by John Grasso ยป Wed Feb 03, 2016 1:05 pm
JeffreyMiller wrote:
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JohnR wrote:
They'd fly off the shelves at the Rochester, Ironton, & Portsmouth Walmarts!
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... and Canton and Columbus and Massillon ...
There's $$$ to be made ...
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You raise an interesting question - is the average person in any of these cities aware of the local rich
pro football heritage? I say this because while it is common knowledge to us football buffs I think most
of the general population (even in those cities) is totally unaware.
When I was in Athens in 2003 I mentioned to our tour guide that the following year Athens
would be hosting its third Olympic Games. She said it would only be its second and was totally unaware
of the 1906 Olympic Games held there.
You are much closer to the mark, John. And, there is NO question. Most people are unaware - totally unaware.
A review of the WalMart - or any - video offerings shows very, VERY few sport-related items. The few that are available soon wind up in the $3.74 bin with the
Bates Motel re-makes. The only exception is the 4-film
Rocky series which is as much about boxing as
Animal House is about education. They have recently started a "wrasslin'" section that also has some MMA garbage.
The Jackie Robinson Story remake was displayed for a while but that too has gone to the bin. Library offerings are not much better. Inter-library loan once brought a book about Carlisle from the nearest library that held the publication - in Tennessee. It was one of only FOUR in libraries east of the Mississippi.
People in Vero Beach don't know that the Dodgers trained there for years - and the Dodgers are one of the glamour teams in baseball.
Here's an example "closer to home..."
In an effort to recruit new members, one of the "tools" used was some issues of our newsletter. No takers! In fact, a couple of guys said they might join for $5.00 and decline the newsletter.
Would you buy it on the newsstand at $5.00 per issue? Likely not.
So, the Athenian gal was far closer to reality but you cannot blame her. She is given a script and memorizes it for ease of presentation. She knows nothing of the facts - just the script.
The only favorable matter is the cost of dvd production is so cheap that realizing a small profit might be possible... but the cost of marketing the product would be prohibitive.
In fact, probably the most popular sport production thus far was a comedy - George Plimpton's
Paper Lion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Lion
The Wall Street Journal called the book the "best book ever written about football". We think it is one of the best books written this year about anything."[7]
The Saturday Review said, "Plimpton captures with absolute fidelity how the average fan might feel given the opportunity to try out for a professional football team."[8]