There is always a cloud of mystery and debate when any Hall of Fame announces its annual induction class especially since like any ballot that involves humans voting, there is always an amount of emotion vs. logic factored in. For the most part, the balloting is a closed system. Once you are asked to vote you usually stay on the list for life, regardless of whether you have a stake in the game or for that matter, follow that closely in some cases. Given the state of newspapers these days, the Baseball Writers of America have even voiced concern that there may not be a good enough cross section of voters in the coming years to adequately have a vote. Regardless of the Hall, the vote is almost always without inpout of those who visit and spend dollars every day following the sport…the fan. However this week, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in part of their aggressive plan to add branding partners and become more diverse, announced a partnership with Van Heusen and JC Penney to collect the fans say in the voting for the next class. Now the “fans choice” won’t count for this year, but it will be acknowledged and could make a nice addition to the debate for when the new class is announced. The promotion is also a great move for the Hall, which is finding ways to make its brand “live” beyond the walls of Canton, Ohio for the football enthusiast, both with a retail promotion and a massive media and digital buy throughout the season. By using some elite bloggers to weigh in throughout the course of the season, the promotion will also be kept fresh and can stir debate not just for popular choice players, but for those on the fringe or those who can be a quirky choice for the fan in local markets. And by being the first of the “Halls” to ask the fan, the Pro Football Hall can keep themselves relevant to the casual fan year round, and could start a trend that makes the voting a little more interesting to discuss and debate the selection process.
Some other good reads…the Washington Post has a great piece on former NBA star Kenny Anderson…with NBA Training Camp ready to open, the LA Times has a good profile of Phil Jackson…and the Bergen Record had a good piece on the New Jersey Nets “Back to School” promotion with the Dairy Council, where Devin Harris visited with a young fan at his school…another nice pre training camp story.
