America 1979

Chapter 109
December 21st, after nine o'clock in the evening.

"Help me open the door, Hani!"

Yevgeny, dragging a fir tree home, yelled for his wife to open the storeroom door for him.

"This tree is so beautiful, how much did you pay for it?" After the wife came out of the bedroom, she went to her husband to fiddle with the undecorated Christmas tree, but this aroused Yevgeny's dissatisfaction.

"Hurry up, ABC has an interview with our Red Tree team tonight. I want to see what the boys say about me."

The wife stopped her actions and opened the door for her husband first, then Yevgeny, who was 1.9 meters [-], stuffed the fir tree he was carrying into the storage room, and then he hurried to turn on the TV and tuned to the corresponding channel.

"...I lost my parents when I was young and was raised by my uncle and aunt..."

Yevgeny's wife walked to the TV and watched it with her husband after tidying up the storage room.

"Haney, I know him, the tight end of your team. Let me tell you, he's a good kid. I've seen reports in several newspapers about him playing games with old people in nursing homes."

The wife stroked her hair and said to Yevgeny who was lying on the sofa with a smile.

The coach who has been in the industry for many years naturally understands the tricks, but he didn't point it out, "In the newspaper? Which newspapers? You find it for me, and I will take a look."

Although judging from this interview program, Bill's management team is carefully managing the positive image of No. 88, but Yevgeny obviously heard something is wrong.

"Wait a minute, I'll look after this young man's interview."

The tight end on TV is handsome and confident, and even his wife wants to take a second look.

The host’s third question was about Bill Ferrari’s future career plans. The interviewee answered quite well. He waited until the handsome face returned to the school team members serving as the background board before his wife walked to the pile of debris by the dining table. The newspapers that I read at breakfast in the past are all piled up there.

"Here, it's probably these few."

A few minutes later, the wife handed three newspapers to the husband.

After Yevgeny took it, he glanced roughly at it and shook his head again and again, it was exactly as he expected.

"What's wrong? Is there any problem?" His wife was confused by his behavior.

"It's a big problem. His management team is either inexperienced or greedy for his money, so they actually make announcements on this kind of paper media."

In front of his wife, Yevgeny didn't hide much, and directly pointed out the wrongness of this approach.

"I still don't understand, did this Ferrari do something wrong?"

"I can't say I made a mistake, it's just that I didn't find the right audience. Football surpassed baseball because of the popularity of television sets. Except for the fans who watched the game on the spot, the rest of the target audience sat in front of the TV set. So those who read newspapers Some people don't have a high degree of overlap with football fans, and Bill's money seems to be wasted."

He explained it to his wife.

"Then tell him the reasoning and precautions! You are an industry insider and know a lot. Don't let this young man take a detour." Because of Bill's handsome face, his wife has a good impression of him and hopes that her husband can Give this tight end a lot of help.

After Yevgeny twitched his cheeks and pondered, "I think about it, he seems to have said that he will take his family to Hawaii for Christmas this year, so he should still be in San Francisco these two days. I will go to him tomorrow and make things clear. Last time This kid may not understand what he said."

Parker Ten's regular season has already been played, but several bowl games are still being prepared intensely. The media will not release their selection of the first team until all the games of this season are finished.

If you act fast, you may be able to take advantage of this year's selection.

……

"Fortunately, you called in time. I'm going to the airport tonight."

At noon on the 22nd, Bill Ferrari met Yevgeny who had asked him to meet in a restaurant.

"God bless you, otherwise you will lose a lot of honors this year."

After making sure that no one around could hear their conversation, Yevgeny directly asked No. 88 to come over, and the two communicated in a low voice.

"Which one is your brokerage team looking for? ICM or CAA, I don't expect you to look for WMA, that company charges too much, and you won't spend so much money on it."

Both ICM and CAA are Hollywood brokerage companies, the former is called International Innovation Management Company, and the latter is Creative Artist Brokerage Company.Both were established in 1975, mainly in the film and television, music, publishing and other industries, but also in the business of sports stars.

As for WMA, it is the well-known William Morris Agency. This 80-year-old store, founded in [-], is currently the largest agency in Hollywood.Charlie Chaplin, Al Jolson, Marlon Brando and other well-known film and television figures are all his clients. WMA has three branches in the United States, located in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and two offices in Europe.

Yevgeny's idea is very simple. Since there are obvious loopholes in Bill's announcement, his management team cannot naturally come from the industry giant WMA, but the newly emerging ICM or CAA.

He personally leans towards CAA, an agency that has been very popular recently, but has little experience in managing sports stars.

"No, I formed a team myself."

Yevgeny had a good relationship with him, so Bill told the truth honestly.

The coach's old face suddenly became more exciting, and doubts, surprises, puzzles, contempt, etc. took turns to control his facial features.

"Are you trying to save more money? You wouldn't hire a USC graduate to do it for you! I guess it's the kind of person who can't find a job in Hollywood."

"No, it's an Italian girl I know from our school, and she's helping me build my personal image."

Bill was a little embarrassed, "Coach, what exactly do you want to ask me for? If it's a management team, I personally imagine that this is the case. This girl will only help me announce my college and early career..."

He told the coach about his original plan, which made Yevgeny's expression even more exciting.

"What can I say about what you have done?" The coach was helpless. He took out the three newspapers from his satchel, and then pointed to the place where Bill Ferrari was reported to show the victim.

"Is there any problem with this?" Mr. Ferrari didn't understand the coach's actions, "Don't look at it, it only takes up a slap in the face, but this is the front page, and it cost me eight hundred dollars."

He made a gesture of eight, Yevgeny was even more speechless, he could only rub his face with his right hand to keep himself from collapsing.

"Boy! Our audience is the group of people who watch the football game in front of the TV, not the old antiques who read the newspaper while having breakfast in the morning. This newspaper, even if it has tens of thousands of copies of 10,000+ copies, can play a role What's the use? If the program team hadn't sorted out your information and sent it to you last night, the host could have asked you about going to a nursing home so cleverly?"

When the team players are on the show as a whole, the team manager will also use various methods to play support. Bill doesn't know this, and he thinks that he and Sofia did a good job to get the effect last night.

"Then what should I do?" Feeling that his behavior seemed a little wrong, Bill humbly asked for advice.

Listen to people's advice, eat enough!

"You go to Los Angeles to find CAA in the past two days, Creative Artists Agency, and find a professional agent who specializes in sports. Your Sophia, she can be your personal assistant. Forget about the agent, she has too little experience. , It's all nonsense."

Yevgeny thought for a while, and added again: "Remember, you don't sign a contract with CAA yourself. NCAAF has regulations that do not allow college athletes to have agency contracts. The NCAAF Association has always been a genius in terms of being stupid. Let you My uncle signed with CAA, and after the signing, he will immediately operate this year's first football team."

Bill took out a pen and paper from his bag and jotted down the main points the coach had to say.

"Based on your performance, it is difficult for the media to select you to the first team in the United States. It will cost too much money. After all, our red and white team did not even make it to the Rose Bowl this year, but the gold content of Parker Ten is still there. , There is no problem with you being selected to the first team in California."

"Don't underestimate this. In the long off-season, the first team selected by influential media can attract a lot of attention. At least those program hosts and news anchors can add a few titles when they introduce you. Next year When you play in this season, the commentator can also say a few more words about you. Maybe just these two words can make you gain dozens or hundreds of fans in each game, and the accumulation is not a small amount.”

"The main thing in the draft camp is the physical test. At most, there is a 220-yard sprint, a [-]-[-]-pound bench press, and the rest don't have much weight. Your awards after this year's season and next year's season performance will determine you. The key to the draft pick, professional teams also like star players with their own fans, which will bring more income.”

Yevgeny is well aware of Bill's slippery style of play. He played the entire season in 88 without any injury record, and next year's No. [-] will not become a reckless man who rushes hard, so he can ignore the impact of injuries on his draft pick. Impact.

"Is this important? I think I can be selected in the middle of the second round. Most professional teams in the first round select quarterbacks and college star running backs, or top cornerbacks, wide receivers, etc. , the rounds and picks of tight ends are relatively low."

Bill questioned, and he didn't think much of it.

"Hey, you keep making the mistakes of the first generation of sports stars." Having said so much, Yevgeny will be kind to the end, "Now it is different from before, because of the changes in the rules, the importance of wide receivers has begun to catch up. You are even more than a running back, and you are rounded up to a wide receiver, and your own strength is strong. The image has been operating well in the past two years, and you have made a lot of faces in the media. I think you can rush into the top half of the first round. Draft camp The ones that get the most attention are the No. [-] pick and day one first-round picks. That’s a huge benefit to your career and your reputation.”

Mr. Ferrari didn't have a clue about the first half of the sentence, but the idea of ​​increasing fame went straight to his mind.

"I'm going to Los Angeles tonight after I pick up my family, in time to get the agency contract done before Christmas."

Only then did Yevgeny show a satisfied look in his eyes, "By the way, I heard you just said that you are planning to smear your face in the affirmative action movement. This is not a good idea. The football fans in the south are serious racists. Sports will turn them against you, this is a big fan base, don’t lose it. It’s good that you go to a nursing home, and you can build your image of being close to your family and the elderly and weak, and you can dig deeper in this regard.”

He added a few more points, and Bill naturally wrote them all down.

PS: Ask for a recommendation ticket and ask for a monthly ticket.

(End of this chapter)