"I'm just a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."

"I'm just a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."
by Kurt Hunzeker (with some copy points provided by the movie Tropic Thunder)

Remember me? Considering it's been almost 13 months, a lot has happened:

1. New job.
2. New posts on The Business of Sports Network.
3. "Lost" flashes backwards and forwards.

And some things remain the same:

1. Cubs still have yet to win a World Series.
2. Jack Bauer has not come back on the air.
3. Teams still need help with their collective creativity.

I mean seriously...Bowling Green Cave Shrimp?

"Same thing happened to me. They found me in a back alley when I thought I was Neil Armstrong and was trying to reenter the Earth's atmosphere in a refrigerator box."

Name-the-team contests are good for one thing only...database capture. If someone decided to take 15 minutes of his/her time to either submit or nominate "Bowling Green Cave Shrimp," then A) they want to connect with the team, and/or B) they rely on Wikipedia waaaaay too much, and/or C) they have smoked/inhaled/injected/drank waaaaay too much in their past.

Is the sports world really out of suitable nicknames? The seven finalists for the baseball team-formerly-known-as-the Columbus Catfish are really, really, really, really not good. "Mammoths" being the lone exception, and by "exception," I mean that it is just really, really, really not good.

I don't have the silver bullet here, but I have to think that the team name has already been selected in this case, and the name-the-team contest is merely the vehicle to generate qualified ticket sales leads for the team.

So in honor of the horror that could be the Bowling Green Cave Shrimp, I now make my return to half-mock/half-provide strategic answers for any team and/or sponsor with their sports marketing plans.

But what do you say?....

"A nutless monkey could do your job."

Why, thank you. For the past 13 months, the nutless monkey I put in charge of the Blography did a fine job of doing nothing. In the coming months, I will be putting my typing hands and my diploma (Mizzou, AP #6 as I type) to the test with the creation of the Active Ballpark Collection, the premier marketplace for buyers and sellers of all things baseball.

Did I mention Active's 20-million strong registered user consumer base? Or did I mention their willingness...er, better yet...desire to improve their sports participation experience with the latest apparel, gadgets and products?

I will highlight the development of this endeavor as it takes form...all while continuing to bring out everyone's A game with detailed analysis of the sports business industry's latest news, trends and top secrets.

Stay thirsty, my friends.