Corporate Interests

I am not a believer of a person's ability to "hype" oneself up. The abilities and positive attributes that you contribute to society, in whatever form, speak for themselves. If you cannot back up your word then you have no business speaking.

That is not to say, however, that these avenues don't help. Networking is one of the most crucial aspects to success in life (especially in corporations, like you mentioned, or baseball). Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and HSBBWeb can only assist in the process of a person getting their abilities out there and well-known. It is not a person's word, or "hype" of their image that will create success. It is the image itself. But the groundwork is certainly laid in instances such as the ones you outlined.

Two words: Lady Gaga

Hype works

Hype is alive and well in our society. Lady Gaga was mentioned and that's a great example. But true winners and leaders don't promote, they attract.

Think about a person you truly believe in. I would bet that something about them attracted you to them, they didn't need to promote themselves to you.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Two words: Lady Gaga

Hype works

Yes - that is true. That is a corporation hyping her however. What we are talking about now is the individual becoming the corporation. The hyper and the hypee becoming one.

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Spinning? Mini? Machine? HSBBW? Member? Hype?



Never!

And by the way CD...after I climb in here to work my subterfuge magic please check to make certain I set the rinse cycle on warm. Last time I set it on hot...and lost my whole train of thought! I'll never get ahead doing that!




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CD,
Are you suggesting that people come here specifically to hype their players or themselves?

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Uh TPM...hand me the fabric society softener please.



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quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
CD,
Are you suggesting that people come here specifically to hype their players or themselves?

Nah, TPM, that never happens

A couple months ago, there was a great thread (CD, I think you may have been the OP) about the parents that "asked a question" about their little A-Rod, and basically it spoke about something good that was happening, or was about to happen to him. In short, they were (sometimes very transparently) trying to hype their little ballplayer.

I said then, and I still believe, that it's harmless enough. The great thing about this game we love, though, is that you still need to get out there and compete. That is the acid test.

If it gets the ballplayer an audience where he may not have gotten one to begin with, I think its not so bad. In my view, there is a lot of "noise" out there already, so every little bit helps...

Ole Ball Coach - interesting perspective.

I am going to borrow a quote from 3FingeredGlove in a thread earlier today:

quote:

I believe that there is a campaign-like aspect to getting recruited or even drafted. It is never too soon to get name recognition-- assuming the player has ability.

Do you believe that?

I do, and here is why: for those players that don't grow up in a hot bed of baseball (but really, it could be any sport) there is so much competing noise, that any little bit helps. The big caveat is that they still need to prove it on the field.

As an example, we had a young man playing the year after my oldest graduated from high school. He had a stretch at the plate where, over about ten days, he had three bombs, and pretty much every other AB resulted in a extra-base hit. Where we are, though, it went all but unnoticed.

He is playing at a D3 a state over now, but, I really believe that had he done so in front of higher level scouts, his baseball future may have turned out differently. Is he in a poor situation? I don't think so. Still, one wonders...

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
CD,
Are you suggesting that people come here specifically to hype their players or themselves?

Yes. Others may disagree however.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
CD,
Are you suggesting that people come here specifically to hype their players or themselves?

Yes.

I'm shocked....shocked, I tell you!

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A couple quick thoughts.....

Absolutely hype is around us 24x7. I give full credit to my generation for inventing helicopter parenting and hyping athletic talent. They are very much related IMHO. Those of us who have been around it a lot can smell it a mile away. I've seen it in youth baseball, high school baseball, and college baseball. I've read about it from others in the minors. It appears to me that once you reach the majors it has sorted itself out...basically you produce or your gone...even an agent can only hype a player so much. Some of us have a low threshold for hype, others have a higher threshold. It comes in many forms, and most of us have been dealing with it since the coaches son got picked for Little League All-Stars. Personally, I want to see talent and production not hear about it.

Like so many things, it starts with the parents unrealistic expectations, and "talent blinders" in thinking their son is best that has ever played the game. I'm sure many of your sons have played with guys that were "hyped to the hilt", only to see there really is little talent there. I know some "blue chip" college recruits that have been hyped every which way, but that now becomes the college coaches issue. For the coaches sake, I hope he sees talent that I didn't because he does this for a living.

It can be difficult on the players that do everything right, and aren't tooting their own horns. For those getting it done, maybe a little horn tooting is needed to baffle the noise of those not getting it done. Like the old saying.....it ain't bragging if you can back it up.

I think there are a couple different issues wrapped up in the OP, but I’d like to address one directly: Why does anyone even pay attention to perceived ‘hyping’? I always interrupt it as an over-reach by a new poster to establish creditability.

The best part about living in the 21st century is our ability to tap into other silos of information. The internet has given us access to both a range of content and access to experts that is completely unprecedented in prior human history. For example, I competed in aquatic sports. I have a deep accumulated knowledge of Water Polo and competitive swimming. I am ready for any level of detail conversations on pushing a fast-break all the way to the 2M-line or how to defeat a sluffer on offense.

But when my kid took a liking to Baseball, I needed to get up the learning curve post-haste. So in today’s age, in addition to doing the hard work of establishing interpersonal relationships and contributing to a local community prior to getting real nuggets of valuable information; I can come to a site (a community) like HSBBW and immediately start taking-in an abundance of detailed information. I can even use both sources of information as cross reference and self-correcting.

In general, the old-timers should feel complimented when a youngster or a young parent show’s up bragging. If they saw no value to this site, they wouldn’t even bother posting. I bet most of them believe everybody else’s player is of at least equal or greater caliber. And if the newest little-Johnny is actually total bust, so what? Who cares if the OP’er (I’m speaking in general terms, not referencing this OP’er) is an over the top helicopter parent who’s player can’t tie their shoes or swing a bat; I’m fairly certain that information will make itself fully apparent in the ‘real-world’ without any help from the HSBBW community. If there’s a question worth answering or commenting on in any OP, then I, for one, always appreciate reading all your thoughts.

In short, consider these sites tools. Maybe my kids aptitude and passions change over the next few years (imagine that?!), and I’ll be looking for the Chess version of HSBBW. The point is this site is an incredible resource. All participants should be very proud of what they’ve generated.

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fenwaysouth's couple of quick thoughts were right on the money. Thanks.



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Look, my kid is 6'7" and cruises at 98 mph, but I would never do anything to hype him on a forum like this - that would be shameful. Even with his 4.0 GPA, and the fact that he works part-time at an orphan home, shouldn't make any difference.

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And he donates his meager pay to which hunger fighting organization?



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quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Look, my kid is 6'7" and cruises at 98 mph, but I would never do anything to hype him on a forum like this - that would be shameful. Even with his 4.0 GPA, and the fact that he works part-time at an orphan home, shouldn't make any difference.

That's funny!

I have noticed that with parents and players - true confidence / ability is often underplayed. Ask a kid if he plays baseball and a very good kid may say "Yes - I played in the little league world series and am on the PG to watch list". However, the player who responds "a little" with a confident smile and a bit of a swagger is often the real deal. We had a coach early on that told his players that if they were really good they did not have to tell people - people would tell them.

There is clearly "spin" on this site - but it is easily recognized and I agree it does no real harm.

I do understand that with recruiting that is not completely true. A trusted friend and professional coach told us early in the recruiting process that we needed to get over our discomfort with the process and "sell that boy like a piece of meat."

quote:

Who cares if the OP’er (I’m speaking in general terms, not referencing this OP’er) is an over the top helicopter parent who’s player can’t tie their shoes or swing a bat; I’m fairly certain that information will make itself fully apparent in the ‘real-world’ without any help from the HSBBW community.

I think it matters because I think the hype is a premeditated intentional fraud staged for a number of questionable reasons, some of which the average moral parent would not participate in but there are some reasons that hit all of us too close to home. I have to give it more thought before responding further because the OP has asked a really provocative question that demands a little self examination.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
Two words: Lady Gaga

Hype works

When it comes down to it the woman has talent. Not talent people in our generation appreciate. But talent our kid's generation appreciate. She's this generation's Madonna. I wasn't a Madonna fan (didn't like the style). But there's no denying her talent and success.