PMG, tell me you did not just say that.
It's more of that defeatist attitude that is the problem. All
I see are excuses. How about some answers? In life you either
lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. In business you
either lead or get run out of business.
By your account then McDonalds would be out of business, you know
with all those new restaurants out there how could they ever expect
to compete. Same goes for the NFL, with all those new sporting
options, how could they ever dream of competing with all those
X-Games? Disney World? Gone. Too many things to do in Orlando
with all the new theme parks, themed restaurants, not to mention
hotels packed with amenities. Same goes for network tv.
1990 Florida population- 13 million. 2005 Florida population-
21 million. Of course there is more to do. The fact is that successful
businesses find ways to make themselves relevant to the times.
Something this sport has not been able to do.
I never said anything about more tournaments, but how about announcing
the date more than two or three weeks in advance? That's one thing
Orlando does right, the Citrus is always the third weekend in
January. The NAJF was packed, not only because of the great play,
but because people knew when it was and could book their plane
tickets and hotels in advance. Name one tournament from the Big
2 since the NAJF that someone like me could really plan ahead
for. And I'm only like 5 hours away. What about the CT, RI, and
NY crowds? In fact, Dania did give us about a month notice for
Berdi and Felix. And I was able to make plans and get my old keister
down there. But if I lived in CT, doubt that I could've, even
if I wanted to.
I don't pretend to have all the answers, and I don't think any
one person does. How many people are actually involved legitimately
in the creative process of the frontons in the last 2 decades?
Pretty much only the owners and GM's, who've all pretty much been
the same over that time. If you don't believe me, then ask the
fronton's mid level managers how much input they actually get.
Since they're mainly loyal company guys they probably won't say
much. But that roll of the eyes pretty much says it all.
Relevant sports in the new millenium have personalities. Tiger
Woods, Shaq, Barry Bonds, Terrell Owens. Not everyone may like
them, but they sure get everyone's attention. As soon as a Jai-Alai
player gets some life they become outcasts. The new fans want
life from their athletes. Old school Jai-Alai wants robots. 25
year old fans aren't drawn to robots.
By that same token more marketing won't get it done. Innovative
marketing just might help, though. When was the last time you
could say to yourself that the frontons did something innovative?
Cutting edge? Risky? Not just another dollar night or t-shirt
giveaway. Miami's bobbleheads were nice, but they would've been
innovative if they did them a couple of years earlier, before
every major sports team in the states had already had bobblehead days.
Could not have Dania or Miami secured tickets to the Super Bowl
or NBA Championship games? You don't think people would come out
to have a chance to win some of those? How about a Nintendo Wii
or and Playstation 3 when they were released? People waited in
line for days to get their hands on one of those. And that was
to pay for goodness sakes! What about a chance to win one? That
poor lady drank water til she died to just have a chance at a
Wii for her kids. That is extremely sad, but don't you think people
might have shown up for a chance to win one at a fronton? And
they might have just been exposed to the world's fastest and most
exciting sport while they were there.
Again, the time for excuses is over. Might as well just shut the
doors. Whining about the lotto and Indian casinos has done nothing
good for the frontons. If I spent the last twenty years whining
about my faults and how I couldn't get a job, then I'd be living
on the streets today. All those new college grads with computer
skills, how could I ever compete? Easy, I made myself relevant
to the new world and technology.
Goiko, Storza, Arriaga and Egi are awesome athletes. Jai-Alai
is a truly exciting sport. Someone can spend $100 bucks for a
Dolphins ticket, $20 to park, $6 bucks for each beer, or they
can spend $2 bucks to go to the fronton with free parking and
dollar beers. And they might just win some cash while they're
there. This sport has more going for it than some of us think.
Maybe it's time the people in charge of the sport actually believed
in the product again.
And Jody, the Fort did somewhat okay with the singles format last
year, but this year it is not faring as well. And that is with
an improved roster. Jai-Alai is best as a doubles sport. I'll
close with this. I remember quite a few years back, a pretty well
known sportscaster named Jim Nantz was asked who he thought was
the best athlete in the world. Know who he said? Benny Bueno.
And I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about his singles performance.
You have to put your best foot forward to succeed in this world.
