a sponsor i can trust

There’s some big excitement among runners here in Detroit. This Sunday, October 19, is The Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon.

The official excitement started when the Detroit Free Press hit our breakfast table on Monday. Our various names were proudly displayed in the special marathon insert. Cool.

But then, I started to notice something interesting. And honestly, I might not have thought about this if it weren’t for an essay by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly a few weeks back. King asserts that baseball (another beloved sport in our home) has been ruined by TV greed.

Here’s what he means: when no double play, no chat on the pitcher’s mound, no seventh-inning stretch can go by without an endorsement by corporate America, you know the sport has gone to the big guys. He mentions the Coke-sponsored seventh inning stretch at Fenway Park, and we have the Wallside Window pitching change and the Verizon Wireless call to the bullpen at our own dear Comerica Park.

King says “I tell myself I'm cynical — hardened to all this — and mostly I am, but I'm still amazed at how corrupting television can be...although there's no doubt MLB has loved being corrupted.” Unlike King, who is truly angry that baseball has gone corporate, I just chuckle and shake my head.

But then I begin to see what he means.

I’m not surprised that each Detroit Marathon event is sponsored by another company – The Free Press and Flagstar bank headlining the 26.2 gig. The 5K Run presented by Compuware flies by me, but the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Kid’s Red Nose 5K Fun Run is just plain too much to say.

The pace setters are, by the way, The Bally Total Fitness Pacers, and en-route energy will be provided by The New Balance/University of Detroit Cross Country Team GU Energy Gel Station at the 14.7 mile mark.

I wonder if I could get corporate America to sponsor ME for the 7-mile leg I’m running in the marathon relay? And if so, who would I choose? Comcast Cable? No – I give them too much money each month to be comfortable doing even more for them. 7-11? Nope, not me. These days, I’m more likely to be sponsored by Clorox Disinfecting Wipes or Sun-Maid Raisins or Ultra Palmolive Concentrated Dish Liquid.

But I’d really like to be sponsored by a company that I like and whose logo I would feel proud to wear. Trouble is, these companies aren’t at all part of big corporate America. Hardly anyone knows about them except me.

Maple Creek Farm CSA (community supported agriculture) has, for the past 10 weeks, been helping me feed my family wholesome, organic produce, so I’d consider wearing their name on my chest. Erwin Orchards has some of the best U-Pick apples in Michigan, so they get a vote, too. Garden Fresh Salsa is one of my favorites – and hey, it turns out they too have a close relationship with the Detroit Tigers.

I guess when all is said and done, the one company that I know inside and out (and can trust without flinching even a little bit) is my own company: Team Charlton. Four co-owners, no employees, just love and trust and a shared vision for the future.

Yep, I’ll put that logo on my hat and wear it, any time.