LOTS of interesting quotes from Hinchey on the Terrace report on the jersey: http://blogs.denverpost.com/rapids/2013/02/25/colorado-rapids-new-jersey-state-flag/24244/ Stop me if you've heard this before... (I've submitted a question through the Rapids media for Hinchey to answer about his guarantee of last summer, we'll see what response I get). Lots of great stuff there, I ended up deleting most of this post because I was quoting half the article.
Lord knows I have. The key information for me is this: So basically, if you don't shell out the extra $40, you've bought yourself an RSL jersey. The devil is in the details, Mr. Hinchey, and you've brought the devil over from the Wasatch Range. Congrats.
"The Rapids did get a consolation prize for their jersey sponsorship efforts. Hinchey said one company the club tried to sell on the shirt – Western Union – will become a “large new sponsor.” This is a positive
A couple other things from this article I want to point out: I'm sorry, Gorski, but you needed to push Hinchey harder here. Adidas has made soccer jerseys for decades, and have made a number of dark and dark kits for teams, including but not limited to Spain, Benfica, Chelsea, Liverpool, Chivas (and Chivas USA), FC Dallas, Philly, Portland and Seattle. I have a hard time buying that Hinchey had to do any selling. Next, this: Is in direct contradiction with this: I happen to fall in that target range, and if you've made the difference between jerseys $40, with the big picture concept of the jersey not reading all on the replica, you're not getting any of my money. The home jersey, while not quite as nice without the watermark bands, still reads as a unique jersey and a concept without the ticketholder names watermarked on it. Without the flag on it, the away jersey looks like a Columbia jersey taken off the rack with a Rapids logo ironed on. I would have flipped that.
Apparently I'm not the target audience, either. I don't buy the $120 authentic jerseys because they cost $120. And if replica jerseys cease to be replicas, then I won't buy those either. With this design especially, there are many 3rd party options which aren't replicas as well.
The only time I bought an authentic was at the end of a season and the team was getting a new jersey the next year and the authentics were the same price as the replicas (FCD 2010, last home game before the playoffs; I'm still proud of that bargain).
I did like this quote from Hinchey: At least he realizes the credibility on this issue is essentially shot.
Another thing he likes to repeat, Signing a "young DP". I am biased though, as everyone probably knows, I just don't care for him based on antics from 2012. 2013 https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/possible-dp-and-other-training-camp-news.1981466/ 2012 http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2012/01/hinchey-rapids-conversations-about-possible-dp
I'm moving more and more to this viewpoint. Really if we miss the playoffs this year and we don't have a jersey sponsor publicly Hinchey will have been a pretty big failure. It seems that behind the scenes he's doing some significant work (Westerra, Western Union, Porsche, major friendlies, WCQs, etc.) but the two things the team has been very public with, their play and a jersey sponsor, will have missed in this scenario. Add to it some of his less that strategic comments and tweets about players and its really rubbing me the wrong way.
Dear Santa Claus, I know its only late February and Christmas is still 10-months away, but I promise that I will be good all year. I just wanted to get my letter to you early to avoid the rush. Here is what I would like under the tree: - A Shirt Sponsor - A Pony - A Designated Player (or 3) - And (possibly) $1 billion in tax exempt offshore assets I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation in the Bahama's, and I'll be sure to leave out some good cookies and those "special" brownies you and your wife enjoy. Forever Yours, - R
That's a piss-take and a half. The replica has no 5280 on the back, no US flag, no Colorado flag, no star above the badge. Kind of stretches the definition of replica to me. The authentic is $120 before customization - I don't think so.
I haven't bought many jerseys of any sort. Isn't it normal for the replica to look pretty similar to the authentic jersey? E.g., with Premier League jerseys you can buy the PL badges and player name/number for the replica kit; the replica kit just isn't of the same material/construction. Or for the Avs, the replica stuff seems to have the same look and logos, but doesn't have the same sturdy construction or the fight strap. (Maybe I'm overlooking the details in the Avs jerseys, I've never looked that closely.)
I'm trying really hard not to get mad about this replica vs. authentic crap and the lack of jersey sponsor; reason being that I feel like this is the first time in, well, pretty much ever that the FO is actually *doing things* and actively giving two s**ts about this kind of thing. We have increased attendance, fan/FO relations have improved a bit, we have more sponsorship, we had a friendly and we got a WCQ; all excellent things. The rest of it is annoying to say the least, but I'm trying to count my blessings and remember how bad it can really get around here.
I know you couched that failure comment with "publicly", but I disagree. I know there are many fans who would agree with you, but I think that is a pretty myopic view. I guess my point is that Tim's role is multi-faceted, and his performance should be judged holistically. There are a ton of things that have improved in the last 2-3 years, which we have spent the better part of the last decade bitching about. Community engagement has never been higher. Season ticket numbers, and attendance are improving (despite the product on the field). Stadium atmosphere is better Sponsorship revenue appears to be up, despite not landing a kit sponsor. The FO has increased communication with fans (especially in social media). Supporters relations seems to be improving The fact he didn't land a kit sponsor is one part a failure on his side, but understand that it takes two to tango. I like that he has spent that last couple of years trying to land a Colorado based company, as opposed to any firm who would give us money to advertise on our kits. Some may say "who cares", but when the team is trying to brand around the OneClub concept (which is intended to bind the Players, Staff, FO, Fans, and the Colorado community), it matters. Also, I still don't have any issues with his "less than strategic comments and tweets about players". At least you know he's watching the games (which couldn't be said for the last regime) and that he actually cares...just like we do.
Why do you attribute either of these to Hinchey? Also, you chose to focus on the sponsorship side of Jason's statement, while ignoring the "if we miss the playoffs" side of it. There may be people in the FO more directly responsible for that side, but from his meddling in '11 while still on the marketing side of things, it appears he has quite the voice in player acquisitions. And ultimately, Tim is the one who hired those in the FO to (mis)manage the players and player acquisitions. If we fail again this year on the field, Tim deserves to be judged harshly under the microscope, if we're "judging things holistically."
So I find myself in-between both of you. To @30Something's point, yes, he's done many of those things, and I gave him credit for some of them in my post. But he has stated (in interviews, tweets, and f2f) that he sees the jersey sponsor as his #1 priority. If he continues to fail on his #1 priority, regardless of why (such as focusing only on Colorado companies, etc.), while making "stake in the ground" announcements of when it will be done then its a major black mark on his record. You can't decide this is the most important thing, then when it fails hope everyone considers it not a big deal. And again, this would be joined (in his scenario) with on-field failure as well, which is pretty much the measure of a sports organization. And to your point about at least he watches, I can tell you from my conversations with Plush that he was equally invested in watching the game. I actually got email responses from Plush while he was on the road with the team, something Hinchey seems to do less of. That's not a bad thing (less travelling) as each leader will have his own way of doing things. Towards @RapidStorm's point though, Hinchey didn't hire Bravo, and I don't really think he hired Pareja. Pareja was on the short list and considered by some to be a favorite before Hinchey took over. Now we don't know how much influence he had behind the scenes on that list, but its certainly unfair to tag Hinchey with the decision to hire Bravo as that happened under Plush's watch. That said, it was certainly Hinchey's decision to not make any changes after year one of the Bravo/Pareja leadership.
RE: Bravo, good point. RE: Pareja, unless you have some inside info you're not fully revealing, I think you're revising history. Hinchey was named Rapids' President on Dec 12, 2011. Pareja was hired Jan 5, 2012. So there was almost a month in there for Hinchey to make his opinions and decisions known, and it appears by all standard conventions of how businesses are run that he'd be the one who ultimately chose to put a contract in front of Pareja. Additionally, given how Hinchey was meddling in player acquisitions prior to Plush and Smith being gone, I have a very, very hard time believing that he didn't make his opinions heard on the head coaching short list prior to Plush leaving his post.
I think you can attribute both stadium atmosphere and supporter's relations to Tim and the FO, obviously with a BIG hat tip the the SGs. Atmosphere has improved along with increased attendance and a more supporter's friendly policy from the FO. Much of what the Rapids have done under Tim is to move away targeting families as their core customer, engage the community in general, and have been far more visible than they were under Plush. If you don't want to give Tim or the FO any credit for their part, we'll have to agree to disagree on that topic. I actually had addressed the playoff issue as I was crafting my post and I somehow deleted it before posting. The point I made (but didn't post) was that I agree that missing the playoffs creates a major public credibility issue for Hinchey and the FO. However I recall them also being clear that this was going to be a multi-year process (fixing the on-field product), so I don't think he'll be harshly criticized by his boss. Thanks for catching that, and calling me out.
It wasn't disagreement, just looking for clarification. When I read "Supporters relations seems to be improving" my first reaction was to think of the C38 merger, not of "Supporter/FO relation improvement". Improved Supporter/FO relations is a fair point. When you said "it takes two to tango" regarding the jersey sponsorship, you have to acknowledge the same goes for supporter/FO relations and I appreciate you doing so here. I have my questions about the attendance, just from the "eye" test of announced attendances vs. butts in seats last year. I give Hinchey credit for upping the announced attendances - I just wonder how much of that is papering seats, and I question the benefit of the statistical raise when it's clear to the eye that, for the second half of last year, the average game butts-in-seats was 50-70% of what was announced.