Free Agent Frenzy

With NFL Free Agency less than 24 hours in, the madness is already high.  For all free agent signings, visits, and news, here is a list of guys that you MUST be following on Twitter.
@AdamSchefter
@Mortreport
@JayGlazer               
@greggrosenthal
@caplannfl
@JasonLaCanfora
@AlbertBreer
@adbrandt

For more local Eagles news, follow:

@RoobCSN
@Jeff_McLane
@geoffmosher
@phillysport
@JonathanTamari
@Davespadaro
@LesBowen
@EaglesInsider
@CSNPhilly

Did we forget any?  If we did, post your suggestion in the comments!

Sports Marketing Case Study: Nike and Tiger Woods

About two and a half years ago, the sports world was rocked with the Tiger Woods scandal.  I’ll spare everyone the details because I doubt anybody needs to be reminded of them.  In the wake of the scandal, Tiger lost many of his most prominent sponsors: Gatorade, AT&T, Tag Heuer, Accenture, Gillette, and Golf Digest to be exact.  Perhaps Tiger’s biggest and most notable sponsor, Nike, the sponsor of his clubs that had been there through victory after victory, fatefully remained. 

Why would Nike stick with a guy like Tiger Woods after such a public fall from grace?  Aside from possibly assuming that he would come back just as strong as he had left, there is one intriguing theory.  Through all of his PGA Tour victories and major wins, Tiger had been using a Scotty Cameron putter.  When Tiger returned to the game, he slowly implemented one of Nike’s putters into his bag.  First, he was only going to use the Nike putter on slower greens like those at The Open Championship.  Now, Tiger uses a Nike putter full time.  Clearly his results since his comeback have not been up to par with those results prior to the scandal.  An inconsistent putter has been one of his biggest obstacles in achieving greatness again.

Many believe that Nike stuck with Tiger post-scandal after giving him an ultimatum: You drop the Scotty Cameron putter and play with Nike clubs exclusively or we drop you just like all of the other endorsers.  Whether you personally believe it or not, it is a strong possibility. 

So here is the question for you as a sports marketer, specifically Nike in this case.  Do you allow Tiger Woods to go back using the Scotty Cameron putter that he was wildly successful with?  Or do you continue to force him to use the Nike putter in order to keep his golf bag exclusively Nike and risk the continued relative mediocrity?  Post your answer and explanation in the comments below.

It will be interesting to see how Tiger Woods bounces back from his most recent injury, to his left Achilles, which forced him to withdraw from the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championships on Sunday.  With the Masters rapidly approaching, I’m sure the PGA Tour would greatly appreciate Tiger’s name in the field for the purpose of television ratings.  It is arguable that golf does not need Tiger like it once did, but it sure does help to have him.

--Written By Kevin Rossi

@kevin_rossi

Snubbed

Everything seemed to be set for Drexel to finally make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1996.  “Seemed” seems to be the key word there.  A magical season for the Dragons has taken a very sharp turn out of the NCAA tournament and into the National Invitational Tournament.   What went wrong? 

You could blame the selection committee for picking Iona.  An illogical choice at best, Drexel seemed to have the clear upper hand on the Gaels going into Selection Sunday.  What did Iona have that Drexel did not?  Other than a flashy offense, I’m personally not quite sure what the committee saw there. 

You could blame the selection committee’s seemingly biased attitude towards the Dragons.  In 2007, Drexel went into Selection Sunday a 23 win team with key wins over Syracuse, and Big5/City 6 foes Temple, St. Joes, and Villanova.  Drexel was knocked out in the semi-finals of the CAA conference tournament.  In 2007, the selection committee told Drexel that they did not have enough total wins.  This year with 27 wins, Drexel didn’t have enough “quality” wins.  Who knows if the Dragons will ever get it right in the committee’s eye?

You could blame Xavier.  The A-10 was sure to be a three team conference come NCAA tournament time.  It was looking good for Drexel.  All they needed was a win by Xavier over St. Bonaventure in the A-10 title game.  A loss by the Bonnies would have put them in the same bubble limbo that the Dragons were facing.  Instead, to the dismay of many Drexel fans, St. Bonaventure blew Xavier away and made the A-10 a four team conference.

You could blame the committee for rewarding mediocrity in the power conference schools.  Out of the Big East, there is West Virginia with 19 wins, UConn with 20 wins, and South Florida with 20 wins.  Out of the Big 12, Texas only had 20 wins.  Even Xavier, an at-large out of the A-10, only had 21 wins.  It is unfortunate that a 27 win Drexel does not have a chance to prove the CAA’s power.

You could blame the committee for disrespecting the CAA this year.  Last year the CAA had three bids to the NCAA tournament and saw VCU ride a magical season all the way to the Final Four.  This year, only one bid.  VCU gets in as the CAA tournament champions, looking as strong as ever, and are given a 12 seed.  Let alone only getting one team in this year, last season should have proved that the CAA is strong than people think.  Plus, Drexel won the CAA regular season title outright and only lost the CAA championship game to VCU by 3.

You could blame Drexel’s non-conference schedule for not playing up to their hype.  Before the season, it seemed that Bruiser Flint had put together a non-conference schedule that could boost the numbers that the committee typically looks for.  Of course losses to quality RPI teams in Virginia and St. Joes didn’t help, but Rider, Princeton, and Fairfield all finished their seasons as disappointments.  Drexel couldn’t even get any help from their BracketBuster game.  Cleveland State looked strong to start the season, but fell off a few games prior to Drexel and never really got back on track. 

You could blame the committee for not watching enough games.  It seems as if the committee tends to look at numbers instead of taking the time to actually watch the games.  Numbers are great, but as a supplement.  Nothing replaces the value of watching a team play live.  If you asked the committee I’m sure they would tell you that they watch all the teams.  Without hesitation, I would say they are lying.  About half to a third of the people on the selection committee are division one athletic directors.  You’re not going to tell me that LSU’s AD watched all 68 tournament teams and all of the bubble teams all year long.  It just ain’t gonna happen.

Regardless of which blame game category you fall under, it is impossible to forget that Drexel has had a great season.   Fortunately for us fans, that great season continues only in the NIT.  The great season not only continues, but we all get to pack the DAC at least one more time.  So please jump on Twitter, break out your #DrexelvsTheWorld, and support the team on Wednesday night at the DAC versus UCF.  Let’s make a statement and show the NCAA tournament what they are missing.  You can definitely blame the committee for fueling the Dragon’s fire.

­--Written By:  Kevin Rossi

@kevin_rossi

Drexel Goes Down In Heartbreaking Fashion

19 wins in a row.  25 wins in their last 26 games.  Last lose was over 2 months ago.  These accomplishments by the Drexel Men’s Basketball team were flushed away Monday night with a 3 point loss to CAA rival VCU in the CAA conference championship game.  The win sends VCU directly into the NCAA Tournament.  The loss leaves Drexel going back to Philadelphia waiting to find out their NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday.

The game featured a tale of two teams for the Dragons.  In the first half, Drexel looked like a team that was severely overmatched.  Stifled by VCU’s “havoc” defense, the Dragon’s squad had double digit turnovers.  Going with a 6 man rotation, from the senior leader down to the freshman sensation, nobody wanted to take control of a game that was seemingly spiraling out of control.  Drexel went into the locker room at halftime down 16 points.

Seriously, a 16 point halftime deficit for the Drexel Dragons?  The same team that has dominated since the calendar flipped to 2012?  Bruiser must have sent a message, and somebody must have heard it.

The second half was a completely different game.  The fans at a neutral site in Richmond, Virginia, so they say, were amazed at what they saw.  Drexel, slowly but surely, chipped away at VCU’s lead.  16 down to 13.  13 down 7.  7 down to 4.  Drexel had the game all the way back to a one possession game with under a minute to go.  Just as happened in the first half, a final three point attempt went unanswered as time expired.  

The tournament selection committee is notoriously all about their numbers: strength of schedule, RPI, wins against top 50 RPI.  Unfortunately, Drexel is desperately lacking in many of the major statistical categories focused on by the committee.  As Drexel fans, let’s hope and pray that the committee focuses on things like conference record, a defense that has garnered national attention, a 19 game winning streak that stretched through a majority of conference play, and a regular season conference title in a conference that has made a name for itself with deep runs in the NCAA tournament.  It would have been nice to go through the week knowing that Drexel was officially in the big dance, but now it is in the hands of the committee.  And now we must wait. 

--Written By Kevin Rossi

@kevin_rossi

"A Discussion with Andrew Bandt" is TONIGHT!

As has been promoted here at The Sports Complex, the Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) at Drexel University will host Andrew Brandt this evening from 6:30pm-8:00pm in PISB 112 (Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building). Food and beverages will also be available.

For those unable to attend the event in-person, live streaming of the event is available. To watch, please click the following link and enter the link as a "Guest" http://goodwincollege.adobeconnect.com/brandt/. The event will also be archived for viewing at a later date.

A copy of the flyer is contained in the post below. Please email us with any questions.