds provided a perfect opportunity to grow new fans on the game, but little headway was made and as soon as the free agents left town and success faded, so too did the attendance. From the mid 90s on, marketing efforts were overshadowed by threats to move the team, its financial problems and the momentous battle to build PNC Park, none of which cast positive light on the Pirates. Recent years have featured PNC Park and giveaways as the central focus of advertising and marketing efforts.

Finally this season things seemed to be coming around for the Pirates. The team brought in several players that juiced the fans. Optimism was higher for the 2003 Pirates than at any point over the past 10 years. Marketing centered on the players and not promotions that have nothing to do with the game.

Yet here we are and while the Pirates have stumbled badly on the field so far, they have been worse off the field because of their inability to draw fans. Those who have come to PNC Park have been treated to lousy baseball and more losses for the home team than any other team in the majors. In this situation the Pirates wallow, trying to dig out of a seemingly deepening hole. There is no more effective marketing tool than a winning team, yet an effective strategy would be able to minimize the impact that losing has. But it hasn’t.

And worse, they allow Fox TV executives to effectively sabotage Pirate marketing efforts by airing these senseless ads. To fans, there is no differentiating between the Fox ads and the Bucs ads. They both sell the same product, just with different messages and imagery. Conflicting messages and imagery. The Pirates have allowed their marketing efforts to be derailed by Fox.

Then again, Fox delivers the TV money so the Pirates won’t complain about the erosion of goodwill and mindshare that a conflicting and diluted marketing message creates during such a critical time for the Pirates to capitalize on a strong, focused and game friendly message.

Fox clearly doesn’t care about the individual markets and by not objecting to the TV execs, it seems that the Pirates don’t care about the long term in their current market either. So why should I?

C'est La Vie 66?

The greatest hockey player ever and the best athlete I have ever seen likely played his last game for the Penguins last night. What Mario Lemieux has done on and off the ice for the Penguins and the city of Pittsburgh is uncomparable and too lenghty too list here. But if it's true that he will retire, it's nice that he got an assist on the game winning goal on his last shift on the ice. It is a nice bookend to getting a goal on his first ever shift in the NHL when he stripped Ray Bourque and beat goaltender Pete Peeters on a breakaway. Thanks for it all Big Guy!!

Opening Day 2003

4:11 Strike one to Kenny Lofton

4:12 Reds announcers (ol ESPN stalwart George Grande & either Chris Welsh) mention how the Bucs were a different team this Spring after Lofton signed. Lofton grounds out 3-1.

4:13 Kendall looks like vintage Kendall…of the past two years…weak 6-3 grounder

Great American looks nice with deep grass like PNC. Gile pops up on the first pitch. Disappointing top of the first, Haynes couldn’t have done it any better, only Lofton made him work a bit.

Happened to catch some of the Mets/Cubs game earlier. Roger Cedeno is as bad in CF as anyone I’ve ever seen and Floyd and Burnitz will not run down any balls to help him out. 15-2 Cubs the last I saw, its great to hear the NY fans booing on Opening Day. Not quite as bad as the 95 opener in Pittsburgh after the strike when fans pelted the field with plastic flags towards the end of a typically minor league performance by the Bucs.

4:17 Benson gets Larkin to fly out to Reggie Sanders in right for the first out of the season.

4:20 Griffey gets the first hit of the season and the first hit ever in the new Reds park. It’s a double and though healthy, he runs easily but not quickly, does he fear the hammy?

4:25 Whoa ARam!! Ugly swing looked like he was swinging under water. K.

4:26 Simon Strikes!! Double up the alley…Whoa! Barely makes it into second sliding. Big guy Simon is.

4:29 Sanders go boom!!!!!!!!!!! Deep drive to left center on a 3-2 low fastball. 2-0 Bucs. Former Red Sanders gets the first HR in the new park.

The Reds ruined the Bucs opening of PNC Park, it would be nice to see the Bucs return the favor.

Pokey singles – run pokey run!!

Why are the Reds favorites to do anything this year? Jimmy Haynes as Opening Day starter is almost as bad as Ron Villone lat year. OK, Haynes won 15 last year, but he is not an anchor of a playoff team.

4:37 Lofton goes deep in the second. It’s now 5-0 and the Cincy fans are trying to coerce the fan who caught Lofton’s ball to throw it back on the field. Sorry, Great American Park isn’t Wrigley.

4:40 OK, thanks to the combination of bad pitching by Haynes and a park as big as Kate Moss's chest, both Lofton and Jason Kendall have hit HRs. Lofton didn’t think his was gone and Kendall’s was to the opposite field. I don’t know how that happened, he doesn’t have that much power and didn’t do that at all last year. This park is going to give up lots of HRs if this is any indication. It’s not even warm yet.

Frustrated fans on Opening Day ar great huh? All the optimism of Spring has transformed into an ugly mob scene, not earlier in New York but also now in Cincy. Fans forced another fan to throw Kendall’s homerun ball back onto the field. If he hadn’t, the fans would have taken his head off.

4:58 Thank goodness that mess in New York ended. ESPN has now switched over to the Pirates/Reds and they have the wonderful Jon Miller and Joe Morgan doing the game. Grande and pal weren’t bad, but this is ESPN’s #1 team and they may not do another Pirate game all year. Jon Miller ranks only behind Vin Scully as a baseball announcer.

5:00 uh-oh, maybe I should switch back to the Reds broadcast. The pitcher Haynes is still in the game and he just laced a one out double off the wall in left in the 3rd. I’m not going to take many chances with this.

5:02 Benson walks Larkin. I don’t like ESPN at the moment. Boone hits a weak bouncer to Pokey who tries to swipe tag Larkin running by and then throw to first, but he can’t control the ball and everyone is safe. Griffey is up with the bases loaded and I’m back watching the Reds feed.

5:06 Benson K’s Griffey with high heat. I love the Reds feed. Two outs. Kearns up.

Bud Selig has stopped by the Reds booth this inning. Who thought making him commissioner was a good idea? He is so bland and unexciting and doesn’t say anything beyond the simple answer to the announcer’s questions…Kearns walks in the Reds first run…thereby making the answer to the trivia question “Who drove in the Reds first run at Great American Park?” as boring as the commissioner.

Oh no, Selig is talking about Pete Rose and he basically avoids all questions. He claims he cant say too much about the case, which I’m not sure why, this isn’t a court case, it’s his decision to make and he can talk all he wants about it. Yet Selig remains ever the lawyer, even though he’s also a used car salesman, and clams up. Welsh says Selig has guts to enter the heat of the argument by coming to Cincy, but this is your basic ass-kissing. There is no threat to Selig, he won’t say anything to get anyone angry.

Let’s see how ESPN affects the Bucs hitters in the top of the fourth.

5:25 Miller and Morgan have coaxed the Bucs to two men on with two outs, Kendall up and Giles on deck. Haynes is tottering on coming out but he gets Kendall to ground out and end the threat.

5:35 Johnny Bench enters the booth. Someday I’ll compile my all time team of players I saw and even though Bench was past his prime by the late 70s, he’d have a starting spot on it. However, they aren’t talking about the game. I suppose its Opening Day so everything is ceremonial so the broadcast is trying to keep in the mood, but the game has become an afterthought and the Bucs have two men on and nobody out.