Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Blog Spotting
There's a new link on the sidebar. Welcome to the blogosphere, Halo Herald. As much as I just love a good Angels blog, I was particularly drawn to this one because its author, "Rich," is one of the first Angels fans I have heard that actually supports the recent name change. I wonder if he takes his stance simply for the sake of argument, which would be fine with me. It's no fun for us all to scream in unison at an owner that is clearly not listening to us. We need more bickering amongst each other, I say! Without further ado, I'll get the ball rolling by posting highlights of Rich's case and, respectfully, replying.
...I know now that Arte Moreno is an advertising genius. Remember, there is no bad publicity and the Angels name, Los Angeles and all, has been everywhere from Sports Center to local news to national radio programs. Everyone has an opinion on this and whether you love the name or hate it, you are talking about it and the team.
I really hate the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" argument. Ask Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, and even Vanilla Ice if there exists a concept of bad publicity. Being the laughingstock of Sportscenter is nothing to be proud of. Is having the messiah of sports media publicly mock you going to sell more t-shirts? Is it gonna put your jersey in a few more rap videos? Is it going to solidify your credibility as a successful franchise to be reckoned with? It certainly is not. Winning another couple division titles and maybe a World Series might do it, but not making a fool out of the team for anybody with a keyboard or microphone. Yes, when the name change became official, everyone was talking about the Angels, but, remember, everyone also talked about Mike Tyson biting Holyfield's ear off. Iron Mike's rep didn't exactly skyrocket after that.
For those of you out there calling Moreno an idiot, how many millions of dollars have you earned in the advertising business?
The rich are not impervious to idiocy. Having a great deal of success in a field does not absolve you from ever making a mistake in that field again. Young Elvis did become Fat, Sweaty, Lounge Singer Elvis, did he not? Lawrence Kasdan gave us "The Big Chill" and "Body Heat," but he also gave us "Dreamcatcher," the worst movie ever made. While I don't think Moreno is an "idiot," I do think his actions here are idiotic. The negatives, in my opinion, far outweigh the positives which are, at best, a theory. Just because I haven't had Moreno-like success in the past doesn't mean I'm not right this time.
Hey Anaheim City Council, are you trying to see if you can force a second major sports team to bolt town?
First of all, the Angels can't "bolt town," not for the next twenty-four years anyway. That's one aspect of the lease that is quite clear, I think. Secondly, the City Council has stated that, should they win their lawsuit, they will only require the name to be switched back and not evict the team as they would be able to do.
Crybabies who think the name is too long should keep in mind that the Angels are counting on people thinking the name is too long. Fans will shorten it to "LA" and the old-style LA (with a halo over the A) caps will become the rage.
As an Angel fan, I don't want it to be shortened to "LA" because they are not LA's team. I think many Southern Californians root for the Angels as an alternative to everything that LA stands for in sports. Saying that people will shorten the ridiculous name to "LA" doesn't exactly ease my mind.
Once Angel fans get over themselves and realize they can severely irritate Dodger fans simply by saying "LA Angels" they will take to the name with wild abandon.
Believe it or not, as an Angel fan, I couldn't care less about irritating Dodger fans. Boston fans are another story...
To the "geographically confused" who think the name is far too complex, I must ask if you workout at LA Fitness in Phoenix, is it still LA Fitness? That is SO confusing. How about LA Style hair products used in Des Moine? Oh - my - God, you are totally bending my mind!
Actually, I think that's really funny. Irrelevant, but funny.
My advice to the Halo faithful is to embrace the name as it seems to really irritate everybody else and that can be a very good thing. The more counter-culture something is the quicker it will be embraced.
I don't think the name change actually irritates anyone but the Halo faithful. Irritating to us, side-splitting ridiculous to everyone else. Lest we forget the periwinkle pinstripe, cartoon logo uniforms? The unveiling of those atrocities was less stupid than this name change and we all remember how far the uniforms took us.
See, wasn't that so much more fun than just railing against Arte?
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...I know now that Arte Moreno is an advertising genius. Remember, there is no bad publicity and the Angels name, Los Angeles and all, has been everywhere from Sports Center to local news to national radio programs. Everyone has an opinion on this and whether you love the name or hate it, you are talking about it and the team.
I really hate the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" argument. Ask Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, and even Vanilla Ice if there exists a concept of bad publicity. Being the laughingstock of Sportscenter is nothing to be proud of. Is having the messiah of sports media publicly mock you going to sell more t-shirts? Is it gonna put your jersey in a few more rap videos? Is it going to solidify your credibility as a successful franchise to be reckoned with? It certainly is not. Winning another couple division titles and maybe a World Series might do it, but not making a fool out of the team for anybody with a keyboard or microphone. Yes, when the name change became official, everyone was talking about the Angels, but, remember, everyone also talked about Mike Tyson biting Holyfield's ear off. Iron Mike's rep didn't exactly skyrocket after that.
For those of you out there calling Moreno an idiot, how many millions of dollars have you earned in the advertising business?
The rich are not impervious to idiocy. Having a great deal of success in a field does not absolve you from ever making a mistake in that field again. Young Elvis did become Fat, Sweaty, Lounge Singer Elvis, did he not? Lawrence Kasdan gave us "The Big Chill" and "Body Heat," but he also gave us "Dreamcatcher," the worst movie ever made. While I don't think Moreno is an "idiot," I do think his actions here are idiotic. The negatives, in my opinion, far outweigh the positives which are, at best, a theory. Just because I haven't had Moreno-like success in the past doesn't mean I'm not right this time.
Hey Anaheim City Council, are you trying to see if you can force a second major sports team to bolt town?
First of all, the Angels can't "bolt town," not for the next twenty-four years anyway. That's one aspect of the lease that is quite clear, I think. Secondly, the City Council has stated that, should they win their lawsuit, they will only require the name to be switched back and not evict the team as they would be able to do.
Crybabies who think the name is too long should keep in mind that the Angels are counting on people thinking the name is too long. Fans will shorten it to "LA" and the old-style LA (with a halo over the A) caps will become the rage.
As an Angel fan, I don't want it to be shortened to "LA" because they are not LA's team. I think many Southern Californians root for the Angels as an alternative to everything that LA stands for in sports. Saying that people will shorten the ridiculous name to "LA" doesn't exactly ease my mind.
Once Angel fans get over themselves and realize they can severely irritate Dodger fans simply by saying "LA Angels" they will take to the name with wild abandon.
Believe it or not, as an Angel fan, I couldn't care less about irritating Dodger fans. Boston fans are another story...
To the "geographically confused" who think the name is far too complex, I must ask if you workout at LA Fitness in Phoenix, is it still LA Fitness? That is SO confusing. How about LA Style hair products used in Des Moine? Oh - my - God, you are totally bending my mind!
Actually, I think that's really funny. Irrelevant, but funny.
My advice to the Halo faithful is to embrace the name as it seems to really irritate everybody else and that can be a very good thing. The more counter-culture something is the quicker it will be embraced.
I don't think the name change actually irritates anyone but the Halo faithful. Irritating to us, side-splitting ridiculous to everyone else. Lest we forget the periwinkle pinstripe, cartoon logo uniforms? The unveiling of those atrocities was less stupid than this name change and we all remember how far the uniforms took us.
See, wasn't that so much more fun than just railing against Arte?
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:12 PM 
