If the VBL was yours for a day or two- What would you do?
I wanted to have some fun with a little participation if there are folks still out there. It is an age old question that many an athlete or fan has been asked- If you were in charge of the VBL for a day:
What changes would you make (Remember you are limited to how much money something can cost)
I will toss out a couple of my own first-
1. Separate out the MVP award from the pitching. The only cost would be for one more plaque at seasons end.
2. Cut a deal with the Northern Virginia Daily & the Staunton News-Leader where one of the two newspapers would step up and cover the Championship Series even if none of the six combined teams they cover are playing. We can't afford to have ANY games being played in the Lineweaver Cup not be available on line...
Please send your thoughts in by post or e-mail....
What changes would you make (Remember you are limited to how much money something can cost)
I will toss out a couple of my own first-
1. Separate out the MVP award from the pitching. The only cost would be for one more plaque at seasons end.
2. Cut a deal with the Northern Virginia Daily & the Staunton News-Leader where one of the two newspapers would step up and cover the Championship Series even if none of the six combined teams they cover are playing. We can't afford to have ANY games being played in the Lineweaver Cup not be available on line...
Please send your thoughts in by post or e-mail....
Comments
I would definitely have all the local papers have a corner of their sports section dedicated to VBL in print and online.
I would have each team update their websites, maybe a deal could be done with one host so there could be a similar template for each team.
just my 2cents.
Thanks
The hardest thing about wanting to help in a situation is to make sure that the parties involved want to be helped. We started this site in hopes it might be a vechicle for the VBL to use. Please send more thoughts if you have them and I will try and get them to the right people...
I also agree that each team should update their websites during the season with team news.
I believe I read in one of Jerry's articles his comment that the VBL is a well kept secret. That's why his ATVL promotion was a great idea. It got the league a lot of exposure that they definitely wouldn't have gotten through the area newspapers. Case in point - you never read anything about the VBL after the regular season was over. Fans had to depend on Around the Valley League and ATVL in 60 Days sites for playoff news.
It's a shame that team locality newspapers didn't continue to write about the VBL Playoffs no matter if there team was there or not.
Maybe if the VBL would do a better job of promoting itself as an "interesting and exciting product" then the media would deem it "news-worthy" to continue to report on.
I agree with Jerry's comment that the league can't just assume that players are going to be making a bee-line to the VBL. There are leagues opening up all over the country and then the established ones keep growing. So players have a lot of options for places to play. The league needs to continue to work to make itself attractive to players.
I will definitely appreciate any VBL news that you can continue to share ... we are in baseball withdraw right now!