Scott Schoeneweis is absolutely right.Schoeneweis had met with people from the Commissioner's Office in December to discuss an ESPN report alleging he had violated the collective bargaining agreement by using steroids. The office determined it had insufficient evidence of a violation to warrant discipline.It's true. For all the media coverage of steroids, cheating, and the like, where's the equal coverage when one of the damned is either exonerated, or presents a note from his doctor? And since I mentioned the report, the least I can do is mention the retraction. Now go strike out some lefties.
Schoeneweis said the Mets and other clubs he had played for were aware of his use, which was tied to his treatment of testicular cancer.
"I was just trying to get to normal, not above normal. It's all well-documented," Schoeneweis said.
But he lamented: "The retraction [explanation from the league] wasn't as glorified [as the original report] ... It's the era we live in."
***
It recently came to my attention that the Seattle Mariners' new slogan which appears on their website header is "Mojo Risin'", which if you remember was the Mets rallying cry back in 1999 when Robin Ventura would play the Doors song after victories that season.If you remember back in '06 (I think), the Blue Jays used "You Gotta Believe" as their rallying cry, which was Tug McGraw's 1973 cry that grew to legendary proportions. That was out and out robbery, and the Mariners' marketing scheme seems to be the same thing.
But not really. Here's my question: You Gotta Believe aside (because that's not really an example of over the top marketing), who would want to steal a marketing idea from the Mets? Remember Our Team Our Time? Or even better, does anyone remember "Who Let The Dogs Out" during the 2000 playoffs? Do you remember that the Mets stole that gem from the Giants after the Giants used that song all season, and then the Mets beat them in the playoffs and then stole the marketing theme to the point that they actually had the Baha Men play the song at Shea Stadium before a game?
Even Mojo Risin', if you think about it, and as cool as the song is and how it didn't come so much from a boardroom as it did from a lockerroom, came from a song called "L.A. Woman"? New York Mets theme song: Los Angeles Woman. There was always something a tad incongruous about that.
So if Seattle is robbing from an old dusty Mets slogan, they probably could find a better shack to steal from.
***
And a quick word on the dog and pony show that was the Roger Clemens vs. Brian McNamee hearings:Can't we just put the two on some remote island so that Johnny Fairplay, Rupert, and Bobby Jon can judge the two of them in Tribal Council? I mean, wouldn't it have been great if instead of Henry Waxman, the proceedings were moderated by Jeff Probst? And after the questioning was over, all the politicians write "Roger" or "Brian" on a sheet of parchment and then faced the camera to explain their decision, and then Probst tallies the votes? At least this way, we can find a sure fire winner and loser in this, because we may never find out who's lying and who's lying less. My way, we have a winner, and the loser goes to jail for perjury!
And for the winner, well we can just leave him on the island too.
10 comments:
To be fair, the Mariners stole the Mojo thing a long time ago, if never before with such precision:
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/sea/fan_forum/sea_fan_forum_2003_campaign.jsp
They also stole John Olerud.
And, as I've failed to leave the URL properly, here's the gist from the Mariners' site a good five years ago:
Bret Boone's trademark flip of the bat, the lengths opposing teams go to in their attempt to keep Ichiro off base, Casual Fridays at the ballpark, and a twist on the "SODO MOJO" tag line are featured in the Seattle Mariners' 2003 television ad campaign unveiled today. The campaign features appearances by 19 players, manager Bob Melvin, bench coach Rene Lachemann, pitching coach Bryan Price. Even General Manager Pat Gillick gets in on the action.
The tag line of the last two years, "SODO MOJO," is back in slightly updated form as "VIVA LA MOJO" ... translation: Long Live the MOJO.
"SODO MOJO has become identifiable over the last two years with the magic and fun of Mariners baseball at SAFECO Field, and we wanted to retain that feeling while giving the tag line a new twist for the new season," said Kevin Martinez, Mariners' Vice President Marketing.
SoDo is south of downtown in Seattlese. Other markets are so cute.
Clemens strategy is clear. Even though the evidence has him dead to rights, he will continue to deny that he took steroids/hgh. That way, the few people who will believe him no matter what will have something to hang onto. And there will be such people. There are people who deny that the Holocaust happened, and that we landed on the moon.
The truly disgusting thing about the hearings is that they seem to have broken down largely along party lines. The Republicans are lining up to support Clemens because he's a big Republican supporter presidential friend Texan. They have accomplished the near impossible - lowered my opinion of our elected officials.
As for marketing, I have a suggestion for another franchise. If the Mets ever have to face Scott Kazmir in Tampa, they can play "You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore.
(aka Unser - I can't get on using my handle anymore?)
Speaking of slogans and team rallying songs, can we get a petition going to get rid of "Sweet Caroline" and "Takin' Care of Business"? I mean, these are just awful choices. How about something New York-ish to replace Sweet Caroline. Maybe Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young"? After all, he is playing the last concert at Shea.
I'm sure most M's fans are fed up with the Mojo thing by now, a winning club would surely make them happier.
My buddy Tommy would say it's time to get rid of Sweet Caroline, and bring back the Curley Shuffle, after all, the Mets need not copy the Red Sawx.....
guys go to my new blog http://metsamazing.blogspot.com/
In my mind it no longer matters whether or how much McNamee is lying, now that it has come out that Clemens told Pettitte he used HGH.
That Pettitte would "misremember" is so funny - I think if a colleague/friend of mine told me secretly that he had gotten his job by falsifying his resume, I would be so freaked out, I would remember that for the rest of my life.
And NOT get it confused with a conversation regarding a TV show in which 3 old men falsified their resumes.
Schoenweis is going to be lights out this year - bank on it. Scotty, Pedro, Duaner and Aaron - I'm not worried about the bullpen at all.
How about the slogan "This Year is Next Year"
Hey, what's your Baseball Dream Team Lineup or Dream Pitching Rotation for the upcoming 2008 major league baseball season? Read mine and post your own. Also, if you haven't exchanged links with my baseball etc website, feel free to email me at markgerardcat@aol.com.
Post a Comment