As much as it pains me to send you there, check out MilanBrown.com, which is the home of Holy Cross's first year head coach Milan Brown. Let's be honest folks, this site is simple and sleek. Recall my recent lament about there needing to be a stronger two-way connection between the team and the fans. What you're looking at here is that connection, bringing fans closer to the guy stalking their favorite team's bench.
I've already done some research for Athletics, and unfortunately, JeffJones.com is already occupied by a Marketing Anthropologist (a Marketing Anthropology Wonk?). However, there is a perfectly fine option left: www.AUJeffJones.com. Additionally, www.freeMikeBersch.com is also available. Just saying.
Now, of course, I wouldn't trade Coach Jones for Milan Brown for all of the blue body paint on the east coast. Having a Twitter account and a sleek website doesn't have any correlation to being a better X's and O's coach. I think it does have something to do with building the connection I'm always talking (read: ranting) about. Tweet at me soon, Jeff Jones! I'll be sure to retweet you to all my friends.
Actually, on second thought, maybe Matt Wolff, who is younger and arguably more likely to be savvy with navigating the series of tubes (rest in peace, Senator Stevens) that is the Internet, can pick up a Twitter and connect with the multitudes of AUHoops fans on Twitter. This will give Coach more time to pick amongst the 12 point guards on the team and see who is going to get play time.
Just a thought.
Stay tuned, I should have some info on THE BLUE CREW 2 coming up before you know it!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
While I would love to follow Coach Jones on twitter (I admit to following Jim Larranaga, Karl Hobbs, and, yes, Milan Brown), I can also respect that he's an old-school kind of guy.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, more avenues to connect people with the team and make them feel like they have a stake in it is quite important. A website would be great, and could be maintained by someone on his staff a little more computer-savvy just fine.
Finally, this week's Poll of the Week asks your opinion on this, so let us know!
I agree that it is a great way for the fans to be connected to the team. And I'd recommend CoachJeffJones.com as a site name as several other coaches use that prfix on the same service that hosts Milan Brown's site.
ReplyDeleteFWIW - It's got nothing to do with Old School vs. New School. Former Holy Cross Head Coach and AU fan favorite Ralph Willard, about as old school as you can get, had his own site for several years before moving to Louisville.
When asked about a similar web site at a preseason Meet the Coach Night for then first year coach Sean Kearney, he simply said No I don't think I'll have a web site any time soon.
Season can't get here soon enough!
Go Cross!
Totally disagree. I don't need Coach Jones taking time to blog for you or respond to message boards. No one is going to come to more basketball games because they follow JJ on twitter. Waste of time.
ReplyDeleteInteresting take, Matty Bo. First, no one said anything about responding to message boards.
ReplyDeleteI, in turn, totally disagree with you about "no one is going to come to more basketball games because they follow JJ on twitter." You don't think having more genuine connections between the team and the fans would engage the fans and encourage them to come out? Honestly? Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but if people felt like they were engaged with the team/coach, even through a medium like Twitter, I think that would make going to games seem like a more worthwhile investment of their time.
Let me give you an example, if JJ had a Twitter account, and after a particularly satisfying win (or devastating loss) tweeted, "The fans at Bender really gave it their all, and we appreciated it. We needed you guys to be loud, and you were!" You don't think that would energize fans and get them out? Do a little research on how John Calipari engages the fans at UK, then get back to me. Calipari screws up a lot of things off the court, but he engages fans like no other.
The attendance at UK games would still be the same (sold out) regardless of whether your scumbag example tweeted or not. And he certainly isn't the one actually operating that account anyway.
ReplyDeleteI don't need a "connection". I need W's.
Let me jump in here and add my two cents. Comparing Coach Calipari and Coach Jones is comparing apples and oranges. We're dealing with economies of scale here - UK would have to really screw up to NOT sell out a game, whereas that is not the case for Bender Arena. When it comes right down to it, UK is offering a much different product - a team that is on the very top tier of collegiate basketball no matter how you slice it. The sheer media and fan coverage this team gets from every imaginable angle makes it relatively easy to "connect" to - and Calipari tweeting is just icing on the cake. However when you're dealing with a mid-major like AU, that suffers from the up-and-down cycle chronic to its place in the basketball food chain, little things can make a big difference. Could Coach Jones tweeting single-handedly fill Bender? Doubtful. Could Coach Jones tweeting get 10 more people to not just come to a game, but constantly follow the team's progress, and feel its ups and downs as their own? Definitely. Those 10 people bring their friends. At UK, those 10 people are just camping out in line with the faint hope of getting tickets. At AU, they are going to be in the front row of section 114, cheering their hearts out as we add another Patriot League Championship to our resume. At the end of the day, it's not just the wins that matter, it's who was involved in those wins. Then next season, after all of our starters graduate, there's still someone in the stands. That's something I definitely support.
ReplyDeleteI'm on Team JJ Twitter. Maybe having Coach Jones tweet just to ask fans to show up won't do anything, but what if he tweeted cheer ideas or inside information about the team (i.e."spent most of practice running suicides...let's watch our team leave the Holy Cross boys in the dust")? While, I'm a true blue fan and will probably go to games regardless, I agree with B^3 that I'd feel a lot more invested if I felt like I was being reached out to as a fan. How many people come to games and just sit down the whole time? Let's get all of Bender on their feet!
ReplyDeleteThought you'd be interested in this piece by Andy Katz on ESPN.com
ReplyDeletehttp://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog/_/name/katz_andy/id/5607908/coaches-using-twitter-recruiting-tool