"In It to Win It" and other Lies

Every off-season, marketing departments from professional teams gather to brainstorm (brains in sports?) on a team slogan or new seasonal logo.

Typically, each front office staff member will write down five "slogans" and then the marketing team will pick out the slogan that they think will best symbolize their upcoming season.

The slogan will, of course, be clever and is intended to make season ticket holders, corporate sponsors, and the average fan, giddy about that team's chances in the upcoming season.

Slogans like "Run for the Ring," "Quest for the Cup" and "Push to the Playoffs," are generic and commonly used, especially come playoff time. Unless, of course, you are a L.A. Clippers fan in which case you do not even know how to spell playoffs.

The popular season logo (a rather recent marketing ploy that now every team preys upon) is the Anniversary logo.

Every sports fan has had there team break out a new logo for some special occasion. For example, a large Roman "X" with the team logo signifying 10 years of history or the team logo jumping off of a Roman "V" marking the ever historic five years of tradition.

My first encounter with the slogan concept was when I played baseball in high school. Our opponent that day was warming up in matching t-shirts that had the phrase, "In It to Win It" on them. Our team cracked up. What a bunch of losers we thought. What team wasn't "In It to Win It?"

Ahhh, the naivete of youth.

If every team in the professional ranks today, in every sport, was forced to use "In It to Win It," or "Run for the Ring" as their seasonal slogan, how many teams could honestly do so?

Let's just say that the percentage would probably be barely above the Mendoza line.

The Florida Marlins, for instance, have had one, count 'em, one, winning season in their 10 year history, and any baseball fan can tell you when that was. The year was 1997 when the Fish bought the World Series title and then sold off all of their good players.

When was the last time the Kansas City Royals were, "In It to Win It?" Do you really like the Cleveland Cavs chances to make the playoffs? Think Corey Dillon and the Bun-gles can make a "Run for the Ring?"

The answers to these and other sub-.500 teams winning games: No, No, No, and finally, No.

Are some teams making an effort to be more fan-friendly? Yes. Are teams laying out discounts and incentives for participating in team events, i.e. tickets, sponsorships, etc.? Yes. Is it enough? No.

Every team should be in it to win it. Otherwise, why field a team?

Some argue that teams might have a chance to win even if they aren't expected to, like the Anaheim Angels winning the Series. How often does this scenario happen? Every team in every league should be able to field a competitive team and have a legitimate shot at a championship. When did we as the fan become complacent to this?

Maxim No.1 when it comes to sports organizations: Don't believe the hype. That is all sports marketing is, hype. When your team rolls out their cool new slogan like, "Decade of Dominance," or "Ballin' for You," or maybe even "In It to Win It," do me a favor. Look past that and take a look at the team roster. You may have a different slogan for the club like, "How in the hell are we going to win 10 games?" or "We suck, but our cheerleaders are H-O-T!" or maybe even this classic, "Our owners don't give a flip, but you should!"

"In It to Win It." For 35 bucks a ticket your team better be.

Eric Brammer is a marketing manager for a technology company and spent three years working in minor league sports. Drop him a line at ebrammer@pointclear.net as long as you are not a Boston College or Buffalo Bills fan.