Links=Freedom
A couple of quick thoughts before my mother hits town:
-Not sure if you've been following this, but apparently my half-assed joke about C.J. Miles's mic prowess alienating Larry Miller was taken WAY too seriously in Utah. Oddly, they made no reference to my concerns about the other C.J. Miles. After two days of trying to explain sarcasm from scratch, I'm now hit with an odd confluence of snark and reality: C.J.'s signed an offer sheet with OKC, despite having skipped the RMR and done little to boost his stock with Utah or others.
All of which raises the question: For all of my bald-faced assaults on Oklahoma City, there could be a regional appeal for certain players. Not that OKC is Dallas, TX, but it's closer to Dallas than any other city in the league. And really not that far from Houston. This may not be a draw for tons of free agents; however, in the case of Miles—a preps-to-pros guy three years removed from Skyline—this nowhere is certainly preferable to the nowhere of Utah. Especially if he'll get more minutes in the Dust Bowl.
The big irony here: My "joke" was that Miles sounded a lot more exotic and regional on the track than Dee Brown, who if memory serves was awfully peppy and accessible. So if the location of the [OKC team] makes it attractive to Miles, then, wow, my silliness inadvertantly might have made a point.
-Sneaker wars, stuff I barely follow: Darren Rovell says that Jennings is a hotter property than Rose or Beasley. Rose is the kind of player who needs to display some genuine excellence before the tone they'll probably take makse sense. Beasley presents all kinds of challenges, though, I don't see why Barkley (not Arenas, he's not that dorky) isn't the prototype here. Jennings, on the other hand, has unmistakable flair to his game, already has the image thing down pat, and now has this socio-political crusader thing going. You have to wonder how much they'd ever explicitly reference the Italy thing in a commercial. But certainly, it gives him a kind of cachet, and worldliness, and other NBA rooks—if we even want to call Jennings that—can't match.
Labels: brandon jennings, c.j. miles, marketing, michael beasley
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 7/19/2008 12:30:00 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I wonder what division the OKC Thunder will play in. The SW Division is nasty enough, perhaps they'll boot the Hornets to the Eastern conference? OKC-Dallas could be a decent rivalry, considering the short distance between them, especially if OKC fans come out the way they did for Chris Paul & Co. And I'm sure Miles won't mind the approximately one hour drive between his new home and his old one.
Is Jennings being a bigger sneaker draw REALLY a surprise, considering the intimate relationship with Vaccaro?
I can pretty easily see Jennings making more compelling commercials than Beasley or Rose, at least in the mold of the current tone of sneaker commercials.
Gone are the goofy "Player vs. Godzilla"-style commercials of the '90s. It's all about the chill factor, now. Imagine the following, scored by an orchestral/industrial soundtrack:
Scene 1: An airport in Italy. After a two-second-long establishing shot, we have a closeup on a hand checking a duffle bag (emblazoned with shoe company X's logo".
Scene 2: We cut to some ballers in a generic gym.
Scene 3: The cabin of an airplane. A medium-close up shot of legs, crossed (MANSTYLE). There's a distinct twitch to them, as if they're restless, ready for action. The feet are clad in sneaker brand X.
Scene 4: We return to the ballers. One dunks/blocks/lays up the ball. Nothing too impressive, though.
Scene 5: Taxi rolls up outside generic looking gym. Medium shot of MYSTERIOUS FIGURE steps out. Close up on his wallet as he pulls money out to pay the cabbie. He one one twenty dollar bill, but the wallet is overflowing with Italian euros. The figure is possibly wearing a Roma championship ring.
Scene 6: We return to the gym. Behind the players, we see the doors fly open, and quickly focus on it. Against the blindingly bright background of the day, as we see is a tall, shadowy figure.
We cut to a shot behind Jennings. The ballers stop, a mixed look of terror and fear striking their face. A large, indelible shadow of a flat-top falls across the gym.
Quick cut to black accompanied by some loud noise. White text over black: THE RETURN.
Swoosh.
that shit gave me chills.
i can't wait for jennings.
please let him end up on the hawks w/ josh and joe and josh and al and marvin
flair also
What I was basically trying to say (at length) with the above is that the age of goofy advertizing where I can watch Vince post up a dinosaur seem like they're over.
The goofiest commerical I can think of off the top of my head are Gil's "Impossible is Nothing" commercials, and the goofiness in that is drawn completely from the animation style, not the content.
I'm sure there are some examples I'm missing. But, regardless of personality, I think my script is the most likely eventuality.
Does personality really matter in the ad game right now?
Imagine this said in the smallest unit of snark possible, while still containing said snarkiness, whats the exchange rate of American Dollars to Italian Euros?
Per Wikipedia: "The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any country may be freely used in any nation which has adopted the euro."
I knew this was the case - assumed it was the same for bills as well. My mistake.
Word to Big Daddy Kane's fade. The script for Jenning's mersh was decent, if overlong. But I can definitely imagine the 'do being a big part of his marketing appeal. His silhouette (ala House party) could become instsntly recognizeable. Dude's got a flair to his game that will really shine if he ends up on a team with some atheletic finishers.
Brandon Jennings could be a taste of what's to come. Josh Childress is apparently considering a deal from Greece now.
Via Hoops Hype:
"Childress flew to Greece late Sunday and is scheduled to meet with Olympiakos officials on Monday. Childress, 25, is so flustered with the Hawks’ refusal to make a sign-and-trade deal to another team, one source familiar with his thinking believes there’s “better than a 50-50 chance” he’ll sign with Olympiakos. The team also will cover the Greek taxes for Childress, making it even more lucrative. “Unless he just gets there and doesn’t like it at all, I think he’s going to go,” one league source said. Yahoo! Sports"
My Childress thoughts, unfinished
Some all-purpose rants and raves in a little bit.
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