A snake with good taste

I hear she's a wicked ball-striker

...no pun intended.

Thanks to Stuart in OK!

JFB

The new PGA logo

February 4, 2002

AP Photo

The Wall Street Journal had an eye-opening story this week on how improved (read: meaner)sports teams' logos have changed the fortunes of these teams.

For example, one the paper mentioned was the old football logo of the Phoenix Cardinals was one of tepidness...now it has the look of a pissed off Cardinal that lost the last worm in the morning to a Robin. Once perennial doormats, they now will play in the Superbowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The story features other football teams (Buccaneers, Patriots etc) that have changed their logo's and have ridden the meaner-looking trend to climb out of the cellar.

So I got to thinking about the PGA Tour logo. Long revered as having been modeled after the sweet swing of Jerry Pate, the current logo is a docile and stale. When I think of that pose, I don't think 'great pose', I think about the plaid pants the man wore.

What's needed is edge...like the edge Pat Perez gave to the hallowed turf in 2002 at Pebble Beach...what that backhanded swing exemplified is passion...it's not so much of an out-of-control golfer, than an in-the-moment athlete that pushed the envelope...and it pushed back.

I think having the shadow of Pat Perez's fateful backhand is exactly the new image the PGA Tour needs for their logo. It's time to get mean, show that the Tour is a hard-fought battle and that the tough, aggressive, and passionate win the battle.

Make the audience feel that divot...

And get mean.

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Changing of the guard-dog

As a young newspaper-boy, I was not excited about delivering papers to customers that had poodles as pets...I did not like their position on paperboys...mainly how they liked to nip at my heels as I was running away from them.

My favorite dog, however is the Labrador...no better dog for companionship in my book.

Next week will be the inauguration of our new President. This week, though, will be the First Family's family dog decision. The frontrunners are the Portugese Water Hound and the infamous Labradoodle.

The Labradoodle (cross between Labrador and Poodle) earned it's celebrity as the second dog in the Tiger Woods family. Yogi, as he is known, was picked for his lack of shedding and ability to let folks that have allergies revel in the companionship of a dog without having to carry a box of Kleenex and eyedrops.

The Obama's are a family that suffers from allergies as well. Thus the possible choice of this cross-bred treasure.

No word yet on how these dogs react to paperboys, or better yet...the press.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

The Meaning of "G"

For a few weeks running, TV has had a plethora of newly minted ads that have the feel of desperation, as in desperation to sell us anything.

Enter Gatorade.

As reported in the WSJ today, the "What's G" ads we've been seeing in all of sports television broadcasting has been a subliminal attempt by the greatest drink franchise in history...Gatorade.

In the black-and-white ads, we see a collection of athletes (from Tiger Woods, to Bill Russell) and musical artists (from I Don't Know His Name, to Why Is He In This Ad).

It makes me wonder if the Gatorade Tiger drink will make the cut after seeing this ad (which is an apparent blending of the brand from many personalities into one). Goodness knows last year's sales for Tiger's subset of the overall Gatorade sales had to be brutal after his disappearance from golf last year.

If this ad kicks off a successful re-branding of Gatorade (which I believe will), then we might see these type of ads migrating to other suffering brands.

Let's start with a "B" for Buick...


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB