No One Will Show Up. Let's Do It Anyway
In 1986, I was working with Springfield Civic Center General Manager Mike Graney to develop an event for BayBanks. We lined up Springfield’s own Tim Mayotte, who at the time was the tenth-ranked tennis player in the world, to go up against Czechoslovakia’s own Ivan Lendl, who at the time was the number-one ranked tennis player in the world.
The match was scheduled for February ’87 at the Civic Center. Right off the racket, a sportswriter for the Springfield Republican said it was a dud of an idea and we had a flop on our hands. According to him, Springfield was not a tennis town and the match wouldn’t draw 1,500 people.
We decided the best strategy was to sell it like a heavyweight title fight. We held a big press conference and ran full-page ads with this headline: On February 9, BayBanks Invites Tim Mayotte Back To Springfield To Bounce A Czech. It took BayBanks marketing guys, Pete Landon and Steve Root, two seconds to approve the ad. BayBanks president Dick Stebbins, a fellow Holyoker, also loved it. You think anybody would approve that ad today? No way, Bobby Ray.
Despite what that jackwad from the Republican predicted, the event was a total sellout. But a crazy thing happened just as 8,000 fans were filling the stands. I was sitting with Mike Graney in the Civic Center office when a call came in from Ivan Lendl. Mike threw it on speaker, telling Lendl I was also on the line.
So Lendl says, “Hey boys, I just saw that 'bounce a Czech' ad. I’m going for my American citizenship and I’m mad as hell. I’m not playing tonight.” What the Christ? I looked at Graney, Graney looked at me and we both looked at the phone. Dead men sitting. Then, after a long pause, we heard a loud laugh and the best tennis player in the world said he was only kidding. All three of us laughed like hell.
When the two players entered the darkened arena that night, we played the thundering Spencer Davis Group hit “Gimme Some Lovin’.” Lendl whipped Mayotte, but because the event went so well, we brought Mayotte back to face Jimmy Connors. Another sell out. And that Republican writer was assigned to cover tiddlywinks tournaments.
Hey, don’t ever underestimate the smarts of the consumer. And don’t listen to the squelchers. If your gut is good, go with it. Keep your dukes up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko3m0NBbq1o