Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Nets Look To Be Globetrotters

The New Jersey Nets hope that they can be the "International Face of the NBA". The team will be playing the Toronto Raptors in London this weekend, but have already played overseas in China in the Preseason. Their Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov has already set up a team website that can be viewed in Russian dialect. The NBA is looking to make moves on the Russian market in the off season which will help expand the international appeal of both the NBA and the Nets.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6170843

-Brian Holland

The most miserable sports city

Seattle has officially been named the most miserable sports city. Despite their 37 postseason appearances in the NFL, NBA and MLB, they have only one championship win. This win was back in 1979, only thirteen years after the introduction of pro-teams in Seattle. This designation brings a lot of negative press to the city and it would definitely be a PR nightmare. Anything and everything even slightly positive relating to any of their teams needs to be "primetime" on all the news sources to help boost the reputation of both the city and the teams. The players probably have low self esteem because of all the unsuccessful attempts at victory but I feel like putting any of their accomplishments in the news would help their cause also.

http://blogs.forbes.com/tomvanriper/2011/02/28/the-most-miserable-sports-cities/

-Jessica West

Monday, February 28, 2011

Iran threatens boycott of 2012 London Olympics

This article is about dispute over the logo for the 2012 Olympic games. According to Iran, to logo depicts the word "ZION" a biblical term widely recognized to refer to the city of Jerusalem. Iran's National Olympic Committee said Iran sent a letter to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge which read the following "There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the Games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles,". The logo really only shows the numbers 2012 in jagged form and the Olympic committee has responded and said there is nothing more to the logo. The logo made its debut in 2007 so I find it strange that Iran is just now complaining.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=6167220

Sarah Farrell

Womens Soccer game scheduled to kick off 2012 Olympic Games

Last Tuesday, the 2012 Olympic Games schedule was released online to the public. There are over 640 events in 26 sports taking place in and around the city of London, with the opening event being a women's soccer game in Wales. The game will be 2 days before the opening ceremony and lighting of the flame. I think it's awesome that the Olympic Games are not only opening up with the sport of soccer but womens soccer. Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide and is finally starting to grow here in the states and having it as the kick off event will hopefully spark the excitement of the start of the Olympics and also show the level that female athletes can one day reach. It's really important for young girls to have someone to look up to and aspire to be.

The Olympic games are estimated to have 4 billion views and plan to sell around 3 million tickets to the various events. It was announced that the tickets will provide free public transportation on the day of the given event. I think that providing free transportation throughout London is a great concept for this 19 day event. It will really allow people to see the city and take advantage of all of the events happening on the days they are attending the Olympic Games.


Rachel Goossens

http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/5/866129

Media Perspective Upgrade

Picture this- your favorite athlete, sprinting down the field scoring the winning touch down, hitting a grand slam, dropping in on a tsunami like wave- now, picture seeing everything from their point of view. With this new device, the GoPro 3d HERO System, athletes are able to provide the same perspective for fans, allowing them to relive the thrills they crave, in 3D. This somewhat inexpensive device could be the next “must have” in the sport media world. I look forward to seeing what’s in store for this concept and what elements it is able to provide for the media industry.


http://espn.go.com/action/snowboarding/blog/_/post/6166887/gopro-3d-hero-system-100

Allyson Spence

Will UCF EVER reach it's potential???

The Univeristy of Miami now has a vacancy as far as their head athletic director is concerned. Now that that has happend, UCF athletic director Keith Tribble is now in the running to fill the vacant position.
As a student-athlete, I have seen first-hand, the affect that "Papa Trib" has on student-athletes. He often likes for us to see him as a father figure. If he does decide to leave, I will be very sad to see him go.
That however, is not the reason for my post. My question is, why can't we ever keep the good ones. After a successful season on the gridiron, numerous football coaches have now gone on to take the same positions at bigger schools. How can we ever reach our potential if coaches and administrators, only see working at UCF as a launching bad to getting to a better school atheltically, with more tradition? The simple answer is, we can't? Without stability in the athletic department, we will never reach our potential.
We are a school that lacks tradition. If we continue to have seat filler after seat filler, we will never be mentioned with the likes of Florida and Florida State.

www.articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-2-25/sports/os-keith-tribble-miami-0225-20110225_1_hocutt-jeff-godfrey-tribble

By: Samantha Shields

Clippers to celebrate Black History Month. In the wrong month.


As the paper states on March 2nd, 2011 the Clippers will be celebrating Black History month. The Clippers will admit 1,000 underprivileged children free in honor of Black History Month. The Clippers have a great young team that looks promising but mistakes like this can alienate the fan base and hurt their chances at success. Their owner has been sued for prejudicial rental procedures in the numerous apartment buildings he owns. Honestly this entire situation looks awful, I'm not sure who is in charge of this effort but celebrating Black History Month in the wrong month and on top of it admitting "underprivileged" kids could be seen as racist. The idea of having a both set up where children will come up and claim they are underprivileged doesn't sound like a great idea, but none of this really does.


-John Knauer

NFL Draft Combine: The world’s most gruelling entrance exam

The NFL Combine began in 1982 where potential draft picks went to Tampa in hopes to see scouts. At that time the Combine mostly focused on medical test and not all of the leagues teams showed up. Today the NFL Combine is taken much more seriously. Athletes participate in many tests and are watched very closely by team owners and coaches. The test include the 40-yard dash, the bench press, vertical leap, and many other tasks. Doing well at these tests can bump players draft picks up resulting them in extra millions of dollars. Agents have been investing $20,000 in order to prepare their players for the Combine. Athletes Performance Institute is a program in Arizona to prepare players for their difficult exams they will encounter. They are eating breakfast by 7:00 am and staring drills to practice the 40-yard dash by 8:00. They have a whole routine that goes till 1:30 and then they start the routine over again. Owners stated that they like to see the players train for the combine it shows hard work and that they will have a player for years to come.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/nfl/article/946297--nfl-draft-combine-the-world-s-most-gruelling-entrance-exam

Bellator... the new UFC

In order to start a brand new league on an up-and-coming sport is not something easy to do but the right sponsorships and the right distribution market can help a lot. Bellator, a new mixed martial arts league, has just signed a contract with MTV2 to start showing their fights March 5th. The company is hoping that the new contract will bring about more brand recognition and potential growth for the league as a whole. Bellator is hoping that the media platform they choose will put them in the market to compete with bigger, more established leagues like the UFC.

-Jake Sostheim

Video found @: http://online.wsj.com/video/bellator-ceo-on-building-a-fighting-brand/4868EC8F-0001-4B72-B0A5-B78D3E2C0A3D.html

Bubba Watson and the half-million dollar watch

Bubba Watson can be seen on the golf course wearing a watch valued at upwards of $500,000. That is like wearing a house on your wrist! There are many people who have problems with this because they assume it is a way of him showing off his fortune. Yet, when the value and information of his watch was reported, Bubba was quick to have his say on his twitter page. He stated "Everyone I have a watch deal with Richard Mille! I DID NOT BUY THE WATCH! I DID NOT BUY THE WATCH! The watch is called RM 038 Bubba Watson."
What is so great about twitter is that when these types of rumors come up athletes like Bubba can quickly take to their twitter page to give their side of the story.
While I think it is insane that Bubba is wearing an half a million dollars on his wrist. I understand that it is a sponsorship deal and he is obligated to wear it. I also know that if I was in his position I would without a doubt wear it as well. Bubba is a stand up guy and has enough respect in the golf community that I am certain this will blow over and not be a big deal.
Here is an article discussing the watch:
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Bubba-Watson-and-the-half-million-dollar-watch?urn=golf-326791
~Katelyn Dawes

All Sports News Will Now be Broken on Twitter

This article talks about the power that social media has in getting the latest news out fast. Sports reporters have learned to adapt to the changing technology and instead of rushing to their publishers with news, they sign into their twitter accounts and post it to followers within five minutes. Every reporter wants to break the news first, and sports reporters have a unique competiveness that makes them aware of the best ways to be first. They also understand that athletes can now communicate their news directly to their fans rather than having to give formal quotes. Twitter has blown up in the last year and I personally think it can be a great thing if athletes use it to their advantage.

http://www.businessinsider.com/all-sports-news-will-now-be-broken-on-twitter-2010-12

Chrysta Bayliss

Source: Mike Bibby headed to Heat

Mike Bibby is now a 32 year old point guard with no rings. He is at the tail end of his career and was just traded last week by the Hawks to the Wizards. The Wizards are one of the leagues worst teams and have virtually no chance at the playoffs. Bibby was just bought out by the Wizards and now rumors are swirling around about the heat landing him. The heat may also pick up Troy Murphy as well. The Heat will need to cut as many people as they sign. Carlos Arroyo and Jamal Magloire are the most likely candidates to be cut from the team. This may be a direct effect of Carmllo going to the Knicks and creating a huge power swing from the western to the eastern conference.

Allan Jarquin


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6167769

Attn: Baby Mama's

Dwight Howard is known for battling it out on the court but not necessarily the court room. Recently however he has had to slang it out with his baby mama (Royce) after hitting her with a lawsuit. Dwight's legal team took action after she violated a confidentiality agreement where she agreed to keep Braylon, there son, out of the limelight as well as not bad mouthing Dwight, in exchange for $500,000, a mansion, and child support. How did she violate you ask..... Well in no better way than through social media. She tweeted multiple photos of there son and started talking badly about Dwight in a reality TV show that she stars in "The Basketball Wives". This struck a cord with Dwight and he decided to persue charges. With his victory in court he can now seize all of her assets with exception of the mansion and the Court Marshall has already began work. Let this be a lesson to all baby mama's never ever ever violate a confidentiality agreement especially one made with Dwight "Superman" Howard.


Richie Marsico

http://cdn.mediatakeout.com/46966/mto_exclusive_nba_baller_dwight_howard_freezes_his_babys_mamas_accounts____sent_the_repo_man_to_her_home____to_take_her_car.html

Devils' new social media hub first of its kind in team sports history

The New Jersey Devils have launched "Mission Control" a fan oriented hub for all things social media. Stocked with multiple HD monitors, computers, and even ipads; the state of the art room is located in the Devil's home, The Prudential Center. Mission Control is the first of its kind for a major league team. Look for other Pro teams to follow suit. I think its a great way for fans to stay on top of all the social media happenings of their team. I also believe places like this can easily spawn more fan oriented content and creativity within Social Media, an incentive for any franchise.
- Lawrence Siudmak

http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=552931

Unrest with the Detroit Pistons foreshadowed on Twitter?

Over the past few days, the Detroit Pistons players have been at odds with their coach, John Kuester. On Friday, six Piston players, for a variety of explained reasons, did not attend mandatory morning shootaround. This lead to Coach Kuester benching all six of these players for the following game, leaving only six players to play the game. But two days before the shootaround "boycott", Charlie Villanueva re-tweeted this message from a follower onto his Twitter page for all 136,000+ of his followers to see:

"I ride or die for the Stones. But Q doesn't put u guys in the best position to win. Sad too. Talent is there."

The post was quickly deleted, but not before it became a news story. It is hard for me to believe that Villanueva posted this without realizing the possible ramifications. Not after a November incident where he posted a tweet accusing Kevin Garnett of calling him a "cancer patient" during a Celtics/Pistons game. That half the Piston team missed shootaround two days later makes this tweet all the more ominous. It's one thing to disagree with your coach, but it is another thing to make that statement on Twitter, so that the entire world can find out.

by Brent Galietti

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2011/02/pistons_charlie_villanueva_ret.html

Season In Jeapordy, But Business Continues

Many NFL teams released players this week to avoid paying roster bonus' and to cut ties with some high salary yet under-performing players. It's interesting to see how the NFL teams are still operating as normal even though their season is in serious jeopardy. Teams are still reworking their rosters, freeing up money to pay free agents and re-sign current players with expiring contracts as if everything was fine. Teams need to plan accordingly for whenever the CBA gets resolved.

The article below shows some of the cuts made by the New York Jets. They cut some veteran players with big locker room credentials, including Damian Woody and Kris Jenkins. Both players were high salary older players coming off injury, and were the first on the team to be let go. It just shows that no matter what your situation is on a team, the NFL is a business first.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=6168598

-Joe Pozzi-

Cavaliers F Jamison needs surgery on finger

Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison(notes) will likely miss the remainder of the season with a broken finger that will require surgery.

Jamison fractured his left little finger during the second half of Cleveland’s 95-91 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday night. The team said he will have an operation on Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic and that he will be sidelined for at least five weeks.

Jamison’s loss is yet another blow to the Cavaliers, who have the league’s worst record but have shown some positive signs recently. The club is 3-3 since ending a record 26-game losing streak.

The Cavaliers are already without center Anderson Varejao(notes), who tore a tendon in his ankle.

Craig Wilson

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AkpO0TCoUTLXU5.v5Nymu868vLYF?slug=ap-cavaliers-jamisoninjury


Portis: Another used-up back

Pete Prisco speaks about something that is so true in the NBA. He speaks on the Clinton Portis situation where he was released from the Washington Redskins. Clinton Portis who this past season came off an injury did not have a good season, which lead to his cut. The NFL is becoming very hypocritical as they have running backs run till they cant anymore, then cut them and leave them out to dry. How do they expect players to play a 18 game season if they do not even take care of there players during a 16 game season imagine how long they will last in 18 game season. They average length of a players career could drop to 2 years with the new changes they may happen this upcoming season

Wayne Walker


http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6315047/27697404

NBC and Golf Channel Unite


http://www.thegolfchannel.com/shag-bag/golf-channel-nbc-relationship-enhanced-social-media-efforts-41676/

This week Golf Channel and NBC united for the first time since their merge to air the Accenture Match Play Tournament. Networks took turns airing the coverage live and both entities were co-branded on both channels. NBC and Golf Channel used this opportunity to turn up social media involvement during the course of the tournament week. On-air and on-line promotions pushed Golf Channel's Twitter and Facebook pages. GolfChannel.com's blogger "The Golf Guy" was on location and providing live tweets throughout television coverage for all five days. GolfChannel.com also had its first year of Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge. Subscribers of the GolfChannel.com website were able to compete with each other through a live scoring system. Fans chose who they thought were going to win in each bracket for all the rounds and the leader at the end of each week is awarded a prize. It is great to see these two reputable brands come together to integrate ideas and increase brand equity.

-Ally Rynca




Messages to Martin

For the Feb. 27 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix, 1,400 personal messages collected through social media were printed on the hood of Mark Martin's car.



This goes along with the continued effort that NASCAR makes in making the sport accessible to fans. I saw this last week at Daytona when fans were allowed to walk the storied track, and wrote messages on the track itself. No. 5 fans would feel like they are part of the race, with their words of encouragement racing along with Martin on Sunday.

These sorts of things are unheard of in other sports, and are part of the reason that NASCAR is so different from any other major sport.

http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/news/photos/2011/02/25/Messages-to-Mark-Martin-adorn-No-5-Chevy

-Avi Solar

(Dis)Empowering Images of Women in Sport

The following article presents the themes that frequently emerge from research on media representations of women athletes and women's sport.

The seeming optimism generated from such an increase in media attention given to women's sports, however, is offset by the fact that men's sports continue to receive more coverage than women's sports, and minority women are practically non-existent in sports coverage. When female athletes are the focus of media attention, the images often sexualize and trivialize their efforts. This lack of representation combined with stereotypical depictions may lead many to believe that few women are interested in sports and those who do participate are successful only when they “fit” traditional standards of appropriate female behavior.

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Media-and-Publicity/D/DisEmpowering-Images--Media-Representations-of-Women-in-Sport.aspx

-Matt Thomas

Tiger Woods apologizes for spitting

Tiger Woods cannot do anything to please the eyes of some people. He has tried to refrain from tendencies he's had his entire career- throwing clubs, swearing, etc. Now the guy can't even spit without making headlines. After spitting on hole #2, comments such as "one of the ugliest things you will ever see on a golf course" are being made which is absolutely absurd. I think Tigers play as of late is one of the ugliest things we've seen but give the guy a break. This just shows how the media only cares about the big names in sports.There is even a link on ESPN.com which is only for "Tracking Tiger." Anyone read about Mark Watson lately? Me either. Watson is the leading money-winner on the PGA Tour but Tiger clearing his throat is what we see in the headlines.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6120498

Jesse Bernhardt

BC's Mark Herzlich Media Center Of Attention At NFL Combine

Mark Herzlich was the media center of attention at the NFL Combine on Sunday afternoon. Herzlich arrived for interviews on Sunday, and told a group of media that he is "100 percent" and ready to participate in the Combine's physical tests.

Mark was diagnosed with Cancer a few seasons back, once he fully recovered in September, he has continued to play football and has declared for the NFL draft. People were very impressed with his interviewing skills and if his dream of playing in the NFL doesn't happen, he has a future as a motivational speaker

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/117041853.html

Daniel Ciancioso

Cubs looking for PA announcer

The article starts: "How does "The Voice of Wrigley Field" sound as a new job title?

The Chicago Cubs announced Monday they are searching for a new public address announcer at the Friendly Confines, and they are opening the job search up to anyone, posting the ad on jobs site careerbuilder.com. Candidates are invited to send in their applications (including an audio or video sample) by March 7. Finalists will be chosen for live auditions at Wrigley Field by March 14 with a final decision to be made by March 25. The online job ad says experience working as a public address announcer in college or professional sports is preferred, but candidates "of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The new announcer will replace Paul Friedman, who held the position for 16 seasons."

I think this was a very creative way to give the opportunity to a lifelong Cubs fan the change to apply and maybe even interview for the job to announce for their favorite team. I think more teams should scout for other job positions among their fans just for the simple fact of who else other than your own fans have more passion about the organization? Im not saying that teams should just hire random fans, but qualified fans, I personally thing would make the best employees. I look forward for other teams to catch on to this similar HR processes.

Josh Kantor

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6166832

Lousiville cheerleader almost costs them a game

Louisville led Pittsburgh by three points on Sunday and even though a dunk put Louisville up by five, a bizarre mistake occurred with five tenths of a second remaining. A male, Louisville cheerleader ran onto the court and threw the basketball into the air to celebrate the win. Such a mistake forced referees to call a technical foul for delay of game on the cheerleader. Ashton Gibbs, guard for Pittsburgh, made both free throw shots but missed a half-court attempt shot leaving a final win for Louisville at 62-59. Louisville coach Rick Pitino jokingly noted, "The male cheerleader is coming to an end. It was good while it lasted. It was fun. Now we'll try another sport for him."

"No, I'm sure it was unintentional, but you could actually lose a game that way," Pitino added once the laughter subsided. "Hopefully he'll learn the rules of basketball next time."

Even though coach Pitino was subtle and the cheerleader hopefully learned from his mistake, Louisville fans have already begun to argue that the cheerleader should be suspended or even kicked off the squad!

Even though it was an honest mistake that nearly cost an entire game, mishaps cannot happen from the sidelines. However, such a technical foul definitely increased the media exposure on Louisville's big win beyond Kyle Kuric's 12 points, 5 during overtime.

-Alexis Dittmer

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Technical-foul-on-cheerleader-nearly-costs-Louis;_ylt=AiFpvZix1zHVkqrVdSrxPsjevbYF?urn=ncaab-327051

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Back in session

the quiksilver pro tour is back in session in austraila. this will bring the top names more media coverage and more followers on twitter. the new guys that are entering the tour for the first time are trying to compete not only to do well and place in the event but also to get their name out their and become more well known like kelly slater and jordan smith. if some of the newer guys are able to rank up near the top there in for contracts and sponcerships and becoming more popular in the surfing community.

-by George Shackett

NFLPA to Decertify on Thursday

The NFL Players' Association plans to decertify on Thursday before the current CBA expires. If the players' union waited until after the CBA expires they would not be able to decertify for six months. This move would allow the players to file an injunction against the owners, as well as file an anti-trust law suit. The owners would challenge the decertification claiming the players' union was not negotiating in good faith. This all means that more legal actions would get involve in an already difficult negotiation process.

http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/27671214

Macon Ballantine

New Media...a trend or here to stay?

With facebook and twitter basically dominating the sports world, it may be time to take a look at if this recent trend is here to stay. News sources are beginning to quote athletes from twitter, espn dedicates sections of sportscenter just to cover athletes' tweets, and nearly all sports fans give their friends up to date information on how their favorite team is playing via facebook. Is this form of news a fad or is it here to stay? Well http://www.sportsnewmedia.com/thinks it's here to stay and they have some fairly big clients to back up their position. Sports New media is an online company that will work with athletes, news sources, and athletic companies to allow them to gain the most out of the social media world. Whether it's to connect with fans, gain profits, or be socially responsible, Sports New Media believes they are the best at getting your brand recognized through new media such as facebook and twitter. With clients such as ESPN, ADIDAS, and Virgin Media, they are by far the leaders in attracting large name clients.

What I find funny about the success of this company is that I don't see how they will be able to keep these large name clients. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are all free to use. With our generation starting to enter the workforce, I see the need for these companies who help others with their online presence decreasing. We have been exposed to the internet from a young age and know how to run a facebook and twitter. Mix these skills with marketing skills we learn in college and large companies will have employees in house who can manage their social media persona.I feel that the use of new media is changing the sports world as we know it and it will continue to evolve. However, companies who are currently profiting by managing other companies online persona are a fad and will quickly dwindle away.

-Steven Graham-

This wasn't an article i was siting, I just came across http://www.sportsnewmedia.com/ and created my own article.

Even the medics in Brazil put on a show

Brazil has produced many great footballing showman over the years, so it only seems natural that it produces a visionary in the art of inappropriate physio gymnastics like this man. Every time a Comercial player went down in their Copa do Brazil match against Palmeiras, the team's medic, "Bomba," would come sprinting out with his bag of tricks and just before attending to the writhing player, he would do a cartwheel. He did this three times. Each time, the fans called for him to do it and gave a big cheer when he did.

Perhaps this shows he was more concerned with entertaining the fans than helping the injured players or perhaps it shows his Patch Adams approach to his work. Either way, this could become something young aspiring medics around the world watch and try to emulate, bringing that Brazilian flair to a new facet of the game

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Even-the-medics-in-Brazil-put-on-a-show?urn=sow-326382

Steven Gabur

Saturday, February 26, 2011

YouTube to Live Stream Sports Games?

YouTube is reportedly in talks with the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League to broadcast games live games.

Last year, YouTube began streaming live cricket matches. It was very successful, bringing it 55 million visits from more than 250 countries (yet no one in this class probably had any idea).

YouTube will hope to boost their ad revenue, targeting the tremendous target audience in the United States.

How do you feel about the NBA and NHL streaming live games on YouTube? Would you watch?

David Bresslerhttp://mashable.com/2011/02/22/youtube-live-sports/

Friday, February 25, 2011

Owners, Open Your Books!

The NFLs current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires Thursday and it seems like the players and owners are miles apart. Senator Jay Rockefeller who doesn't have a part in the negotiations has asked owners to show their books which the owners have refused to do. I don't understand how the owners feel they could get a deal done without being open and honest. Everybody knows what the players make, now it's time to see the owners' profits. Many owners claim they are losing money, if they truly are, then they have nothing to lose by showing this to the players' union. In my opinion the biggest key to the CBA negotiation is knowing the profits of the NFL and until this is known I feel as if this process will be dragged out for a long time.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6158810

-Alex Norkin

Thursday, February 24, 2011

NBA "where trades happen"

The NBA's trade deadline was today, Feb. 24th at 3:00pm and WOW, it did not disappoint. There were the big trades which included Carmelo Anthony to New York and Derron Williams to New Jersey, but atleast these trades made sense. The most shocking trade to me was that of the championship contending Boston Celtics. The GM Danny Ainge traded their best big man in Kendrick Perkins, role player Nate Robinson and two young players away for basically nothing in return. Even if your not a big NBA fanatic, just watching ESPN for a night will tell you that the Celtics were an aging team who had a legit shot at winning the NBA Title, while also having the best record in the Eastern Conference. Boston lost last year in game seven of the NBA Finals to the Lakers in part because Perkins went down with an injury. This move is a complete head scrather to me, but being a Magic fan I believe the Magic are big winners in this annual musical chairs competition and they didn't even have to make a move. I'm not sure if Danny Ainge has a move up his sleeve, but as of now if you listen quietly, you can hear the Celtics window of opportunity being slammed shut. Thanks NBA trade deadline you always seem to amaze!

Enrique Devine
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-Celtics-stun-the-NBA-with-a-pair-of-deals?urn=nba-325990

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

NBA Launches Facebook-Powered Trending Topics for All-Star Weekend

http://mashable.com/2011/02/18/nba-all-star-weekend-facebook/

The next step has been taken in connecting the NBA and social media. Just before the NBA All-Star game, the NBA created the "All Star Pulse" program on NBA.com and featured a real-time trending topics of sorts, showing the most talked about people and events from all-star weekend based on data from public Facebook status updates.

The site lets you drill down on any of the trending topics for more information, including videos, photos, news stories and blog posts from NBA.com on the given subject.

- Anthony Steele

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Broncos Sign Champ Bailey to 4yr Deal

The Denver Broncos questionable decision making continued today. Champ Bailey, one of the NFL's best Cornerbacks signed a deal between $40 million and $44 million. The issue here is that Bailey will be 37 years old when his contract is up. Similarly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aged veteran Ronde Barber also signed a contract today. Barber signed a one year deal opposed to Bailey's four. I feel that with an aged player such as Bailey they are taking a real risk here to offer him four years. I guess only time will tell.




-Brett Schuber
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AtJn58o.oYT9oiIY7XyhBc05nYcB?slug=ap-broncos-bailey

Garcia talks about his world record

alex garcia now holds the record for the highest ollie at 45in. he says he was hoping to reach 47in. but got tired after so many attemps and hopes to break his own record in the near future. he broke the record in vegas at a competition and won 10k. the old record stood for 10 yrs. alex said he plans on doing more with his skateboarding carreer and to keep an eye out for him.

-by George Shackett

Chick fil-A

This article hit home for me because I recently applied for an internship position with the Chick fil-A bowl. There is so much money being made in the NCAA, and it seems that it is at times unfairly distributed. When you see networks making billion dollar deals and student-athletes only recieve a fraction of that money, it's enough to make your blood boil at times.

The Chick fil-A bowl is using its money for a good cause, by helping the Atlanta youth. They often give out scholarships to the inner city youth and that shows that they are not just all about the mighty dollar.

By: Samantha Shields

http://ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2011/february/chick-fil-a+bowl+partnership+benefits+atlanta+youth

Monday, February 21, 2011

Bucks and social media

This is an article about how social media has impacted the NBA. The Milwaukee Bucks has used Facebook recently and offred freee tickets to any fans that "liked" thier page and filled out an online survey. Research showed %57 of Bucks fans has visted the FB fage in the past 30 days

Heres the link: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/116341864.html

Kenny Francois

Anthony traded to the Knicks

Late Monday night Carmelo Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks after weeks of this drama. Denver will get Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks' 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors' 2012 second-round pick, the Warriors' 2013 second-round pick and $3 million in cash while Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman will head to New York.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6145912

Macon Ballantine

Mayonaise, Beer, Horsepower and Marketing

I've spent the past two weeks in and out of Daytona with my NASCAR internship and volunteering with ISC. In that time, I've seen some things, thus that title.

A NASCAR race is something everyone should attend at least once, but that is especially true for any marketing student. I have never been at an event that had so many unique marketing initiatives, and such a captive audience. I also helped execute an interesting initiative for ISC that got quite a bit of attention that utilized social media in an interesting way.

It's a lot to cover, perhaps it would just be best if you'd call on me, and I'll touch on a few of those things.

-Avi Solar

Slam Dunk Contest Rigged?

I'm still waiting for someone to tell my why Blake Griffin deserved to win the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest. He only had one special dunk... and that was his FIRST one!

After watching the several years, it's safe to say that the dunk contest is all about presentation and how one markets its self. The majority of casual NBA fans only knew of one player who was in the contest- Blake Griffin.

Blake Griffin's last dunk consisted of him dunking over a Kia Optima, which happens to be the official car of the NBA. The NBA made sure that Blake got to show of his not-so-spectacularly, overhyped, over presented dunk over the Kia Optima.

Could you imagine how upset David Stern and the NBA would be if Griffin couldn't pull off the dunk to get to the finals against JaVale McGee?

David Bressler

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Grading-the-2011-slam-dunk-contest;_ylt=Aqu9eeox_LpDO6UBTUZ2AwO8vLYF?urn=nba-323833

Young Face of NASCAR

Years ago a NASCAR team was put together by two brothers from the Woods family. Having been part of the industry for decades, the Woods brothers fell out of NASCAR with no hopes of re-entry. Edsel Ford II realized the sudden drop out and began probing for answers. Knowing their potential, Ford decided to befriend the family hoping to get them back in the race. Using their wisdom, years of experience, and knowledge of failure, Ford was able to put the Woods family back on their feet. The only thing lacking now was a driver. Twenty year old, Trevor Bayne, was the perfect candidate. Bayne insisted that if he'd soared as a prodigy it was because "they gave me a rocket ship" to ride. In the 23 seasons before Sunday, the Woods had won but three races, with Dale Jarrett in '91, Morgan Shepherd in '93 and Elliott Sadler in '01. Bayne was able to turn this around winning the Daytona 500 on February 20th, 2011, his second Sprint Cup series.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=hinton_ed&id=6144830

Allyson Spence

Mr. Carrie Underwood to Nashville


This week Ottawa was devastated by one of their most beloved athletes, Mike Fisher. The hockey player was traded to the Nashville Predators for a couple of draft picks and the citizens of Ottawa were outraged to say the least. This trade came as a shock to the city but could of been predicted because of his new marriage to country singer Carrie Underwood. Some people in Ottawa even refuse to listen to listen to her CD's anymore because of their hatred for what happened.

Originally found: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657704576150620022971208.html

-Jake Sostheim

Report: Suicidal Duerson sent brain-exam texts

'Former four-time Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson, who committed suicide Thursday by shooting himself in the chest, sent text messages to family asking that his brain be examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition linked to more than a dozen deceased NFL players, The New York Times has reported. Duerson's family has agreed to donate his brain to Boston University's medical school for its study of the degenerative disease, which has been tied to depression, dementia and occasionally suicide in the former players, according to the report."

This was a pretty intense story. I always knew that the players in the NFL were taking some brutal head blows and I knew this issue was a very serious matter. But I didnt know it was this bad. CTE is just one of the many problems that ex NFL players but in Duersons case it was fatal.

-Josh Kantor

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6141129

New Jersey Devils amp up social media activity

With social media becoming more and more popular each day more teams are starting to use this as a way of advertising. The New Jersey Devils have come up with a whole new promotion campaign that is using Facebook and Twitter as its main voice to its fans. They have hired a team of people who will be working in the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. This team consist of sports enthusiasts and social media experts that are known as Army Generals. They will be updating fans before, during, and after their games. So far it has cost $250,000 and the plan is only 80% complete.

http://www.ricg.com/marketing_articles/digital_marketing/new_jersey_devils_amp_up_social_media_activity/
Jenna Katz

Bryan Cox flips back to the Dolphins

Nobody knows the ins and outs of the AFC East as well as Bryan Cox. This is a good move by the Dolphins in my opinion to fuel up the defense. He played 5 seasons in Miami where he went to 3 Pro Bowls. With a young up and coming defense, hopefully he can energize and instill some passion along with helping them with what to do... and not to do on and off the field.

Jesse Bernhardt

http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/26158/bryan-cox-flips-back-to-the-dolphins

Negotiating N.F.L. Contract and Social Media Age

Dozens of players and agents have taken to Twitter during the N.F.L.’s labor strife, tweeting on everything from the court battle over how the N.F.L.’s television contracts were structured (@ericwinston) to the 18-game regular season (@RobertMathis98) to players having to pay for their own health insurance if the league imposes a lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement expires March 4. The new age of social media has opened a filter-free pipeline with fans that players have long said they wanted.

- Lawrence Siudmak

All-Star Weekend: Blake and business

Many viewers were stunned when seeing Blake Griffin dunk over a Kia Optima, however, they probably did not know about all of the paperwork that had to be filed prior to the event in order for him to dunk over such a particular car. Kia has been a league partner for four years and while Griffin announced his dunk idea, he did not choose this brand. Other business implications involved who would actually receive the baller status car after the Slam Dunk contest. Media notes that its probable that it will be given to the Clippers, where they will donate or sell it. The proceeds may also go to Griffin's high school friend who tragically passed away last week or to a foundation in his name. Not only was Blake Griffin obligated to paperwork, but Baron Davis signed a contract enabling the usage of his image.

All-Star Weekend proved to be a successful event and the article highlights on personal player's quotes such as Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul regarding their prospective towards individual player and team options to their hindsight on where their career path will go after basketball.

Dwight Howard was quoted saying, "We have to figure out what we're going to do for the rest of our lives," Howard said. "You have to build your brand. The way you build your brand is by reaching out to the public and by making yourself available, whether it's through Twitter or social media or doing appearances and events where people see your face. Also sitting down in front of the right people."

I liked this quote because he mentioned earlier the appearances he made and it relates to his belief on what a certain image and actions bring upon his career. He doesn't believe that everything is determinant with what happens on the court but rather off the court; and making note that social media has a drastic impact on a basketball player's career.

The article finishes up by hitting on more business details including Tom Leiweke saying that it was the most successful big event the Staples center has hosted. He has ideas to build a NFL stadium adjacent to Staples Center in hopes of hosting the Super Bowl in 2016. All in all, it was a winning weekend in Los Angeles on the court and behind the scenes.

- Alexis Dittmer

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=AllStarWrap-110221

Toews' speech inspires Hawks in win over Blues


A year after the Chicago Blackhawks dominated the regular season and postseason and became the Stanley Cup champions the Hawks find themselves on the outside looking in. The defending Stanley Cup champions started the season slow after letting key contributors walk away via free agency or traded away to cut costs. The Blackhawks were in a financial hole after the season and needed to reevaluate the team and key players were shipped away at bargain prices. The likes of Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd and Antti Niemi were a huge part of the championship and that has been proven throughout this rough season for the hawks. The article more specifically talks about how the Blackhawks were facing a two goal deficit after a poor first period in St.Louis. Jonathan Toews, the teams captain and Stanley Cup MVP, let the team know the time is now to reclaim the season and make a run for the playoffs. "He doesn't say a lot, so certainly when he does it means an awful lot. I walked through and I just know he was saying what he needed to say, and a couple of other guys said it, too." was a quote from their assistant coach filling in for an ailing Joel Quenneville. Chicago would come out and score 4 goals in the second period to claim the lead and eventually win the game. Being a captain in the NHL is different from every other sport and I thought this article was great to show the kind of leadership that came from one of the youngest captains in hockey.

-John Knauer

http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2010020892

Female Pitcher in MLB training camp BP

With baseball season approaching, spring training is in full force. However, the Cleveland Indians spring training camp has something, or rather someone, that no other MLB team has ever had: a female pitcher during their batting practices, Justine Siegal. Siegal also coached college baseball for three years, another first for the world of baseball. I think it is great to see a female presence in professional sports, a world driven primarily by men. But I do wonder how and why she chose to focus on baseball when she could have gotten involved in softball. But I mean, more power to her I guess. She will be throwing batting practice for Oakland Athletics later this week as well.

-Rachel Goossens

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Justine-Siegal-became-the-first-woman-to-pitch-batting-practice-in-a-major-league-spring-training-camp-022111

One man, one bike, one team, one game...but no ticket.

This story centers around the Cricket World Cup that is being played in Bangladesh. This event pretty much halts everything in the country for the duration of the tournament (about a month). Everyone is involved in the excitement and most do not even have tickets to the event but they are very proud to represent their country and don't even care. The experience to celebrate before the match and celebrate after the match means much more to them than any ticket ever would. The main point of the story is about an Indian man who rode his bike from India to Bangladesh for 9 days to come to this match. He came bearing a flag for his country and arrived right before his team did on the bus. This man rode his bike across the country for 9 days and did not even have a ticket to this event. He came knowing that as long as he could get Sachin (the star player for India) to see him then he would get in. This was a really absurd concept because in America if you want a ticket from a player this definitely needs to be prearranged. In this case, the man was right, he made eye contact with Sachin and Sachin stopped and addressed the man by name as if he was an old friend. He then proceeded to tell his team that they were to leave this man a ticket at will call. He was overly excited. The other interesting part about this story was that Bangladesh has never won a cricket game, ever. You would never know this if you went to this event because everyone was celebrating and showing support like they were the defending champions. This goes to show the impact that sports and big events like this can have on just one nation! On the media side, every channel in the country was providing coverage of this event, every other commercial was about cricket and every third billboard. The newspapers also designed special logos for each edition that was to be printed for the duration of the event.

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/cricket/news/story?id=6142975

-Jessica West

Future is now for Braves’ kids Heyward, Freeman

Freddie Freeman was called up to the Braves organization at the end of last year. He reported to spring training at ESPN's Wide World of Sports just the other day, not as an invitee like previous years, but as a starter for the team. The Braves see a tremendous about of potential in this young first baseman. Like Jason Heyward, Freeman is also only 21 years old (born 34 days after Heyward). They met for the first time at an all-star game while still in high school. Then, in the 2007 draft, Heyward was picked by the Braves in the first round, Freeman went in the second. They spent much of their minor-league time on the same team, starting out together in the Gulf Coast League, moving rapidly up the chain through Rome, Myrtle Beach, Mississippi and Gwinnett. Last year, when Heyward made it to the big leagues and Freeman played for the Braves’ Triple-A club in suburban Atlanta, they lived together in Heyward’s townhouse. With their chemistry already established this duo is the future of the Braves organization.
~Katelyn Dawes
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Am0n6xAU6f6fLeEuaLfpfFf.gYl4?slug=ap-braves-j-heyfreddie

NFL, resume mediation for 4th day in a row

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch(notes) emerged with a positive outlook Monday after attending a fourth consecutive day of federally mediated negotiations between the NFL and the players’ union.

“Things are going well,” said Batch, a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee. “We’ll see how things progress over the coming days.”

The league and union agreed to try mediation after months of infrequent— and sometimes contentious—bargaining. The current labor deal expires at the end of the day March 3.

The union has said it believes team owners want to lock out the players as soon as the next day, which could threaten the 2011 season.

The sides met for about six hours on both Friday and Saturday. Cohen announced Thursday the groups agreed to the mediation, which is not binding but is meant as a way to spur progress. The plan calls for several days of negotiations with Cohen present.

Craig Wilson
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ao7sK4KhYuUKoe15..aM.gNDubYF?slug=ap-nfllabor

Bad Decision

"An NBA player credited with helping Georgia Tech reach the NCAA Finals six years ago was arrested in Gwinnett on DUI charges Sunday"

Jarrett Jack, who is currently the back up point guard for the New Orleans Hornets, was clocked going 66 in a 45 and was swerving all over the lanes. When the officer pulled him over he failed sobriety tests and was taken to jail. He blew a .079 which is less then the legal limit but it was an hour and a half after he was initially pulled over. He was charged with a DUI, speeding, and failure to maintain lane. He was then released on $1,273 cash bond.

If NBA players have so much money why is it so hard for them to call a limo or cab to take them home? If NBA players can't even make the right choice then why would anyone expect a normal citizen to do it. Damage Control is written all over this situation. Not only does it look bad for Jack himself but it makes the team and the league look bad.

Sarah Farrell
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/home/headlines/116605978.html

The Garden of Waves

A company called Instant Sport out of San Sebastian Spain is leading the way in innovations in the surfing industry with its new technology to create man made waves. Now we have all heard of wave pools and the like but this is quite different in that these waves are made in natural settings like a country side lake, pond, or resivour. The company stresses that not only is there technique simpler then the other company's creating wave pools, but also more enviornmentally friendly and efficient. "The goal of Wavegarden is to provide an opportunity for everyone from beginners to experts to surf even if they do not live by the ocean, or if the ocean is too crowded or polluted." the system has to be used in a water basin where the water level wont change more than 10 cm due to the way the system works. Right now the wave pool is only producing thigh high waves but plans are coming to make a shoulder high for this summer and who knows how big after that.

The company just recently released all this information but they already have interested investors to bring the technology into the states as well as Australia and the rest of Europe. What gave the Wavegarden even more publicity was Bobby Martinez tweet, "Found a goofy footers dream yesterday!!!!!!! Let me put it like this ... the window never closes!!!!!!!" The company asked to use his tweet in a press release and he said sure under one circumstance, "Let me surf the wave again when it's back this summer". This innovative technology might just be the answer to every kids dreams of wishing they could surf.


Richie Marsico

http://www.wave-garden.com/lang/en-us/galleries/videos

http://sports.espn.go.com/action/surfing/news/story?id=6132257

Who really are the best quarterback prospects in the draft?

This article points out the majority of quarterbacks that will enter the NFL Draft this year, and who teams should really be hyped up about. Most people keep talking about the younger four entering early: Jake Locker, Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert, and Ryan Mallett. These young men have the skills and power to flourish at the next level, but the author mentions that they may not have the "it" factor. The "it" factor consists of not only their physical skills, but also leadership, poise, intelligence, work ethic, passion for the game, drive, willingness to compete, and mental toughness. Each of the young quarterbacks potentially lack one or more of these characteristics which could make them a wrong choice for franchises. The article then touches on the senior quarterbacks and mentions that their extra time at the college level has them more prepared mentally for the NFL. I enjoyed this article because the quarterback really is the leader of the team and if he is not mentally stable and mature enough to handle the pressures that come along with the fame, then the team will not succeed.

-Chrysta Bayliss

Hockey coach strips half naked, throws clothes during bench tirade

Colorado Eagles assistant coach Greg Pankewicz‘s bio indicates he was hired in 2009 after retiring as the team's captain. Along with being the franchise's leading goal-scorer as a player, he also had brief stints with the NHL's Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames. Pankewicz's bio says nothing about having been a Chippendale's dancer or rented out for bachelorette parties; but after witnessing his behavior in a CHL game against the Mississippi River Kings on Saturday night, we have our suspicions. In the third period, one of the Eagles was roughed up by a linesman during an escalating brawl on the ice. Pankewicz was enraged by the official's behavior, and began vehemently arguing from the Colorado bench: yelling, screaming, tossing things on the ice. Then, as a last resort, Pankewicz did something we can't recall ever seeing a coach do while arguing with an official: He hurled his tie, his shirt and his undershirt in frustration, before being sent to the dressing room shirtless.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Hockey-coach-strips-half-naked-throws-clothes-d?urn=nhl-324134

Steven Gabur

NBA All-Star Game in LA scores big

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game on TNT delivered 9.1 million total viewers and 6 million households, along with strong growth across all key demos, according to Nielsen. This years mid season event, which was held in Los Angeles, became the most watched and highest rated game since 2003, which was Michael Jordan's final NBA All-Star appearance of his career. Also the All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm, became the most watched in the event's 26-year history, combined to average more than 17 million total viewers. Thanks, in part to Blake Griffin's amazing performance in the Sprite Slam Dunk Challenge. I love watching the NBA, and as a league they could be on the upswing, lets just hope there watching the NFL's potential lockout situation and taking notes on what not to do, so as a league the can continue too set record numbers!

Enrique Devine
http://www.nba.com/2011/news/02/21/allstar-highratings/

Commish pro-bono proposals as empty as it gets

this is an article written by Ray Ratto, talking about David Stern and the labor situation in the NBA. This is one of the first articles that I have read that referred to the labor situation that will be going on in the NBA. David stern took Roger Goodell's handling of the situation as he said he would lower his salary to a dollar, as David Stern said he would work for free if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached by next season. As the NBA season gets closer to the playoffs the CBA will continue to grow as an issue as i feel the NBA has a worst chance of having a season next year than the NFL

Wayne Walker

Justin Bieber Named MVP of 2011 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

This kid really is everywhere, as you learned last night if you caught the NBA's sold out All- Star Celebrity game in Los Angeles. What was Bieber's secret to MVP glory? Recruiting his legion of followers on Twitter to vote via text and lock up the title for him


http://www.popeater.com/2011/02/19/justin-bieber-mvp-nba-celebrity-game/

-Malcolm Priest

The Ocho of Baseball

Brandon Phillips is one of the newer members to the Twitter community. How did he find out about Twitter? Well from Chad Ochocinco of course. Ochocinco convinced the Reds second baseman that he should join the Twitter world and express himself because he is the "Ocho of Baseball". Dusty Baker is already nervous about what could happen with Phillips having free reign to say whatever he wants online considering that he stirred up enough controversy between the Reds and Cardinals last season without the social media outlet.

-Brian Holland

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5j3LK_dSBVNhj3ERxE9wkwSdAhDig?docId=6016093

Pick Me... Your Move

NFL Fantasy Files
These videos are NFL players promotional videos telling fans why they should pick them for their NFL.com Fantasy Football team. Who knows if they are real... but it is definitely awesome and will have you watching for hours! There is no better way to create a brand for yourself then by showing fans what you are really capable of with a video on YouTube. The Best Players video received 10 million views along with pages and pages of comments. There are also many individual player YouTube videos. To capitalize on the exposure Reebok sponsored the video series.

The Best Players: 10,000,000+ views
Braylon Edwards: 4,000,000 views
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrk9I1jhJ9U&feature=fvwrel
Maurice Jones-Drew: NFL.com

-Ally Rynca

Kevin VanDam wins another Bassmaster Classic

Most people think of fishing as a leisure activity, but there is such a thing as competitive fishing, and its biggest event, the Bassmaster Classic, recently wrapped up. Kevin VanDam, the biggest name in the sport, took home his 4th Bassmaster Classic title (and 2nd in a row), once again putting him on top of the fishing world.

The event was shortened by fog on all three days. Lake Cataouatche and the Venice area were the two major areas that the competitors fished in. Those who chose Venice were in for a bad Classic, as the fog was strongest there, and the fish were not as plentiful. Meanwhile, at Lake Cataouatche, VanDam and other fishermen had a field day with the plentiful bounty of fish to catch.

"I knew the Mississippi River would be cold this time of year," VanDam said. "I made the decision to stay away from Venice because I figured there was no way you could fish there three days without fog."

Truly, Kevin VanDam is a giant among fish, and the men that catch them.

by Brent Galietti

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?page=b_classic_11_Reid_Gamer

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Bayne's World! Rookie Wins Daytona 500.

In just his second Sprint Cup start, the 20-year-old Bayne stunned NASCAR's biggest names with a thrilling overtime win Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, holding off Carl Edwards after fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed in NASCAR's first attempt at a green-white-checkered flag finish.

"Our first 500, are you kidding me?" said Bayne, who needed directions to Victory Lane. "Wow. This is unbelievable."

Two days ago, Trevor Bayne was just a teenager. Now he's a champion of NASCAR'S most prestigious race. The fat Daytona 500 payday could provide the funding the Woods need to become competitive again. Look for Trevor to become much more popular now that he has this victory under his belt.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=6142487

Daniel Ciancioso

Its almost March, give me St. Johns for my bracket...

As February winds down, its time to start thinking about our March Madness brackets. For everyone who fills out a bracket (or for the rest of us who fill out 20), I offer some advice. PICK ST. JOHNS. I'm not talking about pick St. Johns to win it all, but pick them to upset SOMEBODY. This past Saturday, St. Johns beat #4 Pitt on a buzzer beater shot in Madison Square Garden. Throughout this season, they have also beaten #13 Georgetown, #11 Notre Dame, #3 Duke, and #9 UConn. All 5 of these teams have spent at least a day located within the countrys top 10. St. Johns basketball has been irrelevant for a while now, and while I'm not projecting a National title for the Red Storm, you can bet I'm going to have them heading into the 2nd or 3rd round in at least 8 of my brackets.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=310502599

-Joe Pozzi-

Durerson texts family to submit body for research upon suicide


Dave Duerson, who committed suicide Thursday by shooting himself in the chest, sent text messages to family asking that his brain be examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition linked to more than a dozen deceased NFL players, The New York Times has reported.


-Matt Thomas

Reggie Miller Robbed

On Friday they announced the finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame. I know lots of players don't make the Hall of Fame the first time they are up for it but Reggie Miller one of the greatest shooters of all time wasn't even included as a finalist. Looking at the names of the other players who could have been placed on the ballot, Miller's name stuck out the most. Its hard to imagine that Reggie Miller who arguably gave Michael Jordan a tougher time than anybody else wasn't even placed on the ballot. Although it was ridiculous he wasn't placed on the ballot I'm sure next time not only will he be placed on the ballot but he'll probably be elected into the Hall of Fame.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6136451

-Alex Norkin

Friday, February 18, 2011

NFL, Union Agree to Federal Mediation

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6132690

The NFL and the NFLPA have agreed on something: to bring in the feds to provide mediation for their talks. It seems that both sides are anxious to get this deal done but these talks are going nowhere. Having a third neutral party in the room may be able to catch certain things the others can seem to grasp or do to ignorance.

-Anthony Steele

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Get me out of here!

Although this is a T-Mobile commercial, I felt it was very appropriate to blog about this video. Basically Dwyane Wade says "get me out of here" as he is stuck in his bathroom. This gets blown out of context and many believe he wants a trade out of Miami. Word spreads from cell phones, facebook, television, newspapers, etc. and other teams are trying to sway Wade to their town. In the end when the door is opened for him he is hearing this news for the first time. This shows what media and social media in particular can do to a situation nowadays.



-Brett Schuber

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EdJuNR51dE

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

James Harrison on fines, player safety

for james harrison he has used twitter to post comments joking about big hits and player safty.
i think this will get him more followers on twitter and create more recognition for him. so this is positive for his image because he says "can u put a pillow down where im going to tackle the other players so they dont get hurt" which means hes going to try and tackle harder and people will want to see that.

-by George Shackett

Keep or Rid?

After last week's Budweiser Shootout (which I attended, my first NASCAR event ever), Kyle Busch asked on Twitter:

Kyle Busch
Well thats not the best of nites. Hope we got the bad luck outta the way for next week. What'd u guys think of the 2 car draft? Keep or rid?

This is in regards to the new style of racing seen that night, in which the new pavement and cool temperatures at Daytona provided enough grip for two cars on the same team to essentially push each other ahead, reaching speeds of around 206 mph. This led some purists to cry foul, as this is "cheapening" the sport.

Kyle Busch himself didn't seem to be a huge fan of this, as he wrecked out about midway through the race while being pushed by teammate Mark Martin. He reached out to see the opinion from fans, and if it would be enough to call for a change. NASCAR already called for the removal of an airhose that kept engines from overheating while drafting this way, which reduces the time drivers will use this method in next week's Daytona 500, in which NASCAR desperately needs a good showing.

-Avi Solar

Monday, February 14, 2011

Athletes and Social Media - Seattle Seahawk's Aaron Curry

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry worked with a company called PlayerBrand to create his own personal website. This site allows fans to follow all of his online actions all on one page or with one east click of a button. His latest tweets and Youtube videos will appear on the homepage, along with the latest articles he is featured in. He mentions that he allows all news about him to be posted, whether positive or negative. I believe this is a great plan of action to keep his fans involved and it shows that he is aware of the impact social media can have. Having this understanding will help him be smart about what he tweets and and says.


http://thesportscommentary.com/2010/10/25/athletes-social-media-%E2%80%93-seattle-seahawks-aaron-curry/

-Chrysta Bayliss

Popular...

Twitter has become the modern day Myspace. Fans are now able to have instant contact with their favorite athletes. The athletes also do not seem to mind. In fact, they seem to love the attention.

Aaron Rodgers seems to have been one of the many athletes who have benefited from twitter's popularity. Since joining twitter, Rodgers has become the face of the Green Bay Packers franchise, surpassed Brett Farve, and won a superbowl.

He's been able to improve an already decent image by interacting with his fans first hand.

By: Samantha Shields

http://www.mkrob.com/social-network-twitter-ushers-in-new-era-for-athletes/

The most famous golfer on the internet is....

STEWART CINK....hmmm I am sure many of you reading this might not even know who Stewart Cink is or don't believe me when I tell you he is more relevant in the twitter world than Tiger Woods. I mean when I say golf, you say Tiger Woods...right? The numbers don't lie folks. With over 1.2 million followers on twitter, Mr. Cink destroys Tiger Woods by nearly 700,000 followers. Stewart Cink is not only the most popular golfer on Twitter, he is one of the most popular athletes overall. Stewart constantly updates his twitter with pictures from his travels on the PGA tour and random updates and contests for his fans. He stays connected to the world and Twitter has taken a liking to him. People who enjoy following him online are now following him on the course and the game of golf is benefiting from his new found fame. When you take a look at Stewart Cink, he doesn't seem like a person who would out duel Tiger, but this family man with his strong values is the man to beat when it comes to Twitter followers. Stewart Cink even thanked his fans via Twitter within 30 minutes of winning the British Open. He says he's never felt this kind of support before and it's given him new found confidence in himself and has led him to a better life on and off the course.

Looks like you have some work to do Tiger...

Steven Graham

Stewart Cink's Twitter: http://api.twitter.com/stewartcink

Jared Sullinger to Ohio state fans: "Don't ever spit on the opponents."

Much ado has been made over athletes causing controversy over Twitter and other forms of social media. Often, this controversy is negative in nature, as a player calls out another player, a team, even the fanbase. In this instance, Jared Sullinger's tweet was more positive, albeit with a negative tint to it.

Jared Sullinger, Ohio State basketball player, was reportedly spit on following Ohio State's upset loss at Wisconsin. On Twitter, Sullinger posted: "Buckeye Nation if you ever decide to rush the court. Don't ever spit on the opponents. Just a lil tip from me to you." He later added another Tweet: "To be spit on is just nasty. On top of that in my Face. Before and after the game. Smh [shake my head]. I just kept walking."

The prevailing message was to the OSU fanbase to stay polite, but it also spoke negatively on the Wisconsin fanbase. It became a major topic of discussion at Monday's Big Ten coaches teleconference. Said Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, "There's absolutely nothing that has come to my attention,"

by Brent Galietti

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6122347

Twitter Helps Shaq stay relevant

The article mentions how Twitter has changed the face of sports, I find this to be extremely true with Shaq. The big Shamrock as he is now called, is the #1 followed athlete in all sports with over 3.5 million followers on Twitter. The point I find interesting is the fact that Shaq has not been relevant in the sense of producing big numbers on the court for several seasons. The last time Shaq averaged 20 points a game was with the Miami Heat in 2005. He has also been traded or signed with three different teams in the last three seasons. Where as of today, he is averaging a mediocre 9.3pts and only 4.90 rebounds per game. I think if it was not for social media Shaq would of just faded into retirement, but since he has utilized this media in many different creative ways, he still remains relevant in our society.

Enrique Devine

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/06/05/twitter.sports/1.html

Agent: Sidney Crosby being overanalyzed

Mike Brophy of Sportsnet in Canada isn't helping the speculation of Sydney Crosby's status on when he is due back to play. He tweeted last week ,"Told Crosby tried light workout and immediately saw black dots and stars. Not even close to starting light workouts again". This has many fans worried and upset and has all the haters coming out of the wood work to bash the future hall of famer on his toughness. Sydney's agent responded by saying that these allegations are just people over analyzing the situation. While there is still no set date for his return the Penguins are hopeful it will be soon and once the young star is symptom free he will be able to begin light workouts leading up to his return to the ice.


Richie Marsico


http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/4466/agent-sidney-crosby-being-over-analyzed

March Madness




The upcoming 'March Madness' is creating more than madness in the advertising world recently. Brands have been competing for sponsorship placements like it was this years Superbowl. Buick has signed on as the presenting sponsor of a new March Madness post game show to air on truTV and TBS. CBS Sports and Turner Sports will also team up with official NCAA corporate partner, Infiniti, for the coverage of March Madness. Infiniti will have cobranded sponsorships of segments called "Inspired performance" and "Coaches Spotlight". AT&T will be the presenting sponsor of the half time show like they have done in recent years.



- Ally Rynca

Maurice Jones-Drew: Jay Cutler gets it

Maurice Jones-Drew won't apologize for his critical tweet of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, but the Jacksonville Jaguars running back wants to move on from the controversy he and several other players created during the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 23. "If I did something wrong I would apologize," Jones-Drew said Wednesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "I didn't mean any hard feelings by it. I think [Cutler] understands that as well. I really think that the media took it out of control and got offended by it because players said it before certain media said it." An injured Cutler left the Bears' 21-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers after he played one series in the second half. The Bears announced the next day that Cutler had sprained his MCL, but Jones-Drew and several other NFL players were critical and questioned his toughness before the extent of the injury was known.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6083011

Steven Gabur

Chad Strikes Back in Twitter War: Ochocinco News Network

Chad Ochocinco has gotten himself in trouble with the NFL many times through his twitter use. However, with the launch of his own network (along with Chris Cooley, Ray Rice, and Darnell Dockett) he might get himself in the biggest trouble yet. The Ochcocinco News Network will threaten major news network, because OCNN has something the others network do not. They have people currently playing on the field also reporting, and giving their opinions from their point of view, as well as, asking questions as a player not just a reporter. Their network will have a different spin than the other networks.

I can see OCNN doing well, obviously not like ESPN, but I see it doing well because of the name Chad has made for himself. He is known for being crazy, over a million people follow him on twitter because they want to know what he thinks about certain things and because he brings and element of entertainment. I think OCNN will definitely be entertaining. Because of Chad's success on twitter Motorola has already committed to sponsoring the website. Had Chad not been on twitter, I do not think any of this would have transpired.

~Katelyn Dawes

http://football-preview.com/117-chad-strikes-back-in-twitter-war-ochocinco-news-network/

Chad flashes his Motorola Xoom

Chad Ochocinco and his News Network are back and doing their thing with Motorola for Super Bowl XLV only this time with a XOOM in hand. Some of you may remember his first attempt to cover last year’s big game alongside a couple of other players as “media” members? Yeah it wasn’t much to follow, but knowing he has a Motorola XOOM with him, we’re expecting to see plenty of it especially with a big Super Bowl ad in the works for Moto. He has asked Darrelle Revis and Gerald McCoy to help him out, so you’ll want to follow them for the next few days on Twitter if you want to spot random XOOM notes.

This interesting to me because Chad Johnson is actually using his twitter not just to annoy people but actually promote a product. He was apparently using it at the super bowl and will continue to advertise for the new phone.

Craig Wilson

How young is too young?

It seems like these days children are taking life's lessons to the next extreme. How young is too young? Photographers and spectators are amazed when they arrive at what is referred to as "Jaws" seeing kids as young as eighth grade. Jaws, a place where grown men are known to prove their manhood. "I've seen some really solid barrel rides already. Where some of the established guys duck and weave around those, these guys are pulling in, “ said Pete Cabrinha, who surfed a 70-foot tower of green water at Jaws into the Guinness Record Book in 2004, about the performances of some of the older teens last season.

The youngsters took the off-season to prepare them for the season Mother Nature brought for the new season. Many natives laugh at the fact parents allow their children to attempt the dangerous wave. "That wave can definitely end a life real fast," says Billy Kemper, 20, a local who last season launched a professional surfing career. The article goes on to tell stories about historical events that occurred at Jaws. On his first wave Lewis fell and was pummeled, too. Surfers stood, lifeless, as they watched his body plunge toward the monster. This isn’t the only time they would experience an event leaving them feeling this way. Should they take the chance and work their way out or play it safe and call off the 50ft. challenge?

http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/news/story?page=next-generation-riding-jaws

Student: Allyson Spence

Athletes using Twitter to aid victims of earthquake in Haiti

At 4:53 p.m. Wednesday, the more than 16,000 Facebook and Twitter fans of Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon got a short message from him on their pages, thanking them in advance for donating to the Haitian relief effort, and providing a link.

"I'm giving out autographed items to fans who donate money to help my foundation help with the Haiti relief," the message said. Within 20 minutes, Garcon had raised $600 – greater than the average annual income of Haiti – and by early Thursday afternoon, the donations have already hit the $10,000 mark.

This was a great read for me because it showed an example of how Professional Athletes are using Twitter to help other people. All we've seen lately are negative articles in which players are getting fined for the inappropriate use of the website. Pierre Garcon amongst other athletes raised thousands of dollars by posting the link to a site that allowed you to donate to the individuals in Haiti who are less fortunate than us.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/2010/01/14/2010-01-14_athletes_using_twitter_facebook_to_aid_victims.html

Daniel Ciancioso

Jardine and Point Shaving

Scoop Jardine, the guard for Syracuse's mens basketball team, fueled an untrue rumor that had hit twitter just by responding to the post. The post was from a news reporter who had found that Syracuse was potentially involved in a point shaving scandal on a gambling site. Even though it was a just a harmless rumor, the fact that Jardine commented on the issue made the team look suspicious. This is not Jardine's first offense, he was involved in a twitter controversy in December when he made a reference to a case that was tried against him and other players last year. In the end the reporter lost his job within 48 hours of the post for misinformation and the coach is considering banning the use of twitter for the remainder of the season.

http://rocnow.com/article/sports/2011102100321

-Jessica West