While I like to blog about book reviews, to be honest I read a lot of books out of the political and historical sections of the bookstore….which have zero interest to most readers of the “Gameops” blog.  So I was stopped dead in my tracks while reading a book about the Supreme Court Justices when I read this:

“At that moment, the door to the dining room swung open and a giant beast with green fur, purple eyelashes, and a Philadelphia Phillies jersey burst into the room. The Phillie Phanatic lumbered over to Alito, gave him a prolonged embrace, and then left the room, leaving raucous laughter in it’s wake.” (page 323-4)

Once I got past my shock over the inclusion of the Phanatic’s appearance, I thought this is a good example of the wide range of appearance any mascot makes. Talk to any mascot and you will doubtless hear stories about oddball appearances to random celebrity run-ins. These can be a great source of content for your mascot’s web page, blog or myspace page. It’s a way to connect with your teams fan base that is sometimes wide-ranging and hard to reach.

It’s also a way to tell fans about what your mascot does outside of the friendly confines of your arena or stadium. Show your fans your mascot is out doing appearances for kid’s birthdays, mall opening, or parades and you can be certain you will start getting more calls about doing birthday parties, grand openings and parades.  For performers and teams who count on appearances for revenue generation this can be a real boost.
Perhaps someday the Supreme Court will call you and request a mascot appearance including a prolonged embrace with another justice….if you are lucky. And if they do, let me know so I can blog about it.

–Cudo

PS: If you want to read more about the Supreme Court I do recommend Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine. However I have read the entire book and there is no other mascot references, if you are only interested in giant green furry creatures you may be disappointed.

The blog is back after a longer than normal break. Not only was I a little burned out from the daily blog in August, but I also was out for vacation last week and buried with a hectic month as teams are gearing up for their seasons on Gameops.com.

This week I will be adding content daily, making up for the lack of a September Update….so be sure to check back for those featured pieces including more promotions, new store products, and another Promotional Pill Game review…check the home page for the updates.
I also have added a new blog category: Book Marks. As you may have noticed I often cite books in the blog, either as sources of game operations related ideas, history of sports entertainment, or promotions. I just thought it would be a helpful category for searching for content or recommended reading. All the Book Marks include links to the books on Amazon.com.

On vacation I finished the politically charged sports book Welcome to the Terrordome by Dave Zirin. The book covers the connection between social and cultural issues and sports, and it’s really a great read. Among the topics Zirin connects are race relations in baseball thru Roberto Clemente, public financing of stadiums and how politicians often exploit sports figures.

I Book Mark this book for any one interested in the convergence of politics, politics, cultural issues and sports. I also found a couple interesting promotion notes inside.

As part of his chapter on Clemente, Zirin describes a July 24th 1971 game named Roberto Clemente Night. The team flew in thousands of people from his Puerto Rico homeland. For the first time in baseball history the game was presented in both Spanish and English. This tribute to Clemente was fitting for his life long struggle and accomplishments toward opening the major leagues to Latino players.

The book asks why the Yankees have not yet held a “Sheep Testicles Day” (page 150)….but I will let you read the back story on that for yourself.

-Cudo

Today marks the end of the ambitious blogging schedule to celebrate the anniversary month. I will be off for Labor Day, so the next blog entry will be Thursday Sept 6th.

In my final blog for the month I wanted to highlight an interview from a couple years ago. Normally I did a big interview for the August Anniversary update and one of my favorites was with Jon Spoelstra in 2003. Spoelstra is legend in sports marketing and he shared a lot of time and insight during this interview….it’s three parts, making it one of the longest ever on Gameops.com.

I hope you enjoyed the daily dose of the Gameops.com Editor’s blog….I am officially burned out.

–Cudo

Just a quick follow-up to the earlier blog on July 9th regarding Barry Bonds and the home run presentation.

Last night Bonds hit 756 in front of a home crowd and the Giants produced a fitting tribute to their slugger, including a great video from Hank Aaron. The video is what will be remembered, coming amid speculation that Aaron was less than enthusiastic about Bonds’ accomplishments.

The at bat, homer run, celebration and Aaron video are below…in case you some how missed it.

-Cudo

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If your are looking for a game operations and entertainment blog today, this may be a disappointment. Rather today I just wanted to offer another book recommendation from the world of sports.

I just finished A Necessary Spectacle by Selena Roberts (sports writer for the NY Times). The book covers not just the 1973 Battle of the Sexes (tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs) but the effects of the life of Billie Jean King.

The book chronicles the intersection of three major players in the Battle of the Sexes (King, Riggs, and Margaret Court) along with many other players who shaped the event and the life of Billie Jean King.

At age five the young Billie Jean looked up at her mother and said, “I am going to to something special with my life.” Indeed. That girl turned into one of the great womens tennis players ever, but along the way became the cause celeb for women’s rights, feminism, equality and more. At each turn she shouldered the burden of being at the forefront of movements and causes, no matter the personal cost to her…and did it while performing at the highest levels of her sport.

The book was superbly written, full of valuable background and insights both of the sport and the people, but also the ripple effects of her life. The final chapters focus more on the current realities of women’s status in sports through the successes (and failures) of US Womens Soccer, womens tennis, and Title IX.

Billie Jean King stands along with athletes like Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson as truly great. In my eyes greatness doesn’t just come from winning, but is achieved by being true to yourself and your beliefs by being willing to risk your legacy in the sport in exchange for making a greater social change. It’s what separates Ali, Robinson, and King from Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Ali believed enough in his convictions on the war and the draft to risk his career, Robinson risked everything for racial gains, and Billie Jean lifted the equal rights movement.

Yes, I have listened to the debate about Jordan’s ability to provide this leadership through his “business leadership”, but I contend it’s very different since Jordan is risking nothing, unlike the others. Billie Jean King did the same thing with her business ventures (a women sports magazine, Team Tennis, etc) but also took the bold social risks that Jordan has never dare to take.

Finally, I thought the book was so powerful in illuminating the change King had in her lifetime. I am a huge Ben Franklin buff and marvel at the world he entered and the one he left, and the impact he had while living. He was born just following the Salem Witch Trials in an English colony. An unenlightened era in undeveloped world. He left a newly created country, an elevation of science, commerce, self awareness, and democracy….and he wasn’t just along for the ride. He had a tremendous impact along the way. After reading A Necessary Spectacle I started to feel that King has had a similarly powerful effect on the world, changing the perception of women, equality, and feminism. The little 5-year-old girl was right….she would do something special with her life.

–Cudo

PS: Thanks for indulging me through a non-game ops related blog. Enjoy the book.

• New York Times Book Review: ‘A Necessary Spectacle’: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3

We are approaching a historic milestone, with an equally compelling game operations-related question. As Barry Bonds approaches the all-time home run record and does so with the winds of scandal in his sails, I will be interested to watch how any team (including his own) treats the milestone and produces the surrounding celebration.

Of course it’s more likely that Bonds will drive #755 and #756 into McCovey Cove than on the road (teams often rest players strategically to have the event happen at home), one has to wonder how the event will be handled if the Giants are on the road. This was discussed in a previous blog about the Nashville Predators. But you also have to wonder how it will play out regardless of the location due to the shadowy steroid scandal and the relative unpopularity of Bonds the player.

I just finished reading Game of Shadows this month, which was a really powerful book covering how steroids and performance enhancing drugs have altered sports and entertainment. If you don’t have a strong dislike for Barry Bonds before you read the book…you will after. However the book is about much more than Bonds. It’s about the culture of sports, the pressure to find any edge, and how powerfully tilted the incentives are to cheat. There is a lot of evidence that Bonds used every edge (legal and otherwise) to catch Aaron, so the jury of public opinion regarding the accomplishment may be harsh and any celebration will certainly have mixed emotions and sentiment.

It would be impossible to ignore the feat, but building the proper tribute will be closely scrutinized. Too much glitz and ceremony and you may look foolish if history judges his fantastic career numbers with an asterisk. Not enough and you risk not paying the proper tribute to a record that has stood for over 30 years. The eyes of the world will certainly be watching.

Looking back at Aaron’s 716th home run (see the video below) I think the Atlanta Braves actually did a great job with the celebration….relying on fireworks and a crowd who knew they were a part of history to highlight the feat. I just wonder if they can find the two guys who chased Aaron around the bases to play an honorary role this time around. (read more about the Aaron home run also below).

–Cudo

PS: In the interest of keeping the blog on track above I didn’t give enough praise to Game of Shadows, which is outstanding and timely. I strongly recommend it.

Click more for the #716 video, more on Aaron’s home run chase, an audio story, and another book link on Hank Aaron and the Home Run that Changed America.
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