Making elements of a car from recycled cotton clothes… who would have ever thought we’d see the day! Check out this remarkable story and let us know your thoughts!
This automaker is now going to start using recycled cotton clothing such as denim in the sound-deadening material and carpet backing in the car as part of its strategy to recycle things to divert waste from landfills.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40432524/ns/business-autos/
Who knows what they will come up with next…
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DC United introduced Ben Olsen as their new (permanent) head coach yesterday. At a press conference in front of gathered local media, president Kevin Payne and general manager Dave Kasper spun the hiring of Olsen, after only a few months ago claiming he was too inexperienced to remain in charge, as a positive for the club. The event was a classic example of management doing their best to put a good face on a bad situation.
The backtracking is somewhat detestable, and the revisionist history is a wealth of unintentional comedy (Payne says he always kept “an open mind” about Olsen, despite publicly ruling him out as a candidate). It’s not that Olsen is a poor candidate (he’s not), it’s that the club looks foolish for having declared him out of the running only to hire him permanently when a search for a replacement came to nothing (for whatever reason, though most that come to mind aren’t good).
But United’s fumbling of the coaching search and the sardonic hilarity of the press conference aren’t really what bothered me about it. Payne and Kasper could hardly be expected to be forthright and honest with the man they hired in the room sitting in front the collected press and loyal fans watching from work or home. Cutting Olsen off at the knees by admitting he was a choice of last resort would to the team no good.
No, what bothered me was the single utterance of one word, a word that has no business coming out of mouths of MLS executives in any setting involving direct communication with fans: “brand.”
Full disclosure: I was not able to watch Olsen’s introduction online, and I cannot locate a transcript of the proceedings (probably because none exists). I’m working strictly from secondhand Twitter info here, but since more than one of my DCU friends mentioned the word, I’m certain it was used, and probably by Kevin Payne, though it doesn’t really matter for the purposes of my angst. I’ve since been told by someone who was in the room that Kasper was the main transgressor – JD
MLS executives need to learn, and quickly, that words like “brand”, “image”, “market”, etc. do nothing but engender resentment in a sizable segment of soccer fans. Even if technically true, especially in relation to MLS and in the modern sports-as-business environment, execuspeak like the above borders on offensive. It’s flatly wrong to ask fans to give their loyalty and money to a team, then talk about the team like it’s the latest offering from Apple. Professional sports organizations ride a line between “product” and civic institution, so the image projected by the those in charge is crucial. Using marketing language to describe the league and its teams in a boardroom setting while laying out a long term plan is understandable and perhaps necessary; doing so in public, when talking to emotionally invested supporters who view the club as much more than a “brand” or potential fans who have yet to give themselves over, is just plain stupid.
Maybe I shouldn’t single out Payne/Kasper and DC United. Most MLS clubs are guilty of allowing their business jargon to bleed over into their public statements, and the League’s commissioner might be the most guilty of all. United is just the most recent example, one that struck me as ridiculous. There are ways to talk about improving the the team’s standing in the community and attracting more fans that don’t rely on boardroom buzzwords. No fan wants to be relegated to “consumer” status. The connections fans form with their teams are so much more than a simple product-consumer relationship. MLS leadership should treat them as such.
That goes for Garber as well, because though his position as commissioner gives him a little more freedom to speak in terms of improving the common good from a business perspective, too much of his word choice is a turn off.
Work hard, MLS executives (by the way, Payne should know better – and so should Kasper). Maybe words like “brand” and “product” are second nature. Maybe Garber has been a bad influence. No matter the excuses at hand, it’s time to cut it out. Keep the “brand visions”, and any references to them, in the boardroom. Choose words that don’t turn fans into replaceable parts or walking wallets. Treat your teams as the institutions they are, or you hope they become. You’re not in charge of Nike, you’re in charge of a soccer club.
Otherwise, all MLS teams will ever be are “brands”, with the limits on passion and loyalty that label dictates.
Fathers don’t pass a love of Nike on to their sons.
-JD
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a frog!
A frog?
Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog, it’s just little ‘ole Cash, Underdog!
Via the Stamford Advocate:
It appears New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman isn’t afraid of heights.
The Stamford Downtown Special Services District has announced Cashman will join this year’s Heights and Lights event as a celebrity guest elf, accompanying Santa Claus on a 22-floor rappel the Landmark Building.
“Brian Cashman will be there with smiles and his Yankee jacket, rappelling,” said Sandy Goldstein, director of the DSSD.
Santa Claus is rarely unaccompanied in his acrobatic 350-foot descent down the side of the Landmark Building, a Stamford tradition.
While the man in red is often escorted by the Grinch and Rudolph, this is the first time a member of the Yankees franchise is to take the plunge.
Cashman, who lives in Darien, mentioned at a DSSD fundraiser this summer that he would be interested in participating, Goldstein said.
“He mentioned something about wanting to rappel,” she said. “What could be better than having a star rappel?”
The Yankees general manager will warm up for the weekend’s rappel at a rehearsal Friday morning, Goldstein said. Rick Reichmuth, weather anchor from Fox Channel 5, will also take a trip down the side of the Landmark building during rehearsal.
Santa and Cashman will kick off the holiday season in Stamford Sunday, when they step off the Landmark building’s ledge at 4:30 p.m. Music performed by local students and a fireworks display will accompany the rappel.
The DSSD is keeping the details of Cashman’s elf costume under wraps for now.
“This is going to be a surprise for all,” Goldstein said. “Will he be an elf in Yankee clothing or a Yankee in elf clothing? You’ve got to come Sunday night to find out.”
The real question is: If Cashman sharts himself while doing this, will his fans vehemently defend him claiming that it seemed like the right move at the time?
I recently had the chance to email with a parent who has a son with this current dilemma. The son has been offered a preferred walk-on spot at a Division I-A (BCS) school that is close to home. The program has not had a great deal of success over the long term so there is always the opportunity to step up, play, and eventually earn a scholarship. But with Division II offers on the table and the potential from Division I-AA (FCS) programs to offer a scholarship it is a tough decision.
This article will be the first piece of two that breaks down the pros and cons of taking a scholarship at a smaller school versus going to the bigger program and walking on. This first article will focus strictly on why taking the scholarship money at the smaller school should be the decision that is made. Again, I will talk more in the next few days about why taking the walk-on offer is something that should be done as well. In this situation, there is no right or wrong but we will provide information and insight on both.
So why should an athlete pass up the opportunity to walk on at a school? The first reason is obvious and it boils down to money. While the walk-on opportunity may be at an in-state school that is inexpensive in price, it is very tough to turn down scholarship money from schools at the Division I-A and II levels. It doesn’t matter what sport you are playing but to turn your back on any type of scholarship is definitely difficult when you are being recruited.
As an athlete who is 17 or 18-years old, you don’t really think about how much school costs. If your parents are fortunate enough to have the money to pay for school, that is great. But realistically, even if it is something that your parents will be paying for, there is no doubt that they are making a huge sacrifice for you. It may be that they can’t take the vacations they have dreamed of or buy a boat to go fishing in during the summer.
If your parents cannot pay for your entire education (which I would guess happens frequently), then student loans will quickly become your friend. You may be borrowing only $ 7,000 a year but that quickly adds up. Over four years, that yearly payment ends up being nearly $ 30,000. Again, you don’t think about this as a teenager but I have had the pleasure of dealing with student loans the last few years. It helped me get a great education but they are not a pleasure to pay each month. If you can possibly avoid these, then I would definitely recommend doing it.
The college coaches that are offering you a scholarship at any level are saying that we feel you have the potential to contribute. We feel strong enough about you that we are willing to offer you a scholarship so that you can come to our school and contribute on the football/basketball/soccer/fill in the blank team. Instead of just offering you a walk-on spot where they have nothing at all to lose, they are taking a portion of their total scholarship money and believing in you.
At most schools, college programs that end up offering a scholarship will also recruit you much harder. They will send more mail, call more frequently, travel further to visit your school, and just show you and your family more interest in the athletic recruiting process. In some cases, the college coaches that are hoping that you walk-on at the school will send mail, call occasionally, and just show a lot less interest. No offense to the walk-ons of the world but you are a much lower priority to the coaches than the kids that they have actually offered scholarships to.
Chances are also stronger that the school to offer a scholarship feels that you have the ability to see the field or court in sometime (hopefully early) in your career. Would you really be happy walking on at a school and sitting for four years and finally seeing some time as a redshirt senior? Most high school athletes who have scholarship abilities are in the game all the time. In having experience with sitting the bench, it is a huge change from playing all the time and something that forces a lot of walk-ons to eventually transfer.
You may also be a big fish in a small pond at the school that offered a scholarship. The same cannot be sad for the Division I school that offered the walk on role. Some of these schools have over 30,000 students. While you may feel important just being on the football team, it may be tougher for you to adjust as a practice player.
There is no doubt in my mind that taking the scholarship money is the smart decision. You have a coaching staff that likes you enough to offer you money to play sports at their college. They have the faith in you that you can fit in and see playing time in your career. There is more known about taking this route if that is the decision that you decide to take.
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