Agility Matters in TV and Football

 The agility of high-level American football players has always amazed me. 300-pound men change direction instantaneously as they pursue their missions of either protecting or demolishing a ballcarrier.

We saw a lot of agility among the guys in pads as we produced a television program about the College Gridiron Showcase this year. The event, in fact, revolves around former college football players trying to show pro scouts how nimble, strong, ferocious, and/or intelligent they are. They’re high-level performers – young men who excelled as amateurs hoping to show they’re truly elite. So our crew got to see some good football.

We also discovered we needed to be agile ourselves, and not just because videographer Suzanne Wilemon isn’t afraid to push the limits of how close one should get to a pileup involving guys up to a foot-and-a-half taller than her.

We first had to find a way to get the show shot. We didn’t have the financing or distribution in place by the time the event rolled around, and at the time we believed the football calendar to be an immovable object. The CGS had to happen in January in Fort Worth and we had to shoot it. So we called in some favors and pulled a few double shifts. We emerged with a lot of interviews, football footage, and a whole lot of great narratives involving young people trying to realize their dreams.

Our goal had been to create a series in which we would take deep dives into players’ stories using CGS as a common core element. We would conduct additional interviews, go to their hometowns, and generally let the audience engage with their whole life situations.

Then we had to pivot. As we worked on financing and distribution, the production world abruptly came to halt. NFL and CFL calendars normally propelled by pro days and live drafts came to an unprecedented halt.

The pandemic meant we wouldn’t be doing any more interviews or shoots.

So we took a look at what we had. And it turns out we had a lot. One thing we always liked about CGS from a production standpoint was that we could shoot efficiently, with a lot of players in one place. And we had some great stories we could still tell, including:

·     A one-time top recruit confronting the off-field issues that caused him to enroll at four colleges and put his pro football dreams in serious jeopardy.

·     A record-setting running back from a small school, homeless as a kid, who hopes to realize a lifelong dream on the NFL’s big stage.

·     An offensive lineman whose mental health issues forced him to leave the Big Ten school he loved and finish college at a lower-level school in Texas.

·     An offensive lineman who grew up in poverty and became one of the few players to announce he was gay while still competing.

·     A small-school running back who persevered through two torn ACLs.

So we decided to make a show from it. It wouldn’t be a series, but instead a one-hour capsule summary that revolved around the CGS chapter in these player’s lives. Mixed in with the football angles, we worked in how they prepared for life off the field. That part included powerful testimony from rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy that made these 20-somethings really consider matters of character.

By the end, we thought we had something people would want to watch. Executives at a couple of networks agreed with us, but those deals fell apart when others in the organization didn’t share their vision. That led us to choose to distribute the show via broadcast syndication.

The broadcast syndication process involves placing a program individually on local stations throughout the country who agree to carry it. There are a number of groups who own many such stations and a couple of those, Nexstar and Scripps, agreed to offer it to their local decision-makers.

I was on a Zoom call with one of my business partners in late July and I checked my email when I got done. I’m not sure I had ever before received an email from Grand Junction, Colorado, but the one I read that day was from that city’s CBS affiliate. KREX wanted the show. We had our first broadcast outlet. No matter how many emails I get in the future from Grand Junction, that will always be the best one.

A number of other stations followed and we have gradually built up our coverage to a significant portion of the country. I think one of the things our team is most excited about is that the road wasn’t smooth, but we eventually found our way to where we wanted to be. One has to be agile.

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We also try to provide a package to our partner stations to allow them to be agile. We supply promotional spots of multiple lengths (you don’t know useful that is until you’ve found yourself hunched over a computer terminal trying to fill in the holes on the log of a typical broadcast day), social media content (including versions without voiceover so they can let their own sportscasters voice them for added localization), and materials to facilitate earned media. We want to give them the tools to drive viewers to their stations.

Thanks a bunch to our sponsors – we could not have pulled this off without them:

·     44 Management

·     KT Tape

·     One on One Kicking

·     Reveal Suits

·     Service King Collision

·     Space Center Houston

·     Visit Fort Worth

A Texas-Sized Niche

This post originally appeared at the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To view it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2017/04/11/sports-rush-a-texas-sized-niche/

Fort Worth has a sports niche. It’s a legendary, bighoss-sized one.

We saw it on display this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, home to the gargantuan video screen known as Big Hoss TV. TMS hosted automobile races in NASCAR’s two top classifications. The world’s best stock car drivers and crews all assembled in north Fort Worth to compete on a beautiful Texas spring day.

They’ll return in November for another set of races. In between, the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Camping World Truck Series will visit June 9 and 10 (the trucks will also run again in November). For fans, these weekends represent a major event, with the campers and RVs parked across the speedway’s infield and external lots representing a testament to the amount of time and resources they devote to attending. I saw a man wearing a shirt that read Saskatchewan Roughriders (a Canadian football team) on its front. We can’t know if he truly visited from Regina specifically to watch (mostly) American race car drivers, but many attendees no doubt come from outside the area (including UK rocker Ozzie Osbourne and his son Jack, who instructed the drivers to start their engines Sunday).

The races also bring in national broadcasters, with Sunday’s contest carried on the Fox Network. Events that feature all the best competitors in a given sport draw audiences from beyond the areas where they happen, kind of like all-star games. For some sports, mostly individual ones, they play on a neutral site every week (notwithstanding TMS’s positioning itself as “Your Home Track”). One can make a case that these sorts of events have become Cowtown’s forte.

 

While it doesn’t attract the big four broadcast networks any more, the rodeo held every winter in conjunction with the Fort Worth Stock Show features world-class PRCA cowboys and WPRA cowgirls. For someone in the region who wants to see the top steer wrestlers or barrel racers, the FWSSR offers the best way to do it.

May’s DEAN & DELUCA Invitational annually supplies North Texas (and a nationwide TV audience) the world’s top male golfers. At one time, Colonial Country Club also hosted a top-flight men’s tennis tournament.

Fort Worth has put on a few one-off big events, too, like the NCAA Gymnastics Championship and even tennis’ Davis Cup final in 1992. What it hasn’t staged a lot of lately is professional team sports.

 

LaGrave Field has descended into disrepair and it looks like it will be a while before the city sees Fort Worth Cats baseball again. The minor league hockey teams that tried to make the Fort Worth Convention Center home are gone, too. The Arena Football League lasted only the 1994 season before that franchise disappeared. The golf tournament, on the other hand, has survived more than 70 years. Texas Motor Speedway has made it 20+. The rodeo, as they say, is legendary.

Team sports aren’t totally dead in Cowtown. TCU draws sustainable crowds for a few of its programs. The Frogs’ biggest draw, though, is its football program, a sport that plays only half a dozen home games yearly with many of those coming against opponents with regional appeal.

 

Municipalities love to bring in visitors to buy hotel nights and purchase meals and tip local musicians. Only sports teams playing at the highest levels attract visitors and national media outlets to their cities, and even then only in limited quantities. Since existing arena deals, sales tax caps, and perhaps basic economics indicate Fort Worth won’t induce the local big league franchises to relocate from Dallas, Arlington, or Frisco any time soon, Fort Worth will likely have to stick to its sports niche.

That niche is the single big event. Given the quality of the racing Sunday (Jimmie Johnson steered his way to a win that featured drama and strategy all the way to the end) and the tens of thousands of people who watched it, that niche can be both exciting and substantial. Legendary, even.


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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5 Top Equestrian Events in Fort Worth This Summer

This post originally appeared on the website of the Fort Worth CVB. To read it there : http://www.fortworth.com/blog/post/2016/12/5-Top-Equestrian-Events-This-Summer-at-Will-Rogers/1267/

 

 

If you’ve ever heard of Fort Worth, Texas, you’re aware of our cowboy culture and the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. You might even know they’ve held the Stock Show at the Will Rogers Memorial Center every year since 1944. But you may not realize the complex hosts events year-round. 

As you finalize your summer plans, you might want to include a trip to see some skilled equestrians and outstanding equine athletes. We checked in with David Reeves, Director of Sales for the Will Rogers Memorial Center, to help us put together a list of five attractive dates to add to your vacation calendar.

1. Ranch Sorting National Championships World Finals & All Around Ranch Rodeo Challenge
Mid-June brings a couple of events that showcase skills used by real-life ranch hands.
You’ll see remarkable horsemanship and teamwork at the Ranch Sorting National Championships World Finals June 13-18. Teams of riders sort cattle into their assigned pens with amazing precision.
They bill the All-Around Ranch Rodeo Challenge, held June 16-18, as the World's Richest Ranch Rodeo. It’s a chance for you to see teams from working ranches compete in tasks similar to those they use in their jobs as actual working cowboys and cowgirls. You can see them work with livestock at a frenetic pace in events like Wild Cow Milking, Branding, and Bronc Riding.

2. Appaloosa National Show and Youth World Championship: June 27 - July 9 
This event will showcase a beautiful and versatile breed. The Appaloosa Horse Club will award some 130 National Championship titles and another 70 youth titles. You’ll have a lot of events to choose from - whether you value subtlety or speed, you can find it at this show.
David adds: “You’ll see some inspiring competitors at the Stars & Stripes Summer Spectacular on June 28 for equestrians with disabilities.”

3. American Paint Horse Association Youth World Championship: June 28 – July 9
In addition to naming youth world champions in each event, over $300,000 in scholarships and prizes will be awarded at the World Championships to young people who show and ride the American Paint Horses they love. David also recommends the ASHA Cowtown Ranch Classic on July 7 and the ACHA Cowtown Cutting on July 8-9, which are new additions this year.
You might have noticed that both the American Paint Horse and Appaloosa shows happen at the same time. Fort Worth is lucky enough to have a facility capable of accommodating more than one big show at once. Participants from both groups will appear in the Stars & Stripes Summer Spectacular, Youth Team Tournament, Youth Judging Contest, and the Cowtown Ranch Classic and Cowtown Cutting.

4. National Cutting Horse Association Summer Cutting Spectacular: July 16 - August 6 

The final jewel of the NCHA's Triple Crown, this event will attract some of the top competitors in the sport. Amateur cutters of all ages get a chance to compete in their own contests, too.

David adds: "The Spectacular also includes the NCHA/Western Bloodstock Showdown and the NYCHA Youth World Finals."

 

5. Southwest Reined Cow Horse Rode to Reno: August 18-21
The SRCHA promotes training all breeds of horses in traditional ways. There’s a lot to see, including two NRCHA/ AQHA approved cow horse shows, a derby and futurity, and two AQHA ranch riding and reining competitions. The cowboys and cowgirls are trying to make it to the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno this September. And yep, they spell it “Rode.”

David adds: "You will not want to miss the cow work portion of the cow horse show. This is the most exciting element of the show and the basis for the nickname, ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt'."

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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Top Spots in Ft. Worth to Watch the Rangers

This post originally appeared on the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau blog. To read on that site : http://www.fortworth.com/blog/post/2016/19/Top-Spots-to-Watch-the-Rangers/1263/

The Texas Rangers don’t play at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

Well, okay, they don’t always play at Globe Life. Half their games are road games, and Spring Training games happen mostly in Arizona. That means you’ve got to find somewhere to watch your Rangers play when they don’t do it in Tarrant County. Luckily. Fort Worth has a number of establishments you can access to get your game on.

We’d like to establish that this list is not comprehensive. Do you have a favorite place where you like to watch the local baseball team? Let us know in the comments and on social media and help us spread the word about good places to share nine innings with old or new friends.

We’ve organized this list geographically, so you can find somewhere close to you.

West 7th

On one of the fact-finding missions for this column, Landmark Bar & Kitchen won the titles (across neighborhoods) for most total TVs showing the Rangers game and most consecutive sets with the game on. More than half a dozen LGs ringing the outdoor bar all showed the Fox Sports Southwest broadcast and several more inside had it as well. Preston the bartender told us he wanted to be able to move anywhere in the place and keep up with the game, and he succeeded. Good call by him.

The West 7th area actually gives you lots of options for catching the game. The Varsity Tavern has TVs as big as Nomar Mazara’s future, and you can also look for the game on multiple screens at the likes of King Crab Tap House, Brewsters, Reservoir, the Durty Crow, The Local, BoomerJacks, and several others.

Downtown

It’s hard to pick one place in downtown. It might depend on where your hotel or office is, or perhaps what kind of food you want. Frankie’s is near the central library, but the bar that’s actually called “The Library” is at Houston and 6th, Ojos Locos bills itself as a sports cantina, with Tex-Mex offerings and TVs in several booths, so you can feel like you’ve got Steve Busby and Tom Grieve actually dining with you. Whiskey & Rye has won a few awards for best sports bar in town. You’ll find them in the Omni Hotel in southern downtown by the convention center.

A downtown sleeper pick : The Red Goose Saloon. You can sit at the bar and watch the game on a couple of screens, and the food is underrated. You can smoke here, if that appeals to you.

You could actually watch the game at the Texas Rangers Team Shop on Main Street. Not only do they have a TV inside the store, they have a couple of sets by the windows facing the street. If you don’t mind standing on the sidewalk, you can be sure the game will be priority programming.

Stockyards

Nolan Ryan is a member of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, located in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. However, Cowtown’s north side has more saloons than sports bars. We recommend you sit at the bar at Filthy McNasty’s Saloon (they’re friendlier than they sound) and enjoy a beverage while watching the game on the TVs above the bar.

East Side

The No Frills Grill on Eastchase is as close as you can get to Globe Life Park in Arlington without leaving Fort Worth. And they do, in truth, have some frills - specifically TVs showing the Rangers game. You can almost see the home run fireworks from there.

Near South Side

Upper 90 on College came into being when the owners felt the Magnolia area needed a sports bar. They may be named after a soccer term, but you can still count on them having the Rangers game on one of their many TVs.

Hulen Area

You’ve got plenty of choices in restaurants near the mall. We’ve watched a Super Bowl or two at the Fox & Hound. You can play pool while you watch the ballgame there, too.

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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Creating a Sports Business Superstar

This post originally appeared on the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau blog. To read on that site : http://www.fortworth.com/blog/post/2016/20/Marketing-Fort-Worth-as-a-Sports-Destination/1254/



Sports fans come from all fifty states and a number of foreign countries to enjoy themselves at Texas Motor Speedway. Visitors from out of town can do business there, too, thanks to the track's numerous hospitality options. It turns out an out-of-towner can even start a sports company at the Fort Worth venue.

We discovered this fact while talking to one of the participants at the Fort Worth Convention and Visitor's Bureau's inaugural Sports Huddle event. The luncheon celebrated both the speedway's 20th anniversary and the recent announcement that the CVB had created Fort Worth Sports Marketing, a new department within the bureau.

The entrepreneur in question was NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick. It turns out that his KHI Management began its MMA business with a meeting at a TMS race.

 

 
"The UFC side of things started right here at Texas Motor Speedway," Harvick explained to the media. "I had my first conversation with (UFC fighter) Donald (Cerrone) over a beer in the infield here at Texas. That progressed into him asking us to help him manage his day-to-day activity."

Harvick's company now works with MMA fighters (including Ultimate Fighting Championship Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate), golfers, singers, on-air talent, and even an up-and-coming motocross rider.

The CVB's new initiative aims to bring big sports names to town (like Harvick's) while also appealing to grassroots and developing sports enterprises (also like Harvick's).
"We have a lot to be proud of in Fort Worth," Bureau President and CEO Bob Jameson explained to the audience. "The CVB is launching the sports marketing department to help us continue to grow this segment and to further develop the economic impact that comes with that."

Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage has done sports business and brought in out-of-town guests to do theirs in Cowtown for, as the occasion commemorated, 20 years. He hopes his events contribute to the economic impact Jameson envisions.

"We spend $70 million a year getting tourists to town. Once they get here, they've got to decide where are they going to go? Where are they going to stay? Where are they going to go in the evenings to eat?" Gossage said."We're in Fort Worth and we want them to go to Fort Worth and spend their money."

The new sports marketing department shares Gossage's goal, and hopes to use the appeal of sport to bring more of those visitors and their money to Fort Worth. They feel the city has a lot to offer those who work in the world of athletic competition.

"This turns into a really big event (AAA Texas 500 occruing annually in April) because it's a really big market, not only for the race, but for our sponsors. There's always a lot of customers that show up to the race track," said Harvick. "It's definitely a place that everybody pays a lot of attention to and a lot of focus (is) put on it."

 

TMS often emphasizes that there are reasons to pay attention to the facility throughout the year and not just on race weekends. Fort Worth Sports Marketing aims to get sports-minded travelers to consider the town as whole a year-round destination as well. They see it as a place where firms can conduct sports business or, as Kevin Harvick and now the CVB have done, even launch one.

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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NASCAR is Semi-Serious Business

This article originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To read it on that site : http://www.fwweekly.com/2016/04/12/sports-rush-nascar-is-semi-serious-business/

Sports are supposed to be fun, but since the aim is to win, a competitor also has to take certain aspects of them seriously to realize his or her goals. One has to find the right balance between intensity and remembering it’s just a game.

I thought about such aspects of sport while observing NASCAR personalities this week. Driver Kevin Harvick and Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage both attended the Fort Worth CVB’s Sports Huddle luncheon at the Fort Worth Club. NBC-5’s Newy Scruggs moderated a discussion with the duo, but the sportscaster largely got to save his voice for his on-air work. Harvick and Gossage had no problem carrying the discussion, and the most entertaining parts came from their back-and-forth banter.

Much of the jabber revolved around Harvick’s failure to win a top-tier race at Texas Motor Speedway. He has twice finished as high as second in the track’s Sprint Cup event and has won five Xfinity Series races and a Camping World Truck Series contest.

The exchange went like this :

Scruggs:  Eddie, if he likes you, he has some little way of messing with you a little bit. I think all of us who have been around him know that. Kevin, I know Eddie likes to hit you with the fact that, hey, Victory Lane is open for you for the Sprint Cup series. It’s been open for you for the truck . . .
Harvick: At some point (after winning a TMS Sprint Cup race), I’m going to park my car outside on pit road and I’m just going to go home. It’s so normal for me to not be there at this particular point, I figure what the hell, might as well just not even visit it. If we take the checkered flag, do we get disqualified if we don’t show up to Victory Lane? I’m going straight upstairs to champagne toast.
Gossage: You want the cowboy hat and the six shooters, don’t you? Then get your little heinie in there.

Gossage went on to explain how he revisits his running joke at least twice yearly, incorporating his track’s traditional winner’s reward of revolver fire and a Charlie 1 Horse lid.

Gossage: I always cross paths with him (Harvick) somewhere on race day and I always say to him, “Hey, you know we’ve got a Victory Lane after this one, too, and I’ve got a hat and six shooters that’ll fit you if you want it. Just come in and get hot when it’s over.”
Harvick: I don’t think he’s ever going to invite me to any more events if we ever win because he won’t have anything left to . . .
Gossage : I’ll have no material.
Harvick: He’s going to be out of material. Either that or my motor home’s going to be up on jack stands when I get there, with no wheels on it.
Gossage : Don’t tick him off. He’ll hit me, I’ve seen that stuff before, too. Let’s talk about Richmond. You and Ricky Rudd . . .
Harvick: Which time?

Both men have occasionally created controversy for themselves by reacting passionately to perceived slights. They referenced an incident from 2003 with the now-retired Ricky Rudd, but it has not been uncommon for Harvick to get crossways with his competition.

Gossage’s own flow of ideas seems to run without a restrictor plate. Scruggs’ opening remarks included a jab at Gossage’s penchant for writing letters to media members to chide them for insufficient coverage of his facility and his sport. Gossage acknowledged the correspondence, defended it, and even referenced it later on, along with other entanglements to which he’d contributed.

Both men admitted they sometimes let their emotions get the better of them, but they also didn’t mind poking fun at themselves for it. It struck me that in a general sense, that’s what we desire from our sports figures. We want them to be intense in competition, trying to win as hard as possible, but also maintaining a sense of fun and lacking pretension. Come to think of it, we like those qualities in a co-worker, too. You want someone who truly cares about his or her job but is also pleasant to share an office with.
As someone who made his living creating TV spots that often required sports figures (who were also co-workers) to perform in a goofy manner, I really learned to appreciate people who didn’t take themselves too seriously. When a Derek Holland was happy to make fun of his own mustache (in two languages) or a Mike Modano didn’t mind pretending he couldn’t get a date, it made my job a lot easier. And our marketing team would never have done those spots if we didn’t think self-deprecating humor helped fans feel more comfortable with those players. We all generally prefer to associate with people who don’t seem full of themselves.

I don’t truly know at all if either Kevin Harvick or Eddie Gossage are good guys or bad guys or in between. I have interacted with Harvick once by asking a question in a gaggle of media. I have now met Gossage once, and that was Thursday. He was friendly, thanked me for a question I asked during the media Q&A, and made a fairly standard radio host joke based on my first name. Because I hope to not take myself too seriously, I laughed at the Limbaugh quip and added some lame rejoinder.

General unpretentiousness doesn’t excuse specific incidents, so if Harvick or Gossage have been in the wrong in the past or end up there in the future, we must still hold them accountable. They improve such situations, however, with contrition and by making fun of their own shortcomings.
Harvick came up short this past weekend, finishing tenth in the Duck Commander 500. We can only hope he continues to keep his perspective about the result when someone brings it up, because TMS hosts another Sprint Cup race this fall and we can be fairly sure someone will. After all, it’s some of Eddie Gossage’s best material.






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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