From Shaq to Fred McGriff: Sports and Marketing

(Repost from an old site of mine)

The world is so awesome.

I mean, I can blow bubbles with LeBron James bubble gum, jump to the moon in Nike Air Jordan shoes and I can set up huge armies of four-inch-high sports toy figurines (they're statues!).

What the hell has been going on? Simply put, sports have been evolving and so has the market attached to them. Collectibles and endorsement deals mean big bucks not only in athletes pockets, but also in the overall economy.

It makes sense to have athletes pitching athletic equipment, even though half of it sucks (think Shaquille O'Neal and anything made by Franklin). I guess more than half of the athletes out there suck too, so it actually evens out rather nicely.

If only "good" players would pitch "good" gear.

I applaud Fred McGriff. The "Crime Dog" is a great spokesman for that stupid baseball training video. Tiger Woods, man, if you use Titleist golf balls, then damn it, what self-respecting golfer wouldn't?

Unfortunately products don't seem to always respect quality standards, and we're not just talking about cheap shoes that fall apart; some of the companies are downright irresponsible.

As a sociologist (read, person who thinks about people), it causes me to question the wholesomeness of sport.

Should athletes and athletic icons be pushing alcohol? Dick Vitale, Al Michaels, John Elway and Barry Sanders are just a few recent athletes calling it cool to crack a cold one. I'm sure 6-year-old Tommy in Toledo, Ohio, doesn't get influenced by what John Elway says on television. Or does he?

How about Rafael Palmiero pushin' pills for Viagra? He looked like the ultimate comeback kind of guy only a year ago. He failed to mention that the blue pill wasn't the only "help" he needed.

It's almost biblical. Sure, it's great for kids to have positive sports figures as role models (and there really are more of these good guys out there), but I'm not sure the idolization we've thrown ourselves into is doing any of us any good.

But I'll admit it. I, too, am a sick man. I'm guilty. It was 1990, and I caught Ken Griffey Jr. fever. Griffey turned his cap backward and so did I. The buying spree had begun.

I bought every card and every magazine cover with him on the cover. In the mid-'90s, sports endorsements and memorabilia exploded and I scrambled to get everything Griffey.

You name it and I have it. I have the cereal boxes, the cookies, the posters, the pins, the video games and the life-size cutouts. I even got Griffey's Nike Swingman logo tattooed on my right arm when I was 18.

As I've matured (supposedly) I've slowed up and there is now such a large pile of Griffey crap out there that I'll probably never catch up on my collecting, nor do I want to.

Often, I lament on what the future of the exciting world of sports endorsements for products athletes neither use (nor probably like) holds. Will Roger Clemens be the next big thing for Imodium A-D (stops the runs!)? Should Shaun Alexander push infant products since he seems to burp the baby so well? Randy Moss probably already pledges his locks to some hair-care company, doesn't he?

Were teachers and parents ever this big? I remember there was a time when I was younger and sometimes in my mind, it seemed like they really were. I'm sure most of us have looked up and found guidance from people we know at one time or another. It just seems like it might be getting harder to spot our everyday stars among the "bright" ones.