|
|
Recognizing a hockey
pioneer
Forward thinker's tenure ends in San
Jose
You know times are bad when professional sports
teams cannot avoid the effects of an economic downturn. That was the case for
Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, parent corporation to the Sharks, who
let 19 employees go on Wednesday. With unemployment numbers going from bad to
worse each month, it shouldn't be surprising that the big money business of pro
sports is also subject to the realities of a bad economy. Businesses, both good
and bad, are forced to make tough decisions these days, but one name that was
included in the SVSE cut list struck a chord.
Senior Director of
Communications, Ken Arnold, was one of those let go by SVSE, along with Vice
President of Sales and Marketing Kent Russell.
Two front office suits
getting the axe typically isn't news worthy when players are preparing to ramp
up for the regular season.
Arnold is somewhat of a pioneer in the
valley, but more importantly in NHL circles. Back in 1999, as Director of Media
Relations for the Sharks, Arnold had the foresight to understand that the
internet was a media worthy of attention. While those in Silicon Valley may not
consider that an epiphany, the NHL was still stuck in the dark ages.
The league was set in its ways, run by an old guard that had little interest in
something that it feared. The internet was something that league officials
didn't understand, not knowing how to control, much less leverage.
The
attitude of many teams followed the lead of the NHL brass in New York and
Toronto. If the value wasn't crystal clear, then they would shun it.
Then there was Arnold. Perhaps it was his emersion in technology being based in
the mecca of the personal computer. Whatever it was, Arnold understood that the
internet should be embraced, not shunned.
For those of you who
remember the genesis of LetsgoSharks.com, it all started with a simple website
called TheBottomFeeder.com. With little sign of improvement on the horizon, the
Sharks were a bad hockey team in 1997. I started TheBottomFeeder.com as place
to vent about the mediocrity that was Sharks hockey.
I took more than
my share of shots at the club, often relying on sarcasm as a way to express my
displeasure with the direction the team was headed.
Then a funny thing
happened. The internet started to take off as a medium for wanna-be publishers
to get their content in front of readers that were interested in what you had
to say. I got religion and figured that what fans really wanted was in depth
information on the Sharks.
Arnold saw it as an opportunity to get his
product out to the masses. The NHL certainly had an identity issue in the
United States, especially in a new market west of the Mississippi. Any news is
good news so to speak.
When I saw Ken's name in David Pollak's SJ Mercury
blog post (not his print story!) on Wednesday, I immediately thought back to
those early days. Always a gentleman, he was someone that always made me feel
welcome, be it in the locker room or in the press box.
In 1999, I
decided to take TheBottomFeeder.com more mainstream, and through a NHL
Publishing contact that I made through a publishing network called Rivals.com,
I was given the opportunity to pitch the notion that we would be less of a pain
in the ass for the Sharks and more of a legitimate media source covering the
team.
I didn't have to make any concessions in how I wanted to present
the product the Sharks were putting on the ice, but Arnold did make one
suggestion that I took to heart.
He said that if I wanted for the
website to be welcomed by the franchise, I had to steer clear of
sensationalized writing. Opinion was fine, so long as the supporting facts were
accurate. He knew I wasn't a professionally trained journalist. He also knew
that I wasn't going to get rich publishing stories about the San Jose Sharks.
What he did know was that because I was delivering content on the internet, I
had instant access to a lot of potential readers.
His Communications
team would welcome me, rather than kick me to the curb. He had every right to
treat me like a bag of pucks based on the early writing I did on his employer.
Instead, had me swing by a training camp practice back in 1999. Introducing me
to Matt Bradley and Mark Smith, two Sharks rookie prospects that were trying to
make their own impression with the club, I was immediately faced with the
reality that there were real people that I was writing about.
As
rookies, Bradley and Smith were probably as intimidated by me as I was of them.
Not having any background on the two, I was forced to wing through a series of
questions. I learned that day, that professional hockey players can have other
interests outside the hockey rink. I learned that Smith was an aspiring
musician, something that would become a bigger part of his post-hockey life.
There were no rules for me in the locker room that day, other than to
act like I belonged there. Those were Arnold's ground rules. I only had to
prove to him that I wasn't going to make him look like a fool for allowing a
fan-site publisher into an NHL locker room.
That's the thing I take
away from my first experience with Arnold. He treated me like a man, and
expected nothing in return other than to prove that internet publishers could
bring some value to his hockey club.
His vision eventually led to a
more open attitude toward internet publishers by the league. Sites like Kuklas
Korner and McKeen's took off because of the foresight of people like Ken
Arnold.
There are a handful of hockey blogs that cover the Sharks
these days. All of them owe a bit if gratitude to Arnold, because if it hadn't
been for his willingness to open those locker room doors to guys like me, they
may not be where they are today.
Over the course of the next 12 years,
Arnold always said hi whenever I saw him in the locker room. Here was a guy
that had the responsibility of managing a herd of rabid journalists night in
and night out, but he always found time to say hello to a po-dunk internet
writer. It says a lot about his character. One that the Sharks will certainly
miss.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
