Kool-Aid Larry
Footballguy
Posted by Michael David Smith on May 5, 2010 6:12 PM ET
Students at Lebanon Middle School in Lebanon, Connecticut, thought they were going to work out with members of the New England Patriots on Tuesday. Instead they got a Patriots intern with an aerobics video.
"I think the hardest thing yesterday was seeing all my kids coming down they had their Sharpies and their footballs and their jerseys and I was like, gosh, what am I gonna do," said physical education and health teacher Alyssa Fabry.
The school participated in the NFL's Play 60 program, which encourages young people to stay active, and they were told they were being rewarded with a visit from the Patriots that would include "celebrity coaches." The school assumed that meant Patriots players and coaches.
But it was just the Patriots intern who attended the event, and a Patriots spokesman told WTNH that "celebrity coaches" actually meant someone like the town's mayor or the school principal would be asked to serve as a coach.
"I don't think I am going to do it again next year," Fabry told the Norwich Bulletin. "They built it up quite a bit and really did not come through."
I have a feeling the Patriots will make it up to the school by having another event, one with a representative of the Patriots who's a little more prominent than an intern.
it's the comments that really make it --- kind of reminds me of this board.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...s-dont-show-up/
Students at Lebanon Middle School in Lebanon, Connecticut, thought they were going to work out with members of the New England Patriots on Tuesday. Instead they got a Patriots intern with an aerobics video.
"I think the hardest thing yesterday was seeing all my kids coming down they had their Sharpies and their footballs and their jerseys and I was like, gosh, what am I gonna do," said physical education and health teacher Alyssa Fabry.
The school participated in the NFL's Play 60 program, which encourages young people to stay active, and they were told they were being rewarded with a visit from the Patriots that would include "celebrity coaches." The school assumed that meant Patriots players and coaches.
But it was just the Patriots intern who attended the event, and a Patriots spokesman told WTNH that "celebrity coaches" actually meant someone like the town's mayor or the school principal would be asked to serve as a coach.
"I don't think I am going to do it again next year," Fabry told the Norwich Bulletin. "They built it up quite a bit and really did not come through."
I have a feeling the Patriots will make it up to the school by having another event, one with a representative of the Patriots who's a little more prominent than an intern.
it's the comments that really make it --- kind of reminds me of this board.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...s-dont-show-up/
.
That seems to imply what the school thought. I'm not calling out the Pats, but the NFL. If they strongly imply thing like that, they're just setting themselves up for this kind of bad PR.
First off, whether or not it has a player appearance component, apparently it is implied that it does (or at least somoene in this particular case seemed to think it did).Secondly, there are 53 players on an active NFL roster. Hundreds of schools (even if it were say 500) would take a few weeks worth of appearances - about 10 per player - and they could probably hit 2 or 3 schools in a single day. Hardly impossible. Inconvenient? Maybe. Complicated to schedule? Sure. But not impossible. If players can show up to a bar or Home Depot or weekly radio/TV spots, etc. ...well, I'm just saying.
