Great Idea…Juuuust a Bit Outside

I love the idea behind Major League Baseball's Pink Bat Day. Players will be using pink bats in a show of support for women with breast cancer. Fans can purchase these bats, and make a donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at the same time.

Besides the big idea of supporting breast cancer awareness/cures, I love the fact that a very macho, masculine sport is willing to look past using pink bats to do something meaningful.

So, what could be so wrong about such a great idea? If you look again at the price of these bats, they are $59.99. Okay, you say. It costs a bunch because they're giving money to charity. Wrong! Only $10 of that goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Yep, only 10 bucks.

I imagine the problem here is that it costs way less for Louisville Slugger to make these bats, but they still charge MLB a bunch to buy them. So, Louisville Slugger has to keep their price high, because if they sell them to MLB for $15, then MLB turns around and say, "Hey, why don't we get them priced like that all the time?"

And MLB could sell them for $30 and give their proceeds to charity, but then customers turn around and say, "Hey how come this pink one is so much cheaper than the real deal in the natural Ash color or Black?"

So, instead of keeping the price point within reach for most people, MLB and Louisville Slugger have kept it out of reach, and thus I think they won't sell too many bats. It already costs way too much to go to a game. There's no way I'm going to spend $60 on a pink bat, when I can't afford the beers and hot dogs to get me through the 9 innings.

When it comes to charity, we all should take a page from the Livestrong notebook and keep the price point within reach. It involves a greater number of people, and keeps awareness high.

If you really want to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation, try their much more economical and meaningful pink rings.

NCAA Football

Congrats to Florida for trouncing Ohio State. I didn't care who won the game, but I was happy to see the unpredictable nature of football at play.

For those who care, here are my thoughts on college football for the moment:

1) Playoffs. Just get it done. Get the coaches and presidents together and make it happen. Enough is enough, just get it done. Bowl committees - your time has passed. Get over it.

2) Timing. Stop pushing games later and later (this applies to the NFL's Super Bowl too). By the time teams play post-season college football, everyone has forgotten why they should care about them. Fans of individual schools will always watch their team's games, but if you want "Joe Football Fan" to tune in, you can't let him forget about why these teams are worth seeing. Keep the momentum of an exciting regular season going by leading directly into playoffs.

3) Stupid rules... yank 'em. The rule that has the clock start on the kickoff instead of the kickoff's reception is just plain dumb. Designed to make games move faster, I was still dumbstruck by how long these last few games took. Television networks are jamming more and more ads in, and cutting to commercials more often. I think the last four BCS games took over 4 hours each... no joke. Keep the integrity of the game, and cut the dumb clock-killing rule. And then limit the TV timeouts.

No one is talking about this, but can we please get rid of the arcane rule of when a college player is down? This is football. A player should only be down by contact. I'm tired of watching guys slip in the open field and not being able to get up and continue running. The play should be over when the defense says it's over, not when wet grass impedes traction.

4) Ridiculous naming conventions. Division I. Division I-AA. You and I know what they mean. I don't however know what a Football Bowl Subdivision and a NCAA Football Championship Subdivision mean. The NCAA needs to regain control of the football post-season and just keep the division names. The only people who like bowls are on the committees or work for TV networks. The division I championship should be a Division I Championship, a division I-AA championship should be a Division I-AA Championship. Note the use of capital letters. It's important, because it makes them official titles. Oooooo.

That's it for now. Unless you have more to add.

PTI makes a mid-major's day

This is one of those times, when you post a picture and hope that everyone sees what you are seeing. Unfortunately, the few people who will see this and who don't know me will not be so quick on the draw, so let me explain.

I very clearly recall when a little known sports show popped up on ESPN called PTI, Pardon the Interruption. Instantly, my friend Chris and I became devout followers of the whimsical Tony Kornheiser, and the sometimes funny, and always better-dressed Michael Wilbon. We would meet on the mall between our dorm rooms for dinner and spend most of our conversation discussing the ramblings of Wilbon, or Tony's get ups.

I love everything about this show (okay, maybe stat boy is the one exception... can we retire the intern already? He's got his own pathetic show to run!) The way the ticker not only shows you what is coming up in the conversation, but also keeps the back and forth to a time limit is genius... especially in these days of TiVos and DVRs. I love the chemistry between Kornheiser and Wilbon, their ability to make fun of themselves, and get this... they actually have good opinions, founded on facts, and presented with preparation! What a concept!

The title sequence is terrfific, with it's hokey music and the wonderful insight that the word "Interruption" actually has the show's acronym, PTI, contained within it (interruPTIon). And contrary to the belief of some, it has not jumped the shark yet, despite Kornheiser's new role on Monday Night Football.

If you watch the show like me, then you know that the set has become overgrown with sports memorabilia, paper faces from "Role Play", and nick-nacks that fans and marketers have inevitably sent in hopes that they might reach the air. I recall writing the guys e-mails several times in college in hopes that the University of Delaware (Go Hens!) might make one of their brief topics of conversation. I'm not certain of the history, but UD may have made it on air at some point... perhaps when our football team won the 2003 I-AA national championship, or when YoUDee was named to the mascot hall of fame, or ... well that might be it.

So, I was especially excited when I was watching today's PTI, and I glimpsed something familiar. What was that? There in the corner! Could it be? It is... it is a University of Delaware hat! Over Kornheiser's left shoulder sat a UD hat, presumably on one of the Role Play heads. I'm not sure why it's there, how it got there, or if it holds any significance, but it's there. I'd love to know why/how it is there.

Do you see it?! You see it?! UD is famous!

iOlympics

Did anyone else note that the snowboarders (like Shaun White of the U.S.) in the half-pipe competition were almost universally sporting iPod nanos in their jackets? Does tis mean we'll see some black, silhouetted figures performing 900s and backside fakies? It wouldn't be the worst direction for the campaign to go in.

Super Bowl XM

I'd be remiss in my blogging duties if I didn't comment on the recent Super Bowl in Detroit. Here are my 3 cents.

The advertising was predictably okay to less-than-good. I have said it before, but I'll state it here again: we have jumped the shark in Super Bowl advertising. The clichés and lowbrow humor have taken firm grasp on our expectations, and thus we are still waiting for someone to zag within every brands attempt to zig. From monkeys to middle-aged-men-seeking-humor-in-their-maturing-lives, it was all there. I will note there seemed to be far less in the way of car commercials, which I can't say is a bad thing. Overall I'd say there were few surprises and my personal favorite goes to the Budweiser wave - but don't put too much in that.

The game itself under-delivered big time. This should have been a fabulous match up and it turned out to be a penalty-ridden, ho-hum affair. Both teams seemed to be distracted. Maybe it was Aretha Franklin's ear-popping rendition of the Star-Spangled banner... maybe they all secretly wanted to be in the Rolling Stone tongue at half time... either way, Seattle lost the game more than Pittsburgh won it, and the refs were a big factor.

Seattle had 50 more yards of penalties in the game - surprising for a team with the least number of penalties in the league all season. A lot of those penalties negating great punt returns and/or big passing plays. The refs blatantly blew two plays (Big Ben's touchdown and Hassleback's illegal block/tackle - what the fuck was that?!).

But Seattle definitely didn't do what it takes to win - execute. Pittsburgh did just enough to get two big plays and that's all it took. If you look at the statistics, you'd say Seattle won. They only came up short in one category - third down conversions. Congrats to Pittsburgh for playing well on the way there (minus one Bettis fumble - thanks Ben!).

Other than that I'd say the best thing to come from the Super Bowl was that they sold me on watching Grey's Anatomy, and it was worth it. Except for that woman from Sideways. She is really annoying. I probably have two more episodes in me before I become completely bored by their patient neglection.