Holy Moly! That Ain't my Boy Masoli...

It was reported yesterday that Jeremiah Masoli will pitch for the Eugene Emeralds this upcoming summer to keep his arm in shape for the 2011 football season. This report came directly from the Emerald’s media relations department. It was written as a press release sent out to newspapers state wide, and even drew national media coverage. It turns out this was an April fool’s joke that missed its intended audience in Eugene.

Some will argue that this was a marketing ploy to gain exposure to the Emeralds who will be playing their games at the University of Oregon’s new PK Park. The Emeralds' Media Relations director Onalee Carson wanted to get the media’s attention, but when asked if it was legit story, she flat out lied to reporters. Had Carson been honest about it, I’m sure a few reporters would have taken the bate and ran with the story. Eugene isn’t a very big market, but the community still supports the University and the Emeralds.

A key principle in marketing is to promote your Image in a positive light, and using Jeremiah Masoli does not accomplish that. You DO NOT take an amateur athlete who has gone from riches to rags in a matter of months at the expense of two laptop computers to promote a professional product. His image has been severely damaged, and to use someone like that to promote a minor league baseball team was in poor taste to say the least; not to mention the University of Oregon Athletic Department who is trying to put the winter events to rest; all this did was help stir the pot.

As a media relations director you are responsible for building meaningful and truthful relationships with journalists and your job is to present the organization in a positive light. You must protect the brand image that you represent, and defend it when it has been tarnished. This little stunt will affect the credibility of the Emerald’s public relations team in the short term, but the truth of the matter is they don’t even start playing baseball until the middle of June. This will all blow over given time. I’m all about practical jokes, but you need to make sure they are tastefully constructed and executed. You do not want Masoli throwing out the first pitch at a game. That adds nothing to the brand image or organization, and would probably result in fewer ticket sales. Parents don’t want to take their little leaguers to get an autograph from thief.

What Carson and the Emeralds' should have done: She should have contacted one columnist at the Register Guard; Ron Bellamy who is loved by most in the Eugene area would have been a perfect candidate. They should have used another Oregon athlete. One who actually played minor league baseball, and raised expectations for the football department…That’s right, I’m talking about ACL boy, Dennis Dixon. They should have contacted Dixon to make sure he was okay with being a pat of the hoax. Bellamy would have then published the article in Yesterday’s sports section, and written it in such a way that would excite Duck fans about Dixon’s return to Eugene, promote the Emeralds upcoming season, and end the column by saying “April Fools!” This allows the Emeralds to pursue Dixon in making a public appearance to throw out the first pitch in a game during the season. This would result in increased revenue for the Emeralds who are renting PK Park from the University to play their home games.

The scenario I just proposed still would have created the buzz in and around the newsroom. Local television stations still would have ran the story (let’s face it, this story would have been more interesting than an Easter Bunny sighting at VRC). No one’s credibility would be in jeopardy, and it would allow Dixon to comment on the practical joke, discuss his NFL career, and the Oregon football program as they look to rebuild their image. This would have been a great way to promote both brands, when both organizations have had off seasons filled with turmoil. This had potential to be a great joke, but it failed miserably. I’m going to end with the last stanza of the poem written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, “Casey at Bat” that relates Eugene to Mudville:

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out."

The University of Oregon football team will return to prominence

If I told you that I could take the University of Oregon and their football team’s image from complete THUGS and turn them into perfect little angels who hoist a BCS championship trophy above their heads with green and yellow confetti floating everywhere in under a year, is that something you might be interested in? I’m sure it would violate NCAA rules to actually sell that script to Hollywood, but it still won’t stop ESPN from creating a movie that will be replayed 692 times on all five of their networks. If this were USC, they could sell the script to Hollywood since half those guys are paid to play!

It is without question that the University of Oregon and their football team is in crisis mode after numerous off field troubles. The latest victim, Jamere Holland, just found out that social media (facebook) can cost you an opportunity to receive a D-1 scholarship to play football, and obtain a degree for the University of Oregon. We can go ahead and throw a $50,000 price tag on the education, and possibly millions more are swirling down the drain in potential NFL contracts if he doesn’t find his way back to the field soon. Word to the wise: don't be idiots, go check your privacy settings on all your social networking sites.

These kids are out of control. I would call them adults, but due to their inability to act like adults, I think we should stick with referring to them as kids for now. The university needs to take action to preserve, and restore the integrity of the institution, athletic department, and football program. Don’t worry Duck fans, I have everything figured out! The answer lies in the spring 2010 academic calendar. This proposal will apply to all collegiate athletes at the University of Oregon; NOT just the football players. This plan will turn the ducks back into the primadonnas that we are.

During the athlete’s non-competitive season, they will be required to register for at least one credit of independent study requiring them to spend 30 hours volunteering somewhere within the Eugene/Springfield area during that particular quarter. You hold a press conference with UO President Richard Lariviere, Athletic Director Mike Bellotti, and Head Football Coach Chip Kelly. Kelly will be the one to take the proposal to Bellotti for approval. This program allows student athletes to give back to the community, and to those who are less fortunate. I see this as a mentoring program for youth that will help build relationships, and will help restore the brand image of what the university stands for. The personal growth and development of these student athletes will experience working with troubled youth, is something that cannot be learned on the athletic fields or courts. This is a perfect opportunity to develop a partnership with Serbu Youth Detention Facility for troubled youth in the community. This facility resides directly across the street from Autzen Stadium, and I think it’s time to start seeing the potential for a relationship between the detention center and the university athletic department.

Phil Knight believes that there is no such thing as bad press, and a lot of people will disagree with that statement. What people fail to understand is that the negative publicity allows for an opportunity to evaluate the situation, address it to the media, and then take the necessary steps to correct those problems. Once you have taken those corrective steps, you then invite the media back to showcase the university’s progress, and use it as a platform to promote the new program. Once graduation rates increase due to the implementation of Coach Kelly’s program, other institutions will follow and adopt something similar.

This will also ensure John Canzano’s absence from Oregon, as he has never written anything positive about the institution. I’m guessing Canzano failed to get in to the school of journalism at Oregon, and had to settle for a degree from Douche- Bag-U…Quack Quack, Go Ducks!!