Spring Training
While pitchers and catchers still haven't reported to camp, it's not too late for me to already hate baseball. For years I gave the professional game a shot, and actually have had a great time at quite a few games. Aside from it being an incredibly boring sport, Colorado is also home to one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, the Colorado Rockies. Each year the fans are hopeful, but hopeful in a way different from the hope by fans of teams that actually have a chance. The Rockies gave up making significant off-season moves many years ago, but the naivete of the Colorado baseball fan leads them to think we may get a different result following the same recipe year after year. The result has been teams that are worse and worse, along with fewer butts in the seats.
Fortunately, the marking geniuses have come up with several innovative ways to get fans to the ballpark. The biggest eyebrow-raising, and head-scratching promotion is 'Faith Day'. It sounds like it sort of is... baseball with a side of faith. Not faith in the home team winning perhaps, but faith that the Rapture is coming and those who love Jesus are going to heaven. Makes the 7th Inning Stretch seem pretty uneventful if you think about it. As I understand it, the 'Faith Day' is a Colorado Rockies baseball game followed by a service where various Christian players give inspirational speeches, attendees pray, and a Christian band rocks the house, or rather entertains.
This will be the third year the Colorado Rockies are having 'Faith Day'. Trivia fun fact.... 'Faith Day' was previoulsy known as "Christian Family Day" the past two years. This special day isn't promoted on the free mouse pads they hand out on opening day, no, this day is promoted via various churches and Christian organizations around the city.
Coors Field was built primarily through a sales tax voters approved many years ago to help attract an MLB team when the league expanded. The ownership group got a sweetheart deal - a virtually free ballpark, and all the parking, gate, and concession revenue. The taxpayers got to pay big league prices to see minor league talent suffer through one losing season after another. Now, the mismanagement of the team has resulted in lower attendance leaving the team owners to get questionable with their promotional practices.
'Faith Day' can be given the finger a couple different ways. First, a team brought in by tax-payers is helping divide the community via this special service. It's a bit confusing that a team that took such an effort to be a team for a region would now work to attract one particular ideology over any other. To the best of my knowledge there isn't a Free Coca-Cola Koran for Children Under 10 promotion along with Torah Readings Presented by Hebrew National Hotdogs between innings.
The other way this leaves a bad feeling with me is the 'sneakiness' this day is promoted. Sure, it's probably very cost-effective to market directly to the Christian organizations. However, it's also quite convenient for the Rockies to reap additional revenue and team loyalty without having to show an apparent bias to the rest of the community. Were this day promoted out of the shadows, surely it would be met with protestors at the gates as well as some crashers at the 'Hooray for Jesus' post-game festivities.
But clearly, they are leaving a lot of money on the table by not making this day more widely known. And that concerns me for those who hold their faith sacred. The big machine once again targets the religious community for their dollar, but perhaps not for their endorsement of the faith. If the Colorado Rockies really love Jesus, wouldn't they want to get the word out more aggressively? Put an ad in the paper. Make announcements over the PA system. Encourage everyone to attend the post game love-in! Why not do this after every game, or at least after every Sunday afternoon game? Following the lead of Disney and the way they marketed 'Narnia' to church groups soley to boost their revenue, it's an example of the Colorado Rockies disingenuous; to keep this event like the crazy uncle who lives in the attic that nobody talks about. Christian Nation should feel like a tool of Capitalism.
So, on varying levels this practice is crap. Whether the organization is taking advantage of Christians or alienating non-Christians or both, the collision between organized religion and professional sports is as gross as that product that offers peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. For years we've been subjected to athletes praising their god for allowing them to win the big game or competition, and it's always left me uneasy. However, those acts of gratitude were done on a personal level for that athlete at that time; merely expressing themselves. The actions of the Colorado Rockies, who are following a format that has been successful in other markets, is exclusionary, divisive and greedy. Play Ball!
Fortunately, the marking geniuses have come up with several innovative ways to get fans to the ballpark. The biggest eyebrow-raising, and head-scratching promotion is 'Faith Day'. It sounds like it sort of is... baseball with a side of faith. Not faith in the home team winning perhaps, but faith that the Rapture is coming and those who love Jesus are going to heaven. Makes the 7th Inning Stretch seem pretty uneventful if you think about it. As I understand it, the 'Faith Day' is a Colorado Rockies baseball game followed by a service where various Christian players give inspirational speeches, attendees pray, and a Christian band rocks the house, or rather entertains.
This will be the third year the Colorado Rockies are having 'Faith Day'. Trivia fun fact.... 'Faith Day' was previoulsy known as "Christian Family Day" the past two years. This special day isn't promoted on the free mouse pads they hand out on opening day, no, this day is promoted via various churches and Christian organizations around the city.
Coors Field was built primarily through a sales tax voters approved many years ago to help attract an MLB team when the league expanded. The ownership group got a sweetheart deal - a virtually free ballpark, and all the parking, gate, and concession revenue. The taxpayers got to pay big league prices to see minor league talent suffer through one losing season after another. Now, the mismanagement of the team has resulted in lower attendance leaving the team owners to get questionable with their promotional practices.
'Faith Day' can be given the finger a couple different ways. First, a team brought in by tax-payers is helping divide the community via this special service. It's a bit confusing that a team that took such an effort to be a team for a region would now work to attract one particular ideology over any other. To the best of my knowledge there isn't a Free Coca-Cola Koran for Children Under 10 promotion along with Torah Readings Presented by Hebrew National Hotdogs between innings.
The other way this leaves a bad feeling with me is the 'sneakiness' this day is promoted. Sure, it's probably very cost-effective to market directly to the Christian organizations. However, it's also quite convenient for the Rockies to reap additional revenue and team loyalty without having to show an apparent bias to the rest of the community. Were this day promoted out of the shadows, surely it would be met with protestors at the gates as well as some crashers at the 'Hooray for Jesus' post-game festivities.
But clearly, they are leaving a lot of money on the table by not making this day more widely known. And that concerns me for those who hold their faith sacred. The big machine once again targets the religious community for their dollar, but perhaps not for their endorsement of the faith. If the Colorado Rockies really love Jesus, wouldn't they want to get the word out more aggressively? Put an ad in the paper. Make announcements over the PA system. Encourage everyone to attend the post game love-in! Why not do this after every game, or at least after every Sunday afternoon game? Following the lead of Disney and the way they marketed 'Narnia' to church groups soley to boost their revenue, it's an example of the Colorado Rockies disingenuous; to keep this event like the crazy uncle who lives in the attic that nobody talks about. Christian Nation should feel like a tool of Capitalism.
So, on varying levels this practice is crap. Whether the organization is taking advantage of Christians or alienating non-Christians or both, the collision between organized religion and professional sports is as gross as that product that offers peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. For years we've been subjected to athletes praising their god for allowing them to win the big game or competition, and it's always left me uneasy. However, those acts of gratitude were done on a personal level for that athlete at that time; merely expressing themselves. The actions of the Colorado Rockies, who are following a format that has been successful in other markets, is exclusionary, divisive and greedy. Play Ball!
posted by Pino at 7:24 PM
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