Best job turning around a sports team

Earlier this year, Ormewood Park resident Everett Steele noticed people on Twitter misspelling one of the country’s most well-known baseball teams. Instead of the Atlanta Braves, people were writing “Barves.” So the social media marketer, along with his wife and business partner Allison, started making jokes on Twitter using the typo, which soon caught on with other users. The duo then decided to print “Barves” T-shirts using the team’s familiar, cursive logo, which they’d sell online. Proceeds would be donated to the Braves’ foundation that supports metro Atlanta nonprofits. Lawyers for Major League Baseball, which retains teams’ trademarks, weren’t pleased and quickly dashed off a cease-and-desist letter informing the Steeles to discontinue. Not wanting the costly legal fight, Steele buried the Barves. “Instead of... capitalizing on the opportunity to sort of catalyze their fan base, they’ve instead attacked the people who are passionate and love their brand,” he told WXIA’s Doug Richards in May. Might we mention they looked petty? less...