Hotmail
Sites to behold
by Tod Leonard, STAFF WRITER , The San Diego Union-Tribune
To get the word out, he could have called a favored reporter or issued a statement through his agent. Instead, Woods did the one thing he knew would get everyone's attention quickly and efficiently: He broke the story on his Web site.
Within minutes of the posting, the buzz among the bloggers was traveling at light speed around the world.
Sure beats the days of the tap-tap-tap of Western Union.
In this age when millions of facts are literally available in the palm of our hands, when baseball games can be followed pitch-by-pitch on a computer and football highlights are enjoyed on your phone, top-level athletes and coaches are only beginning to scratch the surface of the Internet's potential for their career and their lives.
Some are already big-wave Web surfers: Woods, Kobe Bryant, Lance Armstrong, Maria Sharapova, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Curt Schilling, Pete Carroll.
Others are muddling their way through with mediocre sites and outdated facts. And still more have yet to catch on, either due to lack of interest or financial motivation.
"It's an interesting time in the industry," said Bob McKamey, the concept director for Chicago-based Web designer UncommonThinking.com, which has built spectacular sites for, among others, Patrick, Earnhardt, David Beckham, John Wooden and Duke men's basketball.
"It's kind of black and white between those who get it and those who don't. And I'd have to say that there are more on the still-don't-get-it side."
In San Diego, Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer has a Web site, but quarterback Philip Rivers does not. Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez blogs, but we get nothing from Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy or all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman. Golfer Pat Perez's site rocks, while Phil Mickelson's just lays there.
As for the city's true sports icons, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn's site is clunky and antiquated, and LaDainian Tomlinson's official Web presence is so terribly neglected it has the 2007 NFL schedule on its front page.
"Any of these guys, if they don't have a blog, I think they're missing out," said San Elijo Hills resident Chris Bello, who designed the site for his friend, Perez, and runs two University of Miami sites, AllCanes.com and AllCanesblog.com. "This is the stuff that people are tuning in to. We're a reality TV society, and it's almost like this is a TV show: `What are we in store for this week?' "
"When I first started (my Web site), hardly anyone was doing it," said 2006 Ironman triathlon champion Michellie Jones of Carlsbad, an avid blogger since the late '90s. "Now everyone has one. If you don't, you're back in the dark ages. It's sort of important."
Why have a site?
The value of the Web, however, continues to be in the eye of the beholder, because there are numerous factors to consider. What's the purpose of a site? Who's the audience? Is it worth the time? Is there money to be made, or is this just a high-tech hobby?
Good Web sites aren't cheap. McKamey said a basic setup can be built for about $15,000. A site with incredible graphics and layers and layers of information can run up to $80,000.
Some are getting around the costs by putting up pages on MySpace or Facebook.
"One of the biggest problems with the athletes is that they don't want to pay for them," McKamey said. "These guys are millionaires, with cars, houses and jewelry. The only marketing channel they have 24/7/365 is a Web site. But they're not willing to spend $15,000 most of the time.
"For the high-profile athletes, the agents drive everything. If you don't have an agent who knows what they're doing, you may have a terrible Web presence or no presence at all."
Sidney Crosby, the 21-year-old captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is the hottest entity in the NHL, but his official site, crosby87.com, has yet to get off the ground. Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps blogs for swimroom.com, but doesn't have his own site. Figure skating star Michelle Kwan has fan sites, but not her own. Sergio Garcia is the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world, but his site is "under construction."
NFL quarterbacks have the highest profile in America's most prominent league, but of the 32 starters, only eight have Web sites, with Rivers not among them.
Rivers has considered it carefully, weighing the pros and cons. He said he will probably have a site eventually. But he doesn't want to have one just because it's trendy.
"There are a lot of directions to go with it, and whatever route I take, I want to be passionate about it," he said.
When he does have one, Rivers said it will be about promoting a charitable foundation. He has little interest in blogging.
"Going back to college, I've always liked to stay pretty removed," Rivers said. "There are times where I'd like to say exactly what I think, tell the real story. But there are not many cases where it's worth that."
Making a connection
Jammer has had a site for three years specifically to get his own voice out there. He personally answers fans' questions on a weekly basis.
"Usually, people make assumptions about you," Jammer said. "And if you don't want them to make assumptions, put up a Web site and let them know."
The athletes who have embraced the Internet adore it as much as high-def TV, TiVo and satellite radio. How'd they ever live without it?
As is his practice with nearly everything else in life, Woods was on the Web's cutting edge. He began preparing e-mail newsletters in December 1997, before probably most of his older peers on tour knew the difference between Yahoo and Google.
The e-mails, which Woods dictates to a staffer, have provided fascinating vignettes from Woods' professional and personal life. Just last month, Woods discussed the rehab work on his knee while also revealing that his daughter, Sam Alexis, went out on Halloween dressed as -- a tiger.
"He does it himself; that's kind of the beauty of it," said Rob McNamara, vice president of Woods' ETW Corp. "He picks and chooses what he feels like talking about.
"Tiger has seen (the Web site) as a very efficient way for him to communicate with his fans and the media. He sees value in that."
Woods' fans have responded enthusiastically, with more than 200,000 signing up free for tigerwoods.com's Club Tiger, according to McNamara. About 150,000 receive the monthly newsletter via e-mail.
McNamara said Woods' site draws about 250,000 unique visitors and 2.5 million page views per month. The most traffic in the history of the site? Not for a Woods major victory, but the day Sam was born in June 2007.
Web's big wheels
Motorsports stars and their teams have always been more accessible and accommodating about public and media relations than most leagues, and that has been the case with using the Web.
NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr., 34, who is said to be a computer fanatic, has had a site for eight years (dalejr.com), and it was updated most recently by UncommonThinking. It has myriad layers, from fan club photos and race recaps to sponsor plugs and a retail shop that sells items such as No. 88 Christmas ornaments.
Thayer Lavielle, Earnhardt's vice president of marketing and brand development, came to the team from a vastly different company, Loreal, where a cologne campaign using Earnhardt was "crazy successful." Her approach to the racing Web site is decidedly sophisticated.
"We talk about buckets and themes," Lavielle said. "Not only do you want to be the voice for the latest news, we also want to speak and sing the songs we want to sing, to tell the story we want to tell."
There are also very serious commercial implications for the site.
"In this day and age, you have to capitalize on the long dollar in the name and data collection," Lavielle said. "If you have 100,000 names, you think, `What can I do with this?' "
Take a look at the opening page of the site of IRL driver Danica Patrick (danicapatrick.com), and the racing helmet on her hip is barely noticeable because she's wearing a sexy, light blue dress with a plunging neckline. There's a reason for that.
"The new site is based more on fashion and real life," said Patrick's father, T.J., who runs her business affairs. "People know about her racing now. They need to see her as a fashion person. She's very up on fashion, and we like to promote the regular Danica. Eventually, she won't be racing and we still have to keep going."
The Patricks have had a Web site for Danica, 27, since she was racing go-carts in 1997. The current site gets 1 million visits per year and features the music of up-and-coming female artists and as many red-carpet glamour shots as racing photos.
Patrick's sponsors also are prominently displayed, and that alone is worth the cost of starting and maintaining the site, T.J. Patrick said.
"I don't think you can put a dollar amount on it," he said. "Anybody who has a sponsor should be thankful, and this is our way of showing how much we appreciate them."
The "gold standard"
Not all Web ventures are such serious business.
When Bello launched Torrey Pines High alum Pat Perez's Web site (patperezgolf.com) in 2006 -- on the same day Perez shot 60 in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic -- it was about his admiration for his close friend of more than a decade.
There was no grand marketing scheme, just a desire to have a good time with it. Inspired by Perez's fiery personality, Bello designed a site that looked like something out of the heavy-metal realm, with a logo of flames shooting out of a Golf ball, a Metallica soundtrack and boxing-glove headcovers for sale.
"If it's just some corporate marketing tool, then it doesn't have any soul or passion behind it," Bello, 34, said. "You can't fake it. What you see is what you get. It's got to come from the heart."
Sports Illustrated called Perez's site the "gold standard" for athletes, and his "Double P" blogs are priceless. Last month, Perez riffed about a Metallica concert: "Loud Guitars. Tons of explosions. Good times." And he had this to say about going to the Chargers' Monday night game against the Jets in September: "I think we spent more time watching the freaks than the actual game."
Michellie Jones, the personable Aussie triathlete, is all about the whimsy of the blog. She compulsively takes photos from her iPhone and posts them on her site (gomichellie.com), no matter how wacky.
"If I giggle at them, maybe other people will too," Jones said.
The blogs read like letters to her dearest friends, complete with run-on sentences and bad punctuation.
"Blogs have made it more personal," Jones said. "People feel like they can connect with you. Some of my blogs are better than others, but if it makes somebody laugh, and if they can relate to you in some way, then you've reached the purpose the site was intended for."
[][][]
PICKS TO CLICK
A sampling of some of the most interesting athlete-driven sites on the Web:
38pitches.com: The entertaining and long-winded musings of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who addresses everything from the presidential campaign (he's a friend of John McCain) to computer gaming. No one blogs more than Schilling. Sample from Nov. 13: "I just finished giving what could only be described as the worst presentation in the history of presentations. It was horrid." Schilling announced on the site Wednesday that he's moving to WEEI.com, the site of a Boston radio station.
dukeblueplanet.com: The Duke men's college basketball site has to be the best team effort out there. It's got fresh players' video blogs, coaches' blogs, writers' blogs, and so much more, presented with spectacular graphics by UncommonThinking.
rafaelnadal.com: A bold site for the dynamic Spanish tennis player. Big letters and black-and-white scheme make it very eye-catching. Lots of fan interaction.
mariasharapova.com: One of the most beautiful pro athletes has a Web site to match. Join Club Sharapova for free and watch fashion shoots and the comedic exploits of Dolce, the dog who stars in the Canon commercials with Maria. There's a little bit of tennis on the site, too.
KB24.com: I knew Kobe Bryant's site would be cool when I had to upgrade my Internet Explorer browser just to get on it. It's a little heavy on style over substance, but there's a lot to see, especially on the video side.
shaunwhite.com: You just knew San Diego's Flying Tomato would have a hip Web presence. The snowboard/skateboard star has to be one of the first major athletes to Twitter regularly. Sample: "Video shoot today in Encinitas, but I think a surf is in order first! P.S. It is snowing everywhere! Winter is coming ... ."
petecarroll.com: Sure, you've got to be a USC football honk to stomach it, but if you love Carroll and the Trojans, this is incredible. The highlight is the "USC Rips It" blog that on some days provides almost hour-by-hour updates from inside the team, written by a staffer.
-- TOD LEONARD
| Copyright 2008 The San Diego Union-Tribune | |
|
Terms & Conditions Privacy
Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Add a comment
advertisement
