3 am Curling Thoughts and Questions
Yesterday, somebody pinned an excellent article on my blog entry. It was written by the person who manages and writes the @TeamBottcher twitter handle. It was excellently written and fascinating. He went through the process of how they are branding themselves and the philosophy behind what they want the account to accomplish. A plethora of information. One thing I didn't like about the article. The author said he wants to keep his identity a secret. He didn't want anyone to know that it wasn't actually a member of Team Bottcher curling team that was monitoring/creating account. Why would you want this to be a secret? I get the fact that the author was writing a public article so his tongue was in his cheek, but he mentioned the secret thing more than once.
My question is why? Why does Team Bottcher need to keep secrets from their fans? Do they think we can't handle the truth? Do they think we are incapable of understanding that they are focused on curling and find it a better use of their personal resources to let a professional handle the account? Frankly, I am a little insulted that they think so little of their fans. And, here is the thing about secrets. (And, I get this isn't a big one) Once you find out about a secret someone is keeping from you, your mind just assumes if there is one, there is more. (Ok, maybe that is just me because I am Ukrainian and was raised with the "if 1 is good, 2 must be better, etc) So, even if it is just Ukrainian curling fans who think they are keeping lots of secrets, well, there is a lot of Ukrainian curling fans.
Now, the guy who is managing their twitter account is outstanding. You have to admit he does amazing clever and timing tweets. (Well, maybe with the exception of one news release.) And, up until now, he has been doing amazing work on a daily basis. The guy is busy. I would hope that he is paid what he is worth, which would be significant. My question is how many other people are on a team's payroll? Again, we can handle the truth. My question is not meant to be vile, accusatory, or just plan nasty? My question is out of sincere interest. And, I ask to understand. I am just wondering if some of team expenses were really some of the allegations that Darren made about team revenues. Again, I am just wondering.
Another question I have had for a long time is this, why do curlers, for the most part, get a pass when it comes to critique. Just very curious. When I blog about curling, I try to do it as respectfully as possible yet often people comment that my postings are vile, nasty, and accusatory. I have an insignificant social justice blog. Occasionally, I blog about curling just because I follow it so closely and have been a fan since I could talk. Occasionally, I blog about other sports and sports figures. Nobody ever suggests that those blog entries are vile. Often, I blog about politics. Once I blogged about the strategy of a candidate seeking to be Winnipeg's Mayor. I didn't insult her, I just noted mixed messages coming out of her campaign. Instead of calling me vile or nasty, she contacted me and wanted to spend time with me. She wanted me to get to know her, the workings of her campaign, and her process of building her platform. How could I not have respect for this? But, curlers they seem untouchable with critique. There is a reason I am blocked by Team Koe. It is not a good one in my humble opinion, but they also have the choice to block anyone they want. Professional curlers seem to want it both ways. They want to be considered like professional athletes but they don't want any of the "trash talk" that exists in every professional sport. Most professional athletes actually use this "trash talk" as fuel that gets them fired up. Curlers just want to be adored period. Look at Brenden's media availability last Sunday. He was very controlled in time and in questioners, and excellent journalists just served him softball questions. Why is this?
Another thing that I have always been curious about is a team member is "cut" or "leaves for personal reasons" and then joins another team. We have seen this multiple times. Yet, we are led to believe that everyone curling at the elite level are all friends and there is never hard feelings. That just doesn't seem possible. And, curlers are athletes and not professional actors. There are times when we see real tensions on the ice yet we are led to believe that everything is kumbaya at all times. My question is, "do curlers sign non-disclosure agreements prior to joining a team in the event that they leave a team?" Again, as a fan, I can handle the truth.
Oh, another thing about the twitter handler for Team Bottcher. He emphasized all through the article that the primary focus on the account was to interact with the fans and to honour the fans, fans, fans, fans. Again, that is great but now the account has been disabled to fan comments. Dying to hear the strategy behind that and how this contributes to fans, fans, fans philosophy.
And, if I am up at 3 am, odds are other fans are too. Ok, I may be the only insomniac out there, but I am sure that fans still have some energy relating to the Darren Moulding cut. Again, I am just going to say energy. Not disdain, not hate, just energy. Energy that has no where to go until we feel engaged again. And, since this energy has no where to go. It is left within us to simmer and it grows.
I am pleading with Team Bottcher. I want this energy to go away. I really do have other things to think about it. But, it is not the fans that are keeping this alive. It is actually Team Bottcher. Seriously, find away to engage positively and honestly with your fans or, frankly, you won't be worth the energy.
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