I Have An Idea… Throw Shade

“I don’t buy one goddamn drop of gas in the state of Michigan. We’ll coast and push this goddamn car to the Ohio line before I give this state a nickel of my money.”  – Woody Hayes, former Ohio State University head football coach

I’m a little confused about something. People seem to cringe every time a player or coach calls out a rival. Why? What’s everyone so afraid of? Why not call out your biggest rival on Twitter or through the media? I know, it sounds like blasphemy to the traditionalist. But, the reality is coaches and players have been throwing shade at each other’s programs for years and it’s only proven to bring more attention, more coverage and more eyeballs to the rivalry and teams involved. Isn’t that a good thing?

Especially in today’s Twitter era, administrations appear to be more cautious than ever before; often forbidding their coaches and players from partaking in any form of social media. I think that’s a mistake. Now, I’m not saying load up your staff and athletes with pitchforks and torches, on the way to their keyboards, but I am saying stir the pot. Strategically. Plan your verbal assault. Choose your voices and their words carefully and fire away.

Let me ask you this. Of Floyd Mayweather’s last five opponents, how many can you name? Despite the fact that Mayweather is often considered, pound for pound, the greatest boxer of all time, you can probably only name one: Manny Pacquiao. Why? Because of the rivalry. Because of all the hype built up outside of the ring, prior to the fight. That level of contention does not exist for Mayweather beyond Pacquiao, and the numbers show it. All of that pre-fight drama worked. According to Business Insider the fight “shattered expectations by tens of millions of dollars” thanks to a record 4.4 million pay-per-view buys.

We love rivalries. Fans, networks and recruits eat them up. But, conversely, if it’s not a rivalry, if there isn’t bad blood, we don’t care. Every single one of you has a rival, but we only care about a few of them. Make people care about yours.

Throw some shade.

 

“I Have An Idea…” is a series written for College AD by the author of Brands Win Championships, Jeremy Darlow.