EL BARRIO, LA BRONX – What a week! I was gearing up to talk sports then all of that kicked off in Paris. I have nothing to say beyond that “S%*&t is F@#$ked up.” I say that primarily because that is all you can say at a time like this. It is a very sad thing and the only thing left for me to do is write my Saturday piece like I meant to and extend my condolences to the families of the victims. With that said, lets look at my gripe with the marketing guys in sports.
I am not bragging but I do have a degree in business so I understand the need to generate more revenue. However these marketing guys are really messing up sport for me. They have infected every sport with their brilliant ideas to attract the eye of younger kids so the kid can bug their parents for some new $80+ jersey. If you don’t believe me ask yourself this
- Do you remember you team ever having a third/alternate jersey when you were a kid?
- Why is there a new jersey or uniform for veterans/memorial day, special tournaments and breast cancer awareness (who faduck isn’t aware of breast cancer by now!?!)
- Why do the Tampa Bay Bucs jersey looks like something from a video game?
You see how they have conspired to make you think you need to buy new things. They have NY Yankee hats in 25 different colors, which the Steinbrenners lover because it brings in money but come on!! I went to a function and a good friend wore a Mets hat. I said I left mine at home because I didn’t want to be too sporty. He had a black one!! A black mets hat may be easier at a business casual event but should there be a black Mets hat in the first place!!
The thing that prompted the latest outrage is the NFL Color Rush jersey experiment created by Nike. Nike the gods of Marketing though here is something we can do to generate more money and look edgy. Unfortunately it looked like a battle between Santa’s Elves or a civil war in traffic light land. Worse yet instead of looking like the picture at the top of the article it looked like the one to on the right for those that were red and green color blind. The geniuses in marketing hadn’t thought about that.. It hurt my eyes to watch so I turned it off at halftime. Glad too, considering how poor the Jets played.
These marketing guys have been messing up the sports I truly love for the last few decades. I know I am young to be doing the “you kids today!” grumpy old man act but I can’t help it. I am just an old man at heart I guess. About 19 years ago, I started college and joined the rugby team. I played in a pair of rugby/soccer boots like those to your left, the Puma King. Real simple and fancy considering the massive white strip. But that was the grand old days when your game was suppose to do the talking and you didn’t want your boots to be noticeable in case you were gonna cheat or play dirty.
Now these guys have decided that star players need to be seen. We need to make the boots bright. We need to make the big name players standout. So now they make the boots brighter for the big name players and worse yet they start phases out the old school black and white. They add all types of new technology to make the boots lighter and more dynamic but only to their new hot pink and neon green boots. If you don’t believe me, look at the design of all the new boots by Adidas. This is the selection someone has to choose from. How am I suppose to getaway with being off-sides when the referee or linesman can look down the line and see my boots clashing with the grass!! Ok, enough of my old man ranting for the day.
You kids get off my lawn!! And comeback tomorrow for Cheesy Bruin!!
