Category: Sports

Quicken Loans and Ted Williams – high class or just crass?

This week’s Internet sensation is the story of Ted Williams, the man with a great announcer’s voice who was discovered when a video by the Columbus Dispatch went viral.

He is now on a whirlwind tour, appearing on just about every network morning show and soon to be on late night programs as well. It is entirely understandable why so many people are swept up in this story of hard times and redemption. I’ll admit getting a little misty-eyed when I saw him speaking about his gratitude to God that his estranged mother lived long enough to see him turn his life around.

Along with television and radio appearances, he is getting job offers. One of these job offers comes from Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers (both owned  by Dan Gilbert). They made the offer very publicly, calling into a radio show.  They also offered a home to Mr. Williams.

Quicken Loans did some good, in my estimation by making this offer. But it has become tainted because they are now using twitter, tumblr and a new website to make a social media marketing campaign out of it. Believe me, I know about the positive returns of catching on with buzz and linkbait. However, it really seems a bit wicked to be so flippant as to boast about Fortune workplace ratings…..

Hopscotch courts……

and amuse yourselves with inside jokes….

When ostensibly engaged in an act of goodwill, isn’t a little crass to treat the intended beneficiary as a sideshow attraction? You can’t tell me that Quicken Loans and Dan Gilbert are not trying to get as much publicity as humanly possible as a result of this job offer. So I called them on it, directed to Dan Gilbert’s account on twitter.

And Kelly at Quicken Loans replied….

Reputation monitoring is wise for any corporation and kudos to Kelly for her quick reply. But do see what they did there? They managed to reinforce that they are building a viral marketing campaign around this website by citing the number of comments. Later in the day they boasted of more than 1,000 comments and solicited more.

None of this dissuades me from concluding that Quicken Loans and Dan Gilbert are trying to “make hay while the sun shines” on this story. Seems they are forgetting this story is not fiction. There is a real man involved here.  Ted Williams is more important (as a human being with intrinsic dignity) than your zeal to convince the world that Quicken Loans is a groovy place to work.

UPDATE!

Since they seem genuine (and I’m a Cavs fan)  I’ll give Kelly @QuickenLoans space to respond.

My fake but accurate animation

Back in the Dan Rather Memogate days, it was acknowledged that the actual documents presented in the CBS report were forgeries but they represented something believed to be true by the source. The phrase “Fake But Accurate” entered into our lexicon.

Because CBS is still considered a shining example of journalistic integrity…I typed that with a straight face…I think I can have a clear conscience when I present the following animated re-enactment. This event didn’t actually happen. But it accurately reflects a conversation that could happen at anytime. On a tennis court.

Rest in peace, Rapid Robert

News reports are just breaking that Bob Feller died tonight at age 92. Cleveland baseball fans may have grown accustomed to Mr. Feller always being around, sort of a reminder of when the Indians were an elite team. But I wonder if Clevelanders under a certain age really understood how legendary Feller might have been if he hadn’t given four years of  service to the U.S. Navy in World War II. From Wikipedia:

On December 8, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy, volunteering immediately for combat service, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Feller served as Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama, and missed four seasons during his service in World War II, being decorated with five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. His bunk is marked on the Alabama at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. Feller is the only Chief Petty Officer in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Just imagine what kind of records he could have held if he had not missed four seasons in the prime of his playing days.  He set an example of selfless sacrifice that I can’t imagine being duplicated from any top players in professional baseball today.

Mr. Feller had a reputation as being gruff and grumpy, but he earned the right to be his own man.  Anthony Castrovince, an excellent writer who had a chance to return to Iowa with Mr. Feller, shared his thoughts recently.

I’m glad my oldest son, a baseball fan of the highest degree, had the opportunity to meet him and shake his hand. It was obvious that Mr. Feller loved the game of baseball and was eager to share a moment with the boy. And, of course, we got an autograph. He was famous for signing autographs, so a Bob Feller autograph is not rare or particularly valuable. Men like Bob Feller are.

A football Christmas list

As much as his younger brother loves Star Wars, the eldest son love sports. In summer it is baseball. This winter he likes basketball, but he is  football-crazy right now. He prodded me to find the Pro Bowl voting mobile website so he could vote when we were away from the computer. I suppose  it is no surprise that he asked Santa for the things he did.

By the way – I misspoke when I guessed the century that the real Saint Nicholas lived.

The Cavaliers need a fight song

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in full meltdown mode right now. I don’t think the season is lost just yet. But the Timberwolves DID just demolish the Cavs.  I tend to laugh rather than cry when thing go south (I’m like Booby Gibson in that respect), so I threw it out to Twitter to find the Cavs a new fight song. I got it started with It’s A Marshmallow World

Some of the best (so far):

55FreakFan Death March

brownstownbrian Why can’t we be friends?

stewmj Break your heart – taio Cruz

OSU_FTW Metallica-Sad but True

apokorny Tears of a Clown

JustANailGirl You can’t always get what ya want , 99 Problems (she protects her tweets so I’ll let her decide if she wants to share all them with you.)

For the full list check out the #CavsFightSong stream!

Yes. I will raise another generation of Indians Fans

Last night I lamented the sorry state of being a fan of Cleveland sports teams. I even questioned my decision to raise my children as fans of the Cavs, Indians and Browns.

It was just the rum and Coke talking. I intend to raise my boys as Cleveland sports fans. When we win it all in any league (I’m praying it is the World Series) that will be peanut butter and chocolate ambrosia!

The following is a dramatization of an actual conversation. I later told the boy I was only joking about the tent. I may have been lying.

Thoughts about raising my boys as Cleveland sports fans

The much ballyhooed return of LeBron James to Cleveland finally happened tonight. It wasn’t pretty. Terry Pluto sums up the event and the game. It is enough to say we saw a great disappointment for Cavaliers fans. I did not expect the team to win, but it was an embarrassment of colossal proportions. No offense and the defensive was softer than a rotten stinking soft-boiled egg.

Of course TNT couldn’t wait to trot out the “Cleveland sports is full of fail” package. Which makes me wonder if this repeated exposure to almost certain failure can actually damage the psyche of my children. I’ve always said that it is my birthright to be an Indians fan because my father inherited it from his grandfather. But my great-grandfather was a fan in 1920 and my father was a fan in 1948. They at least tasted the exotic ambrosia of a championship.

I have to describe that taste as “exotic ambrosia” because I have no idea what that taste really might be. Ultimate victory might taste like peanut butter. Still, I encourage my sons to be Browns, Indians and Cavs fans.  I do think that facing disappointment in youth makes a better-formed man. I’m just afraid too much disappointment might ruin one’s optimism.

Which would be a shame, because my boys and I really like peanut butter.

My boys are Browns fans

If you are from Cleveland nobody needs to tell you that of all the major sports teams, the Browns have the most loyal fan base. For some reason every fall brown and orange apparel, flags, etc reappear as sure as the crocus in the Spring.

The boys root for the Browns with varied degrees or enthusiasm

Why? I’m not sure. The less sentimental among us might point out that the team here now is really a shadow of the glory of 1964 (or 1980 even). The original team is in…I can’t even say it. The wound is still too fresh.

In spite of that, we still care enough to root for them and carve out time every Sunday they play to turn our attention to them. And mutter under our breath when the inevitably disappoint us. It builds resiliency, being a Browns fan. You learn that you can’t abandon all hope even when there hasn’t been much good news. That may be why we are raising our boys to be Browns fans.

Looking like a little slugger

Joyce and I were looking at old movies on our computer and came across this. Here we see John emulating his favorite Indian at the time, Coco Crisp. John still LOVES baseball. He might be a little embarrassed if his current teammates see this. But what good is having old video if you can’t use it to embarrass the people in it? Note to my family  members – this rule does not apply to Super 8 movies from the 70s.