Saved by Facebook

Using the networking site to make sports dreams come true.

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"We'll be bigger than God, at least when we figure out how to turn a profit."

If you've watched football over the past few weeks, you've had no choice but to be bombarded by those awful new Toyota commercials, the ones with the "Saved by Zero" song that burrows into your brain and makes you sing it for the rest of the day. In the olden days, we'd just have to sit back and simmer with anger at the awful ads, filled with impotent rage but unable to act. But now, with the powers of Facebook groups, we have a place to both tell our war stories and possibly even use our combined powers to get it removed from the air.

And while the group's demand won't won't be completely met—Toyota has already announced that while it will stop airing the commercials nationally, local dealers will still have the option to broadcast them—that doesn't mean change can't happen. (Earlier this year, a Facebook campaign succeeded in getting the British sports network Sky Sports to revert to their old system of placing the match's score on the top left of the screen instead of the bottom left; the bottom was being obscured by other fans' heads at bars.) So it got us to thinking, what are the odds that our other favorite sports-based Facebook groups will reach their goals?

Group: "Angry Lax Fans Unite Against EA Sports"
Current Members: 17,055
Goal: Lacrosse fans are upset that an adequate video game of their sport has not yet been made, so they're calling on the supreme sports video game conglomerate to do their bidding.
Odds of Success: 5%. It's probably not the smartest move to "unite against" the company you'll need in order to complete your mission, but the main reason this goal seems likely to fail is because just not that many people are interested in lacrosse. If they were, EA Sports would have probably exploited this angle already.

Group: "Save the Hockey Night In Canada theme song!!!!"
Current Members: 16,738
Goal: The long-running Saturday night hockey broadcast by our friends to the north underwent a dramatic change this year, losing the theme song they've had since 1968. How big of a deal is it? "Some people consider [the song to be] our second national anthem," says one enraged member.
Odds of Success: 50%. While the group has a high number of members and the call of justice on their side, it might not matter as there appears to be some legal squabbles to get by, including the fact that the song is now owned by a rival network.

Group: "Let Jericho Scott Pitch!"
Current Members: 1,366
Goal: 9-year-old Jericho Scott is too good at baseball. His 40 mph fastball intimidates the other Little Leaguers in his New Haven-based league so much that league officials have told him he can't pitch anymore, since it hurts the development of the other members in the league. This group has formed to get him back on the field.
Odds of Success: 75%. Sooner or later, the rest of the league will catch up with him and he'll be allowed back on the rubber, but getting the word out through Facebook—causing the league to lose some face in the process—could expedite the process. If all else fails, the Yankees should buy up the league and keep a careful, nurturing eye on Scott, signing him as soon as it becomes legal. They need the pitching.

Group: "EA SPORTS should make a COLLEGE HOCKEY game"
Current Members: 4,336
Goal: The same goal as the previous request for EA Sports to create a lacrosse game, but this time it's a college hockey game they want created. As the group makes clear, the company has already put out games for collegiate basketball, football and baseball. When does the last of the Big Four finally get one?
Odds of Success: 30%. This isn't a done deal by any stretch of the imagination. While rumors have persisted for years that EA Sports was creating one, nothing has been announced officially yet, and while we don't know what it is, there's an internal reason for that. But this one has hope. After all, this is the company that created the game that transcended all social and economic barriers to become a uniting force all across the world: NHL '95.

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He was All-State in 19 sports.

Group: "1,000,000 Strong for The Sports Guy as new Bucks GM!"
Current Members: 797
Goal: After our own Bill Simmons unveiled his plan for turning around the Milwaukee Bucks franchise, fans of the team formed the group to call on Bucks management to take advantage of this prospect and hire the Sports Guy as GM.
Odds of Success: 1%. While the group's goal of reaching 1 million subscribers is probably a bit steep, the main reason this movement is primed to fail is because hiring Simmons would be a borderline smart thing for the Bucks franchise to do. And when has that ever happened?

Group: "A.C. Slater Played Like 20 Sports On 'Saved By The Bell!'"
Current Members: 690
Goal: The group's purpose is a noble one—to alert others about the amazing athleticism of A.C. "Oink, oink, baby!" Slater, Mario Lopez's character in the hit Saturday morning show. According to the group's mission statement: "This group is for anyone else who also noticed that A.C. Slater played more sports in high school than most high schools have at their school."
Odds of Success: 100%. If the group's only goal is to let us know that Slater played a bunch of sports, then it looks like they achieved it. Mission accomplished!

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