" I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes
forced to tell myself." Mark Twain. This is the impetus for this
book. I'm a story teller. The fact that the stories unveiled here
are about professional basketball players and coaches merely raises
the level of interest. We are a society that worships at the feet
of celebrity. Right or wrong the images and glorification of these
celebrities is normally all we are permitted to see. "7 Foot
Man-Eating Chicken" is designed to take the reader a little deeper.
To see famous and borderline famous athletes and coaches as real
people with real attributes and real flaws. In other words, they
are just like us, only a foot or so taller. After all sports were
created originally just for exercise. Back in 1891 when Dr. James
Naismith invented the game of basketball I suspect he never thought
it would become the multi billion "Big Business" we see today.
Certainly the thought of his students playing as a form of
"Entertainment" for anyone but themselves never popped into his
mind. Things have clearly morphed into those areas. If someone sees
an opportunity to make a little cash off something, there's no harm
in that. If you put out a product that is interesting enough so
that folks will pay to see it, that's terrific. Some of my
observations revolve around the disingenuous way these sporting
events are being marketed. We can't even tell where the marketing
ends and the games begin. This nicely brings us to the very title
of this book. In 1841, P.T. Barnum, who is possibly the greatest
showman in our history, purchased Scudder's American Museum.
Located in New York City at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street,
it was renamed Barnum's American Museum. He owned and operated it
until 1865 when it burnt to the ground in one of the most
spectacular fires in New York City history. Barnum filled it with
many strange exhibits and educational attractions. There were
dioramas, panoramas, scientific instruments, modern appliances, a
flea circus, a loom operated by a dog, a rifle range, glass
blowers, waxworks, Siamese twins, and on and on. It cost 25 cents
to get in. Barnum realized that people we lingering too long in the
Museum and he needed to "turn over" the crowd to get some fresh
paying customers through the turnstiles. His solution for this was
to post signs saying: "This way to the Egress!" Not knowing that
"Egress" was another word for "Exit", people followed the signs to
what they assumed was just another tremendous exhibit and found
themselves outside. Barnum had another exhibit called the "6 Foot
Man Eating Chicken!" No one could even imagine this. First of all,
a 6-foot chicken in and of itself is an attraction. Throw the
"man-eater" angle in there and you've got to go, especially for 25
cents! When the exhibit opened after three months of advertising
the line was around the block. One by one, they filed in. Once
inside, they found a 6-foot tall man sitting in a chaira|.eating
chicken! The people had been snookered. They laughed. Most people
don't mind laughing at themselves. Barnum got over on them and they
would happily come back, especially for only 25 cents. This
"snooker" reminded me of how professional sports has been
"snookering" the public for some time now. I simply added a foot of
height to accommodate for the increased size of an NBA player.
Advertise one thing and give aem something else. The problem is
that it's not as funny when the price of taking your family to one
of these sporting events no longer costs a quarter and you went
expecting to see an actual sporting event. So what's my problem?
While I admire the accomplishments of P. T. Barnum, I also realize
that he came as advertised: A Showman. He never claimed to be a
coach/teacher or an administrator or anything else associated with
athletics. When he "snookered" you, he was doing what he warned you
he was going to do. That's honest. What professional sports are
doing to some degree is not. They are advertising one thing and
giving us something else. I think they call this a "bait and
switch." Fine at a used car lot buta| All this being said, "7 Foot
Man-Eating Chicken" is certainly not a book of complaints. What I
hope I've done is tell you stories from this world that I have
lived in for 36 years! I'm not preaching! Suggestions sounds
better! My stories are designed on one level to inform but
hopefully they make you laugh. I've always found that if you can
make someone laugh, they have a tendency to listen. Along the way
if the reader finds a deeper message within these stories, all the
better.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!