The Baby of the Sports Family

I have a dream. Where jersey colours don’t matter and the blue jerseys can tweet with the red ones.

I have a dream. Where baseball fans and hockey fans can come together over a pint and root for a lacrosse team.

I have a dream. Where sports teams in Toronto come together as one and kick social media ass.

I HAVE A DREAM!

Ok, so maybe it’s not so much a dream as it is a wish, or a hope for the future. Last night I attended #SCTO aka Sports Connect TO where panelists from sports teams and leagues in Toronto discussed social media and what it means for their brand. As the video blogger and in-game “host with the most” for the Toronto Rock, I was ecstatic to see what other teams (who I follow on twitter) thought of integrating social media strategies to be one big fierce social media family. Toronto is already seen as the sports hub for Canada, we have teams in all leagues truly holding it down on the sports scene, so why not show people we care about all of our fans by promoting each other.

Panelists Jaime Stein (@CFL), Rob Jack (@BlueJays) and MLSE’s Jonathan Sinden (@BigThinkerJon) discussed the in’s and out’s of using social media. My favourite recent initiative was discussed, #TweetingTuesdays that the Jays implemented this season. Giving tweeting fans an opportunity to have priceless experiences simply by tweeting their seat location. Even I have been tweeted back by the Blue Jays, something as a 9-year-old picking dandelions in the outfield, I wouldn’t have dreamt of. It is that fan engagement that is taking sport watching to a whole new level. This was also the case for Grey Cup this past year as fans got a behind the scenes look at the week leading up to Grey Cup. Not only could you watch the game, but you could feel like you were there; minus the cold and the expensive beer.

While I may be the baby of the bunch in the social media world, I feel like my role with the Toronto Rock is like the youngest sibling who dominates all her brothers at Nintendo. My team wins, but we have a lot to gain by learning from our older more established siblings.

 Side Note: Thanks to the organizers of #SCTO for bringing sports leaders and enthusiasts together to talk shop. The pizza and beer was icing on the cake.

Toronto, we have something to cheer about!

The last time these Toronto teams appeared in a Championship game…

The Toronto Maple Leafs: 1967

The Toronto Raptors: Never

The Toronto Blue Jays: 1993

The Toronto Argonauts: 2004

Now, I am a Toronto Sports fan, always have been and always will be. I would like to be proud of that fact, but I’m not. I sit in company with the suits, the die-hards, the bandwagon jumpers and the “free tickets? I’ll go” fans. It’s such a vibrant group, but really, what are we cheering about? None of these teams have put up a great show in years.

I could only imagine what the streets of Toronto would be like if we won an NHL playoff series. Montreal fans would be put to shame for not looting longer, looting harder and looting stronger! We sit and judge the shenanigans of last nights ‘Habs’ debaucles, and I don’t agree with any of what occurred in the least, but to see the passion of sports fans when their team is pulling out all the stops is inspiring. Get behind our teams, our teams that win! (No window smashing necessary).

The Toronto Rock, my favourite Toronto team, are vying for the NLL Championship this Saturday in Washington. A team of talented vetrans (see Sandy Chapman, NLL Defensive Player of the Year) and even more talented rookies (see Stephan Leblanc, NLL Rookie of the Year) have shocked the NLL with their skills and ability to perform when it really counts. Didn’t see the playoff game vs. the Buffalo Bandits at the Air Canada Centre? You’re not alone. Only 10,000 fans experienced a night I will remember for a long time.

Maybe all it takes is a legacy and a lack of wins to fill seats for some teams, but for me it is all about the commitment to success.  Toronto Rock Owner Jamie Dawick was quoted in the Toronto Star at the beginning of the season saying, “[w]hen I talk about returning to good, old days, I’m talking about winning teams, a home-field advantage and great fan support.” The fans are what make game day so vivacious, so full of energy. I know because I am a part of it.

I have had the privilege of working with a team committed to bringing home a Championship in 2010. When it didn’t look plausible, the Toronto Rock made is acheivable. I support them because they are not just a team looking to fill seats, they are a team willing to work hard for their fans. Now that is something worth cheering about, Toronto.

Olympics… where are you?

Is it just me, or is the Summer Olympics resembling one of those kids in the days of street lights and “come out, come out wherever you are”, that just kept hiding. I have been waiting since the beginning of the actual summer for this all to start. The jig is up, let the games begin.

Here is my main issue – why am I actually waiting? I love Canada first and foremost but the Summer Olympics has never really been our countries time to shine. 12 medals in Athens in 2004 – 12! Team USA had 102. An article in the National Post today suggests that Canadians should be aware of the low medal expectancy this year. It’s a great read, but harsh – small box of kleenex? Yikes!

I was a smart child, before understanding that you had to live and breathe your country for a span of two weeks and decided to cheer for Team USA during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. These were the days of Gymnastics featuring Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes that made me want to swing from uneven bars (you can stop booing for the USA now). Point being, if Canada doesn’t produce, are we really able to jump ship to our southern brother?

Let’s get a few things straight. I am not talking about running around waving American flags here, but for some reason when it comes to World Cup time; it is OK for me to be an England fan even though I am Irish/Scottish/Canadian. So why not at the Olympics? I have some USA blood somewhere – the blood is married in – but it’s still there! I also don’t condone that the games are all about winning and losing, but let’s get serious – who ever has fun losing?

What we really should be, and by we I mean I, is proud to just have our country represented by talented athletes joining other countries with talented athletes. This is impressive! Not everyone gets to go to the Olympics, let’s support those who worked hard and made it there. Regardless of whether or not they make the podium – they are the ones who are parading around in free HSBC clothing. These athletes are choosing to be positive representatives for our nation. As the saying goes, there are only two ways you can represent your country – war, and sports.

As someone who is choosing not to go to war, or has not been blessed with the height of a basketball player or the stamina of a track star, I am now wondering if I have to represent my country by cheering on its athletes. Should it merely be about supporting your country? Or should it be about supporting athletes who excel in their sport? Can you really watch the Olympics without cheering for a specific country? And will I get slapped on the street for wearing a Team USA beret (and not for its tacky qualities, but for the fact it clearly says USA on it)?

My American friends will be happy to hear I may be coming over to the dark side for two weeks, especially those in Bejing right now, yet I am sure those who are from my homeland will be less than impressed. Shouldn’t we all just celebrate the coming together of the world?

So let’s hear it. Whether you live and breathe the red and white, or throw in a little blue – this Olympics let’s celebrate countries coming together peacefully (we hope) in the name of sport – and let the games finally begin!

We Are Family

The boys club. I remember when that simply meant no girls allowed. Now, it means a multitude of things, however the boys clubs that resonates closest with me – is a football club.

The Toronto Argonauts have taken a lot of heat in the media recently as they have released numerous players with very little regard for the personal side of business. From Khalil Carter’s public tearing down of the organizations loyalty to those without an NFL title attached to their name, to the recent publicly debated hot topic on Off the Record -July 10th, 2008- of Michael Bishop being put on Waivers – it isn’t looking so pretty. But does it have to? After all this is a business, and how many times while growing up did the boys club oust its members. Problem is, this boys club has branded itself as a “family friendly” club, and living up to that has proven to be a tough task during the start of the 2008 season.

Over the past few years, the Toronto Argonauts Football Club have stated over and over again that they are a family… right. Now in light of my current situation with the organization, I am merely going to prove that brand loyalty is essential in building a relationship with fans – those are the people that pay the boys salaries by the way.

Here is the simple breakdown. You tell fans that the team is one big family. They, resonate with this idea and in turn buy into the brand. From here, they purchase season tickets, team merchandise and even show up to team events. What does this mean? Cash for the owners, and pay cheques for the players. Now here is the problem with this equation. When you do this, you create a relationship with these fans, this is called brand loyalty. When fans start hearing that you are not living up to this brand, they no longer trust you. Not trusting your brand means not buying into the brand and so on and so forth. This means no money.

Not a smart move. Brand loyalty is organization survival. Especially for the Toronto Argonauts who have struggled with establishing and maintaining a good brand, the last thing they want is the public questioning their intentions. I would love to say this is just a game, but it isn’t, it is a business – and a personal one at that. The flipside to this is that you have a lot of voice boxes – players and in the CFL, cheerleaders – who don’t buy into verbal diarrhea. Releasing a player from a team who claims to be a business is one thing, releasing one from a family – whole other ball game.

Family – a group of people who are related that treat each other with a special intimacy or loyalty. (Does related by double blue blood count?)

Last time I checked, releasing players means releasing families or trading them off to another part of the country. That isn’t business, that’s personal. As one family to another, wouldn’t it be appropriate to sit down your player and let them know why they are leaving your family? Maybe too much to ask, but hey you were the one who brought everyone to the Sunday dinner table.

Currently this boys club mentality has leaked into the girls club. “It’s business, it’s not personal,” tends to be the mind frame running consistent within their head office. Maybe they missed the class on the Golden Rule, “treat others as you want to be treated,” but treating those who represent your brand with anything less than respect doesn’t cut it. Your brand can lose loyalty from within and in turn that projects outwards losing loyalty from fans.

This post is not to discredit the organization as a whole. I believed in this brand for two years. However, the intention is to be a slight wake-up call for whoever may stumble upon it. Brand loyalty is important, that’s why the real boys clubs do so well.