What a downer. I guess this is it.

TOLEDO, Ohio - The University of Toledo men's basketball program announced a partnership with brand marketing consultant and best-selling author Jeremy Darlow on Thursday that will educate its student-athletes on how to build their personal brands and prepare them for success in life following their player careers. The men's basketball team is the third Rocket athletic program to partner with Darlow, joining football and women's basketball from earlier this summer.

BGSU: Big men’s basketball news= $10,000,000 donation!
UT: Big men’s basketball news= some guy is gonna help players market themselves, a skill they should pick up by osmosis through class work.

Ugh this is going to be a looong extended offseason.

(08-13-2020 05:17 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  BGSU: Big men’s basketball news= $10,000,000 donation!
UT: Big men’s basketball news= some guy is gonna help players market themselves, a skill they should pick up by osmosis through class work.

The 10 mill would be nice. Probably don't agree with the other bit. I think it's a valuable skill but not so easy or natural for all to be picked up without hard work.

Not all athletes are going to be in a degree field that teaches marketing or even have it available as an elective. Self-marketing, motivational speaker and many similar titles have become goal vocations. You don't need any experience or expertise in what you're speaking about. If you do it well and entertain, some goverment/corporate hack will hire you to check off a box or simply to fill time at a banquet. It's a TedX culture.

I think Carnegie wrote this book in the 30s.

Maybe this branding program is coming from a targeted donation? If that's the case, I don't think anyone else gets a vote.

It's good for our players. Not huge news from a fans standpoint.

(08-14-2020 01:28 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  It's good for our players. Not huge news from a fans standpoint.

Maybe good. This type training can turn them into plastic people, losing their individual quirks for the safety of the known. All learning the same way. When superstar jocks became sports pundits and announcers, they seemed trained by the same people. Same mannerisms. Many did this choppy thing with their hands to avoid sitting static. These TEDX speakers that look like Steve Job knock-offs. Worse, the Steve Job knock-offs you can see in bad movies playing the evil corporate villain. This doesn't happen by accident or culture. They are trained.