The superfan for the Los Angeles Clippers is back in "uniform." And it feels about as natural as a person showing up to work the next day after accidentally clicking "reply all" on a scathing email about a colleague. It's a little awkward.
Don't know who Clipper Darrell is? For about two decades, this was the world's only Los Angeles Clipper fan:
But due to a spat with the organization, the "Clipper Darrell" phenomenon seemingly ended two weeks ago. When Darrell Bailey and the Clippers could not come to terms over his use of the "Clipper" trademark, the organization asked that he stop using the name.
The beloved fan was bound to be a sympathetic media figure. Therefore, a major sports franchise needs to deal with this very gently, using the utmost tact to make sure this doesn't hurt their organization. Perhaps they would release a statement expressing regret, hope that the two sides could resolve their differences soon, and appreciation for Darrell Bailey's years of loyal support for the team.
"He is not actually a fan of the Clippers, but a fan of what he can make off of the Clippers."—Official Clippers statement on Darrell Bailey.
Whah, but… oh NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I don't really care about the Clippers. I don't even care about basketball. But when something is this unnecessarily dumb, I read it and have to restrain myself from jumping up and running around crying with my arms in the air like a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man.
The Clippers say they offered Bailey $70 per game to be a "cheerleader." Which is an insult. Nothing against cheerleaders, but there are plenty of them to be found. Pay isn't just about talent; it's about scarcity. In economics, this is called "marginal value." In sports, it's called "wins above replacement (WAR)." A cheerleader can be replaced. Clipper Darrell has built a recognizable public personal, and can't be immediately replaced. That means he gets paid more. A sports franchise should understand this sort of math.
When their relationship started to break down, both Darrell Bailey and the Clippers organization made hasty statements. (I think it's slightly more excusable for Mr. Bailey, who probably doesn't have his own public relations department.) Perhaps they would like to take it all back now. Problem is, anger can go viral, too.
First, Clipper Darrell posted this statement on his badly designed, WordPress-powered, to-this-day-only-one-comment-on-the-post-itself personal website. I doubt it's one of the top ten most-trafficked sites on the net. But it got picked up by news outlets, and prompted the Clippers to deliver their painfully ham-handed public response.
Clipper players tweeted their support for Bailey, as did other basketball players… and baseball players… and more. Bailey got his own mini-documentary. He openly cried on television. There was a sports media firestorm originating from a single post on a website that no one reads.
Now, it's the morning after. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers deleted their tweets, although Chris Paul's tweet still exists. (Of course, tweets never really disappear, do they?) Perhaps they rethought the wisdom of standing publicly against the organization that issues your seven-or-eight-figure paycheck. Cooler heads must have eventually prevailed between Bailey and the Clippers, too. He's back in costume at the Clipper games. But after all the anger and tears and finger-pointing, it sure feels a little weird.
In a viral world, everything you write is potentially "reply all." You can't take it back. (Seriously, I'm not even talking about the Clippers anymore. Treat EVERYTHING you write as though it was "reply all.") You won't get a second chance at your PR spin.
