Selling the Image of Speedskating in the 21st Century:
As everyone knows, USSPEEDSKATING is in dire financial straits right now. Most people can admit that USS's previous leadership has led them down that path. The question now is, how is the new Board going to market the sport and bring more money in?
I see that there is a dilemma that the speedskating administrators have to solve. They have to reconcile the "whitewashed" image of the sport with the true marketing potential of several of their athletes, as individuals.
During the Olympics, I noticed some online news articles discussing "whether the Olympics have lost their soul," and whether the Games are still relevant to today's culture. Well, maybe most people can no longer relate to the "old protocol" of the parade-riding, flag-waving Olympic medalist, but some sports federations, namely our own, are still trying to hang onto this image.
One problem is that several of the individuals who were running USSPEEDSKATING during the past Olympic cycle were setting up obstacles for many of the skaters to fight, practicing favoritism and discrimination, utilizing unethical training methods, and signing misleading contracts, while, at the same time, projecting a false image of goodness to the public. Just yesterday, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron were convicted "of a total of 29 criminal counts, including a conspiracy to hide the failing health of the company by selling a boosterish optimism to Wall Street and the public." The only difference between what Enron was doing and what the former leaders of USSPEEDSKATING were doing is in the value of what was at stake. So far, it's not criminal to destroy a young person's athletic career, but it is criminal to make people lose their life savings.
Another problem is that, although the stories and personalities of several of our Olympians and other skaters are interesting and marketable, they don't exactly fit in with the image that USSPEEDSKATING has wanted to maintain. For example, let's take Chad Hedrick. First, I have to say that I totally disagree with his attacks on Shani, and believe that USSPEEDSKATING allowed this to go on, in order to let this conflict between the two Olympic champions take the media's attention off the conflicts between USS and its skaters. I read in the Salt Lake Tribune that Chad intended to make a "Nancy vs. Tonya" sort of feud out of this because he felt it would bring attention to the sport, and I don't really like that.
However, this being said, Chad is a very marketable athlete. Girls see him as a "hunk." He's a party animal and a fun guy who loves attention and having the camera on him. He's been called the "Paris Hilton of speedskating," (OK, so I despise Paris Hilton, but whatever...that's just my own opinion.) and in terms of Winter Olympic sports, he's kind of like Bode Miller. Chad is a controversial figure who doesn't do things in the conventional way. He does have the potential to bring attention to the sport of speedskating, but is speedskating ready to let him have the freedom to market himself?
Then, there is Shani Davis. Shani is a pioneer for African Americans in the sport of speedskating, and has the potential to attract many new athletes to the sport. He is a great role model and loves kids. However, USSPEEDSKATING has treated Shani very poorly, and has totally missed out on the opportunity to attract African Americans to the sport of speedskating.
There are also some great stories in the ranks of those skaters who are climbing the ladder of the sport, but in speedskating, these stories are never told. What I like about internet sites such as OhnoZone is that Noelle, who runs the site, writes about all the different athletes "on the tour," not just the stars. Unlike Andy Gabel, the former USS president who publicly displays his shallow disrespect for any skater who doesn't have an Olympic medal, Noelle begins with an attitude of respect for all skaters who have achieved the level of international competition in short track. She seems to have an understanding of what it takes to get there, and her postings on OhnoZone really get people interested in all the athletes as individuals.
As I've discussed before, I feel that USSPEEDSKATING missed out on some great publicity this past season by not televising the Olympic Trials events. I'd even say that following some Olympic hopefuls around as they prepared for the Trials and for the Games would have made a great reality TV show, and anyone who has their finger on the pulse of "what's hot" knows that reality TV is hot right now.
However, I also think that avoiding the cameras fit the agenda of USS's leadership at that time. Can you imagine how disastrous this might have been for them? Can you imagine Mike Crowe and Andy Gabel speaking on TV, losing debates to their own athletes over what is good and what is bad for the sport? Can you imagine them justifying their own decisions?
Even just televising the Olympic Trials would have caused people to ask too many pesky questions, for example, "Why did that skater retire immediately after the last race, when she still had a chance to be added to the team?" or, worse, "Why did they call that pair back to the starting line, pretending there was a false start, when there really wasn't, because one of the Chosen Ones had a stumble that cost her several tenths of a second?"
The trade-off for publicity is a willingness to be accountable to the public. Is USSPEEDSKATING ready for that?
In terms of the whitewashing of the image of speedskating at the expense of the athletes, believe me when I say that THE TRUTH IS MORE THAN JUST A GOOD STORY. We don't want the sport to be dragged through the mud, but at the same time, what has been happening in speedskating is that the athletes have been eating the cost of the corruption within the sport in order to preserve the sport's image. WHEN THE EVIL GO UNPUNISHED, THE GOOD MUST PAY.
Look at what happened at the Olympics. Shani Davis is not the bad guy. Shani Davis is the good guy. He is the hero of a great Olympic story and an inspiration to young people everywhere. But because his true story was not told, people tried to ruin his Olympic experience and taint his image in order to preserve the false front of "America's Purest Sport," which was, in reality, festering and crumbling on the inside.
In the same way, I am not the "bad guy" in my fight with USSPEEDSKATING. People think my story is pretty amazing, and most people believe that despite my rage, which is sometimes over-the-top, I am right about what I say. However, my story will probably never be told because it is too controversial. And because my story will never be told, I also eat the cost of maintaining speedskating's false and whitewashed reputation, when people say that I'm exaggerating, or that I complain too much, or that "things like that don't really happen in speedskating," or that I'm bitter because I wasn't strong enough to "beat the clock."
Enough of that!!! I'm not guilty. I'm the talented speedskater who was wronged by the system and never had a chance to reach my full potential, while Mike Crowe was the program director who destroyed the U.S. long track women's team in order to protect one person who had maxed out her potential years ago. You can look at the conflict between the Davises and Andy Gabel in the same way. Some people say, "Andy Gabel is a savvy businessman and a tireless promoter of the sport," while Cherie Davis is the mother of an Olympic gold medalist, and Cherie and Andy don't see eye to eye. But that's not the true story - that's the whitewashed version. The truth is that Andy Gabel is a poor leader who signed a misleading sponsorship deal behind his skaters' backs and then expected the skaters to pay for his mistake, and Shani was a victim of this decision, and later was the victim of other peoples' attacks on his image as an athlete.
Can you see what is happening? This is no longer about protecting the image of the sport. This is about protecting the reputation of individuals who have tried to ruin the sport for their own selfish reasons. This is about people like Mike Crowe and Andy Gabel being protected at the expense of people like me and Shani.
USSPEEDSKATING has a new Board now. I feel that the first step towards being able to market the sport is to tell the truth about what happened in it, and how changes are being made. The next step will be to evaluate what the American people want from their Olympic athletes, in terms of entertainment value, and to move in that direction. USS is lucky to have skaters who are very marketable, as well as being speedskating champions, but their marketing potential is not being fully utilized.
As everyone knows, USSPEEDSKATING is in dire financial straits right now. Most people can admit that USS's previous leadership has led them down that path. The question now is, how is the new Board going to market the sport and bring more money in?
I see that there is a dilemma that the speedskating administrators have to solve. They have to reconcile the "whitewashed" image of the sport with the true marketing potential of several of their athletes, as individuals.
During the Olympics, I noticed some online news articles discussing "whether the Olympics have lost their soul," and whether the Games are still relevant to today's culture. Well, maybe most people can no longer relate to the "old protocol" of the parade-riding, flag-waving Olympic medalist, but some sports federations, namely our own, are still trying to hang onto this image.
One problem is that several of the individuals who were running USSPEEDSKATING during the past Olympic cycle were setting up obstacles for many of the skaters to fight, practicing favoritism and discrimination, utilizing unethical training methods, and signing misleading contracts, while, at the same time, projecting a false image of goodness to the public. Just yesterday, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron were convicted "of a total of 29 criminal counts, including a conspiracy to hide the failing health of the company by selling a boosterish optimism to Wall Street and the public." The only difference between what Enron was doing and what the former leaders of USSPEEDSKATING were doing is in the value of what was at stake. So far, it's not criminal to destroy a young person's athletic career, but it is criminal to make people lose their life savings.
Another problem is that, although the stories and personalities of several of our Olympians and other skaters are interesting and marketable, they don't exactly fit in with the image that USSPEEDSKATING has wanted to maintain. For example, let's take Chad Hedrick. First, I have to say that I totally disagree with his attacks on Shani, and believe that USSPEEDSKATING allowed this to go on, in order to let this conflict between the two Olympic champions take the media's attention off the conflicts between USS and its skaters. I read in the Salt Lake Tribune that Chad intended to make a "Nancy vs. Tonya" sort of feud out of this because he felt it would bring attention to the sport, and I don't really like that.
However, this being said, Chad is a very marketable athlete. Girls see him as a "hunk." He's a party animal and a fun guy who loves attention and having the camera on him. He's been called the "Paris Hilton of speedskating," (OK, so I despise Paris Hilton, but whatever...that's just my own opinion.) and in terms of Winter Olympic sports, he's kind of like Bode Miller. Chad is a controversial figure who doesn't do things in the conventional way. He does have the potential to bring attention to the sport of speedskating, but is speedskating ready to let him have the freedom to market himself?
Then, there is Shani Davis. Shani is a pioneer for African Americans in the sport of speedskating, and has the potential to attract many new athletes to the sport. He is a great role model and loves kids. However, USSPEEDSKATING has treated Shani very poorly, and has totally missed out on the opportunity to attract African Americans to the sport of speedskating.
There are also some great stories in the ranks of those skaters who are climbing the ladder of the sport, but in speedskating, these stories are never told. What I like about internet sites such as OhnoZone is that Noelle, who runs the site, writes about all the different athletes "on the tour," not just the stars. Unlike Andy Gabel, the former USS president who publicly displays his shallow disrespect for any skater who doesn't have an Olympic medal, Noelle begins with an attitude of respect for all skaters who have achieved the level of international competition in short track. She seems to have an understanding of what it takes to get there, and her postings on OhnoZone really get people interested in all the athletes as individuals.
As I've discussed before, I feel that USSPEEDSKATING missed out on some great publicity this past season by not televising the Olympic Trials events. I'd even say that following some Olympic hopefuls around as they prepared for the Trials and for the Games would have made a great reality TV show, and anyone who has their finger on the pulse of "what's hot" knows that reality TV is hot right now.
However, I also think that avoiding the cameras fit the agenda of USS's leadership at that time. Can you imagine how disastrous this might have been for them? Can you imagine Mike Crowe and Andy Gabel speaking on TV, losing debates to their own athletes over what is good and what is bad for the sport? Can you imagine them justifying their own decisions?
Even just televising the Olympic Trials would have caused people to ask too many pesky questions, for example, "Why did that skater retire immediately after the last race, when she still had a chance to be added to the team?" or, worse, "Why did they call that pair back to the starting line, pretending there was a false start, when there really wasn't, because one of the Chosen Ones had a stumble that cost her several tenths of a second?"
The trade-off for publicity is a willingness to be accountable to the public. Is USSPEEDSKATING ready for that?
In terms of the whitewashing of the image of speedskating at the expense of the athletes, believe me when I say that THE TRUTH IS MORE THAN JUST A GOOD STORY. We don't want the sport to be dragged through the mud, but at the same time, what has been happening in speedskating is that the athletes have been eating the cost of the corruption within the sport in order to preserve the sport's image. WHEN THE EVIL GO UNPUNISHED, THE GOOD MUST PAY.
Look at what happened at the Olympics. Shani Davis is not the bad guy. Shani Davis is the good guy. He is the hero of a great Olympic story and an inspiration to young people everywhere. But because his true story was not told, people tried to ruin his Olympic experience and taint his image in order to preserve the false front of "America's Purest Sport," which was, in reality, festering and crumbling on the inside.
In the same way, I am not the "bad guy" in my fight with USSPEEDSKATING. People think my story is pretty amazing, and most people believe that despite my rage, which is sometimes over-the-top, I am right about what I say. However, my story will probably never be told because it is too controversial. And because my story will never be told, I also eat the cost of maintaining speedskating's false and whitewashed reputation, when people say that I'm exaggerating, or that I complain too much, or that "things like that don't really happen in speedskating," or that I'm bitter because I wasn't strong enough to "beat the clock."
Enough of that!!! I'm not guilty. I'm the talented speedskater who was wronged by the system and never had a chance to reach my full potential, while Mike Crowe was the program director who destroyed the U.S. long track women's team in order to protect one person who had maxed out her potential years ago. You can look at the conflict between the Davises and Andy Gabel in the same way. Some people say, "Andy Gabel is a savvy businessman and a tireless promoter of the sport," while Cherie Davis is the mother of an Olympic gold medalist, and Cherie and Andy don't see eye to eye. But that's not the true story - that's the whitewashed version. The truth is that Andy Gabel is a poor leader who signed a misleading sponsorship deal behind his skaters' backs and then expected the skaters to pay for his mistake, and Shani was a victim of this decision, and later was the victim of other peoples' attacks on his image as an athlete.
Can you see what is happening? This is no longer about protecting the image of the sport. This is about protecting the reputation of individuals who have tried to ruin the sport for their own selfish reasons. This is about people like Mike Crowe and Andy Gabel being protected at the expense of people like me and Shani.
USSPEEDSKATING has a new Board now. I feel that the first step towards being able to market the sport is to tell the truth about what happened in it, and how changes are being made. The next step will be to evaluate what the American people want from their Olympic athletes, in terms of entertainment value, and to move in that direction. USS is lucky to have skaters who are very marketable, as well as being speedskating champions, but their marketing potential is not being fully utilized.
posted by Eva at 8:30 AM
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