Tuesday, January 21, 1997
COMMENTARY:
Kerri Strug’s star power brings deserved publicity to No.
1-ranked team
It really is amazing just how much the UCLA women’s gymnastics
team is marketing Olympic hero Kerri Strug. In their advertisements
for their first dual meet, there she was, providing an autograph
opportunity. This weekend at the men’s basketball games, the chance
to get a picture taken with her was emphasized along with the
teams’ upcoming meet.
Just by bringing her in as a volunteer assistant coach while she
tours professionally, the team invited a media bonanza.
Is all of this too much? Has the fine line between mutual
benefit for two parties and the outright exploitation of an
opportunity been crossed?
To figure this out, consider these points:
Are both sides using each other? Absolutely.
For Strug, it’s a perfect situation. She gets to use the
equipment and all the facilities that the team has to keep in shape
for her professional tour.
The team uses Strug in only a slight perversion of the same
scheme that accompanies any star recruit. She is used in marketing,
promotions, and performance, although her stomping ground is marked
"exhibition only."
That is the key, because Strug and her ability are the biggest
drawing cards that the team has to offer to try and boost its
anemic attendance. Gymnastics is always one of the most-watched
Olympic events and you can bet that a substantial market resides in
Los Angeles. This is an incredibly apathetic area when it comes to
sports (example: the Rams and Raiders), and without championships,
controversy, or Kerri Strug, you are not going to draw fans.
That is a lesson that any number of UCLA sports, not just gym,
has learned the hard way. Just ask the men’s tennis team. But now
the women’s gymnastics team has the perfect drawing card at the
perfect time. As they showed in their first dual meet three weeks
ago, when 3,500 people turned out for a spectacle, this new scheme
is working.
This is a team that has the talent to back the newfound
popularity in its No. 1-ranked squad, and the stage on which to do
it with the national championships being held in Pauley Pavilion
next season.
"She’s just drawn people in and that’s really what we need,"
co-captain Amy Smith said. "We are a great gymnastics team and
anything we can do to get people to come see us and recognize that
is only going to help."
Sure, it might be nice to think that the benefits available to
both sides aren’t being exploited to the fullest. Head coach
Valorie Kondos even said, "I did not want this to become the Kerri
Strug show and UCLA gymnastics." But, "We need to utilize her and
the notoriety she has in building our fan base."
There is nothing wrong with that. Just like there is nothing
wrong with having her be part of every possible promotion. Just
this past weekend at the men’s basketball games, several
announcements were made regarding the upcoming dual meet, and each
time the opportunity to take pictures with Kerri Strug was
mentioned.
Is this opportunity being abused?
"We all have our best interests at heart and we all want to
excel, but we know not to try and take advantage of one another,"
Strug said.
The UCLA gymnastics team and Kerri Strug? More power to
them.
Do both sides benefit tremendously? Yes.
Strug gets to be part of a team for the first time; club
training is not quite the same. As for the Olympic team, the amount
of backlash that she received for wanting to capitalize on her
ungodly fame precludes that from mention.
"In my level of competition, a lot of times, everyone is more
independent and into themselves, so it’s nice to be in an
atmosphere where everyone’s pulling for you inside and outside the
gym," Strug said. "I like it. It’s a different side of
gymnastics."
On the flip side, the gymnastics program finally gets some of
the notoriety that it deserves. All the comments have been made
about women’s gymnastics being a Title IX sport, but now they get
to show themselves as a national power and a money-making machine
to the university and the general public.
The team also has gotten the support of the university in making
its events this season and next into Laker game-esque parties with
all the hoopla. There is a vested interest in this because the
university has to fill Pauley next year during the three-day
Nationals, so you can bet that they back the program.
Let’s face the facts: Pauley would not be filled for three
nights like it would be in Georgia or Alabama if the promise of a
drawing card like Kerri didn’t exist.
Strug also brings some new flair and a wealth of experience. In
a sport like gymnastics, change and originality can only be a
benefit. One coach can only come up with so many twists and
turns.
"When you just have your athletes and your coaches, things can
get very stagnant," Kondos said. "It’s the dynamics of having other
people around that keep things going and exciting."
Does anyone get hurt? No.
In this whole process, not a single rule has been broken. There
were no perverse recruiting tactics employed and no crooked
incentives. The fact is, Strug had committed to coming to UCLA
before the Olympic games and she should be lauded for following
through on that. She is not on scholarship and is paying her own
way.
Sure, the whole situation seems a bit strange, and certainly not
one that the gymnastics program would provide for anyone, but it
does pass muster as far as the NCAA and UCLA ethics are
concerned.
In terms of Strug’s popularity or mythical ego breaking up the
team, that is not the case.
"She’s very supportive, she loves our team," senior Anne Dixon
said. "It’s great."
The team is not being divided, she’s not hogging the equipment,
and she has valuable expertise to pass on.
The team gets unbelievable press at a perfect time.
Team popularity explodes and UCLA gets ready for next year’s
bonanza. To consider it another way, you can bet that if Dominique
Dawes hadn’t flubbed a landing on the floor exercise, Stanford
would most likely be promoting the hell out of her too.
Mark Shapiro is a third-year student who is the beat writer for
men’s tennis. Responses can be e-mailed to
mshapiro@media.ucla.edu.