August 17, 2007

PR wizardry at its finest

Fernando Clavijo is making friends in Colorado these days. No, not with the turnaround that saw his Rapids spank New England 3-0 last night. No, he's making friends with comments like, ""At the end of the year, after we make the playoffs,I'm going to send all those people their money back for their season tickets."

Read more here, and the opposing viewpoint here.

Fernando, do you want to know why people are upset? Well, before these comments anyway. A ten game winless streak will upset people, especially when your team is coming off back to back conference final appearances. Getting drubbed 5-0 by a second division team in the Open Cup isn't going to make people too happy. Sitting on the outside of the playoff picture by five points worries people a bit, especially when you've gotten rid of some of their favorite players.

Sure, there's probably tons of other reasons for not winning in ten games and the other stuff. Go back to the classic, "Well, the fans aren't there so they don't know," defense. The problem is, they see the games, they see the scoreboards, and they see the standings. They can also read, and comments like the ones in the Denver Post sure aren't going to get them to rally behind you.

I had always been a big fan of Clavijo, I thought he did a great job getting the Rapids to the conference finals in the past two years with a so-so roster. With the additions this year, they were my sleeper team. Unfortunately, they've slept through most of the season so far.

I guess I'm the most disappointed that Fernando is a guy who's been around the block a few times in this game. He knows how passionate it is, and how passionate fans are about their team. The fact that he's reacting like someone who doesn't have that experience surprises me.

Keep your eyes on the attempted "mutiny" in Colorado, should make the playoff chase very interesting...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Impressive with the pink slip protest A+ for creativity. I guess the paper bag of the head thing is a bit too warm in the summer.

There is something about the Rocky Mountains this season and coaches. The Salt Lake letter to the fans about how hard we will try was rather humorous.

So let me get this straight the coach criticize the fans about the fact they criticize him and say they don't have the right to criticize him. Next the fans will say the coach shouldn't criticize them for criticizing him. Thats funny.

Longshoe said...

I'm convinced this will end with a 3rd grade slap fight. Skin will be reddened and tears will fall...