Justice For TimberwolvesPress.com

I, Alec Schimke, am seeking justice from the Minnesota Timberwolves over a illustration/concept that I created in January for Kevin Love. They recently launched a marketing campaign(www.votemrlove.com) that is identical to the concept I came up with months ago. The use of a glass cleaner product to promote Kevin Love is identical to what I created and the two products look very similar. Ironically they are off the same player, same team, and same concept(glass cleaner.) I run a professional site and take great pride in my work and puts a lot of effort into it. If the Timberwolves view my work as "second tier", and something you can dismiss, they are wrong.

This all started a few days ago I went to Timberwolves.com as usual to check up on things. Right away I saw that they had created a website for Kevin Love to help him win the Rookie of the Year award. I was very pleased to see that the Timberwolves had created a site for Kevin because he certainly does deserve attention in the rookie race. However, when I looked at the promotion it looked oddly familiar. Then it hit me; hey, I made this concept 3 months ago! The comic appeared on the front page of my site for about 2 weeks and currently sits in my weekly comic section. Here are two links with timestamps.

http://blog.timberwolvespress.com/2009/01/18/11809-wolves-comic-2.aspx

This link is of the blog of my website. Godaddy.com could confirm the timing of this post.

http://ballhype.com/search/?query=kevin+love+glass+cleaner

I submitted the comic to Ballhype.com as well.

The issue was already brought up to the NBA blog, "Ball Dont Lie Blog", on Yahoo!. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-10-man-rotation-starring-Anthony-Randolph-c?urn=nba,152669

I made a comic/parody in January depicting Kevin Love as a glass cleaner because of his rebounding ability (pictured above). When looking at the two versions they are very similar, obviously my photo shopping skills are no where near their's, but the idea is the exact same. Its also very ironic that the version the Wolves produced is of the same team, same player and same concept (glass cleaner). Coincidence? I didnt think so. I figured that someone in the Timberwolves marketing department saw this idea and then brought it up to the team as their idea. In my opinion that is plagiarism and I would expect more from a professional team.

During my phone conversation with PR guy Mike Cristaldi, he told me that he had never seen my website, and that may be true. That was one of his big arguments on why the Timberwolves couldnt have possibly stolen the idea. However, I know for a fact that the Timberwolves had a position open this year called a 'Social Networking Position where they specifically hired someone to monitor the web.

Here is what the positions description was a few months ago..

This position will assist with updating official Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx online social networking sites, as well as monitoring external online social activities (blogs, forums, message boards, etc.) Additionally, interns will provide daily reports on the buzz surrounding the Timberwolves to management. via http://www.simplyhired.com/job-id/e7jd2lwb7g/social-networking-jobs/

I would bet that members of the Timberwolves organization were aware of my website as I have been an active member on several boards, have been linked on other Timberwolves websites and have been around since 2007. On top of that, the rumors that we have reported, have circulated around the web/radio, for example the Mayo/Love trade and the Randy Wittman firing. To say the entire organization was oblivious to my website would be a bit humorous. Ive also applied to the Timberwolves for several positions, specifically a PR job with my website on my resume. What I find most important in the job description above, is that the intern is to report to management. Right there that tells me that if they see something interesting on a fan site, or message board, they are reporting to management.

I would also like to say that in no way am I trying to be a distraction to Kevin Love. This has nothing to do with him, but the Timberwolves organization. He deserves this attention, but I just would like some credit for this wonderful promotion if it indeed did spring from my website.

As a journalist I feel that it is my duty to report what is being said by the PR staff at Target Center in regard to my complaint. I would not put my credibility on the line for something I wasn't 100\% sure on.

In this case I have an inside source within the organization who reported to me the other day that the PR staff held a meeting yet at Target Center during pre-game around 4:00 PM and essentially bashed my email in a very classless way. The meeting included three people, including PR guy Mike Cristaldi. Word gets around fast and some of the stuff that was said was pretty unprofessional coming from a PR department according to my source. I will leave most of the details out, but my source tells me it was pretty animated. My source told me that if it was truly an original idea on their end, then why did it require such defensive tones in a meeting?

One person in the meeting argued that it was probably a coincidence that the ideas were the same. This comment I just laugh at. On the issue of my idea being of the same team and same player, one argued very defensively, who else am I supposed to promote on the team and that it is not even that original of an idea(referring to "glass cleaner"). My source told me that he wondered why they would use it then if they viewed it as not very original idea, but they still used it as a major marketing campaign.

I thank my source for the inside info, it's nice to know that I have people in the organization backing me up. This just goes to show that right now, the entire Timberwolves organization is completely not on the same page.


By signing this petition you are acknowledging that the Timberwolves should be held responsible to come up with their own ideas and that they should give credit to those who deserve it(such as myself in this case). I appreciate the support that I have gotten and the numerous emails that have been sent out. To every site that has posted something about this issue, thank you!

Alec Schimke
Webmaster

Below is the email I sent to the Timberwolves.

Hey Mike,

Hope all is well. I have a question for you and the organization. I am emailing you specifically because I know you are responsible as a PR, to monitor what the team releases to the media.

I recently saw the promotion for Kevin Love that is trying to help him win the rookie of the year award. I completely agree with the organization's decision to create a website for Kevin because he is deserving of this award. However, I have some questions about where this idea came from. When looking at the website, http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/love_roty_2009.html, the entire concept looks oddly familiar.

I created a parody/comic earlier this year in January showcasing Kevin Love resembling a "glass cleaner" because of his rebounding ability. The picture used on your website, looks very familiar to what I created for my website www.timberwolvespress.com. For credibility sake, my site was the first website on the Internet to report the OJ Mayo and Kevin Love trade this past summer and has been mentioned along with the other popular T'Wolves fan sites such as Canis Hoopus and T'Wolves Blog. My website has had a very active Timberwolves audience since October 2007. My question to you and the rest of the organization is do you see any similarities between the concept you created and the one I created 3 months ago. The following links below are proof that I had this concept before http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/love_roty_2009.html was created. Two of the following links contain time-stamps and the final link is on my website.

Links Below

http://blog.timberwolvespress.com/2009/01/18/11809-wolves-comic-2.aspx

This link is of the blog of my website. Godaddy.com could confirm the timing of this post.

http://ballhype.com/search/?query=kevin+love+glass+cleaner

I submitted the comic to Ballhype.com as well.

http://www.timberwolvespress.com/wolvesweeklycomic.html

The comic is also pictured on my website here and was also located on the front page in early January.

I feel like I deserve some credit for this promotion. Essentially what you guys created for Kevin is exactly the same to what I created about 3 months ago for my website. Ironically it is for the same team, same player and the same product (glass cleaner). I understand I had no copyrights/trademarks to this material but because of the close similarities between the two websites, I feel that I should receive some sort of credit for this. I feel as though someone in one of your departments used my material, as "their original idea" and was something that they took credit for. For that reasoning, I feel that it is wrong and I would expect more from a
professional organization. I would expect the Timberwolves to come up with their own ideas. Thanks for taking the time to read this over and I look forward to your response.


Sincerely,

Alec Schimke