I’m a huge fan of ESPN’s College Game Day as it is… when their latest feature spot highlights my alma mater, it makes me love them even more.  They’ve outdone themselves this year. Classic.  Go Ducks!

As you are probably discovering from some of my previous posts, I am an ardent basketball fan – even maintaining interest after my beloved Celtics exited in the last round.  TNT has been feeding my basketball jones with their ‘40 games in 40 nights‘ campaign – tag teaming with ESPN to bring the fans every moment of NBA action coast to coast.  During this time, Nike has broken out a new advertising campaign.  Kobe vs. LeBron with the implication that a finals meeting between the two is a ‘sure thing’.  These commercials have been running non-stop for the last couple of weeks. 

What’s interesting, however, is that during last night’s game between the Nuggets and the Lakers, none of the three installments ran.  Could it be that with the Cavs down 2-1 to the Magic and now the Lakers series with the Nuggets tied at 2-2, ESPN is getting nervous that the pre-ordained Kobe/LeBron finals is in doubt?  When the doubt creeps in, the advertisements wane.  Good lesson for advertisers – don’t take anything for granted and be careful not to limit the runway for your campaign.  Regardless of the outcome – these are some really creative spots… ‘Chalk’ (below) is my favorite.  As a fan – I’m still rooting for them to meet.