As Wendy, girls and I made the decision to
leave Minneapolis and move out west so that I could work for the Spokane Chiefs
Junior Hockey team in the state of Washington, I was driving in my car,
finishing up my newspaper delivery route, and on the radio comes the Village People with their popular song “GO WEST”. I loved this song and
actually the entire music catalog performed by this manufactured group! I
remember writing down some of the lyrics which they sang …
“Together, we will go our way… Together, we will leave some
day… Together, your hand in my hand… Together, we will make the plans... Together, we will fly so high… Together, tell
our friends goodbye... Together, we will start life new… Together, this
is what we'll do.”
The
song was so catchy (Google this song now so you can envision what I am saying!)
that I thought this would be the perfect post-game victory song to play over
the PA system at all Chiefs games! Yes, I could become a full-fledged marketer of
a sports team after I told my boss (Bob Strumm) that I was going to “Wing It”
when he hired me to join him in Spokane!
It
was now the year 1986 when I took on the position of Director of Marketing and
Public Relations for the Spokane franchise. The club was just a year-old but in
need of a fresh new coat of paint. So upon our arrival, strangely I thought of how
I had knocked on doors to meet my Minnesota newspaper customers and the success
it had brought me that I took on the exact same approach with the Spokane
businesses! I went around the city and introduced myself and asked questions.
Simple ones like what made them get involved in sports sponsorships? What they
thought about the Chiefs? About the team’s pricing? Everyone loved this
approach. They liked the fact that someone new to the city was reaching out and
made them feel a part of the planning vs. “telling the locals here’s what we’re
doing” type of approach.
Basically
to use a hockey terminology, I learned marketing on the fly! There were no
college courses or books that we read. It was just react and respond! We humanized
our players. The one lesson I learned from my time with the Washington Capitals
in the NHL was that these professional players were no better off than the
Junior kids I knew. Despite being paid large amounts of money, it still did not
guarantee that the pro player knew how to cook a meal, how banking worked or
even speak confidently in front of a room of strangers? So my plan was to give
our Spokane players many of life’s everyday lessons and teach them all how to “Smile!”
Thankfully
Bob bought into this plan because we had our players out in the community every
day. There was no idea that wasn’t tried! We had our players Shampoo hair at a
local Supercuts. They made pizza for Domino’s and delivered to homes. We bagged
groceries for the fans and waited tables at a Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant
and donated all of the tips to a charity. Back during this time, the fans rose
up and embraced our club. We were all over the newspaper and television station
highlights. Our players even had their own radio show that counted down the top
songs each week! With all of the amazing amount of publicity, the team’s attendance
numbers shot up through the roof! I remember our numbers went up from 75,000 at
the time of our arrival to 100,000 and then the following year to 125,000! Our
local Spokane newspaper once tag us as the “(Ringling Brothers) Barnum &
Bailey” of hockey!
Through
my years in the business of hockey, I’ve never allowed myself to get close to
the players because I always knew there are two sides to the business. But this
group of players with the Chiefs won over my heart. Mick Vukota, who was the
team’s resident tough-guy and Troy Gamble, our goaltender and spokesperson,
were two that lived and breathed the community for me. Mick could have run for
Mayor of Spokane and won a % of the votes he was that popular! When he and I
made public appearances together, there would be lines of young girls waiting
to get his autograph! I will never forget the letter he wrote to me after his
final home game in a Spokane uniform and before he left our city to go play for
the New York Islanders in the NHL. Mick wrote, “Jim, I just want to thank you
for making Mick Vukota because I’ve never felt so wanted in my life and you
were the reason”.
As
I mentioned earlier, our public relations efforts in Spokane reached deep down to
the core with our city folks. I was getting offers from so many businesses to involve
our players. One that we took on and perhaps even to this date, might be
considered my fondest career memory, came from the Spokane Children’s Theatre. This
facility was on the brink of folding due to a shortage of operating funds and
two of the theatre executives met with me in person. They were seeking ideas to
help them raise much need funds so we suggested that they help us create a real
life “theatre show” for our players to act out? I can still remember the faces
of these two women? They were like: “You want to have your players act in a
show?” I said YES! So we met with the production crew at the theatre and a
never-seen before musical was born called SNOW & THE SEVEN FLAKES! I had to
convince eight players to give up their manhood and perform live on a theatre
stage. That one of the players in particular was going to have to kiss Snow
White on the stage. That there would be live music, dancing, and oh yes, you’d
be doing this in front of a large audience and friends with no cue cards and
rehearsals at night to attend! The players jumped in with me and at full force!
It was an amazing show that ultimately sold out an entire high school auditorium
of 700 people! The newspaper did a show review and gave us a big “Thumbs Up!”
All of the event proceeds were donated back to the Children’s Theatre!
After
a great couple of exciting seasons drumming up fan and community support for
the Chiefs, I was deeply touched when our WHL President Ed Chynoweth phoned to
let me know that I was going to become the first-ever Marketing & PR person
in the league’s history to win the “Executive-of-the-Year Award!” That was
quite an honor based on the League’s long-standing tradition since the early
1960s and that the award was usually presented to an owner, president or
general manager. And then even greater news arrived soon afterwards as Wendy and
I would add to our family tree by welcoming into the world a third daughter,
Nikki Brienne, who was born in 1987 on the 2nd day of July in
Spokane.
After
winning the award, I phoned Roger Crozier back in D.C. to thank him personally
for all the work he did to mentor me! I also called Jerry Sachs at the Capital
Centre and Max McNab, who ran the Capitals’ team during my first two years in
the Big Leagues (and who lent me his personal car that was stolen on my watch during
my first day at work!) I still have Mr. McNab’s response letter that he sent when
in it, he praised Roger for recruiting and bringing me to Washington! He said: “The
ability to recognize ability and then hire that guy is a great quality.
Congratulations Jim! I am so proud of you! Max”. At the time, Max was the
President of the New Jersey Devils.
My
career with the Chiefs would cover four years up to the 1989-90 season. Just
before that final season, I was starting to get that itch to possibly go back
to the professional ranks of hockey? On one particular day I received a phone
call from a Canadian businessman name Russ Parker, who lived in Calgary,
Alberta (the same city that actually was home to our Western Hockey League office).
Russ told me of his background (he owned and operated the Calgary Cannons professional
baseball team that was the top farm club for the Seattle Mariners at the time)
and that he was going to open up a brand new minor league hockey team in Kansas
City, Missouri. When I inquired on how he knew of me? Russ then told a story
that reminded me much about the hit movie “The
Truman Show” that
starred Jim Carrey (it was a film about a man who initially
is unaware that he is living out his life before a daily TV viewing audience). Russ
went on to say that he had been watching me for years through television in
Calgary? I was baffled obviously. Russ then said that in Calgary, their American
television station programming came from Spokane, Washington – all three
network channels from ABC, CBS and NBC. So he told me how fascinated he was by
all of the marketing events we did with the Chiefs and wanted to see if I would
join him in Kansas City?
Continued tomorrow …
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