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Jack meets... A man with a Golden Ball
Good news, we know, does not sell newspapers. But as I am free to ‘tell it like it is' and cannot be bribed or coerced to do otherwise, I devote this first statement to unstinted praise of the transport system on the day that I went to see Bob Hope in Newington, Kent.
The train from Victoria was clean, comfortable, exactly on time both departing and arriving, and the journey smooth. Even the ticket inspector, well mannered, cheerful and smart. The fare was reasonable too and being the only one to alight, and Bob being the only driver looking out for the ‘guy from SGB' we met without any problem and I was soon to see the surrounding orchards and to reminisce about hop picking and the fact that Bitter was currently less popular among today's beer drinkers. Before we reached the warehouse and offices in Newington, there was a welcome coffee and cake nearby and a chance to check out the ‘Life before Molten' of Bob Hope.
Bob (Robert John) was born in Coventry. His mother was in the WVS and his father a Durham coal miner and part-time fire fighter. They lived in a one-room ‘digs' and he had a three-mile walk to and from his Primary school every day. There he was an enthusiastic player in the cricket and football teams. Later, aged 11 he went to Ash Green High School where he took part in every sports activity, cricket, badminton, tennis, gymnastics, (he was a schools international gymnast appearing in London, Birmingham and Manchester) trampoline and lest I forget, basketball, the latter to become an essential party of his story. He was somewhat less keen on Geography and Science but proudly claims never to have failed a single exam. With that, I can empathise. It seems that neither he nor I ever sat for any. Apart from the occasional caning (ouch!), being regarded, he says, as "a bit of a rogue" at school, he only turned ‘good guy' when he was made House Captain and Prefect. Before leaving school aged 16, he achieved the Silver in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. During his last year at school he was the only pupil excused wearing school uniform, being privileged to wear a tracksuit so that every spare minute could be devoted to sport. His other major interest was cooking and with ambitions to become a cook he became a commis chef at Hotel Leofrick in Coventry. Distinctly unsocial hours with no time for sport quickly made such a career out of the question so after three weeks he began a four-year apprenticeship with a Builders and Plumbers merchant.
At the age of 20 he joined Marley Tiles selling new technology plastic water pipes and guttering, soon becoming area manager for the West Midlands. Coinciding with his first marriage a year later, he was intrigued by a quarter-page ad in The Guardian placed by British Industrial Plastics for a technical rep. to sell large diameter PVC ‘Trunk Mains' which are used for moving large amounts of water from one area to another. There were, he explained, 72 applications, of which he was one of six to be shortlisted. Was it despite, or because of, being the only one with no qualifications to match the job, that he was chosen? In the event, he stayed for eight years and became their top sales person. Spare time? He reached his sales target for the year in just three months thus enjoying a legitimate nine months free time during which he took up golf, attaining a handicap of eight. He had been an enthusiastic (an adjective, incidentally, that must be applied to the man and everything he does) basketball player for his school. He was secretary and played for the ‘old boys' team. He played for the Warwickshire League, Loughborough University and asked the chairman at an AGM "Why is our County side always so poor?" That question was to prove a turning point (not the first but perhaps most significant) in his life. The chairman, Mike Maddox, did not flinch from the problem posed, Neither did Bob, who, following a two week coaching course at Lilleyhall, where he shared a room with Stuart Storey, the BBC athletics commentator, accepted the challenge and became the new County coach. With much gusto and confidence he went about the task of revitalising the team. He negotiated an equipment deal with adidas and determined to smarten up and make the players feel-good and look-good, persuaded Coca Cola to sponsor the shirts. "And the result", he told me, as if to prove the old adage that ‘the best laid plans...' - "we lost every game!"
It was time for Plan B, and the realisation that leadership, morale boosting, strategy, and even dreams, are not always enough to make winners. As I listened to his new recipe for success, I pondered over the retailers or indeed anyone who sells anything, who may adjust the lighting, change the shop layout, alter the window display adding new units, and even offering discounts, who have not addressed the real problem - having the stock that the customer wants. Bob knew he must simply (simply?) attract the best players. It was time to imagine how to bring his dream in to reality. Like Barack Obama, who the very day that we met used that exact phrase, it was a case of "Yes we can" and so he decided, come what may, to bring new blood in to the team. Indeed, a complete transfusion was to be the order of the day. To do this would require some special incentive, and taking advantage of the first ever town twinning between the home town of Coventry and Russia's Volgograd (nee Stalingrad) he could offer top players from wherever, the incentive to visit, all expenses paid, the twin town. This was proved too good an offer to refuse and there was acceptance by one and all. Taking with them caseloads of Wrigley's chewing gum for their Russian hosts and with free air tickets courtesy of Aeroflot, he now had the team to take on all comers. So, in 1978 it was win, win, and win again. The team were County Champions, soon to become part of the new professional league. Bob was their coach for seven years, and they were consistently in the top four. The new facility at Coventry Sports Centre was always full to its modest 1200 capacity, forerunner to Birmingham's Aston Villa Leisure Centre which accommodated 4,500. Renamed Birmingham Bullets and owned by Bob together with the aforementioned Mike Maddox, now one of his best friends, the story had gone full circle. And in this month's ‘Jack meets...' now comes the first mention of the brand of which Bob is the UK Chairman , Molten Sports, who sponsored the Warwickshire Basketball league. But there is more to the Bob Hope story.
He wanted (which in Bob's case can be translated as ‘it will happen') Basketball to have more prominence on TV, where it occupied very little space. Several phone calls to John Phillips, editor at the time of BBC Grandstand, were rebuffed but perseverance and initiative would find a way. "Dinner?" suggested Bob. "If you knew how many offers like that I get..." but Bob was ready. "This," he said "will be different. A helicopter to the venue and then some golf and then some eats." As he related the story, I could almost hear the whirr of the propellers and, yes, it did get results. "Could I bring along a friend?" asked John. "Certainly," was the reply, and that 'friend' turned out to be none other than Des Lynam. The principle of showing was agreed but the question of funding came to the fore. And who would produce the programmes? Bob had no experience but he ‘knew a man who did.' And so was formed 'Bob Hope TV Productions' in 1982, a company still going strong, enabling minority sports to be aired including netball, junior tennis and golf, water skiing, volleyball, and of course basketball (not such a minority these days) and seen regularly on ITV, BSkyB, etc.
Phewwww. No wonder I suggested that this SGB edition be renamed ‘The Bob Hope Story'.
Now happily married to Penelope, brought together through a mutual interest in sponsorships, he with sport and she with arts, they ‘clicked' despite, on being taken to his first ballet production, asking at the interval if this was ‘half-time'. One of many coincidences, if there are such things, with which I was enthralled, was how a Chinese fortune teller in a hotel in Singapore, where he was covering the World Water Ski championships , told them that they would get married. Obvious as that may have been what was surely remarkable and beyond logical explanation was the further prophesy that they would have twins, not just twins, but twin boys. In 1997, four years after their wedding, Arran and Oliver were born.
Bob's ambition to fly was satisfied after training at RAF Manston and he was awarded his ‘wings' after eight months, later buying a twin-engined Piper Seneca six-seater which he flew all over Europe attending meetings, once managing Rotterdam, Brussels and Paris and still arriving home for dinner. An invitation to a FIFA dinner that brought him to the latest chapter in his life (and believe me, only limited space has meant leaving out several other equally fascinating chapters), as he was sat down next to one Kiyo Tamiaki, President of the family business Molten Corporation whose HQ is in Hiroshima. Said Kiyo to Bob: "We do not have any representation in the UK." To which Bob replied: "Well, now you do!" And they did. And they do. And what a product. Molten's brand statement is just four words: ‘For the real game'. To say they are ‘big in basketball' is very much an understatement. There are over 20 different basketballs in the range. Likewise footballs and a collection too of volleyballs, netballs, water polo and handballs. And it isn't simply a question of different cosmetics. The technical specifications of the top balls are truly outstanding. Molten make the official ball for mini-basketball for every Primary school in England, ditto for the England Schools BB Association and for the professional BB league where Bob had coached. Add to that, every GB team. Bob was General Manager of GB Basketball from 1980-85. It is the Molten Ball that is used by the Wheelchair BBA, and the London Olympics. It was the natural choice for the Olympics since 1984 (LA) and thereafter. It will be used in 2012 and even though no-one yet knows where the 2016 games will take place, the Molten Basketball is already assured of a place there.
There is a lot to absorb about the innovations applied to the Molten footballs. But when it comes to absorption, that is one important factor that is almost eliminated thanks to their smooth seamless surface. Not only does this mean that, even in damp muddy conditions, 80 per cent of the moisture is immediately shed, its shape is not simply more precise in the first place and is maintained, and ball control is considerably enhanced. The smooth seamless surface of the ‘ACENTEC' technology of the match footballs is a step ahead at least equal to the progress made when heavy leather-strung balls gave way to what is the norm today. Firstly, the bladder has just two pieces rather than the traditional four, so there is only one ‘joint line' and little chance of air leaking. And just in case you may think that I am blind to the fact that this same science has been applied to adidas match balls, you may be sure that this is no coincidence.
The Molten technique applied to their basketballs even allowed Yours Truly with his somewhat small chubby hands, to get an exceptionally good grip. The ‘modern' game was invented by one Doctor James Naismith in 1891, the name arising from the orange baskets into which the ball had to be shot. Quite what ‘ealth and safetee' would have said about the necessity of having to retrieve the ball with a ladder, the mind boggles at the thought. Molten's twelve panel I.B.F.A. approved ball has an exclusive worldwide patent. The symbol on the ball incorporates the Olympic flame. As we discussed this design, power, which had been lost from the time we met, was magically restored, symbolic, I thought, of Bob's own ability to light up and seize every opportunity. There are, he reminded me, just three ball sports that one can play on one's own, if not competitively then at least practising and having fun. I have listed these upside down at the bottom of this article, in case you might wish to exercise your powers of thought. Certainly all three will make ideal Christmas presents and the latter two may introduce the Molten brand to a new generation as well as improving many a retailer's bottom line.
Just one day after meeting Bob, I came across a piece in a local paper about a charity basketball match which had helped to raise more than £4000 for injured soldiers in Afghanistan. The smiling teams in their wheelchairs raised one's spirit on a rainy afternoon. But it was the Molten ball, centre of the picture, that was prominent with its unique design. This was a reminder that important as making the pennies may be, there really is more to life and that we in the sports trade can be proud of the part that we so often play in the process of helping others. Bob believes that the 2012 Olympics will be a great opportunity not simply for the participants but for everyone involved. He described the event as "the best happening ever" I left him believing that this might well be the best chance ever for the UK Sports retailer, leading up to, during, and afterwards. I also believe that Molten's balls could play a significant role in that chance.
I said farewell to Bob. I went home with Hope.
Jack welcomes your comments and is always glad to discuss your ideas, problems and concerns, either person to person, or in print.
If there is anyone you would like him to meet or any product to write about please contact The Editor or Jack (writeawayjack@aol.com).
His articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers and are not ‘advertorials'. They are not seen prior to publication by any person or firm to whom they may refer.
