Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Video blogs

This post was actually brought upon after watching my friend Lisa put up some hilarious video blogs on Facebook. But it is not only Lisa who has become a big fan of blogging. Blogging has become a big hit with athletes as well. Athletes like Donovan McNabb, Curtis Granderson and Greg Oden amongst others. Do a Google search for 'athlete blogs' and 6.42 MILLION results come up. That's MILLION! Now granted alot of those results are probably the same people as posted before, but that is still alot of results.

What makes the blogging world even more interesting is that blogs could be about anything and everything. Some people post about their lives, while others post their thoughts on certain issues. This is the same for athletes as well. From what I saw, some players only post during the season and don't do anything with their blog in the offseason. Then there are athletes like Etan Thomas, a basketball player, who blogs about politics for the Huffington Post.

The creation of things like blogs, Twitter and Facebook have in a sense made people who we thought so highly of, more human. The 'big, bad athlete' is really no more. He is just like you, me or any other joe-shmo.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

ESPN analysts

Today in class, we talked about how some people may feel there is a double standard in regards to people like Bob Knight working at ESPN. Well couldn't that, in a way, be said about many of the people that ESPN hires?

Now let me say right away that I am not the biggest of fans when it comes to former athletes/coaches transitioning to the broadcast/media world once they are done with their time involved in the game. Just because you were a coach or player, successful or not, does not qualify you to be someone who can sit there and spew information you think is relevant to others. Now yes, in some cases, these people may have better insights than the normal fan because they were a vital part of the game in the past. But with all of the people that ESPN or CBS or who have you trots out in front of me, it begs me to ask whether I could do a better job.

To me Lee Corso is a man who is just a puppet for the 'Gameday' show. He sits there and talks alot, sometimes it being worthwhile and sometimes not. I would rather listen to Kirk Herbstreit b/c I have more respect in his analyzing abilities. I also cannot stand someone like Dick Vitale. He is another puppet, in a way where he just yells and creates worthless phrases. At times, what he says is valuable but often times it makes u wonder...He also is ACC biased to no extent. I would rather listen to someone like Stephen Bardo or Steve Lavin, two underrated (in my opinion) analysts. So essentially, I feel that the stations that broadcast sports should allow more people are are either fans or people that played when they were younger. Just because you played/coached professionally doesn't make you a better analyst.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Impressed

I must say I am quite impressed with news sources like ESPN right now. ESPN, for the past day (right now included), still has something about soccer on its front page. In the news section on the right hand side, the story about Clint Dempsey's injury has been up for an entire day. Could the times be changing?..

Sunday, January 17, 2010

ESPN's effect on viewers

On the surface, ESPN is a great thing for sports fans. Now granted I agree with that, but what nobody seems to realize is the effect, both negative and positive, ESPN has on its viewers and the casual sports fan.

On the positive side, ESPN is everything that a sports fan can ask for. With constant coverage, including what seems like an endless amount of games, it is exactly what someone who wants to know about sports and loves certain teams wants. The ability to watch pretty much every sport is just one plus.

Creating ESPNU is one of the smartest things they could have done, especially with the popularity of college sports skyrocketing in the past decade. Now a college sports fan can watch at least three different games every Saturday during football and basketball season. What is even better with this station is that during the fall, winter or spring, you can watch sports you normally wouldn't get a chance to see on TV like volleyball, soccer, baseball or softball.

Another genius idea by ESPN was the idea of ESPN 360. This allows people who don't have cable or aren't in the certain coverage area of a certain game to watch their teams play. And if you miss a game, you can watch it for free up to a month after it is played. If you love your team, whether it be college, pro or high school, along with NASCAR, golf, tennis, etc. you can watch it. And isn't that what any sports fan wants?

And now the bad...While ESPN has done some great things for the sports world, it has also been influential in what can be considered negative ways. As we talked about in class, there is a definite East Coast bias, as well as what may be becoming a slight West Coast bias as well. But it isn't just that. Sadly enough, in today's world, some people will turn on ESPN, watch it and believe every word that is said b/c ESPN is the 'world's sports leader.' Even look at the amount of times they put the "best" teams or ones they know will draw interest on TV. They throw big names on TV like Lou Holtz, Chris Berman, Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas and Joe Morgan. All of these people are considered "experts" by ESPN. Now, true that most of them were standout players or coaches, but that does not make one an expert on anything. More knowledgeable? yes. Expert? no.

All the things that alot of these analysts say may be true, but b/c of the station they work for, people think that they are the all-knowing of their sports. The station drubs these things through a person's head so much that it is like they brainwash you into thinking that everything they say on the station is true. How many times a game do they advertise/promote for future programming? Seeing this all the time likely plays in a role in a person's decision to watch. Someone who may not originally watch the, let's say a Kansas State-Oklahoma basketball game, would consider watching the game after seeing promos for it every half hour they are watching. The more people see something, the more likely they are to be intrigued. Also, could ESPN have done a better job marketing their games on certain night? Big Monday? Super Tuesday? "Game of the Week" during college football and baseball season?

Now don't get me wrong. I love ESPN and always will. I have even bought some of their books that they have published. I would, however, like to do w/o them trying to convince me what I should watch. But like I said, it's awesome and will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Fan Behavior

Fan behavior has been and will continue to be something that is a vital part in not only sports, but all events where some sort of entertainment is being provided. Unfortunately, in sports we have recently seen fan behavior go to the extreme and well beyond it. When fans have to be banned from high school events or be thrown out of stadiums for spilling beer on top of opposing players, one can see that they have obviously gone too far, but the sad part is that these fans don't see it that way.

In pro sports, it is different that in any other form because of the fact that the people can drink while watching the games. Although you would think that these people would be the most vulgar, that isn't always the case, but I will go into that more later. Now in most cases, I would argue it is the alcohol, but in some cases it's just pure emotion/rage that comes out in these instances. As we talked about in class, all sports fans get excited about their teams and the results that will happen. I remember when the Cubs were in the 2003 playoffs, it was my freshman year at Missouri, and I was going crazy throughout all of the playoffs, because they were o so close to doing something that people hadn't seen for decades! I would get really upset and even throw some things, because I was so invested in what they did. I'm still that way when it comes to Missouri sports. People don't understand but it is one of those things where the closer you were associated with the program, the more you seem to care. And the fact I worked in sports information while there, I knew more and cared more than just the regular fan.

College sports are similar to the above, minus the booze and add a whole bunch of rowdy college kids. So high schools are next and they are in their own breed. Some of the parents of the players can be downright mean, no matter what the score. Their team may be losing by 30, but they will continue to yell and curse at their teenage son or daughters' team/coach/opponent. Some of the language is even more vulgar than what people hear at professional games. Now that is a little crazy, but I don't have children so maybe I will be like that when I get older. Will I be? I don't know, but I sure as hell don't want to be.

Perceptions of certain sports

You know, today in class, alot of stuff was brought up about how people treat others b/c of what sports they play, didn't play or like. We have all been a part of this in one way or another and that ranges from being picked on by the athletes ("popular kids") to being picked last in gym class. And because of this, those people getting picked on get a totally different perception about what those people are actually like.

To start, I can use myself for example. I came from a family where my dad played volleyball and I followed suit all the way through the day I graduated from Missouri and still today. My sister was never very athletic but that was fine b/c she is an excellent excellent dancer in a renown Ukrainian dance group, 'Hromovytsia.' Growing up, all people would ever say if you liked volleyball was that you were playing a "girls sport." I questioned and still do to this day because there are some ignorant people out there, why would you make that assumption if you haven't seen the men's game? The answer is that that is always what it has been...the boy plays football/baseball/basketball and the girl plays volleyball/tennis/softball. And most of these people have never even seen a Men's Volleyball match! Now come to a men's match and can you THEN tell me it is a girls sport? I don't think so.

But all of that is what makes sports fun; the making other people impressed with what you do and educating them, no matter how wrong they may have been. Like they always say, showing is easier than telling. At times, the media doesn't help in certain cases, and this is the same in men's volleyball. Outside of the Olympics and MAYBE a college match, tell me when you hear about men's volleyball? Never. The fact that the volleyball players are LESS well-known that even soccer players (and that's no rift to soccer, as I used to play), is shocking. Until the interest has risen and people begin to see it for what it is, men's volleyball, like every other sport before it, will continue to flounder amongst the small printing in the newspaper, totally not seen by many but all that matters is that if at least one person can persuade another to go with them to a volleyball match, soccer match, name it, that person will never know the experience. And what have we all learned from experience? The more the better.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Pete Carroll reaction

Everywhere you look, at least on most sports sites, one of the first things you see is the story about Pete Carroll and his departure from USC. It's obvious that it is going to be a big deal, if no other reason than the high-profile he has created in his ten years there. But it seems to be a little overblown and not in the way I thought it would be.

Yes the story is about how Carroll is leaving USC for "greener pastures" in the NFL (ones he has grazed through in the past). But how about he just Calipari-ed USC? Is it just a coincidence that Carroll is leaving USC just as his program is probably going to be sanctioned? Or that the player in question (Joe McKnight) is turning pro? How about the kids he is leaving behind? The ones he recruited to play for the SCHOOL and promised that he would be there for their entire careers? Do they have a say? No. But in essence some of this, on their part, could have been avoided. Many players and some major recruits have said that they are going to consider other schools now because Carroll is leaving for the NFL. That means one thing: the kids sign to play for the coach and NOT THE SCHOOL. While that isn't Carroll's fault, that these kids are immature and believe everything he tells them, where is the story about the kid who was wanted by nobody, but walked on at USC and became a major player? Nowhere, b/c unlike alot of the other players in the system, he came to play for the SCHOOL b/c he had always loved the SCHOOL. But then again, as we all have said and will continue to say...Sports is a business...