In Lou We Trust

I never got a chance to discuss it yet, but Martin Brodeur has a biography out that he wrote with Damian Cox of the Toronto Star. It's called Brodeur: Beyond the Crease and it's your basic nuts-and-bolts kind of sports biography. Will you learn amazing insight into the game or the player's mind? Not really. Will you learn of all the dirt on Brodeur's personal and professional life? No. But will you learn about the players' upbringing, his time in the league, and more knowledge about the player than you did prior to the book? Yes. If you're a Devils fan and/or a Brodeur fan, it's a good read; but it's not a book you should run over your grandma over to go get. Anyway, I bought it last summer and I enjoyed it, but there was one fact that has been stuck in my head. No, it had nothing to do with how he became his own agent and how he felt he was a company man. No, it had nothing to do with how he sees himself as French. It's an anecdote about his pre-game rituals (and maybe you heard of this) and it's right there on page 73:

What we have here is not just any professional athlete; but one of the greatest goaltenders in the NHL stating that he drinks Sprite before and in the middle of games. Not something healthy or designed for athletes; but Sprite. When Martin Brodeur was becoming the second goaltender in history to win 500 games (and making one of the best saves I've ever seen), he was most likely imbibing some Sprite at some point in the evening.

What I want to know is whether anyone put two and two together yet? I know the Devils seem to prefer the team over the individual; Brodeur is no mere individual. He's the cornerstone of this team and an active Devils legend. He's going to go down in history as one of the greatest goaltenders in the world of hockey. Yes, other players may be drinking Sprite while they play too and yes, Brodeur isn't a popular superstar outside of hockey or someone who will energize that crucial 18-25 demo; but come on. How can there not be any effort to see the marketing possibilities here? A living legend of the game drinks a carbonated beverage of his own volition when he's performing at the highest level of his craft! Surely, it cannot be too difficult to let the fine makers of Sprite know about this and talk about making him a spokesman of sorts. He's been supporting the product for years as it is; it's not like Brodeur would be lying about his pre-game and in-game soft drink choice.

Now, for all I know, maybe efforts were made and they never worked out. Fine. But if we want to see the Devils to get more popular, it couldn't kill the organization to try and promote their most important player at the forefront. Brodeur doing a spot for CCM back in 2000 or this spot for TSN's Sportscentre (seriously, Sportscentre.) didn't cause any problems, why not encourage him to do more? Especially more local ads to endear him to the New Jersey audience? Maybe he may not want to (and if that's the case, that's certainly understandable) to do this sort of promotion, but he deserves more than, what, that one commercial about a Devil of a Sale for a car dealership in Ocean?

I'm not saying Brodeur has to jump into a basketball court in the hot sun or enjoy a refreshing Sprite along side a pool or a boat or a pool on a boat with Grant Hill. That would be cool, though. But I think for the Devils to get their name out there, they need to promote some of the players and a good way to do that is to have them do things like commercials. It gets their name out there - even if it's cheesy, shows off some of their personality - or lack thereof, and it's a win-win for all involved if it's a good ad (or, well, a Youtube highlight). More people recognize the player, more people recognize what's being sold. If not Brodeur, why not Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, or John Madden or some other well-to-do Devil? It's not the end-all, be-all way to get more people aware of the Devils of New Jersey; but it would definitely be a step forward. And it's hard to plant seeds for growth if you don't even try throwing them.