The really terrible part is that they didnt bother buying the leaderboard banner and we were left with this ladies image paired with the KY ads...

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If you are reading this post on the evening of February 11th, then you have probably noticed that our entire Front Office Fans site has been taken over by a KY-Jelly wrap ad. This was sold through SB Nation's ad network and has appeared, likely, as part of a much bigger digital media buy from the brand as they attempt to target males 18-49 in the run up to Valentines Day. Although KY is owned by Johnson & Johnson, it does have a very sexual connotation (and use case) and its heavy dose of advertising has raised some eyebrows within the SN Nation community of bloggers.

For us as Project Franchise, it got us wondering about if the fans of a sports team or a website really care what the advertisers or sponsors are - or do they just figure its a part of the way their favorite team or site stays in business, so they are indifferent?!

Personally, I am not at all offended by the KY campaign and actually think it was a smart media play - however I was a tad annoyed recently when the stadium my Miami Hurricanes play in was re-named from "Land Shark Stadium" (named after casual party animal Jimmy Buffet's beer brand) to "Sun Life Stadium" (named after a boring regional bank) as it just sounded corporate and boring. I'm not saying that I'd prefer they drop the corporate name altogether and save money by no longer putting paper towels in the restroom - but there is something about the brand associations with my favorite team that does seem to resonate with me on an extra level.

When we get our team, we will definitely have a variety of sponsors - and will do our best to allow the fans to pick and choose who gets what billboard, but at the end of the day, if they are paying to keep the lights on, I'm not sure its a decision even true Front Office execs "get" to make.

Old School or not this is the first game that is going into our stadium's arcade.

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I couldn't have been happier today when I was browsing the internet ("what the f is the internet?") and saw this beautiful article on ESPN.com - for those of you too lazy to click the link or who have weak deductive reasoning skills, it announced the return of NBA JAM! which is quite possibly the greatest arcade game of all time.  If you are somewhere between the ages 22 and 32 years old you undoubtably spent quite a good amount of your time and allowance pumping quarters into this revolutionary game.  I personally spent many hours at a local pizza joint playing with a friend under the username Bob Aug 10 - I can't possibly tell you why I chose that username seeing is that neither my nor my friends name has Bob in it nor are our birthday's August 10th.  I can't tell you exactly how many games I played but but I know I had somewhere near 250 wins and 150 losses, each game cost $2 per player per team (50 cents a quarter, what a rip?!) and my friend and i played most games together on the same team - so  conservatively we pumped $1500 into that beautiful glowing machine.  From what I recall we attained the 3rd highest position, I never knew who was number 1, but I did find out that the number two player "POE" was a little stoner kid that lived up the street from me.  We mostly played as the Magic with Shaq and Skiles (Who wasn't Shaq crazy in those days?  One of my friends got the word "Shaq" shaved into his head, but that is another rather f-ing hilarious story for another day), we also played a bit as Hakeem Olajuwon and Kenny Smith and rarely as Shawn Kemp and Benoit Benjamin - who the hell wanted to be Benoit freaking Benjamin?  There was nothing better than getting on fire and busting the helicopter dunk and for some reason we always had Shaq busting three's while Skile's manned the boards...?

I have a real love for that game and when we own a stadium there will definitely be an arcade in it for the fans both young and old (don't worry we'll have a security guard in there to keep out the perv's).  NBA JAM will be featured prominently along with all the other great simulator games of yore - Daytona 500 anyone??.  If you were going to an arcade what games would you be looking for?  Let us know in the comments  what sports video game would bring you back to the time in your life when all the money you needed was the quarters jammed in your pockets and the only bank you needed was the change machine?

...not to mention the rest of the NFC East.  As someone who spent a good portion of their childhood playing with fireworks, whether it be launching He-Man into space or detonating Castle Grayskull...this has got to be the coolest essay writing contest in the history of the world.  The official details haven't been announced but this much we know, Kraft Foods is sponsoring an essay contest for children (sorry Don Beebe) where the winner will have the honor of pressing a button, which will detonate tons of explosives, thus demolishing Texas Stadium. 

Where were these type of essay contests when I was a kid?  When I was in school  the prize for winning an essay contest, was the "opportunity" to read your essay aloud and maybe get a subscription to Boys Life out of the deal.  Big whoop! Explosions, now that's a prize worth winning.  The only problem with this contest is all the little pyromaniacs that it's going to draw out of the woodwork.  Those little freaks aren't acustomed to using pencils and paper for anything but kindling.  I'm worried that the only light many of these essays see will be at the business end of a shoplifted Zippo.

We are all for Jerry Jones mega-humungo-jumbotron at the new stadium in Dallas, but this idea of using the screen for fans sitting in the stands to watch 3D, seems like a bit of a stretch. We definitely want a sweet HD screen in our stadium - and you best believe the Owners box is going to look like a Vegas Sports Book - but the 3D concept just takes the idea of the game and makes it a little too much of a movie for us, taking away the realness and fun of being in the ballpark.

However, unlike most stadiums we will plan to pull in some type of cable or DirecTV feed so that the jumbotron will be able to show not just the live game but clips (between innings, pre/postgame) of other events going on around the world of sports. And, ideally, we'll even be able to use our sweet HD screen for events out of season where fans can come to the park to watch big sporting events like the Super Bowl or World Series - even if our team isnt playing in them.

And, if the fans really want it, we'll rock it like a drive in and break out the movies... maybe even in 3D.

Going to a sports game is great no matter where your seats are, but GREAT seats are definitely something to brag about. Until last week, I had been lucky enough to experience possibly the best seat in the house for 3 of the 4 major sports (we'll still consider hockey a major sport). I've sat in a skybox and on the 50 yard line at a football game, I've had batters box seats at a baseball game, and I had glass seats at a hockey game. But I don't think I ever felt closer to a sport and literally part of the action until I had court side seats for a NBA game.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was lucky enough to score (free of charge, cause seriously, who could afford these seats) court side, black leather seats (you know, the same kind Jack sits in) to a Miami Heat vs. Washington Wizards game. Sure, this wasn't a marquee match up, but it beat going to a Nets home game.

Anyway, my point here is that this is the only sport where the fan is literally inches away from the action and occasionally part of it. I could have easily stretched out my legs and broken the heart of every Wizards fan by tripping Agent 0 (ala Larry David tripping Shaq), but I held back. Pregame warm-ups included Gilbert Arenas laughing it up with one of the refs, while Michael Beasley joked around with a couple of younger fans, tossing a ball back and forth. You can literally hear the ESPN commentators getting ready and see them interacting with the players. As for the game itself, you can feel the vibrations of the court as the players head up court. You can hear players Dwyane Wade call out to Jermaine O'Neal. You can yell Karen when talking smack to Caron Butler. When a ball heads your way, you toss it back. And when you stand up, you're taller than Earl Boykins. You're literally apart of the action...

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Today old Neil  was intro'ing the highlights from the Big Ten/ACC Challenge - in the SportsCenter studio they had the "Commisioners Cup" which is the trophy that goes to the event's champion (who knew?).  While they were showing a shot of the trophy you hear Neil off camera say, "I'd fill that thing with Starbursts" he then pauses and says, "just the pink and red one's though".  I couldn't agree more with Neil's sentiments, i feel that pink Starburst's might be the best flavor that god ever created.  9 times out of ten when I see those bags of Starburst's hanging in the back of concession stands at sporting events I will buy them - many a times the combination of 12 beers and starbursts have lead to amazing technicolor puking sessions (one was so colorfully awesome that I snapped a camera phone photo of it to save for ever).  So for you guys and gals out there - what is your favorite treat when you go out to the ball game?

On Sunday for some reason the 4PM NFL game they showed on CBS in Michigan was Oakland-Kansas City.  Why would anybody in Michigan watch a game that involves teams that have no fanbase here and that resemble the Lions?  Well the answer to that question which I discovered on Sunday is Gus Johnson.  

There isn't another announcer on the planet that can make a meaningless regular season game sound like a last minute drive in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.  I mean Gus actually got excited every time JaMarcus Russell dropped back to pass the ball.  Can you say that about any other human being on the planet?

This isn't the first time I've listened to Gus announce a meaningless regular season game.  Back during the 2006-2007 NBA season, Gus Johnson signed on to announce some games on MSG Network for the New York Knicks.  

Early on in the season the Knicks were 1-3 and playing a game in Denver.  Here's Gus' call for the end of that game.

He actually says something after the shot goes in that isn't even a word.  He gets that pumped up.

While I certainly love Gus when he does football, his forte has got to be college basketball.  I don't think any other announcer captures the insanity that is March Madness quite like Gus does.  Here's his call of the UCLA-Gonzaga Sweet 16 matchup in 2006.  

(BATIIIIIIIISTA WITH THE CATCHHHHHHHH!!!)

Can you imagine being at the announcer's table with Gus during this?  I would pay to see what he actually looks like during when he's making these calls.

When we get our team I'm making a big push to get Gus to do our radio play-by-play.  

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Here are some of Gus' other best calls:

Syracuse-Vermone 1st Round 2005

Ohio State-Xavier 2nd Round 2007

Knicks-Bobcats 2006-2007

Al Harrington Jumper Knicks-Blazers 2008-2009

Broncos-Bengals Week 1 2009-2010

If you want more Gus just search his name on Youtube.

The Jordan 4 is the Gisele Bundchen of the shoe world...not only are they both sexy but they both come from third world countries.

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It is universally known that Jordan's are the coolest kicks ever - when we own a hoops team you can be sure our team will be fitted head to toe in Jordan Brand apparel.  What are your favorite Jordan kicks of all time?  Let us know which exact pair is your all time fave in the comments.