CFI: RICE UP YOUR LIFE

BY PHIL WURTZ
CFI'S BUSINESS WRITER

We didn’t have to see the cover of the Sporting News College Football preview, or Athlon’s National College Football preview, Street and Smith’s 2007 College Football Official Yearbook, or the USA Today’s Sports Weekly College Football preview to know that Rutgers junior tailback Ray Rice was a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. With 335 rushing attempts in 2006 to lead the entire country as a sugar coating to his BIG EAST record smashing 1,794 rushing yards, everyone knew Mr. Rice had a good chance to take the short ride from the Nokia Theatre to the Rutgers campus with the famous trophy as his passenger.

The true question to be answered was, “How will Rutgers University handle a potential Heisman Trophy Candidate?”

Most universities would follow their previous formula -- calculate the time and current trends into their marketing approach and set the campaign out to win the hearts of the voters. Which would be a wise approach, except for one small detail; The Scarlet Knights have never really had a legitimate Heisman Trophy Candidate. So the university did what any other red blooded American would do to get someone to notice them or market their product -- they created a website.

On Wednesday, June 27, 2007 the Rutgers athletic department unveiled its website, SeeRayRun.com to the public. Chock full of video highlights, newspaper clippings, pictures, and anything else you’d like to know about the 5’9”, 205 pound running back from New Rochelle, NY. The catchy web site title was quickly adopted by Rutgers fans and alumni with “See Ray Run” t-Shirts and signs easily visible throughout the sea of scarlet that packs Piscataway, NJ for Rutgers home games. With one of the worlds busiest places a few turnpike exits away, the Rutgers athletic department would have been foolish not to take advantage of Times Square and its towering, eye-catching video boards. So they did just that, leasing space on the Panasonic News Astrovision located at One Times Square, the site of the world famous New Year’s Eve ball drop. The See Ray Run video runs eight times per hour for 16 total hours, which adds up to a lot of extra running for Ray throughout the course of a day . The final touch on the entire campaign will be a free See Ray Run gift package that will be sent to Heisman voters across the country as the campaign draws to a close.

So, websites, t-Shirts, signs, video montages, and care packages are all fine and dandy, but what happens when your team stays on the Heisman Bandwagon but falls way off the National Title Train? Disastrous occurrences have plagued Heisman hopefuls whose teams fall out of contention, and in the case of Rutgers, fall hard and fast. Coming off of back to back losses against Maryland and Cincinnati and plummeting right out of the top 25 poll, the Scarlet Knights aren’t doing their best to keep Ray Rice as one of the first names uttered when Heisman Candidates comes up in conversation.

Can Rice still put up a monster year and take home a Heisman without having a sensational overall record? Of course, anything is possible -- the award is meant to highlight the most outstanding “Player” in college football. Then again, what type of player are you if all you can do is put up personal stats while your team squanders? Those questions and many more will surely be answered by November 29th in Louisville at Rutgers’ last game of the 2007 season.

Hopefully for Rutgers fans and fans of Ray Rice, their season still has meaning by that date.

Phil Wurtz is a regular contributer to the CFI weekly newsletter, where his "Business Beat" column takes a look at the business side of college football. Click on the CFI logo to subscribe.

* Photo Credit: Collegiate Images