Obviously, this post is a tad belated, but I've mentioned this a bit and figured a reminder couldn't hurt.
The Bucks' game tomorrow (probably tonight by the time most of you read this) will be "Pink in the Rink" night at the LEC.
I know there's been a lot of controversy surrounding this event, as the Bucks have pledged to donate $10,000 to Women Involved in Nurturing, Giving and Sharing (WINGS) under the condition that the game sells out.
But, what seems to be getting lost in the shuffle is the fact that regardless of whether they sell out or not, the Bucks are raising breast cancer awareness in Laredo.
I had never heard of WINGS prior to the press conference about this game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one becoming more familiar with the group due to the Bucks' efforts.
The players will be wearing sweaters made just for this occasion (as seen above), with pink ribbons and other accents, to be auctioned off after the game. Their hockey sticks will also be pink, and they'll also be auctioned.
Art Cullaton and his ice crew have put 12 pink ribbon logos on the ice, with six around center ice, one in each slot and one in each corner.
Basically, my point is the Bucks have gone all out to support this event and are even keeping poor Bucky on the roof and the box offices open 24/7 until it sells out. I mean, the Web site is even a very bright shade of pink at this point.
Even if they sell all the tickets they need to, the $10,000 donation and all the money put into this event (and promoting it) will probably eat up most of the profits, so calling this a greedy move is kind of missing the point.
Anyway, I will be wearing pink tomorrow night, and I hope that all of you in attendance will, as well. This isn't about the Bucks; it's about supporting awareness about a very terrible disease that nearly everyone has been affected by in one way or another.
Whether the Bucks win or lose, this is a huge night, and someone's life could very well be saved because of this event. Please keep that in mind.
4 comments:
Joy, with all due respect, I think you are wrong. By selling the LEC the Bucks can make over $50,000 plus in additional income.. There is no way they have spent that much in advertising. Putting Bucky on the roof is free!
The problem is requiring a sellout. What happens if they only sell 7000 seats? Sure, WINGS is getting awareness. But, Joy, when has awareness ever cured anything? What they need is money to help the people that are victims of the disease.
I hope you don't censor this post. Its a valid viewpoint that many of my fellow Laredoans share. As a journalist, you should report all sides of the story.
With all due respect, I think you are missing my point, but I would like to address the things you have said.
First of all, as a sports journalist, my job is to report what the Bucks do on the ice, not as far as business and charity ventures. I wrote this post to share my opinion, just as you have shared yours. However, I did clearly state that the team would only be donating money should the game sell out, so I don't think that I failed to report both sides.
The team has spent a lot of money on this event, whether you have seen it or not, and even putting Bucky on the roof does cost money, as does keeping the ticket offices open around the clock.
I'm not sure if you have ever met Glenn Hart or Coach Ruskowski, but they are both genuine, caring people. But Hart is a businessman, too, and he knows that he can't afford to just give money away no strings attached during a recession when the league in which his team plays is losing attendance numbers across the board.
My point in writing this post was to state that this is something everyone should be willing to get behind, and by "this," I mean the event, not the team. If you disagree with how they are going about doing this, that is your prerogative, but that doesn't mean it isn't supporting a great cause.
Oh, and awareness can do a lot, actually, in a lot of ways. I'm sure that more people knowing WINGS exist will help bring in private donations and volunteers for other events that they host.
It seems that the Bucks would have been better off just hosting the "Pink in the Rink" night and not donating anything, considering how overwhelmingly negative the response to this has been. But, that is not the case, and I'm fairly confident that if the game comes close to selling out, the team will give away the rest of the tickets and still donate the money.
Hopefully that covers everything, and hopefully the game does sell out so WINGS will get its donation and everyone can feel good about what has happened.
Thank you Lindsay for your comments. As I sit here in Japan, it disheartens me that there are plenty of Laredoans that believe the Bucks don't genuinely care about this event. I understand it is a business but at the same time the Laredo Bucks are always out there in the community. And even more importantly, like you said, they are raising awareness about breast cancer and WINGS, which just like you, I had never heard about before this event. Once again thank you Lindsay for your awesome blogging on the Bucks and fair reporting (on both sides of the issues). GO BUCKS GO, I'll be watching from Okinawa Japan and I'll be wearing pink, even if its by myself!!!
Joy, believe me when I say that I respect your journalism and your blog posts. Its sad that I and so many Laredoans jump to being negative about things like this, but we live and work here and lived here all my life and we see everyday the things that happen in Laredo.
I hope the Bucks can see the negative in Laredo is because of being ripped off so many times in the past. However, I am so happy that the Laredo Bucks showed that they are very different than many companys in Laredo. They made a big donation that will help people right here. I'm proud that they are here in Laredo!
In the future, they should just donate a certain amount per ticket or just the jersey auction. The charity still gets big money and awareness and the people in Laredo won't jump to the negative
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