Ever heard that line "its always good to be known for something"? I'm a big fan of that - unless of course your working for BP and find yourself with an image problem you'll need years to clean up.
This morning I opened up the Orlando Sentinel sports page and found the hometown team - Central Florida - buried on page 12. Page 12! All this after a season-opening victory 38-7 over South Dakota at home. Yes, a home game before an announced crowd of 34,000 plus. Bottom line, its tough to be UCF. In Orlando the big game is football and the big teams are still Florida and Florida State.
Meanwhile, Florida State gets the front page with Jimbo Fisher debuting as head coach and Florida gets the next nod - albeit for a Saturday where the Gators were known for mistakes and not running up the score against Miami of Ohio which was hardly the king of the Mid-American Conference last year.
Jacksonville State? Now we're talking! They are now known for beating Ole Miss. It puts the program on the map... although last year they almost did it to Florida State. Calvin Middleton caught the pass and scored the decisive 2-point conversion in double-overtime to shock the Rebels and shock the nation.
Quote of the day? "This means everything." That's what Middleton said after the chaos had settled a bit.
Jacksonville State is a Football Championship Subdivision team from the Ohio Valley Conference - same brand of football as Appalachian State which shocked the pants off Michigan not all that long ago. And now, both schools are known for something - which is huge.
Today's athletic climate is crowded with big time schools, big time money and big time egos. Finding your way into the madness is difficult. We all know it. According to CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell... Jax State spent $2.8 million on its football program last year. Ole Miss spent $9.5 million. A great Tweet by Rovell today because EVERYBODY is talking about Jacksonville State's big win. You can bet that more more money will be spent in coming years... because more money will come in after the win and the noteriety.
If you're a golfer not named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, you have to earn every bit of airtime. If you're a baseball team not named the NY Yankees, you'd better beat em' when you get em.' If you're guarding Kobe Bryant, you'd better shut him down or at least shut up until you do.
The Golden Knights of Central Florida are doing everything they can to compete. A "name" coach in George O'Leary was brought in to run the program. They'll schedule anybody they can - including Florida or Miami, FL. But its hard.
Advice to all... be pro-active. Take your product to the masses and don't worry about the consequences. Give em' every interview they want. Promote the players, the team, the school, the stadium and even the concessions if they're worthy. Don't be afraid to fail. Don't worry about "acting like you've been there before" when you pull off the Jacksonville State-like upset. Be euphoric. Go crazy folks, go crazy. Be seen, be heard, and be loud.
GAMECOCKS COACH JACK CROWE - AFTER AN AUGUST PRACTICE
Gotta be known for something. So do something to move up a few pages in the Sunday Sentinel. Gaining respect isn't easy - but you can certainly put yourself out there. How many interviews do you think Jacksonville State will be doing this week? If they're smart they won't turn even one of them away!
No comments:
Post a Comment