Major Missed Opportunity for SMU! Big Get for TCU
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:18 pmRant alert
When we switched (or they dropped us) from Nike to Adidas, I thought it was a dumb move. When Nike came out with the Nike Combat whatever there called special uniforms, and picked TCU as one of the featured schools, I knew it would elevate their rep above ours, and give them credibility amongst recruits. It doesn't matter how ugly we think they are or not, it's the perception.
Now some of these bonehead decisions are coming home to roost. We bet on the wrong apparel partner as Nike as seen as cool and innovative and still nobody cares about Adidas in this country. I fear we (CUSA) are making a similarly stupid move by shunning the powerhouse ESPN (like we did with Nike), for an unproven college football upstart FoxSports (Adidas), and I think it will result in missed opportunities down the line similar to what I'm about to highlight below.
Nike has set up a temporary "energy" space to showcase their apparel to high school KIDS and COACHES right down the street from campus in Victory Park. And guess which school in this region is prominently displayed in our own backyard? Guess who Nike invited to give a speech to local high school coaches? That's right TCU and Fatterson!!!
If we stuck with Nike we wouldn't have our own combat unis right now (but who knows with JJ), but I guarantee you we would have equal billing in this "energy space" as a local team, and they would be having meet and greets for JJ and the hs coaches and kids would walk in and see our unis next to TCU.
I guess I'm glad Orsini got his extension so he can fund raise and show his ND ring around town, but I'm not sure he can take us to the next level. At the very least he should hire a number two that is young, or at least knows all this stuff going on and can market the program in this social age while affiliating us with the right brands.
Does anyone over 40 know what a pop up shop is? Anyone over 30? I feel like SMU is so stale. I realize we don't have a huge budget, but sometimes its about associating your brand with the right company and knowing which trends to join in on. TCU being open minded and letting Nike mutilate their uniforms took courage and has paid off multiple times over...and it cost them little to nothing.
When we switched (or they dropped us) from Nike to Adidas, I thought it was a dumb move. When Nike came out with the Nike Combat whatever there called special uniforms, and picked TCU as one of the featured schools, I knew it would elevate their rep above ours, and give them credibility amongst recruits. It doesn't matter how ugly we think they are or not, it's the perception.
Now some of these bonehead decisions are coming home to roost. We bet on the wrong apparel partner as Nike as seen as cool and innovative and still nobody cares about Adidas in this country. I fear we (CUSA) are making a similarly stupid move by shunning the powerhouse ESPN (like we did with Nike), for an unproven college football upstart FoxSports (Adidas), and I think it will result in missed opportunities down the line similar to what I'm about to highlight below.
Nike has set up a temporary "energy" space to showcase their apparel to high school KIDS and COACHES right down the street from campus in Victory Park. And guess which school in this region is prominently displayed in our own backyard? Guess who Nike invited to give a speech to local high school coaches? That's right TCU and Fatterson!!!
Dallas Observer wrote:"Our purpose in utilizing the space is, we wanted to create an area that could serve as an energy space for high school athletes," she says.
Pardon, but .. "energy space"?
"That means when you're looking at football and all the athletes that play a sport, we want to take advantage of their interest in that sport, especially as we head into the off-season," she says. "We want to create one place for them to gather and create energy around the sport and create momentum that carries them into the off-season and into next season."
For instance, she says, a few days ago they brought in some local high school coaches to meet and greet with TCU head coach Gary Patterson. And tonight, some coaches in town for a convention are heading down to Victory for a catered dinner
If we stuck with Nike we wouldn't have our own combat unis right now (but who knows with JJ), but I guarantee you we would have equal billing in this "energy space" as a local team, and they would be having meet and greets for JJ and the hs coaches and kids would walk in and see our unis next to TCU.
I guess I'm glad Orsini got his extension so he can fund raise and show his ND ring around town, but I'm not sure he can take us to the next level. At the very least he should hire a number two that is young, or at least knows all this stuff going on and can market the program in this social age while affiliating us with the right brands.
Does anyone over 40 know what a pop up shop is? Anyone over 30? I feel like SMU is so stale. I realize we don't have a huge budget, but sometimes its about associating your brand with the right company and knowing which trends to join in on. TCU being open minded and letting Nike mutilate their uniforms took courage and has paid off multiple times over...and it cost them little to nothing.
