PR-related Prediction for 2012
In the glut of “2012 Predictions for Market X for 2012,” 100 percent of the vendor-neutral input from vendors themselves will indirectly but ultimately point to their own solutions as being huge in 2012.
Boston Famous or Really Famous?
Attendance at some recent high-profile Boston sporting events has brought this to light: the concept of “Famous” in Boston and “Famous” in the rest of the world are very different.
Boston is a world-class city, and the Commonwealth’s efforts to lure Hollywood to the Bay State through significant incentives have brought the stars here to create many similar films … but the celebrities at our big games are still kind of lame, or at the very least, provincial.
I started thinking about this back in April during the Celtics/Knicks playoff tilt, and continued to do so last night at the Stanley Cup Game 4 (in which the biggest Boston celebrity in attendance to cheer on the Bruins was injured Patriots K Stephen Gostkowski).
Let’s compare, using the Celtics-Knicks series as an example.
The Knicks most famous fans are legitimate celebrities.
The most high-profile Celtics fans in attendance are either current Patriots, retired Patriots or Ray Allen’s mom.
Celebrities at a Knicks playoff game will include, at the very least, Spike Lee and Woody Allen, two legitimately famous people.
Celebrities at a Celtics playoff game will include at least some of the following:
Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick’s girlfriend
At least one current Patriot (most likely Vince Willfork and his wife)
At least one retired or ex-Patriot (Ty Law, Troy Brown)
And the closest thing to a bona fide celebrity: A lesser Wahlberg
Notable exceptions:
Depending on the opponent, you may get 1-2 famous fans following the visiting team (Rachel McAdams was at the Cup game last night to cheer on Vancouver, I assume, given that I believe she is Canadian or at the very least midwestern; Spike Lee came to cheer on the Knicks; Jay-Z and the lovely Beyonce made the trek last year for the Cavs/Celtics; Jack Nicholson in years past with the Lakers)
Finished a PR plan that had become the “Chinese Democracy” of PowerPoints.
Unlike Axl, I ultimately started fresh rather than attempting to cobble something together and building layer-upon-layer of self-indulgent gunk … and I didn’t strike an exclusive distribution deal with Best Buy.
As I prep to DJ the PTO auction …
I am desperately trying to keep my inner music snob inside me.
Two American Kids Doin’ … Something
This has been bugging me for nearly three decades — there’s a line of the John Cougar (if I said Mellencamp, it would be an anachronism, as in 1982, he had not yet found the guts to tell his management that “Cougar” sounded kind of lame there, Johnny Bravo) song “Jack and Diane” where, after a quick introduction to the subjects, Jack says something to Diane that,to me, always sounded like:
Dribble off them Bobby Brooks legs and do what I please
I have no idea what that means.
- I figured the dribbling off had something to do with sloppily consuming the chili dog (outside the Tasty Fre-eze).
- No idea what the hell “Bobby Brooks legs” were.
- (“Do what I please,” I think I got that one.)
For 29 years now, it sort of bothered me, but not enough to actually do anything about it. Until this morning.
For reasons unbeknownst to me, the song was in my head when I got up. So I hopped onto the Google. According to SlangCity, the line is:
Dribble off them Bobby Brooks pants, let me do what I please
Right!
I mean, what?
- Let’s see — “Dribble off” apparently means “remove.” Must be an Indiana thing.
- Bobbie Brooks is, according to the “Encyclopedia of Cleveland History,” a “leader in the production of women’s apparel.” So apparently these pants are to be removed.
- This confirmed my previous interpretation of “let me do what I please.”
Maybe they do need the Bible Belt (which I thought was “Bible band”) to save their souls.
Kite Soared. Sort Of.
Celtics had their final game of the season, a nice win over the Knicks heading into the playoffs. Doc rested *all* the regulars and even some of the semi-regulars … meaning many fans paid more than $200 to see lots of Avery Bradley, Troy Murphy and Sasha Pavlovic. (Bradley, who had scored just 32 points the entire season, had a career-high 18 points). I used to love the last game of the year during the Real Big Three glory years — mostly because it meant that my all-time favorite bench guy, Greg Kite, would get to start. Kite didn’t play much (197 minutes his rookie year, which is almost as long as I’ve been procrastinating on a PR plan tonight) and when he did, his stats weren’t glowing (88 points vs. 84 fouls for all of the 1984-1985 season), but hey, in Boston, we love our big,lumbering white backup centers. In fact, a photo of Greg Kite was the centerpiece of a “here’s my personality” photo montage project I did for junior year health class. The picture of Kite (I think it was one of Kareem posting him up, most likely casually flicking a sky-hook over his shoulder moments after the Chief or McHale limped off the court for a short respite) was meant it to illustrate that, like Kite, I was a hard worker willing to do whatever it took to get the job done (which is funny, given how relatively lazy I was in high school). But it really just said, hey, this guy’s favorite Celtic sucks. (Which reminds me of an exchange a buddy of mine had with me in 1987 or so — Him: “You remind me of Brad Lohaus.” Me: “Because I’m big and can stick the three?” Him: “No, because you are ugly and uncoordinated.”) So back to Kite starting the final games of the 1984 and 1985 seasons (his only start in either year). In Kite’s rookie year, he had 13 points in the final game of the season vs. the Nets (including a pair of lefty hook shots). The following year, he had 14 points, also against the Nets. I believe that Darryl Dawkins was the victim of Kite’s offensive outbursts both years, which just proves that by 1984, Darryl Dawkins really sucked. The sad part is that I knew all of those facts without having to look them up (I did head over to basketballreference.com to verify, but they don’t have box scores for 1984 and 1985), yet I often forget how old my sons are. Kite’s finest moment was probably in the 1987 NBA Finals Game 3, captured in the video above — he came off the bench for 10 rebounds and a vicious block of a Magic layup (at 7:13 on the video). He also had … well, he had 0 points too.
The team “Indian Style” is now verboten.
“Criss, cross, applesauce” is the accepted term to describe when you sit, well, Indian Style. This will be true until we recognize how offensive it is to either those early 1990s rappers who wore their clothes backwards, or the good people at Mott’s.
New Year’s Resolutions (Only 1/3 of the Year Done)
2011 is the year I learn chess, golf and guitar. Not necessary simultaneously.
