Friday, December 28, 2012

Today in Vague Reporting: Alleged Uproar over Braves Practice Caps

Granted the choice is a bit odd, but we, like many others are trying to figure our where the uproar that is being reported over the new Atlanta Braves batting practice caps are coming from.

Major League Baseball announced yesterday their newest marketing gimmick. New BP caps. The reason: Simple, another product to sell to fans.

Read more from ESPN.com RIGHT HERE

Some of them are fairly interesting, some fairly drab and some just kind of ugly. And, well, to be honest, the Braves hat is kind of the latter. And before you ask, there are already allegations that the Braves chose this look. The "look" came from MLB Properties. Ask a pro sports team when they had final say on anything such as this....

For those unaware, the logo is the "Screaming Brave" logo the team used during the 70's and 80's. It went away when the "Politically Correct" sentiment went into full effect and people began being allegedly offended by anything they saw that didn't fit with their beliefs. It's been called "offensive", "derogatory" and a "racist insult". And yeah, maybe you can call us "Insensitive" but we don't get it.

But that isn't what we are wondering about.

The part we are wondering about is this: USA Today wrote a story that vaguely references an uproar by people over the caps.

The problem.

There are no actual people in the story. The writer just raises the specter of an "Uproar" and outcry and that massive amounts of fans are offended by this. Yet doesn't actually cite an example of anyone who is upset about it.

Read the Chris Chase/USA Today allegation RIGHT HERE

We're betting they aren't.

Will they buy these hats, yeah, sure, some will. Die Hard MLB fans will buy anything with a new look for their team on it. And no, we don't pretend to see any kind of "Nostalgic" tilt or even a chance for something different. It's a marketing (Dollar) grab, plain and simple.

I'm an unabashed Braves fan and have made no secret about it. But I'd never buy one of these. And yeah, there may be a few odd members of the PC police who will be "Offended" by this. But only if reporters tell them they are supposed to be. We are quite sure that almost nobody would even notice...or care had a couple odd writers not brought it out.

Think about it. With the gazillion people who live here, chances are if you look hard enough you can find SOMEONE who is actually offended by any logo currently in existence. And yes, the PC Police normally cries the loudest, whether they speak to the majority (which they normally don't) or not.

And yes, we get that is what reporters do, and if you want to report on it and raise the question...then raise it. But don't make vague accusations and assume the masses are offended, unless you are prepared to quote someone who actually is.

**Note**--We are quite sure that this will quash the sale of these hats before the sale ever gets started. While MLB probably won't see mass pickets and protests either, the fact that reporters are quoting panic in the streets, will be enough to stop this before it ever gets started.

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