Reigning Cats and Dogs

2 months ago, as I sat in Dallas, Texas watching the Super Bowl press hounds drool over second-tier athletes and part-time NFL staff, I couldn’t help but notice Mark Cuban bark and howl in yet another interview on TV. Like a pet, every business owner is different, and without proper housebreaking they can literally–break–your house.

There are the dogs–like Cuban–who bear their teeth, leave messes on the floor, and shake on your new linen pants. They are the owners who hit the bars hard and seem like (a) man’s best friend. In women’s football, these are the old-school player owners who never learned how to delineate between on-field intensity and off-field animosity. They rarely own a filing cabinet, and almost never have a business degree. And these are the owners that are hurriedly becoming homeless across the landscape of the sport, because they–unlike Cuban–can’t quite seem to bring home a ring.

I don’t mean to insult Mark Cuban. Though his snarky unprofessionalism irks many, there is something to be said about new thinking. He is, after all, working on being the sole slayer of the BCS via his unbridled use of his commodious fortune. The problem is that though many small-time owners lack the good qualities of Cuban–the money, the thinking, the media frenzy–they nail the barking, biting and destruction right on.

Smart marketing and negotiation made Sweden possible, but stale management sent IWFL teams packing.

Before I watched the Super Bowl, I saw distinct difference in the ownership of the two teams, both effective methods that would compliment any home and family. The Rooneys have a feline quality. Aloof, media shy, and content to lurk within their extensive family and their South Florida and Pittsburgh comfort zones. Like cats, they pick the spots that work for them, like a warm couch cushion or that one spot on the comforter. Sure, there are some Rooneys with claws, and they hiss at fellow politicians, but their non-controversial approach to ownership has resulted in 6 super bowls.

The other side of the Super Bowl coin was the Green Bay Packers, whose less than traditional ownership makes it one of the most unique sports franchises on the map. The Green Bay Packers are…publicly owned? That’s right–the original incorporation documents made the team a non-profit, and made any gain from selling the team a mandatory donation to the American Legion in Green Bay. This assured the club stayed in town, and in 1950, shares were sold to raise money for the team and a stadium. Another stock sale was held later, and to this day the voice of the fans is sure to be heard and the legacy certain to be maintained. The Super Bowl Champs make a strong case for the rest of the animal kingdom…after all, there’s plenty of fish, reptiles, and rodents for households not equipped for howls and meows.

I’ve played for rabid dogs and territorial cats…both have destroyed property. Across the ever-changing landscape of women’s football, it’s more important to find what works in a particular region, and with your unique group.

So whether your team is run by a dog, a cat, or something different altogether, how do you deal with the ones who just can’t please the family? Sometimes it just takes a little training; people need time to learn how to run a multifaceted business and balance an ever-dwindling checking account. But when they’ve been living in the house for years and they’re still making a mess, it may be time for a new home. To the oppressed football world waiting for a deft vanguard to take the reigns: be patient, one day you too may have a companion that can be your team’s best friend. In the mean time, clean the carpet, fill the food bowl, and learn how to say no.

Super Bold

The recent lull in coverage can be attributed to the most football-worthy of endeavors. Last Saturday concluded my part in Team USA’s most recent mission: help women’s football actualize on the NFL’s map. It appears that pin has been neatly placed.

Our primary task while stationed in Dallas, Texas, was coaching children in the NFL’s Play60 camps. Play60 seeks to encourage active lifestyles by sponsoring football camps with basic drills, games, and participation with NFL players. Play60 was but a part of the NFL Experience, a virtual bomb-blast of NFL folklore, fantasy, and festivity. You could kick an extra point or track the origin of your favorite team’s name. Some of the events bordered on the ridiculous: a giant tunnel with cardboard cutouts and an audio tape of shouting men purports to simulate entrance to the stadium. Likewise, in another event, you get to experience the sights and sounds of an NFL locker room. I’ve been in football locker rooms…and I can’t say it’s an audio/visual experience I’d like to share. Still, it was remarkable to see the thorough and detailed planning of the event.

Coaching with Play 60 meant interacting with NFL players like the Bengals' Chinedum Ndukwe.

At the heart of the NFL Experience is the ultimate promotion titan: a way of branding a sport into an international icon, and taking a game and turning into a passion, with an almost ethereal life breathed into it. That marketing brilliance was being readily and zestfully absorbed by some of the brightest minds in women’s football within our ranks.

We were blessed to be present. Besides the ever-rewarding experience of teaching the game we love to kids, we were brightening the glow of women’s football, namely, the US National Team. The promotion of the sport wasn’t confined to our mere presence at the event. The players representing the whole were by and large savvy business people; armed with football-infused info cards and well-rehearsed rhetoric.

We met hundreds of strangers, passing along the message of  Team USA, women’s professional football, the WFA, and our respective teams and stories. Making ourselves household names is paramount to improving fanship in our home cities. It will also come into play if we receive expanded television contacts in the future, and with an NFL lockout fearfully looming, every alternative football league in the country will be battling for a chance in the sun.

Besides our ventures of coaching, promoting, and mingling, Team USA had to face an unlikely adversary: fashion. We were invited to several high-profile parties, where we needed to display less grit and intensity, and more grace and social propensity. Such events, made possible by several well-connected team members, included VIP access to Latino Tazon, a celebrity flag-football game featuring Latino celebs and Hall of Fame NFLers. Our savvy teammates also managed invites to two NFL Player’s Parties and an exclusive Maxim party. Team USA also enjoyed the Super Bowl at the house of Cowboys DE Jason Hatcher.

An invite to the NFL Player's Party meant red carpet treatment for Team USA.

As we said in Sweden, “One Team, One Mission”. But that mission wasn’t enough, and we’re continuing to take on the Everest of women’s sports: to show you something you really want to watch. As always, stay tuned.