Before I continue with this post, I must wish my sister Rivka a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I can't believe you are 27 years old! Where has time gone? Just yesterday, we were in high school, sharing a room, taking the van to Central together, fighting over the noise at night, etc. Now, you're no longer just my sister, but you're also wife, daughter-in-law, Mommy and Aunt Ricka! My wish to you this year is that it should be full of happiness, good health, fulfillment, laughter, joy, simchot, success and that all of your prayers will come true. I miss you tons and can't wait to see you in February! Happy Birthday!
I had meant to include this apologize in my blog from last night, but I am still a bit off my game, so I decided to blog about Bubby this morning.
Back when I was a Junior AE at Dan Klores, I was given a coveted job to do. I was asked to pitch a Pro Player and NFL QB Club story. Basically, Pro Player was issuing the Top 10 list of NFL QB jersey's sold in 1999. I was given the list and told to go ahead and get hits (which in plain speak is sending the information to reporters who put in in the newspaper) in the Top 10 markets. The number one Jersey sold that year was Brett Favre from the Green Bay Packers, the #2 jersey that year was Kordell Stewart over at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, I was still green but really happy to get the assignment since the NFL QB Club was a marquee client for the firm and working with that account was a big step up for me. I obviously wanted to do a kick-ass job and set about the task of getting hits in 20 newspapers (most major markets have at least 2 big papers, such as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune). I was on a roll, going to my boys at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first and landed some good coverage for Brett, making my way to Miami to get some good ink in the Herald, etc. I finally got to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and spoke to the Steeler beat writer.
I was excited. I was so excited that I was doing really well with the pitching. So excited, that I got stupid.
I gave Ed my spiel, and he listened, and told me he would include a brief in the next days's notebook section. Then, just as we were hanging up, he asked me if Bubby Brister was on the list. Now, I didn't know who Bubby Brister was but I had the top 50 list and I went ahead and looked for his name. Sure enough, he was on the list. But he was #48 on the list.
I didn't think anything of it and told the reporter where Bubby stood on the list. He thanked me, we hung up, and I promptly forgot the conversation.
Next morning, I floated into work, gleeful at the number of hits I was amassing for the dual client pitch. And that's when the shit hit the fan.
For all you avid football fans, Bubby Brister used to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers before he went over to the San Francisco 49ers. I guess the fans of Pittsburgh weren't so forgiving of his defection to the warm, sunny west coast. Anyway, good ol' Ed at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote the following headline: Nobody Loves Bubby and proceeded to write an entire article about how Brister's jersey barely made it to the top 50 roster. Obviously, Bubby's folks, the people over the NFL QB Club and everyone else involved were not pleased with the negative ink.
BUT, it gets worse! The Sports Business Daily which is an electronic roundup of all sports stories, decided to include the Bubby story in that day's daily digest. This was sent out to thousands of people in the sports community, media world, advertisers, etc. So, now we add the number of media impressions by including both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette AND The Sports Business Daily. That's a significant number of eyeballs.
AND, if that wasn't bad enough, it just so happens that Bubby Brister held a press conference THAT VERY MORNING to discuss an injury. First question asked by a member of the press:
"Bubby, what do you think of this article that no one is buying your jerseys?"
Bubby answered humbly: "I'm just really glad they still let me play the game".
It took over a year before Peter (ZT"L) gave me another NFL QB Club assignment, and Scott was left to pick up the pieces. I cried in his office (again folks, I'm 22 years old and this is my first job, so I shed some tears when I really messed up!) and he just looked at me in disbelief. I'll never forget what he said when we went over exactly what happened!
He told me: When you fuck up, you do a really good job. That was very true.
Had it been a positive story, and I had gotten the same exactly coverage (recap: major print newspaper, a "wire" and sports TV, trifecta of mediums) I would have been hailed a hero. Instead, I was relegated to pitching the "bottom feeder" clients for a few months as punishment.
SO, here is my apology. I am sorry to Bubby Brister for being stupid and NOT thinking about what the reporter was asking, and not recognizing that he was looking to snowball you in the paper. I am sorry that my inexperience in PR affected you, and I'm really sorry if you felt any shame or embarressment from the story.
I apologize for the people over at Pro Player and The NFL QB Club for the mistake that caused a lot of heartache and problems to people at both organizations.
I apologize to Scott Miranda my mentor and good friend, who had to take the heat for my mistake and deal with the consequences that rained down upon him from above (and boy, did it pour).
Finally, I apologize to Ed over at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. What you did to me was really lousy, taking advantage of my inexperience to get the dirt on a story that should have just been a nice piece about Kordell Stewart's jersey sale. I am only sorry for all the years I've retold this story and used various degrees of inappropriate language to refer to you. I am extremely grateful because you taught me a very important lesson, but I still hate the way it happened.
Wow, I feel like this weight has been lifted! I've been carrying around the guilt behind the Bubby Brister incident for such a long time, now I think I can finally move on.
Song of the day, a dedication to Ed, is The Rat by The Walkmen.
I've been procrastinating all morning. It's Noon and I'm still in PJ's, having slept in until 10:00 a.m. I ate a quick breakfast and then responded to a number of e-mails and cleaned up a bit since Edna (our cleaning lady) is coming at 2:00 p.m. Now that my blog is updated, I have to hop into the shower and get going. I need to pick up a few provisions for Shabbat. I was invited out for dinner tonight, and they requested that we pick up some dessert so I'm going to try to get something on Dizengoff street, and then tomorrow I plan on laying low here at home. I just want to sleep and try to get rid of these bags under my eyes. I still feel like I was hit by a truck, and I really want to feel better before Yom Kippur. My plans for Saturday night are very simple: another load of laundry and work. I need to edit my two stories before the final class on Thursday. I'd like to get a lot done before Yom Kippur because I don't have Wednesday really to work on the pieces (I have to register at school for Fall semester, and I hear that will take forever). I'm looking forward to my Chag break though, next Friday I will be a free gal and then the countdown to the enslaught begins!!!
First, Fuma, Hannah and Liora will be in town. I heard a couple of other folks are thinking about coming too, and it will be nice to see them as well. Then, Mom and Dad will be heading this way! Immediately following their departure, Bracha and Yotam show up for 3 WEEKS!!! Plus, I get to go to one of Bracha's performances with the Israel Philharmonic, which should be amazing. As soon as Bracha and Yotam clear out, Uncle Norman and Toby come in for Netanel's wedding and that should it for a while. A couple of my guy friends are toying with trips in November, but I can't count on it happening for sure. If it does happen though, I will be super happy to see everyone!
October should, IM"H, be a great month!
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!
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