How Sports And Marketing Are Oddly Similar, Part 1

I know it’s somewhat clichéd. But by their definition, clichés are overused truths, so while it may try your patience to endure them, it also means that there’s some value in them to begin with. So I offer this to you:

Creativity is nothing without leadership. In sports, as in marketing.

The marketing part, as in all business, seems pretty obvious, right? Even the strongest business people in the world can flounder without strong leadership.

But I’d suggest that even the most creative people will flounder, too. Great ideas are one of the single most important factors in business success, but without someone to nurture, refine, and sell them, they'll meet the same fate as a Brooks Bollinger pass. Nowhere, fast. Most ideas that come out looking like diamonds take a lot of polishing to get there. It's a team effort.

Same’s true in sports. Even more so. A strong collection of athletes is just that until someone shapes them into a Team, puts the idea of Winning into their collective head, and leads them. One example of this is the current squad that use to be called “America’s Team,” but now should be called “Where the hell is Tony Romo’s team?”

The key line from yesterday’s stats:

PASSING_Dallas, B.Johnson 5-11-2-71, Bollinger 9-16-1-63.

Ouch. The projected division champs fall to the bottom of the division. Looks like the Cowboys miss their leader.

The other side of the coin is, when one leader falls, sometimes, another rises up. That’s how Mr. Romo got his break (sorry, Drew Bledsoe).

In Chicago, Bears fans are hoping that Rex Grossman is the next Tony Romo, not the next Brooks Bollinger.