OCNN

From the Redskins Blog
It's been a surprisingly quiet offseason for Chris Cooley. His Twitter account vanished for a bit, his blog (as I write this) hasn't been updated once in 2010 ... aside from a chat on NFL.com and a corresponding appearance on NFL Network, he's been almost mime-like.

Apparently that's going to change this week, as Cooley joins Chad Ochocinco's OCNN venture for the week running up to the Super Bowl.

To be perfectly honest with you, I didn't pay much attention to OCNN when Ochocinco announced it on his Twitter, and his further announcement of the addition of Cooley, Ray Rice, and Darnell Dockett similarly failed to make an impression on me.

But if this Motorola press release that just showed up in my inbox is to be believed -- and when has a press release ever steered you wrong? -- this could actually be an entertaining little Super Bowl week stunt.

Per the press release:
The "News Team" will have a customized OCNN News Van, NFL media credentials, a broadcast spot on famed "Radio Row" and access to every meaningful event taking place in South Florida. The "News Team" will cover "Media Day" and critical press conferences leading up to the game.

"Believe it or not, even I have limitations," said Ochocinco. "There is just too much going on around Super Bowl for one man to cover. So I have hand-picked some rising social networking stars who can give the OCNN Nation their perspectives on the game, the parties and players in Miami the way only an athlete can."
I enjoy Ochocinco's schtick, and Cooley's as well, so I'm susceptible to this sort of thing. (Plus I enjoy the mental image of Ochocinco bellowing "News team, ASSEMBLE!" and blowing into a conch like in Anchorman.)

More realistically, it promises to be a lot more interesting than your average local-station-on-radio-row thing. Heck, even ESPN980's Steve Czaban is absolutely skewering that, and he's one of the guys actually sittting on radio row. Here's Czaban:
No doubt, if you listen to sports talk radio, you will hear one (or more, or all!) of your favorite shows coming from an increasingly din-filled convention hall populated by hundreds of radio blowhards (me included) screaming at each other in close proximity.

You will hear the same collection of marginal guests cycle through just about every show on the planet.

"Hey, it's Chad Ocho Cinco joining us here on radio row! Hey Chad, what are you pimping?"

We will then listen patiently to Chad's newest product, a lemon-scented performance sweat sock, with the "Ocho Cinco" signature stitched into the side.

Once that is over with, Chad will joke it up the hosts, offer mostly bland thoughts about the upcoming game, get one more plug in for the OchoSocko...... and move one table to his right.

Repeat.
It's somewhat ironic that Czaban picked Ochocinco as his example for this, since the thing Ochocinco is actually marketing is ... well, hopefully the exact antithesis of what Czaban's describing.

Back to the press release:
Pro Bowlers and social-networking enthusiasts Rice, Dockett, Cooley and Jake and Amir [of CollegeHumor.com] will fan out during Super Bowl week to ask the tough questions and attend every party they can to ensure OCNN followers know what is happening on the ground in Miami. "It's a tough job, but somebody has to give the OCNN Nation a taste of what it is like to have an all-access pass to the toughest tickets to get during Super Bowl week," said Rice. "I can't tell you exactly what I am going to see or hear, but I can tell you that OCNN followers will know about it first."

Fans who want to follow an individual member of the news team can click on links for each player at www.motorola.com/ocnn. Follow OCNN on Twitter at @ocnnfeed and become a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/ocnn85.
There's still plenty of time for this to turn into a completely dull marketing stunt that produces nothing of any real interest. But at the moment, it at least it offers the hope of a Super Bowl Media Week spectacle worth watching.

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