By Paul Kennedy
Remember when the Tampa Bay Rowdies orchestrated an entire marketing campaign around — and introduced soccer as — a “kick inthe grass,” helping turn Tampa into a soccer hotbed before the NFL or MLB or NHL came to town.
That was the mid-1970s, different times perhaps.
The Portland Thorns of the newNWSL introduced a T-shirt saying “Feelin’ Thorny?” but the hot-selling item was removed from sale in the Adidas Timbers Team Store at Jeld-Wen Field and online after criticism thatthe T-shirt was offensive popped up on Facebook.
“A great majority of fans find it funny and in the spirit it was created,” said MikeGolub, chief operating officer of the Portland Timbers who also serves in the same capacity for the Thorns,
Golub told the Oregonian that the T-shirt, whose sloganwas was thought up by a female employee, was vetted by club employees, but it was removed for sale within a day of the posting of the Facebook page “Discontinue Portland Thorns“Feelin’ Thorny?”
It goes to show Facebook can kill a marketing campaign, just like it can make a marketing campaign.
The Thorns don’t look like they’ll behurting, though. They have already sold 6,500 season tickets and are on the way toward becoming the most successful women’s pro club launch ever.
GOAL.COMPARTNERS WITH SPORTING NEWS. Perform Group — which owns among other properties the international soccer web site Goal.com — and Sporting News are partnering to form a new sports media venturein U.S. and Canadian markets.
The announcement came a day after a report that Sporting News was laying off a dozen reporters and editors, including BrianStraus, who wrote the long article with the (anonymous) criticisms of U.S. national team players about their coach, Jurgen Klinsmann.
AGoal.com editor tweeted on Thursday that his site would be taking over Sporting News’ soccer section.
Dart, who will be a featured writer at
Salazar and Eckert will host and report for DynamoTV, the club’s official YouTube channel.
ORLANDO EXPANSION. USL PRO’s Orlando City
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Brian Straus: (sniff sniff) Smell that? that’s karma.
Thorns and their management need to stand up to a few conservative idiots that try and kill a benign campaign. I doubt those objecting even attend Portland matches.Thorn supporters should shove it down their throats with their own t-shirt; “Find my Feeling Thorny t-shirt offensive? Fuck you!”