BCS hires Ari Fleischer's PR firm

[Moderator1]

This was sent to me - you'd think maybe the release would include that he was Bush's press secretary?



Haven't seen anything anywhere on SportsJournalists.com but the BCS has hired Fleischer Communications as its PR firm. As in Ari Fleischer, Bush's press secretary. Of course, in the 251-word press release sent out Friday afternoon (of course) there's no mention of the high-profile job once handled by Mr. Fleischer.

And here's a link to the Twitter site that has all the potshots fired at the BCS via Tweets.
http://twitter.com/search?q=insidethebcs#search?q=insidethebcs

And the Fleischer hiring release:


Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the BCS, today announced that the BCS is working with the sports communications firm, Ari Fleischer Communications, to bring focus to the fact that the BCS is the best format to match up college football’s number one and two teams, while preserving the heritage and success of the bowl system.

“I’m proud of the BCS,” Hancock said, “and we have a great event that’s worth promoting. For too long, we weren’t as pro-active as we could have been and we’re determined to demonstrate why the BCS format is the best. Ari has extensive, high-level communications experience in the world of sports and we’re delighted to bring him on board.”

Fleischer’s company will work directly with Hancock and commissioners of the 11 conferences as part of a pro-active plan to tell the story of the BCS’s success, especially given the fact that attendance, television viewership, fan interest and revenues are at all-time highs.

"I’m honored to be able to help the BCS group,” said Fleischer. “They’ve done so much for college football and they have a great story to tell. The BCS has its share of critics, but I believe once people see the facts on both sides of this debate, there will be a growing recognition that the BCS format works best, with more consensus than any specific alternative proposal.”

Fleischer’s sports work has included or includes seven National Football League teams, Major League Baseball, the United States Olympic Committee, Penske Auto Racing and others.

 

[YankeeFan]

Eh, Dustin Hoffman doesn't list Ishtar on his resume.

It's stupid because anyone with a brain knows who he is, so it's not like he's getting away with hiding it. I understand that you're trying to reposition yourself, but c'mon, that was the job that launched you.

That being said, Ari set up his firm with the intention of working with sports clients. He's done well & has worked with a number of properties, so it's not surprising that the BCS would hire him -- especially when you consider that politics (or at least the concerns of politicians) will be involved in whatever happens to the BCS.

 

[Boom_70]

This was sent to me - you'd think maybe the release would include that he was Bush's press secretary?



Haven't seen anything anywhere on SportsJournalists.com but the BCS has hired Fleischer Communications as its PR firm. As in Ari Fleischer, Bush's press secretary. Of course, in the 251-word press release sent out Friday afternoon (of course) there's no mention of the high-profile job once handled by Mr. Fleischer.

And here's a link to the Twitter site that has all the potshots fired at the BCS via Tweets.
http://twitter.com/search?q=insidethebcs#search?q=insidethebcs

And the Fleischer hiring release:


Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the BCS, today announced that the BCS is working with the sports communications firm, Ari Fleischer Communications, to bring focus to the fact that the BCS is the best format to match up college football’s number one and two teams, while preserving the heritage and success of the bowl system.

“I’m proud of the BCS,” Hancock said, “and we have a great event that’s worth promoting. For too long, we weren’t as pro-active as we could have been and we’re determined to demonstrate why the BCS format is the best. Ari has extensive, high-level communications experience in the world of sports and we’re delighted to bring him on board.”

Fleischer’s company will work directly with Hancock and commissioners of the 11 conferences as part of a pro-active plan to tell the story of the BCS’s success, especially given the fact that attendance, television viewership, fan interest and revenues are at all-time highs.

"I’m honored to be able to help the BCS group,” said Fleischer. “They’ve done so much for college football and they have a great story to tell. The BCS has its share of critics, but I believe once people see the facts on both sides of this debate, there will be a growing recognition that the BCS format works best, with more consensus than any specific alternative proposal.”

Fleischer’s sports work has included or includes seven National Football League teams, Major League Baseball, the United States Olympic Committee, Penske Auto Racing and others.

Disgraceful on the part of BCS. Anyone associated with the Bush White House should never work again.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

This was sent to me - you'd think maybe the release would include that he was Bush's press secretary?



Haven't seen anything anywhere on SportsJournalists.com but the BCS has hired Fleischer Communications as its PR firm. As in Ari Fleischer, Bush's press secretary. Of course, in the 251-word press release sent out Friday afternoon (of course) there's no mention of the high-profile job once handled by Mr. Fleischer.

And here's a link to the Twitter site that has all the potshots fired at the BCS via Tweets.
http://twitter.com/search?q=insidethebcs#search?q=insidethebcs

And the Fleischer hiring release:


Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the BCS, today announced that the BCS is working with the sports communications firm, Ari Fleischer Communications, to bring focus to the fact that the BCS is the best format to match up college football’s number one and two teams, while preserving the heritage and success of the bowl system.

“I’m proud of the BCS,” Hancock said, “and we have a great event that’s worth promoting. For too long, we weren’t as pro-active as we could have been and we’re determined to demonstrate why the BCS format is the best. Ari has extensive, high-level communications experience in the world of sports and we’re delighted to bring him on board.”

Fleischer’s company will work directly with Hancock and commissioners of the 11 conferences as part of a pro-active plan to tell the story of the BCS’s success, especially given the fact that attendance, television viewership, fan interest and revenues are at all-time highs.

"I’m honored to be able to help the BCS group,” said Fleischer. “They’ve done so much for college football and they have a great story to tell. The BCS has its share of critics, but I believe once people see the facts on both sides of this debate, there will be a growing recognition that the BCS format works best, with more consensus than any specific alternative proposal.”

Fleischer’s sports work has included or includes seven National Football League teams, Major League Baseball, the United States Olympic Committee, Penske Auto Racing and others.

Disgraceful on the part of BCS. Anyone associated with the Bush White House should never be allowed to see the light of day again.

Fixed.

 

[slappy4428]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

I glanced at excerpts of Ari's book. An
utterly-disingenuous POS. The BSC is
certifiable for handing him penny one.

 

[YankeeFan]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

I glanced at excerpts of Ari's book. An
utterly-disingenuous POS. The BSC is
certifiable for handing him penny one.

For that statement to have any credibility, could you please tell us who in the Bush White House you don't believe was an utterly-disingenuous POS?

 

[doctorx]

The politics board is closed, but its spirit lives on.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

So, does this mean that Tebow is going to be landing a fighter plane on the 50-yard line?

 

[The Big Ragu]

Really good article about why Fleischer made this transition from the Wash Post a while ago:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072102948.html

It says that he got the idea when Sandy Montag from IMG cold called him at the white house because he was watching C Span and noticed that Fleischer used a lot of sports metaphors. Has an anecdote about him meeting with major league rookies in 2002 for a presentation on dealing with the media, too...

My understanding is that his sports consultancy firm works with athletes and organizations more on the "how to deal with media" side of things than as a fire fighter when there are PR problems. I'm sure that is not all there is to it. Just like anyone else who goes through the revolving door, he probably has garnered a lot of work because he has a a lot of politically-connected people on speed dial. That is not a bad "skill" to have, which is why former high-level government workers and elected officials often become wealthy as consultants and lobbyists.

 

[Football_Bat]

Probably should be noted that while Ari was press secretary, there weren't a lot of Bush fires to put out — at least in public. The PR didn't start going pear-shaped for the Dim Son until after Ari left.

Just an observation.

 

[mustangj17]

Full of fail.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I would argue that GWB is far more popular than the BCS.

 

[Twoback]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

I think there's a great parallel here.
Who else would you hire to convince everybody the BCS is the best championship system than the poor guy who had to sell everybody that Bush was a competent president?

 

[cranberry]

Really good article about why Fleischer made this transition from the Wash Post a while ago:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072102948.html

It says that he got the idea when Sandy Montag from IMG cold called him at the white house because he was watching C Span and noticed that Fleischer used a lot of sports metaphors. Has an anecdote about him meeting with major league rookies in 2002 for a presentation on dealing with the media, too...

My understanding is that his sports consultancy firm works with athletes and organizations more on the "how to deal with media" side of things than as a fire fighter when there are PR problems. I'm sure that is not all there is to it. Just like anyone else who goes through the revolving door, he probably has garnered a lot of work because he has a a lot of politically-connected people on speed dial. That is not a bad "skill" to have, which is why former high-level government workers and elected officials often become wealthy as consultants and lobbyists.

I was there for that talk with the rookies, although I don't specifically recall the anecdote recounted in the story. I thought he was pretty good and he struck me as a pretty big baseball fan, though. I recall him telling a story about warming up GWB in the days ahead of his famous World Series first pitch at Yankee Stadium following 9-11. And while he may do quite a bit of "how to deal with the media" stuff he's also been involved in some more strategic challenges. Regardless, I imagine he's quite good at his job.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Eh, Dustin Hoffman doesn't list Ishtar on his resume.

It's stupid because anyone with a brain knows who he is, so it's not like he's getting away with hiding it. I understand that you're trying to reposition yourself, but c'mon, that was the job that launched you.

That being said, Ari set up his firm with the intention of working with sports clients. He's done well & has worked with a number of properties, so it's not surprising that the BCS would hire him -- especially when you consider that politics (or at least the concerns of politicians) will be involved in whatever happens to the BCS.

Someone told me that Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban's bios make no mention of coaching the Redskins or Dolphins. ;D

 

[forever_town]

Bull**** and bull**** go hand in hand.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

I glanced at excerpts of Ari's book. An
utterly-disingenuous POS. The BSC is
certifiable for handing him penny one.

For that statement to have any credibility, could you please tell us who in the Bush White House you don't believe was an utterly-disingenuous POS?

Powell, for openers.

 

[Boom_70]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

I glanced at excerpts of Ari's book. An
utterly-disingenuous POS. The BSC is
certifiable for handing him penny one.

For that statement to have any credibility, could you please tell us who in the Bush White House you don't believe was an utterly-disingenuous POS?

Powell, for openers.

Mr Hect we're going to let it go for now but you soon need to start showing relevance to thread title. You are getting too close to what could be construed as political discussion.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Gonna take more than President Stupid's pr flack to fix the BCS's image...

I glanced at excerpts of Ari's book. An
utterly-disingenuous POS. The BSC is
certifiable for handing him penny one.

For that statement to have any credibility, could you please tell us who in the Bush White House you don't believe was an utterly-disingenuous POS?

Powell, for openers.

Mr Hect we're going to let it go for now but you soon need to start showing relevance to thread title. You are getting too close to what could be construed as political discussion.

In my world, personal credibility is an important trait in terms of snagging
a position in which one will be deemed believable by a broad swath of the public.