If we take your view to the extreme, then all the players should just be free agents and go to the highest bidder. Screw drafting players, just let them interview for teams like we would interview for companies.
dbdynsty25 wrote:PK, you mentioned Newcastle Brown...
Newcastle is my favorite beer (just too bad it costs 8-9 bucks a 6 pack and 16 for a twelver)...I always wondered why they didn't continue to support 'your' magpies with their logo. It seems like the perfect match...ya know.
DB:
Not sure. Probably because NTL offered more money. Another club chasing that almighty dollar (or pound, in this case).
The shame.
P.S.: You have fine taste in froth, my friend. Wow -- a SoCal guy in his 20s who doesn't inhale Coors Light or Bud Light like it's the Fountain of Youth. Props to you!
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
pk500 wrote:P.S.: You have fine taste in froth, my friend. Wow -- a SoCal guy in his 20s who doesn't inhale Coors Light or Bud Light like it's the Fountain of Youth. Props to you!
Most of my friends find it weird too...they are the Coors/Bud Light type guys like you mentioned. I'd much rather pay a few more dollars and enjoy the taste of the beer rather than drinking the hard water known as domestic light beers.
It helps that I've got a guy here at work that brews his own beer. He has helped 'form' my tastes towards the good beers rather than the garbage that is advertised and pushed on us like its nobody's business.
Plus, my little bro is actually the one who got me into Newcastle. One weekend in Vegas he brought a couple twelvers with him and we drank those for a weekend. That was pretty much the begining of my love affair with Natty Brown (isn't that what the brits call it? It's Natty something, just can't remember what the brit told me in England a couple years back).
One final note from me about this topic: All of the baseball "purists" who have their Fruit of the Looms in a wad about the Spiderman 2 ads on bases should realize that there's a historical precedent for advertising on the field in baseball, if you count the fence as part of the field.
The fences at old-time parks were littered with ads during the "glory years" of the sport. Check out this shot of Shibe Park, for example:
So again, this is much ado about nothing.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Man...who's the groundskeeper on that track. They need to work on that turf. Wow.
I don't notice ads on the outfield walls normally. The only ad that I can remember is the GAP ad at Camden Yard...coincidentally it was located in the 'gap' between center/right field. The only reason I remember it is because it was clever...otherwise I don't remember or even recognize that stuff usually.
I still think it's a stupid idea to litter the bases with ads though.
I'm not put off by the compromising of the game as much as the lameness of the attempt. What kind of drive towards seeing a movie is having a logo on a base going to generate? The only coverage it will get is the obligatory camera zoom as the tv people mention it. Then you'll hear the announcer comments which will range from "Eh, that's odd" to a tirade about baseball purity.
When I saw Terrell Owens pull that autograph after a TD stunt my mind went from "What is he doing" to "He's had a pen in his sock the whole game? What a dork." This lame marketing attempt, while trying to generate interest in a movie, has more potential to alienate baseball people who might be interested than it does to generate new interest in it.
All that aside, for some reason I really want to watch Spiderman 2 and I don't know why.
At least they did what was right. If 75-80% of the general public disagree with something, why not rethink what you're trying to do? You're there to please the paying public...it's the first 'good' thing Selig has done in a long long time.
What's ironic about this whole "spidey-gate" thing (with the announcement, subsequent outcry, and finally withdrawing of the ad) is that it has probably generated as much publicity than the actual advertisement itself would have.
Maybe the Spiderman 2 movie posters can just show Spidey wearing a cap of the nearest MLB team (collect all 30!) and they can call it even.
I have several Hard And Fast Rules About Commercials:
Let's do Spectrum Analysis:
1: No Documentation No Sale. Certain ads take it upon themselves to become like "silent movies" in that they let "the picture tell the story" and not say nothing at all. This to the Man of Barnes is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Can I get a Witness? Amen.
For if Stevie Wonder's watching (and He's Blind) and he can't hear anything on the Cathode Ray Tube, how's he gonna buy into the product? He certainly can't see! And Neither Will I. To do a Quality Commercial, you must document your products by the Eyegate and the Eargate; yea through Words AND Pictures.
And it is not enough to "fudge it" or as Brady Bunch would say "Guild The Lily" by playing music, as in the case of Burger King and their Pictures of Whoppers (which are airbrushed for TV BTW) accompanied by Aretha Franklin, etc., etc., etc. Yea but Nay! Good ad documentation involves showing Quality Pictures of the Product You're Selling w/Legibly Written DISCLAIMERS and Legibly Spoken DISCLAIMERS and EXPLANATIONS of said product...a.e: You Deserve A Break Today At McDonalds w/a Special on Big Macs. Amen. Failure to Adhere to this Rule is DEFINITELY A NO NO w/the Man of Barnes!!! (and someday maybe I'll tell the Usenet about the time I did a book report on AIDS/HIV in school and missed an A+ due to NOT DOCUMENTING Properly.
2: By Law I Think ALL DISCLAIMERS SHOULD BE LIKE THIS. IN BIG PRINT ON THE SCREEN for the elderly, the feeble of vision, and so on. But I and most Nations, Tongues, and Kindreds would settle for LEGIBLE WORDS ON SCREEN. Whether they be DISCLAIMERS, PRICES, WRITTEN STATEMENTS, ETC. And contrary to the held opinion of some people, let it be known that I Read All DISCLAIMERS if I can. But I don't want to have to get out a magnifying glass to read important "fine print" about prices, special offers, etc. (an advertiser? Hold back info w/tricks like "fine print"? Or even lie? I do declare!)
For Failure to Adhere to this Rule is Instant Disqualification from "Distinction" or "Hall of Fame" status and will certainly be worth a good dressing down. Amen.
3: Neither do I want to hear the Advertiser mumble something under their breath. A certain beer commercial has been bad about this lately. W/my ear pressed to the TV Screen I could just make out the words "Don't Drink If You're Under 21". Instant DQ Baby! Marvel not that I say unto you: Ye Must Be Born Again...and learn how to talk properly...and not like Cindy Brady w/a Lisp! And only THEN will you become Un DISQUALIFIED! And the people said: Amen. Amen.
(but)
4: DO NOT BLARE OUT THE SOUND AT ME IN THE MANNER THAT SOME ADS DO!!! This is equivalent to a Jet Airplane flying over my backyard...and is grounds for INSTANT DISMISSAL FROM CONSIDERATION...until you, as the lady in Good Times said, get it "Right On!" Incidentally, as Brady Grid's Buddy Berkman said to "Johnny Bravo/Greg Brady", this is Electronic Sleight of Hand by ENGINEERING. Affirmative. Keep the Sound Medium And You'll Be All Right, as the Song Says.
5: Do Not Flash Bright Lights & Colors at me when I'm watching. It gives some folk Epileptic Seizures. Being as my Grand Mere had Epilepsy, I don't appreciate it. Instant DQ for health/safety reasons. Amen. Read any instruction booklet from a video game, for example, and you'll see a LEGIBLE DISCLAIMER that talks about the possibility of "small segments of the population" getting seizures. And you'll know. And knowing is half the battle.
6: Don't use Sex to sell shampoo (Herbal Essences/Dr. Ruth) or cars (sleazy dealerships w/no imagination). Instant DQ From Consideration. Amen.
7: Don't talk Potty Talk or Gross Me out (especially right before dinner or suppie!). Failure to do so will get you a WARNING. A Vanish Air Freshener showed a little girl going to the toilet, doing potty talk, and using the air freshener to give a message that something gross was happening (AH! She Said). Which gets into:
8: Don't use ads to SEND MESSAGES OF NEGATIVITY IN THE VIBES THAT IS VIBRATIONS. I, like Tommy Heinsohn the great Basketball Player for the Celtics, stopped watching when ads (and TV in general) became the SENDING OF MESSAGES, especially sex (see 6) and violence and rebellion against the traditional institutions that have made the USA great (family, church, etc).
9: Don't get CheeseWiz in your Advertising to the point of detriment by Interfering w/my TV Watching (TNN Black Bar is a good example). Instant DQ Baby!
10: Do Not Oversaturate Your Ads Whether They Be For TV Shows (Cosby N Cheers Network...AKA Slick Nick or Nick at Nite) or well products. No Brainwashing Is Acceptable To This Man of Barnes.
AND THESE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE WRITTEN,
THE MAN OF BARNES SAW THEM,
AND IT WAS GOOD!!!
And the people said:
Amen.
Amen and this concludes Analysis Spectrum.
Postscript:
Other rules for good TV Watching:
No letterbox if I can help it.
No animated bugs
No local affiliate watching except for special occasions (Tornado Coming, but then again, I got it on the Weather Channel anyway. I watch just to see the Weather Girls or Greg Fishel, who's the Best!). A certain World Cup game on WTVD 11 News was preempted within the Grade B Contour for a Severe Thunderstorm WATCH. And the storm was near Virginia at the time w/myself 5 or 6 Counties to the South In Johnston County!
No bad programs.
Never do I watch Networks. I watch Shows! Brady Bunch can be on ESPN and it doesn't matter.
No rubbish w/Gratuitous sex or violence. Shows like Austin Powers or Three's Company are OK, as is All In The Family. In other words, shows w/ No UNNECESSARY T and A, etc. Amen.
Quality is Job 1. For I am Retro Man! I believe that the older shows are best for a person like myself. I could give a docken about Ally McBeal or Suddenly Susan. So lots of:
Brady Bunch or:
Brady Grid.
Amen and
This concludes Postscript of the Analysis Spectrum.
JUST as i was reading this post i saw on TechTV (sniff sniff) that the spider man bases stunt is being pulled. There has been so much complaing from fans and players that they are scrapping the idea. THE PEOPLE WIN! YEAH!
