DEAD FOR THE TED

While attending an Atlanta Braves home game last week, a friend nonchalantly said to me, “Are the Braves doing anything for the 10th anniversary of Turner Field?”

Disappointing to me was the fact that I hadn’t even thought about it until she mentioned it. Even more disappointing is the fact that the Braves front office is missing a huge PR coup.

Normally, the Braves have been good with campaigns. Last season, they celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the team moving to Atlanta by honoring a different decade each month, featuring player signings, appearances and giving fans cars from each decade. In addition, I’ve seen how well they do in promoting their string of division championships; trust me, as a Mets fan, I puke a little bit each time they show it in my face.

However, unless they have something massive planned later in the year, the Braves are sleeping on celebrating a decade in a stadium regaled as one of the best in the game.

I had just moved to Atlanta when the colossus that was once the center of Olympic activity became “The Ted”, and everyone was excited and celebrating its opening. Attendance (though mocked throughout the league) has been fairly good, and the facility is top notch.

What the Braves should be doing, like last season with the decades celebration, is promote both within and outside of the park, even with a simple campaign such as “10 at the Ted”.

They should hang banners throughout the outfield so fans can see that it is the important anniversary; visibility does make a difference. Throughout the city, they should rent out billboards on the way to Turner promoting the anniversary. In addition, the Braves have always had a good relationship with the AJC; they should use it to promote the celebration and present a different “Classic Moment” every week or so.

Running with that idea, Braves TV broadcasts should show a different great moment from Turner Field in each game (with all those division championships, they should have plenty to choose from). They could also get commentary from players such as Smoltz and the Joneses who have played at Turner since its opening.

I could go on forever with ideas to let the Braves run with this, and it’s mindblowing to think that if I could come up with all that in the span of five minutes how no one upstairs in the franchise could do something with months of planning.

Maybe I’ll save the really good ideas for the closing of Shea Stadium