This is a week long review of the five biggest ovations in my memory.

1. coming Friday
2. coming Thursday
3. coming Wednesday
4. In Your House - April 1996
5. South Korea v. Brazil - Fall 1997

Number Four:
Number four comes from the world of professional wrestling, whose controlled storylines when augmented with the right physical showcase has the ability to really stoke a crowd’s emotion.  The match took place in Omaha Nebraska and was the final match in a feud between Shawn Michaels and Diesel. 

The match was great, but the reaction of the crowd post-match made this a top five most memorable ovations.  After Michaels won the match and Diesel was chased to the back Michaels stayed in the ring to pose and play the crowd.  The event was over, but the crowd stayed and cheered him for over 10 minutes.  Shawn Michaels occasionally worked the camera which was still wrapping up the Pay Per View coverage.  Michaels continued to milk the crowd for 10 plus minutes….which is amazing considering that nothing was happening in the ring other than him posing and playing to the crowd. 

I think about that moment after big games and wonder if any player could walk about to the crowd and play them to that level of emotion for that long.  I image Jordan during his championship seasons could have worked the crowd like that, but I’m not 100% sure of it.

Tomorrow, a city’s thirst is quenched….

-Cudo

Last week I was talking to a friend about crowd reactions and he asked me what the biggest ovations I have ever heard were.  It got me thinking.

I put together a short list and I have whittled it down to five crowd ovations that stood out.  I considered any event and didn’t consider just the volume, but the overall reaction.

I decided to post this list as a week of blogs, counting down from five to one.

1. coming Friday
2. coming Thursday
3. coming Wednesday
4. coming Tuesday
5. South Korea v. Brazil - Fall 1997

Number Five: 
Brazil v. South Korea Soccer Friendly Fall 1997 (Seoul, South Korea)
While working with Nike Sports Entertainment I had the opportunity to experience the world of international soccer.  As an American seeing the fervor of soccer fans, in particular Brazilian soccer fans is something I will never forget. 

This game also was the first time I saw inflatable noisemakers in person for the first time.  And there was 60,000 of them.  The noise was incredible and really helped make an electric atmosphere. 

Friendlies (soccer matches that do not count for league or international standings) are a unique setting and actually in some ways are challenging for fans to really get engaged, since they are essentially meaningless exhibition games.  However the fans in Korea were really wild for the chance to see the world’s premiere soccer team.

Tomorrow, an incredibly long ovation in Omaha.

-Cudo

Just a quick note to keep my string of blogs in tact.

Next week I have a five part series about the biggest ovations I have experienced.  When I first started writing it, it sounded pretty interesting…I have been looking at it too long, since now I am not so sure.  I will let you all be the judge.

I also had mentioned Specials in the store this month.  How about $150 off Human Hamster balls and 50% off our “On Your Feet” Pop Sign.  Both discounts are for a limited time.

I am also working ahead on next month’s content, which will be part five in our Six from Six Series. If you have not read these yet, take a look.  We have completed the last two teams and I have been really pleased with how those have turned out.

While the daily blog is a lot to write, I will probably start to track promotions in the media more often via the blog.  Its a quick way to talk about promotions…I hope you have enjoyed the added content.

More hype for next month:  Gameops.com is adding a YouTube page, probably launching for the September update.  With all the great videos popping up its a good way to showcase the game ops related and mascot videos.  Thanks to Kelly Frank who has been flooding me with videos for turning me on to the possibilites of YouTube.

Stop back next week and find out my favorite entertainment (at least in terms of getting a huge crowd reaction)…..this entertainment option holds two of my top five “ovations”.  The week long “Ovations” countdown starts Monday….

-Cudo

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Orioles players have joked in the past that they didn’t look like their bobblehead dolls. But when a recent shipment of Brian Roberts bobbleheads arrived, team officials knew something was wrong.

Roberts, who is white, had dark skin. It wasn’t just a deep tan.

“It didn’t look like Brian Roberts. The coloring was bad,” Orioles spokesman Bill Stetka said. “I didn’t actually see it. I’ve heard various versions that it was very dark and bluish.”

The team returned the entire shipment of 20,000 Roberts dolls, which they had planned to hand out Saturday. Instead of bobbleheads, all fans who attend the game against the Texas Rangers will be given vouchers that they can use to pick up more accurate Roberts dolls at Camden Yards after Sept. 1. The team may end up giving away more than 20,000 dolls because of the mistake, Stetka said.

The Roberts bobblehead was part of a heavily promoted set, intended to be joined with a Melvin Mora doll scheduled to be given away Aug. 24 to the first 20,000 fans ages 21 and up. Together, the dolls would depict second baseman Roberts and third baseman Mora in the middle of their elaborate hand-slapping celebration that follows every Baltimore victory. (MSNBC /www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13862410/)

This is about the worst thing that can happen for a premium giveaway…the dreaded complete absence of the item to giveaway.  Regardless of the circumstance, it’s a horrible position for the

team.

I do want to single out the Orioles for their decisive and workable solution to this.  As shown here, the raincheck is the best of a bad situation, but it shows the fans that the team will make good.

What is critical is to put something in the fans’ hand.  A ticket stub can work, but putting something in the hand of the fan as they come thru the turnstile replicates the giveaway and stops people from buying extra tickets or otherwise subverting the giveaway rules.  It puts the fan back into the position they would be in if they were receiving the bobblhead.

You can see on the photo that the certificate is numbered and printed on dark stock (brown is hard to photo copy).  Depending on the value of your premium item it is also wise to safeguard your certificate as best you can.  Time allowing, check with your printer on options to somehow validate or authenticate your certificate as the Orioles did here.

-Cudo

The Joliet JackHammers professional baseball team has a promotion called “Season Ticket Holder of the Game.” At each home game, one season ticket holder is randomly selected to receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the ballpark and a gift certificate worth $50 to the team’s pro shop. If the season ticket holder who is selected is not present at the game, the gift certificate value “rolls over” to $100 the next night, and so on, until a winning fan is present. (From Team PR)

A nice twist on a standard promotion, I really like the addition of the roll over prize.  It really rewards season ticket holders and draws attention to those fans.  I am sure as the pot increases the attendance of their base goes up too.

Their behind-the-scenes tour also is the perfect gift for you most loyal fans.

-Cudo

Raymond the tampa Bay Devil Rays mascot is working overtime on YouTube, sharing with his fans and the general public bits from the in-game presentation. I think this is going to really take off this year and I suspect that many mascots will join in and post their clips on the web.

Here is video of a good on-field skit starring Raymond. The theme has been done before by the Chicken, Birdzerk and others….but like many skits, your home fans might have never seen it live. (more…)