The Bills were playing the Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos at 1pm on Christmas Eve. Even though the miracle Broncos had been snuffed by the New England Patriots the week before, the consensus was that the hopeless and injured Bills would lose.

On top of that, the game would be blacked out in the Buffalo and Rochester areas because Ralph Wilson Stadium did not sell out. In some markets, an owner will buy out the remainder of the tickets to ensure a sold out game, but Bills owner Ralph Wilson (or whomever is acting on his behalf these days) did not. To add to that, the Bills had squandered a successful first half of the season to fall to a 5-9 record, with no chance of the playoffs in sight. Add to that the general pessimism surrounding the Bills’ brass after they signed shaky starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a long term contract but have yet to restructure key cog running back Fred Jackson’s deal (they have merely “assured” him of one, but haven’t inked anything official.)

Given all of that negativity, why would a social media manager ask such a question? You could expect at least eighty percent bitter responses. But the Bills’ asked, and here are some of the actual responses they received:

The Facebook comments section – several hundred deep – felt like a big group therapy session, or at least an extremely curmudgeonly family Christmas dinner. Surprisingly, the Bills pulled out the upset and used a strong day on defense to defeat the Broncos 40-14.

Was it harmless for the Bills to ask such a question via social media, or does it illustrate how out of touch they may be with their fan base?

In today’s installment of “Did you just roll out of bed or are you making a promotional video?”, former Boston College sneaky forward Nathan Gerbe stars alongside fellow Buffalo Sabres player Mike Weber to promote the team’s Green Team:

I’ll write up more about the NHL’s presentation and overall conference later (I am in charge of technical support for a new student orientation this week, so time is tight), but there was one ironic and timely point in it that I must share. DiLorenzo mentioned that one of the things they have struggled with is responding via their NHL Twitter account in the wake of disciplinary news: “No matter what the discipline department decides, we’re going to get tons of tweets that say ‘You’re wrong.”

He mentioned that at 2:40. By 8:40, the NHL had another massive disciplinary situation on their hands: Vancouver Canucks Aaron Rome’s hit on puck-less Boston Bruin Nathan Horton that resulted in a severe concussion.

Rome was suspended four games by the league for the incident, effectively removing him for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Finals. On Twitter the reaction to the NHL’s decision varied immediately, ranging on the Goldilocks scale: some fans thought it was too much, some thought it was too little, and some thought it was just right.

Assume you are one of the two folks who man the @NHL Twitter account (yes, there are only two, mentioned DiLorenzo Monday.) How would you effectively use your Twitter account to respond to each type of fan? Do you not respond to one group? Do you respond to all? Because of the mass of Tweets, do you just not even try to respond to them at all? Do you focus on the negative ones first, where it sounds like you’re losing a fan?

And if you are a fan who Tweeted at @NHL about today’s disciplinary decision, what response were you hoping to get?

The commercial is only epic if you’re a fan of the two (like I am.) For the rest of America, it’s about as relevant as having Full House’s Danny Tanner hawk cleaning products. Appropriate casting…for 1995. Heck, I bet half the people who see this commercial have no idea who they are, yet alone that they were one of the best QB-WR combinations in NFL history.

That aside, what is truly epic is the behind the scenes video. In this video shot by KGO-TV in San Francisco in December, Young and Rice get funky. Yes. Let us watch them get down with their bad selves. Jump to the :45 second mark in this video and see the two try to do some type of dance. Gosh darn it, is it terribly awkward.

This is the stuff popular animated GIFs are made of. Now, if only I knew how to make one.

Uptown Sports has a small stable of NHL players it represents, including Mike Fisher, the husband of American Idol winner and country music sweetheart, Carrie Underwood.

Aside from the moral argument for gay marriage (because gay or straight, everyone deserves the right to have someone to argue with over what to have for dinner and putting your shoes in the boot tray), there are statistical and marketing reasons why those who don’t agree with gay marriage may want to keep their thoughts personal. From a statistical perspective, hockey businesses of any kind may need to stay away from an anti-gay marriage perspective.

Statistically, NHL fans are notable in two areas: the high number of them who are quite active online, and the number of them who have a college degree or higher. According to Sports Business Daily, in 2010, 14.9% of NHL fans admitted to spending 20 hours or more per week on the Internet, more than any other of the major North American sports. According to Experian Media in late 2009, NHL fans are more likely than non-NHL fans to earn a college degree or higher.

Additionally, both Sports Business Daily and Experian Media show a growth point within the 18-34 year old age range. 33.4% of NHL fans are within that age range.

So what do these numbers have to do with gay marriage? Because these growth points within NHL fan demographics (these points being those that the NHL has over its sports league peers) are also demographic strong holds within the gay marriage debate. According to the Pew Research Forum in 2010, 53% of 18-30 year olds support gay marriage. Also, 52% of college graduates and above support gay marriage.

Though statistics are difficult to come by, there are studies that suggest that those who don’t feel strongly on either side of the gay marriage debate are less likely to be online. Thus, if hockey fans are spend the most time online of all sports fans, they are the least likely among sports fans to be what the Pew Research Center calls a “tune-out,” someone who doesn’t have a feeling on the topic. Thus, hockey fans most likely have a strong feeling on the topic on either side of the debate.

So look where all of those statistics overlap? In the NHL, your key populations – the one those involved in the business operations side of hockey want to encourage – align with a segment of a population that will statistically most likely support gay marriage.

Thus, anyone who represents a player or a fan-oriented product is doing themselves a demographic disservice if they publicly promote an anti-gay marriage agenda. More so than in the other major North American sports, NHL fans will more likely fall in the pro-gay marriage camp, and paired with their high level of internet usage, are more apt to be active in sharing their views with others and adopting online activism.

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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this anecdotal piece of evidence. The popularity of college hockey continues to grow year after year. With that growth, college hockey has become a gateway to NHL fandom within a population not exposed to the sport previously. Geographically, college hockey fandom continues to grow in New England, a region with great traditions in the sport, a recent history of national success…and one of the nation’s highest levels of support for gay marriage.

Teams and concert promoters provide Tickets For Charity tickets to high-profile events which the organization turns around and sells at the market value. That premium price you would usually be paying then goes to a charity group as opposed to a profit margin. Tickets For Charity also develops VIP packages that provide fans access to events that they couldn’t get unless they were in the know.

Currently, Tickets For Charity has Boston Red Sox regular season tickets and both Boston Bruins and Celtics playoff tickets. With each purchase, you can designate what group receives the charitable portion of your purchase price, including the official charities of the Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox.

I hung out with the Tickets for Charity crew at Jerry Remy’s (a very neat take-in in itself), and was impressed at how dedicated they are to the cause and how knowledgeable they are about sports. This is code for, “We had a long conversation about the woes of the Buffalo Bills” and “We talked college hockey.” These aren’t folks oblivious to the passion of sports fans – they’re sports fans themselves.

If you’re going to be paying out the nose to get to a must-see sporting event – especially a playoff game – why not help out others in the process?

During the Red Sox season, Tickets for Charity will be giving you the opportunity to win some unique ticket packages, including Green Monster seats for a Yankees-Red Sox game, Fenway Park tours plus lunch, and tickets to the Red Sox Foundation’s Picnic in the Park. Stay tuned – I’ll have more info as we get closer to these giveaways!

Photo: Guardian Project/Rocket XL

Remember two weeks ago when I spoke about the NHL Guardian Project -”How To Get My Little Brother to Watch Hockey“? The unveiling of the project’s superheroes is ongoing via Facebook through a voting process. Each vote is entered into a drawing to win a Limited Edition Guardian Project Graphic Novel.

I know the project has come under some fire from established hockey fans, but no matter your likes or dislikes of the project, one has to hand it to the NHL for exploring an collaboration that hasn’t been tried before. If it converts an audience previously untouched by hockey, then the comic book – sport meld will be worth it. For a sport close to reclaiming a spot in the national consciousness, the uncharted territory may be worth it.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by a PR team related to The Guardian Project, Rocket XL.

So what do we have in common, besides the Hasenauer nose bump and a bad Canadian-like accent? Thanks to a collaboration between Stan Lee and the National Hockey League, Sam and I may finally have common ground.

The Guardian Project begins its roll-out with the new year. (Image: The Guardian Project and Rocket XL)

Comic book legend Stan Lee – creator of the iconic Spider Man and my brother’s favorite, Iron Man – has helped design 30 new superheroes that correlate with the 30 NHL teams. Entitled The Guardian Project, the multimedia enterprise will begin its roll out with the January 1st Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, PA, culminating in a project-wide unveiling at the NHL All-Star Game on January 30th. While the superheroes’ adventures will take place independent of an ice rink, each superhero will take on elements of their related franchise.

Targeted towards the somewhat ignored “tween boy” demographic, the project is sure to have a reach beyond that particular age group. Comics have experienced a resurgence over the past few years, with my brother being a perfect example. In addition, the team behind The Guardian Project has already jumped head first into the social media waters, with plans to engage both hockey and comic fans via Facebook, YouTube and other platforms.

Both hockey and comics are genres willing to take risks to re-establish themselves amongst the American public, making this collaboration one to watch for pop culture and sports fans alike.

Below is a press release regarding how The Guardian Project will be using Facebook to order the unveiling of the superheroes and more information about the overall program.

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‘GUARDIAN 30 MATCH-UP’ LAUNCHED TO UNVEIL EACH HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SUPERHERO FROM THE GUARDIAN PROJECT

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO IGNITE THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE’S MILLIONS OF FANS IN ULTIMATE FACE-OFF

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 21, 2010) – Guardian Media Entertainment – the partnership created between the National Hockey League (NHL), SLG Entertainment, LLC and Stan Lee (Chairman, POW! Entertainment, LLC) – today announced the launch of the GUARDIAN 30 MATCH-UP (www.guardianproject30.com).

With the highly anticipated unveiling of the 30 individual Guardians within the Guardian Project, the Guardian 30 Match-Up is a Facebook application that will enable fans to determine the order in which each team’s Guardian will be unveiled. Voting at www.guardianproject30.com will continue throughout January, with fans determining which team will win each match-up. The winners will be revealed daily, beginning with a face-off between the “Penguin” vs. the “Capital” to celebrate the 2011 Bridgestone
NHL Winter Classic® match-up on Saturday, Jan.1, 2011. The last winner will be unveiled on Sunday, Jan. 30, when all thirty Guardians will come to life during a special presentation within the 2011 NHL® All-Star Game presented by Discover in Raleigh, N.C. 4 p.m. ET live broadcast on VERSUS in the U.S. and on CBC and RDS in Canada.

Created and developed by Stan Lee, Tony Chargin, EVP of GME Creative Affairs, and Jake Shapiro, each Guardian has been derived from its corresponding hockey team, complete with special powers representative of each team and city. Every day for the first 30 days in January, the winning Guardians will be revealed at 8pm ET with an exclusive image designed by legendary comic book artist Neal Adams along with their bio.

With an initial plan to reach an all-family audience and narrower target demo of tween boys, GME hopes to bring a new audience to the NHL, while engaging the existing, established hockey fan base through a compelling tale of good vs. evil.

“Guardian 30 Match-Up is the latest strategic marketing tactic for reaching our core youth demographic of Guardian Project fans and building excitement around the unveiling of Guardians throughout January,” explained Brian Jennings, EVP, Marketing for the National Hockey League, L.P. ”Introducing the Guardians to fans through Facebook, a proven social media platform for engaging NHL fans, is an ideal way to set the stage for the exciting unveiling we have planned during the All-Star Game.”

“Our entire business model is focused on creating content for the ways in which entertainment is consumed today,” added Adam Baratta, GME Chief Creative Officer.

“Social media is a very important medium for reaching and engaging our core demographic which is why this was such an organic initiative for the launch of the Guardian Project brand.”

Fans will be able to vote for their favorite teams and learn about the Guardians at www.guardianproject30.com and by going to the “GP Vote Now tab of www.facebook.com/NHL.

In addition to heavy social media outreach, Guardian Media Entertainment (GME) will drive awareness and exposure for the Guardian 30 Match-Up through the airing of promos in NHL arenas, on the NHL Network™, on VERSUS and on NHL.com, etc.

About Guardian Media Entertainment, LLC.
GME will serve as the company responsible for the creation, development and exploitation of The Guardian Project. The executive team includes Howard Baldwin, Chairman, Mark Terry, Chief Operating Officer; Adam Baratta, Chief Creative Officer; Tony Chargin, Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs; Aldo LaPietra, Executive Vice President, Production & Business Development; and Jennifer Sprague, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications.

About the NHL:
The National Hockey League, founded in 1917, is the second-oldest of the four major professional team sports leagues in North America. Today, the NHL consists of 30 Member Clubs, each reflecting the League’s international makeup, with players from more than 20 countries represented on team rosters. According to a Simmons Market Research study, NHL fans are younger, more educated, more affluent, and access content through digital means more than any other sport. The NHL entertains more than 250 million fans each season in-arena and through its partners in national television (VERSUS, NBC, TSN, CBC, RDS, RIS, NASN, ASN and NHL Network™) and radio (NHL Radio™, Sirius XM Radio and XM Canada). Through the NHL Foundation, the League’s charitable arm, the NHL raises money and awareness for Hockey Fights Cancer™ and NHL Youth Development, and supports the charitable efforts of NHL players. For more information on the NHL, log on to NHL.com.

About Stan Lee
Stan Lee, Founder, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment, LLC Stan Lee’s famous co-creations include Spider-Man®, The Incredible Hulk®, X-Men®, The Fantastic Four® and Iron Man® among many others. Lee, known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel® Comics to its preeminent position in the comic book industry, first became publisher of Marvel® Comics in 1972 and is presently the Chairman Emeritus of Marvel® Enterprises, Inc.

About SLG Entertainment, LLC
Formed in 2008, SLG Entertainment, LLC is a company whose vision is to merge the worlds of entertainment and sports by creating, developing and exploiting original superhero content derived from the intellectual property owned or controlled by professional and amateur sports organizations. It’s owners include, Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment, award-winning producer Adam Baratta, Aldo LaPietra, Mark Terry, co-creators Tony Chargin and Jake Shapiro, and Academy Award nominated producer and former owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Howard Baldwin.

About POW! Entertainment, LLC
POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment, LLC, an advanced media and entertainment company, was founded by world famous comic book and motion picture icon Stan Lee, together with award winning producer Gill Champion and intellectual property specialist Arthur Lieberman, Esq. POW! Entertainment’s principals have extensive backgrounds in the entertainment industry encompassing the creation, production and licensing of original intellectual properties including some of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. POW! Entertainment, capitalizing on this combined expertise specializes in franchises for the entertainment industry, including animation and live-action feature films, plus television, DVDs, video games, merchandising, and related ancillary markets all of which contribute to global expansion.

NHL, the NHL Shield and the NHL Winter Classic word mark are registered trademarks and NHL Network is a trademark of the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by a PR team related to The Guardian Project, Rocket XL.

The Events

On October 21st, I will be attending Boston Blogtoberfest for the first time. The event is sold out, otherwise I would urge you all to join me. Blogtoberfest is a gathering assembled by the past few years by Boston based social media specialist Jenny Frazier, and draws a wide-range of bloggers and social media types.

On November 6th, I will be attending the second Boston Sports Blogapalooza at The Baseball Tavern. Boston Sports Then and Now’s Joe Gill has put together a second edition of his sports writing bonanza, which will include panel discussions this go-around. No matter your level of experience within sports media (new blogger to a writer with a major site), the event is a must attend – the networking I did at the first edition is still paying dividends for my writing. Registration is still open, and I think Joe is even looking for some Sox and Celtics panelists – check out their registration page or their Facebook fan page.

SportsGirlKat’s Tips for Overcoming Networking Shyness

As an introvert, going to events like Blogtoberfest and Blogapalooza can be extremely intimidating. Having to speak to absolute strangers? Not my fortay. (Part of the reason why I became a writer in the first place.) However, if you ever want to parlay your blogging to a freelance writing career (which I am working towards), you must put yourself out there and break through the shyness. Here is what I’ll be doing to prepare for both events:

1) Stock up on business cards. They need not be fancy – just clean, clear and easy to read. I’ve seen great work done by UPrinting.com, which is one of the many online printing companies offering professional looking print goods at discount prices. Even if you go to an office supply store and buy print-your-own business card sets, it’s imperative to have them on you when you attend one of these events.

2) Practice a 20 second hook of what you are all about. While I write about a wide variety of sports, at the first Blogapalooza I knew I would have to stand out among the masses of Red Sox bloggers and Patriots writers. Therefore, I emphasized my lacrosse writing. I rehearsed how I would introduce myself, “Hi, I’m Kat. I write about professional and college lacrosse for several publications.” Don’t sound fake, and don’t recite the introduction verbatim every single introduction. Think of this 20 second hook as your angle – how are you going to stand out – and keep it in mind when having these discussions.

3) Be willing to listen. I am an adviser/mentor by training, so I genuinely enjoy listening to what others have to say. Being willing to actively listen to others thoughts, pitches, and what have you at networking events – even if you aren’t interested – earns you a ton of social currency. By being willing to listen to others, I earned introductions I would not have normally.

4) You are never too “big” to network. At the first Blogapalooza, several writers and editors from NESN and other larger media sources were in attendance, and this go-around, Comcast Sports Net New England is sponsoring the event. They understand the exposure their brand receives by attending an event with a hundred sports fans, and know how worthwhile it is. Your site might receive a 1,000 hits a day, or you might be a columnist with a bigger site, but there’s never a time to slow down the hustle. Keep telling people what you do, keep meeting people with similar interests, and stay hungry. Keep the exposure of your own brand high, just like the bigger media outlets are doing.

If you are attending either event, tell me in the comments! I would love to connect with you there!

“Oh, absolutely not,” immediately commented Tricia.

I nodded in agreement. “Chris Brown ruined it for himself.” I began reading off the other options, and we ended up settling on my original choice.

Later that evening, I was thinking about our immediate dismissal of Forever. It has a home in my iPod, after a friend’s wedding played it mere weeks after it was released and I thought it was an ideal wedding reception song. Brown, however, became caught up in his domestic abuse scandal with fellow pop star Rhianna months later, and the song went from Fred The iPod’s “Most Played” list to the “Hey, You Remember You Paid 99 Cents For These Songs, Right?” list.

But my immediate dismissal of the song on Friday pained me. It’s such a fun song, even if it was originally written for a gum commercial. It has such a good sentiment. The artist, however, no longer has that good sentiment. Brown is a musical pariahs, admitting that he handled his issues with his girlfriend horribly and being the inspiration for one of my least favorite songs of the last ten years, Rhianna’s Russian Roulette.

Has Forever thus become the new Rock and Roll Part 2 – a song with a very good purpose, that can be used very well for the best of circumstances, but unplayable because of the artist’s behavior? Forever‘s purpose is for celebratory and romantic circumstances, like a wedding, but no one dares to play it because of Brown’s behavior. Gary Glitter’s Rock and Roll Part 2 is probably one of the most iconic sports songs ever, with such a distinct cadence for goal, touchdown or point scoring celebrations, but no one dares to play it because Glitter allegedly molested children in Vietnam.

And are we all fooling each other by not playing these songs? Is my strong resistance to Forever, and are arena management’s strong resistance to Rock and Roll Part 2, a statement of our own personal dislike for the artist’s behavior, or because we are more concerned with the reactions of others if we played it? Are we appalled at the artist’s actions, or worried that others will be appalled at us for playing the song by an awful acting artist?

Will someone need to come along and lightly remake Forever – like they have for Rock and Roll Part 2, with a version that sounds exactly the same as the original by studio musicians – in order for us to be able to listen to it without feeling self-conscious? Or if the remake is too close, do you just remove that song from your catalog because it will elicit the same negative reaction?

The larger question might always exist – can you separate the art from the artist? Can you separate the athletic performance from the athlete? Can you admire the performance while removing the artist’s or athlete’s non-performance related negative acts? (And given the recent unpleasantness surrounding two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, this is a pertinent subject. Can Steelers fans still be grateful for those Super Bowl performances, or are they tarnished?)