Who Deserves It The Most?

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : http://www.fwweekly.com/2016/10/26/sports-rush-which-baseball-curse-is-worse/


There will be joy in Mudville. Either the Chicago Cubs or the Cleveland Indians will win the World Series this season.

 I have a t-shirt that reads “World Champions, 1908, Chicago Cubs.” It’s theoretically funny because that was the last time the franchise took home the title. They haven’t played in a Fall Classic since 1945, where they lost to the Detroit Tigers. Cleveland finished 11 games back that year, but three years later won their most recent world’s championship.

Both teams have come close since those postwar days, but a merciless collusion of Cinderellas, overzealous fans, and goat owners has conspired to deny them the prize. No Ernie Banks, Jim Thome, or Milton Bradley could seem to push them through.

Each franchise has changed its fate in part by adding components from a club that previously occupied a “haven’t won since before there was TV” slot. Theo Epstein and Jon Lester went from the Red Sox to the Cubs. Terry Francona and Mike Napoli left the Bostonians for Lake Erie’s shores.
Both clubs’ woes have immortalized them in pop culture. The Cubbies had WGN-TV’s national reach and Harry Caray’s thunderous personality. The Indians had Rick Vaughn, Willie Mays Hays, and the movie Major League. Both vehicles served to engender widespread sympathy for the teams’ desperate but loyal fans.

I wouldn’t argue they don’t deserve the support. My father grew up going to games in Wrigley Field and I’d love for him to see them win a Series in his lifetime. His brothers passed away in their eighties having never gotten to see the spectacle.

Do Cubs and Indians fans deserve it more, however, than, say, the fans of a team who has never won? Pretty much all clubs have had some form of heartbreak, and it’s tough to rank a Nelson Cruz moment over that of a Steve Bartman or a Jose Mesa. Hey, I’ve at least got a 1908 World Champs shirt. I can only get a Rangers equivalent by buying it off a kid in some faraway obscure country.
Eight MLB teams have never won a title : Seattle (Pilots)/Milwaukee, Houston, Washington/Texas, Seattle (Mariners), San Diego, Montreal/Washington, Tampa, and Colorado. The two oldest, the Texas-based teams, entered the Majors in 1961. Montreal/Washington and Seattle (Mariners) have never even participated in a World Series. Milwaukee and Washington are somewhat special cases because previous franchises based in those cities won titles (in 1957 and 1924, respectively) before they moved.

The math indicates at least one team will always be at least 30 years between titles (the Mets, for instance, were the 1986 winners and haven’t lifted the trophy since). How long would they have to go before they would belong in the same sympathy stratosphere as the winless-since-their-1977-inception Mariners?

One reason many have ranked the Cubs at the top of the commiseration list has been the loyal support of its fans. For the last 30+ years, they have regularly filled Wrigley even when the players underperformed on the diamond.  Cleveland had some strongly attended seasons, too, but its fans’ affinity hasn’t proven as consistent as the loyalty shown in Wrigleyville. Of the never-wons, the Rockies have led MLB in attendance five times and the Mariners twice. The Rangers came close off a World Series appearance and the Astros finished second when they opened the Astrodome, but for the most part these teams have not threatened to win the fan loyalty battle either.

Should we add overall sports droughts to our compassion calculations? Cleveland’s basketball team just ended their city’s, which dated to 1964. Chicagoans have had the Blackhawks, and the Seahawks, Mavericks, Lightning, Broncos, and Dynamo have provided non-baseball sports celebrations over the last couple of decades for some cities on the list. San Diego and Milwaukee have waited 53 and 45 years, respectively, for a parade.

So for whom should a neutral fan cheer hardest? Maybe take a page from my brother-in-law. He comes from Bulgaria and has no traditional baseball loyalties. At the beginning of each season, he adopts a team picked to finish near the bottom. If they do better than expected, Alex can be happy. If they finish where predicted, there’s no disappointment. Choose any team on this list and if a World Series title arrives in due course, you’ll be happy. If not, it’s just what you’re used to anyway.
This week, though, you can cheer for the Cubs or the Indians. Enjoy a historic World Series. And maybe next year will be the year the Rangers lay to rest whatever curse has landed them in the same column with the 1908 titlists.



Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.


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When a Fan Goes on the DL

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : http://www.fwweekly.com/2016/10/20/sports-rush-taken-out-at-the-ballgame/

What would you do if you became sick or injured your whatsis attending a big sporting event? It’s probably not something you think about when you’re headed out to enjoy yourself, but venues do plan for it. So what should you know?

I found myself this week at a conference for the American College of Emergency Physicians. Now, I’m not a doctor myself, but I do shoot video of them at conferences sometimes. As I was scanning the list of exhibitors, I found a company whose gig is planning for unforeseen health situations at major events. In this video interview, I talked to Connor Fitzpatrick, the Chief Operating Officer of CrowdRX, to find out what sort of planning they do, why they would be at a conference populated by emergency room physicians, and what a fan should be aware at if he or she is taken ill at a major event.

Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.


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Sportsmanship and Politics Should Mix

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : http://www.fwweekly.com/2016/10/12/sports-rush-candidates-could-learn-from-baseball/


Sunday night, a pair of competitions between contentious rivals took place simultaneously.
In St. Louis, Donald Trump debated Hillary Clinton. In Toronto, the Texas Rangers played baseball against the hometown Blue Jays. Both events came with a history of Vitriol punching Decorum in the face (literally, in some cases).

Sunday’s session elevated an already ugly campaign to new levels of contentiousness. Both candidates displayed an impressive mastery of each other’s scandals, with virtually no personal attack left unuttered.

The baseball contest’s background had included preening bat flips and HBPs and a Rougned Odor right cross to the jaw of Jose Bautista. Sunday night, all the principals in the drama took the field with a lot at stake, but all we saw in the potentially emotionally-charged atmosphere was a baseball game.
Baseball bested politics in the head-to-head matchup. They did not do so in the television ratings – over 100,000 more area households watched the debate across its multiple networks than watched the Rangers’ Division Series game on TBS. The sporting event did win the sportsmanship category – easily.

We think of sportsmanship as applicable to athletic contests, but its essence represents something larger. It embodies notions of civility and the honoring of agreements.

Playing a game against an opponent necessarily involves each trying to establish an unequal footing between the two combatants. By participating in the contest, however, both sides implicitly or explicitly agree to certain parameters. If you win by cheating, even if you win so much you get tired of it, you really haven’t won at all because your victory came at something other than what you’d agreed to. A game is defined by its rules.

Most sports’ rulebooks include provisions for treating foes with respect, and implied codes of conduct often go beyond what’s written down. Beyond even those strictures, many (most?) of us likely prefer to compete with someone who remains gracious in victory or defeat.

One rule of the debate was that the speakers were supposed to answer certain questions. They ignored it from the first query, veering to their prepared talking points with all possible haste. Both debaters disdained time limits on answers and prohibitions on interruptions, even when reminded of them by moderators.

The word “rule” also applies to what these persons hope to do if successful in their campaigns. Thanks in large part to bilateral efforts by the major parties to establish an imperial presidency, the chief executive has enormous power to affect people’s lives. Will the elected official follow the rules governing his or her office or will he or she cheat? Will he or she treat others with respect? Will he or she display the qualities of sportsmanship?

The Rangers are good at baseball. The Blue Jays are good at baseball. Consecutive postseason appearances by both leave little doubt of that. Would either Clinton or Trump be good at presidenting? It’s not much of a stretch to suggest the debate performances still leave a lot of questions about fitness to rule.

When a politician or athlete sets aside the qualities of sportsmanship, he or she often seeks to justify the action as advancing some greater good. A ballplayer who deceives an umpire does so to help his team win. A government official may embrace policies of official discrimination, Watergate break-ins, or eugenics based on the same theory : the end justifies the means.

Both candidates cited the 16th president in their exchanges on Sunday. Some evidence exists that Abraham Lincoln enjoyed the then relatively new sport of baseball. Both candidates and ballplayers might do well to remember one of his remarks about the ideal outlook for a competitor.

“I am not bound to win. I am bound to be true.”

Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.


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A Running Start on Triathlon Training

This post originally appeared on the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau blog. To read on that site : https://www.fortworth.com/blog/post/get-a-running-start-on-healthy-training-for-tri-fort-worth/


Don't leap off your couch right away to start training for Tri Fort Worth. Finish reading this blog post first. The column will help you, plus you've got a little time. The big race isn't until Sunday, May 21, 2017. However, you do probably need to get started pretty soon, according to William Pruett, owner of CorioVelo multi-sport coaching and consulting company.

• “Athletes attempting iron distance should give themselves an 18-24 week training window before the event,” said the Burleson-based coach via email, noting that the total time required also depends on the competitor’s background and current fitness level.

To complete Tri Fort Worth’s full iron distance event, you’ll need to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, then run a marathon (26.2 miles). If you’re going to test yourself with such a race, it’s important to remember you need to go all in.

• “Taking on the challenge of a long-distance triathlon is a commitment,” emailed Katy Durkee of race owner Trident Sports. “From a training perspective, it’s important for athletes to understand that planning is key. As the training progresses and workouts get longer, it’s not as easy to ‘squeeze in a workout’ here and there. Ramping up training will require some long training days on the weekends. Since most people work during the day and during the week, it might require some early mornings to squeeze in the extra workouts,” added Pruett.

He notes that you need to have your family’s support to get this effort done. Durkee suggests also receiving encouragement from fellow athletes.

• “It is much easier to get your workouts accomplished when you have a group to train with, or to at least hold you accountable,” she said. “I have at least two to three people who serve as my “accountability partners” during training. When my motivation gets low, I make sure we communicate every day about our accomplishments.”

You don’t necessarily have to tackle the full distance the first time out.

• “The ideal situation before someone attempts an iron distance triathlon would be to enter a half-iron distance race and complete it,” said Pruett.  “Upon completing the half, then they have a little perspective of the time commitment involved and the training effect upon their body.”

Tri Fort Worth, sanctioned by USA Triathlon, will offer a half distance race as well in May.

So now you’re motivated and set to “tri” this (ha!). What will you need besides moxie? Well, you’ll want to get properly equipped.

• “There’s no shortage of gear and gadgets available to triathletes,” points out Durkee.

Stage 2 requires the most obvious large investment. We talked to Steven Howard, a coach from Pedal Hard, at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop in Fort Worth. He suggested a competitor have a couple of choices: “A road bike with clip-on aero bars or a triathlon-specific bike.”

Both Howard and Pruett noted the most important factor about choosing the bike on which you will compete: making sure it fits.

• “Being in a position for that long is going to wear you out,” said Howard. “If your muscles are strained, you're going to be blown up.”
• “Have a local bike shop inspect your bike,” Pruett suggested. “All of the local bike shops have dealt with iron distance triathletes and can offer sound professional advice.”

Luckily, Cowtown has a number of good bike shops to get you rolling, including Mellow Johnny’s, Fort Worth Cycling & Fitness, Colonel’s Bicycles, Performance Bicycle, Bicycle Center of Fort Worth, Bicycles, Inc. and Bonzai Cycle Werx.

• “Running shoes are important,” said Pruett. "I recommend athletes have two good pairs for training so they can alternate.” He also suggests getting a wet suit that fits you properly.

Durkee added, “The one thing I couldn’t live without is my triathlon watch with a heart rate monitor. While it wasn’t cheap by any means, if used correctly it can provide you (and your coach) with an enormous amount of information about your training. I use it to monitor my speed, cadence, heart rate, recovery, swim stroke efficiency, calories burned, and I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface of its capabilities.”    

Once you get into it, we’re sure you’ll want the latest training toys. In our next post about Tri Fort Worth, we’ll discuss how to best utilize a coach who can help you figure out how best to expend your time and money.

Speaking of finances, Pruett advised: “Make an Iron budget before beginning. Set the amounts for travel, pre-race halfs, registration fees, and any equipment updates and coaching fees.  Because the Tri Fort Worth is local, this should help Fort Worth and Dallas and surrounding area athletes with a few of these expenses.”

It’s not just money you’re budgeting. It’s time and relationships. You have to make trade-offs. As Pruett delicately put it,

• “The athlete must be mindful that some social commitments might need to be put on hold for a good 18-24 weeks of training.”

We interpret that to mean you might need to skip some happy hours. According to Durkee, however, you’ll be glad you did.

• “When people say that Disney is the ‘Happiest Place on Earth,’ they’ve never been to one of these finish lines! I would strongly suggest that everyone, not just athletes participating in the events, come out and spectate an event. The finish line experience at a long distance triathlon is electric, inspiring, and brings tears to my eyes every time, even if I’m not doing the race!”

Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through his company, Rush Olson Creative & Sports.


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Do These Globe Life Park Features Ring a Bell?

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there :  http://www.fwweekly.com/2016/10/05/sports-rush-do-these-globe-life-park-features-ring-a-bell/


In a about a month, a plurality of voting-age Arlingtonians will likely decide whether or not to set an end date for Globe Life Park in Arlington’s tenure as a baseball venue. Many believe it should still have decades of life ahead of it as a viable baseball facility. Others think its days numbered because it lacks air conditioning or a 75202 zip code. 

Some opponents of the new stadium subsidy oppose it in part because the Rangers have done a good job of servicing the facility Arlington taxpayers built for them in 1994. In fact, the franchise has done more than maintain it. They have consistently made changes and tried new features aimed at keeping the facility productive as it has aged. So the ballpark a successful Vote Yes campaign phases out wouldn’t necessarily be a static 90s relic. Some memorable additions/deletions include, in no apparent order :

Name
Since beginning in Washington, D.C. in 1961, the franchise has played in four ballyards. Those stadia have had a total of nine names. They went from Griffith Stadium and D.C. Stadium/Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to Turnpike/Arlington Stadium. Then their current home started as The Ballpark in Arlington and has morphed into Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and Globe Life Park in Arlington. In all cases, the bases have remained 90 feet apart and the pitcher’s mound has stayed 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate.

The Bell
My enduring memory of the team’s first naming rights deal is a promotion I did while I was with the team called The Ameriquest Mortgage Company Spotlight on Youth Baseball and Softball. Everyone else thinks of the bell. The big faux metal construction in left field rang electronically for various Rangers on-field accomplishments. The team had removed seats to add the contraption. Luckily they hadn’t gotten rid of them and the maintenance department could reinstall them once the naming rights deal ended in 2007.

The South Side
When the place opened, it had a sports art gallery, a museum, a ticket office, and some retail shops along its south-facing facade. It still has a ticket office and spots to buy stuff. When the team expected to close Randol Mill as part of the ill-fated Glorypark development, it moved the primary ticket office near the home plate gate. It has since kinda moved back.
The Museum’s demise crushed me. Part of it was personal because I had put a lot of work into trying to update its video exhibits with no budget. Part of the angst came because, as a baseball fan, it was hard to conceive of a scenario where a team possessed artifacts owned by the likes of Babe Ruth and loaned by the Baseball Hall of Fame and couldn’t figure out a way to take advantage of them. They just sent them all back to Cooperstown. The current Rangers Hall of Fame in that space offers a lot more room for hospitality events, but it lacks priceless artifacts and an effective means to educate schoolchildren about the history of the national pastime. Plus they used to host a fun Halloween event called Batty at The Ballpark like the one in the photo that my now-teenaged niece will be so excited I used.

Vandergriff Plaza
The area beyond center field has seen lots of changes. Toby Mendez-sculpted statues of Nolan Ryan and Tom Vandergriff were added in 1997. The Coca-Cola Sports Park offered kids a chance to hit wiffle balls and enjoy other basebally activities. The Budweiser Bowtie concession area now occupies that space and the kids area has moved into the old gift shop and some of the former KRLD studio space next to the center field gate. The Captain Morgan Club takes up the rest of the old studio and the Hyundai Club has replaced the former brick batter’s eye.

Fox Set in Left Field
Fox Sports Southwest used to host its pre- and postgame shows from a set in the left field vomitorium. They moved into the Captain Morgan Club in 2012.

Statuary
In 2012, the Rangers honored fan Shannon Stone, who fell to his death at a game, with a statue in front of the Home Plate Gate. Bruce Greene of Clifton sculpted the piece.

The All-You-Can-Eat-Seats
They originally had these in left field, but when the Friday’s Front Row restaurant and its Rawlings-named successor proved unviable, that space became the hub for non-dieting baseball fans seated in the Upper Home Run Porch.

The Helipad
Tom Hicks installed it when he bought the team and it was removed not too long after his bankruptcy-fueled divestiture. Admit it, you never used it, did you? Me either.

Video Boards
 The team has gradually updated the quality (and size) of its video offerings. A 2003 update made the original board a little nicer and 2011’s massive HD upgrade took it up another level. This past season, left field ad signage went away to make room for another big TV. An electronic board also replaced the old manual out-of-town scoreboard in 2009.

Foul Poles
The Rangers had brought the old foul poles from Arlington Stadium when they moved, but swapped them out this season for new ones.

The Suit Sign
When the ballpark opened, it copied Brooklyn’s legendary Ebbets Field by displaying a Hit It Here and Win a Free Suit sign in an unhittable location in right field. Ad signage eventually replaced it and the west corner of the main video board currently occupies that space.

The Home Clubhouse
The average fan might not see it, except on a tour, but the Rangers did a big renovation to their players’ dressing area during the Buck Showalter era.

The Siemens Lot
This used to be a parking lot, then Arlington offered Siemens incentives to put in a facility, and then offered further incentives to Triumph Aerostructures to move in once Siemens left.

Jet Stream
There used to be a wind that supposedly blew home runs out to right field, abetted by the 2000 addition of what is now the Capital One Club behind home plate. Recent modifications seem to have reduced its effect.

Foul Territory
There used to be more of it. Expanded seats adjacent to the dugouts moved fans into the spots formerly occupied by infielders camping under a popup.

Concourse Space
When the park opened, it boasted wide-open concourses. New concession stands and promotional kiosks have reduced the walk space but added more ways to acquire beer.

The Boomstick
The hot dog named after Nelson Cruz wasn’t actually a permanent ballpark feature, it just seemed as big as one. I mention it to point out the team’s frequent changes to its concession configuration. Remember when they had a Starbucks on the first base side? Team employees flocked there during day games. The loss of the club-level Dublin Up pub that served Guinness on tap was a blow to me.

 Oil Derrick
In 2011, the Rangers installed an old-school derrick to try to tap into some fossil fuel deposits underneath the ballpark soil. Team President Nolan Ryan also had them plant a pecan tree in the upper deck and brought in a herd of longhorns to graze the outfield grass. At least, that’s what happened according to series of commercials I created.

Globe Life Park’s David Schwarz-designed stylings look more or less the same as they did when the facility opened. The exterior reliefs, the brick, and the arches give it much the same feel as it had on April 11, 1994. Will it retain that feel if it transitions into a shopping center? It’s handled transitions before.


Rush Olson has spent two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports and FourNine Productions.

RushOlson.com
Linkedin.com/company/rush-olson-creative-&-sports
Facebook.com/RushOlsonCreativeandSports