Below is a sample letter I'm e-mailing to all the TV/Paper Sports Anchors/Editors. I'd encourage anyone else who feels the same way to follow suit. Edit the "dear" line and the "name/address/phone" line (I'd encourage you to provide all this info for best results). Sample letter: Dear <name>, I'm writing you because the Colorado Rapids are likely to have a press conference in the next few weeks to show off their new colors and jersey. As an avid fan of the Rapids, I am sickened by this move. After establishing a tradition using green and white for seven years, the Rapids appear to take this fan for granted and expect me to buy new merchandise in "Black and Blue." Teams in other, more established, leagues take their fans for granted throwing away traditions but I'm not sure teams of Major League Soccer can afford to do this. I will be boycotting the new "Black and Blue" merchandise and will encourage other Rapids fans to do the same (I will, however, continue to attend matches because I still want high level soccer to be played in Denver). Secondarily, using the colors "Black and Blue" suggest a very ugly style of soccer to the traditional fan. The last thing in the world I want to see when attending a Rapids match is constant fouling and dissent. I love the grit and determination of players like John Spencer, mind you, but "Black and Blue" suggests a much uglier form of play. Finally, if a press conference is held during the next few weeks on this topic, I'd strongly urge you to ask some tough questions of Rapids GM Dan Counce and Head Coach Tim Hankinson on my behalf (and other Rapids fans like myself). Thank you for your consideration in this matter and I look forward to seeing your continued coverage of the Rapids during 2003. Sincerely, Daniel Zirin <address> <phone> TV contacts: WB affiliate channel 2: Name/e-mail: Chris Riva, Sports Anchor (wb2sports@tribune.com) Web: wb2.trb.com CBS affiliate channel 4: Name/e-mail: Steve Atkinson/Vic Lombardi, Sports Anchors (kcncnews@cbs.com) Web: www.news4colorado.com ABC affiliate channel 7: Name/e-mail: Lionel Bienvenu, Sports Anchor (sports@thedenverchannel.com) Web: www.thedenverchannel.com NBC affiliate channel 9: Name/e-mail: David Hunt, Exec. Sports Director (david.hunt@9news.com) Sports Anchor: Tony Zarrella Web: www.9news.com Fox affiliate channel 31: Name/e-mail: Les Shapiro, Sports Anchor (fox31news@fox31.com) Web: www.fox31.com Newspapers: Daily Camera: Name/e-mail: Chris Dempsey, Rapids Beat Writer (dempseyc@thedailycamera.com) Name/e-mail: Gary Baines, Sports Editor (bainesg@thedailycamera.com) Web: www.thedailycamera.com Denver Post: Name/e-mail: Kevin Dale, Assist. Managing Editor (kdale@denverpost.com) Name/e-mail: General Sports (sportsletters@denverpost.com) Web: www.denverpost.com Rocky Mountain News: Name/e-mail: Barry Forbis, Sports Editor (sports@rockymountainnews.com) Web: www.rockymountainnews.com
Unless you're in Denver, see how they're pushing the color change via their ads (in stadium last year and mailing list junk), and spoken to the GM (like I have), I'd think twice about this. This IS EXACTLY how they are pushing the change.
They can push it however they want, that doesn't mean you guys will become a bunch of hacks. They're just trying to market soccer as a tough sport to casual fans or people who don't care. A protest is probably a little extreme.
This is fantastic. Exactly what the Rapids need. They need controversy in order to stimulate the news people to get off their arses. The Donkeys aren't doing anything now. The Av's have been buried. The PetRocks, well.... are themselves. The Nuggets, don't need to mention anything here. The Mammoth are too new. Nothing going on with Univ of CO. The timing is right. Good Luck Zar. If you want to arrange something where we can debate the color change. Let me know and we can stage something along the lines of The Wrestling Match with Andy Kaufman .
Good letter, Zar. I hope you're not the only fan that writes to the media. Additional suggestion: everybody should write to the Rapids as well. Talk to a number of Rapids staffers and they'll tell you that there have been very, very few fans voicing their complaint over the color change. (am I being negative again?)
I'm not naive either. Regardless of what garbage spews from Counce's lips, it's all about money. Clearly the Rapids could care less about tradition. If this color change causes them little/no pain, expect a color change every 5-6 years (to summarily drain your wallets keeping up with the "new" Rapids look). And during each change, the Rapids become more bland/generic and have to reinvent their image in a town where they're barely on the radar screen to begin with. P.S. Trooper...can I get a sticky for this thread for a few weeks?
Not Easy... It's not easy being green...(Kermit the frog said that). I dislike the switch to blue, and think that the way to do this is to keep the green, but then slide the merchadism into Black with green , or use a green-blue dark color for the coats, so we're still in the "green" color. I actually second the idea to raise some ruckus. The Rapids may be the only playoff team in Denver. HA! RLH
*YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN* I could give a **** if the Rapids wear gold lame... There are 100 year old clubs in Europe wearing 4 different kits a year, changing every other season... More Rapids press would be great, but for ******'s sake... Wear your green in the stands if it gives you wood, no one's going to look at you funny for wearing last year's or any year's kit. You know what would be the best tradition to establish in Denver unlike all other crap franchises here... WINNING... It seems to do wonders for the staying power and revenue of a franchise.
European teams may change their kits, but not their primary home colors. Name me a team that has done so recently.
I'm sorry but I fail to see the need to protest the switch to new colors. I'm with Fashion on this, no one is saying you have to go out immediately and drop hundreds of dollars on new merchandise. Wear your old Rapids merchandise. Who cares. They're still the Rapids and as long as they are still in Denver and still named the Rapids, then that is all that matters in the end. But that's just me.
I agree 100%. I really don't see why it is such a big deal. Things changes - as do colors of kits on occasion. I was just thinking about that again yesterday watching the Tampa Bay Bucs game. They used to wear Orange for pete's sake. And look at them now! I think they have created more tradition in the last couple of years (by winning, playing hard, the way that I see Black and Blue attitude played here)than in the 20 yrs before that. And guess what. LA has been contemplating changing their colors for a while (that teal or whatever they are wearing at home is not cutting it for the front office). And at the end of 2001 season we weren't sure if we were going to have a team!
The league is still in its infancy. Things are going to change. It doesn't matter what else changes, as long as the level of play gets better. And the black and blue ads at the start of every game are awesome. Its not about hacking, its about being agressive and physical. When you come to our house, bodies are going to hit the floor. Its an excellent marketing direction. Its shows soccer is not just for kids rec leagues.
They day they announce a new (better) logo, I'll be first in line to thank them. Regardless of the colors. My only gripe with the new colors is that half the league already plays in blue.
Right now I'm too excited about our midfield to get exercised about team colors. I've always felt that MLS has done a pretty lousy jobs with the uniforms in general. Maybe they'll continue to change every year or two. Hopefully we can eventually have a nice Orange kit. That would make me happy. Who knows maybe even a Green and Orange mix in deference to Zar.
Thank you Blong. It's the truth. I don't have a problem with the color change. Just win baby!!!! I actually think the change is good. Just think that your old kits with the green will be collectors items. I have one from the first year or two that wasn't one of the jerseys. I still get comments on how cool it is, so be content with the old kits. I never purchased one of the Kappa jerseys because I couldn't justify the expense. Nobody is putting a gun to anyones skull telling them they have to purchase the jersey. If everyone holds out and doesn't purchase a new kit, then maybe those that don't want the change will end up winning when the club changes back to the green. I don't think this will happen, but shoot for the moon guys. I think the new uniforms look pretty damn good.
Yeah...sure. Ever seen a picture of the Colorado Caribou (or the 1996 Wiz)? It's an image you're building to garner a following. This is a clueless statement. I'm not saying this either. Nice of you to put words in my mouth. Again, you conveniently ignore the fact that the team is identified in Denver by NOT ONLY their name/logo but their uniform and record. Let's take your argument to an extreme. Why don't the Broncos completely change their uniform (and color) every season? How do you think fans would react to this (for the most followed and most popular team in Denver)? You'd hear all the radio talk shows with people screaming about the terrible (money grubbing) owner and boycotting the endless jersey changes. This is debatable, but I'd wager this would happen. As it was, the Broncos took a decent amount of heat for the change to blue from die-hard Bronco fans (but 2 Superbowl wins cured that pretty quick). And I suspect that this argument of mine is a tough sell to a flock of sheep that have been programmed to blindly accept uniform changes without complaint. I'll also say that if the Rapids win a Cup in 2003, I'll jump back on the bandwagon (if they and the fans will have me back). So the extreme example is silly (or is it?). How frequently would you accept uniform changes (I'm talking about drastic changes like ours from 2002-2003 -- technically, we've had slight uniform design changes every year)? Black and Blue (and the BS reason given for the change by Counce) are moot. It could be Red and Black. The specific color means nothing. And colors don't make a team play differently. If we had a real coach, they could play just as well in green and white (instead of this BS that's supposed to motivate our players). The bottom line is money. And a good coach with good players will definitely create PLENTY of tradition. But in the mean time, we're changing to a color that is used by 3 other MLS teams and starting over with our image. F-this. What a freakin' sucker. Let the team/league walk all over your pansy @$$ 'cause we're LUCKY to have a team. If you hated green and like blue (or like being a copy-cat of Inter), fine. Your choice. Mine is to boycot the merchandise (again, I repeat I'll be attending matches but boycotting the merchandise).
Whoa... so someone's a pansy @$$ and a sucker because they disagree with you? And if they don't disagree with the color change, they're letting the team/league walk all over them? Why so confrontational for something that, in the grand scheme of things, is fairly trivial? That said, I agree with most of your thoughts on the color change. The green was unique in the league and instantly recognizable. Unlike all the variations-on-blue out there, you didn't have to get within 10 feet to know which team you're looking at. I think that, by and large, the reason for the change is "because they can". It's a catch-22... if there were years of tradition with the green and a LARGE group of hard-core, passionate fans (as in your Broncos analogy), they couldn't get away with it. On the other hand, if you're changing things up every few years, it's hard to get those years of tradition. While I may not plan to boycott Rapids merchandise from here on out, I do think that it's worthwhile to voice any criticism of the change. Keep the green... lose the wet suit.
No, really Zar, I'm not kidding, I could give a shite if they're wearing gold lame!!! if they consistently win, I'll go for George Kostanza body suit man kits. You can also take your sheep reference and cram it straight up your arse! I haven't been programmed, but it is one of those decisions that I have no control over, if a thousand of us called the Rapids and complained, I don't think it would make a damn bit of difference. So I'm not going to bang my head against the wall on this issue. Uniforms are the least of my concerns. Player quality, Wins, Stadium, Atmosphere, fans that don't sit on their hands, parking fees (which all of us should cry bloody murder over before kits), ******************ing up viewing parties at Croc's during the playoffs, all of these things concern me more than a shirt. We can't get people to fill up a friggin supporters section, and that role model used car salesman/divorcee who's too rich to pay for a dog license is running a new pinball team into town and draws 7,000 to a meet the players day! And we're worried about a ******************in' shirt???????????? Not even a shirt!!! A ******************ING COLOR... eh, whatever... Hey guess what!!!??? they're changing colors!!!!!!! Go scream at somebody!!!!
You know what though Zar... I believe you really believe in this, so maybe I was a little harsh, I admire the passion, but I really think this one is too much of an uphill battle, and maybe in the long run will be a total non-issue...
Ya know...i sympathize with fans who actually want a little tradition, even in a 7 year old league, but whinning to the point where its gonna do no good isn't productive when the Rapids front office HAS already made the change. That said, i'm sure if the Rapids picked a color that every fan here would disapprove of bitching and whining would be okay then (ie. orange, brown, errr Pink like Juventus had for their change kit a couple years back!?!?)
I like the change. I never really liked the Green and I like the logo even less. The blue & black looks good in my opinion. The "Black & Blue" add campain is a great idea. Much better than the "peddling to the kids" adds we're so used to. I seriously doubt that the color or logo have anything to do with people being fans. People made the same fuss about the Broncos changing their logo and uniform and they had a LOT more tradition than the Rapids but in the end it never hurt a thing. You can almost argue that it helped, which I don't believe either. It's all about the performance on the field. Everything else is just fashion. Garrett