The Big Seven

How Twitter has influenced the sporting industry.

It used to be the post game press conference, or the emotional meltdown in front of a group of media that got professional athletes in trouble with their team or league. Now, a simple tweet with less than 140 characters can result in fines, suspensions and in some cases get you traded to another team. Twitter has stormed the sporting industry with every major sporting news and sports team, both professional and collegiate, have what is called a Twitter handle. It is really quite simple, pick a username and put an @ symbol in front of it.

The good part about Twitter for these athletes is that they can reach and relay their information to their fans in a quite simple fashion from the phone or laptop. The problem, they can send a message that deters fans and angers followers.  However, sports psychologists have studied the way fans react and use twitter with their favorite sport teams and players. What they have found is that even though Twitter is not a personal connection between two people, the fan in most cases feels as though they had a personal relationship with those they follow. Is it imagined, well yes? Most of the time you are not going to be “mentioned” or “direct messaged” from your sports hero, but maybe they will retweet something you have said, and all of a sudden you feel like you are friends with them.

Overall, Twitter is helping the sporting industry in marketing, advertising and branding.  “Twitter satisfies fans’ thirst for a closer connection to big-time athletes, many of whom are overpackaged and overmanaged in their quest for marketing cash. There’s also the way Twitter, which has become the fastest-growing major Web site in the U.S., peels back the curtain on an athlete’s existence, showcasing personality layers never seen at press conference.”

All information and citing in this blog post were taken from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/06/05/twitter.sports/index.html?eref=sihpT1.

Facebook and Collegiate Sports

It used to be the post game press conferences and interviews with the media that kept Athletic Departments at most colleges in the U.S. worrying about what their athletes were going to say. Now, in just a few seconds an athlete can post something on Facebook or post a picture that can open a can of worms with more problems than anyone could have imagined.

In fact, many colleges have demanded that their athletes not use sites like Facebook, because of the risk involved. Fred Stutzman, a student from North Carolina, was involved in a study about this topic and said “"Athletic departments are probably more concerned about old media — what athletes say to the press after games," Stutzman says. "But I think there is the potential here for athletic departments to get blindsided."

Controlling and policing athletes has become an ever-growing task that has brought up many questions about First Ammendment rights of students. “Kermit L. Hall, president of the University at Albany (N.Y.) and an authority on campus free-speech issues, thinks schools are probably on safe ground restricting athletes, though probably not other students. (His school does not impose restrictions on Facebook.)”

Social media continues to change and likewise those who allow their institutions and athletes to use such sites will have to adapt and change in order to protect the athletes and the ogranizations.

All information and citing in this blog post were taken from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-03-08-athletes-websites_x.htm.

Umpiring & Lockouts: The Lost Cause

In the last five days there have been at least 14 ejections of coaches or players by the MLB umpires. What is the cause for this recent phenomenon? Obviously those who were ejected must have thought the calls were that terrible. Were they right? Yes and No. Some of the calls were so horrendous that former umpires were interviewed by ESPN, as was the case when an umpire allowed a batter to take first base for a walk after three balls. The real question to answer is how perfect should umpires be and when should replay be instituted to help get the calls right.

In baseball, as well as in most sports, athletes are not expected to provide error free performance at any given time. We should use this same reasoning when talking about umpires. However, that does not excuse horrible altering a game and causing one side or the other to lose. For that one reason, we need replay.

Now before all you hoopla's start getting all crazy and wigging out let me explain. Replay on fair or foul balls, trapped catches in the outfield or even close plays at critical moments of a game on a base need to be reviewed. That does not mean time needs to be called and the umpires get together to talk about it. We need an extra official in a press box room with instant replay with several angles and some sort of communication to relay information to the head official on the field/court. When the said official sees a call that needs to be overturned he can relay to the head umpire/official to call time. Quickly explain the call and get on with the game. This way we ensure a better way to get the most correct calls and give the players, coaches and even the fans the best experience possible, which should be the ultimate goal.

Will this happen? Probably not. ESPN and all the other sports shows will be able to continue to debate what could have, should have or what needs to be done until they are blue in the face. The sports industry has been overrun by money and greed, hence the current lockouts with the NBA and NFL. At some point, younger and more technological sports enthusiast and upper management (league commissioners) will have the opportunity to make changes like this. Until then Bud Selig, David Stern, Roger Goodell and Gary Bettman, among others will run the professional sports arena by walking on egg shells to not lose players or owners in all of these ridiculous disagreements.

Why the BCS will be destroyed.

In an era of money being the determining factor across the entire spectrum of life, the sports world is possibly taking the biggest return. With the amount of TV stations picking up sports programs, and the quality of competition, sports revenue is climbing to great heights. With the Bowl Championship Series for college football it is no different. The only problem is, only those who are currently within the "BCS" get the reward. Of course, there have been teams like Utah, Boise State, and TCU, who have crashed the party and received paychecks much higher than they are used to. Yet, each of those teams have gone undefeated, beat a "BCS" opponent, and all been snubbed in regards to playing for a national championship.

I agree that any of the three teams would not make it undefeated in the SEC, Big Ten, or Big 12 for a whole season. However, if they were in a conference like that and were able to get the recruiting advantages like those schools, they could be powerhouses and run the table at any given time. But no, they do not have the recruiting advantages, the large pockets, or the staff to be able to pull of such a feat.

Now lets take a step back and look at March Madness with college basketball. Why is it that people love to see underdogs or lesser teams make it to the final four or championship game? Because it is the classic David and Goliath scenario. Why is there not some sort of play-in game for the college football? At least put in a point system for the BCS bowls so that when TCU beats Wisconsin they can have a shot at Oregon or Auburn.

I think the biggest reason the BCS is still in tact is money. People do not want to lose or share money. They like the fact that money will come to their conference even if all of their teams suck (*cough Big East *cough). No disrespect to you UCONN, I am glad you made it for Jazz. That is commendable and puts your institution above many because of the integrity in which you have handled the last year and a half. However, a four loss team...

Nevertheless, I am getting to the point of why the BCS will be destroyed. With the latest snubbing of Michigan State no getting to a BCS bowl, Wisconsin losing to TCU, and ultimately and yes this is my guess that the national championship is going to be a major let down, the BCS members as of now will not be happy and they will also seek for change. I do not know if it will happen. I hope it does. I do not care to see a 16 team playoff that is dragging on a season, but I would like to see some sort of play in system to where an elite non automatic qualifying team can still make it to the title game.

NEW DIRECTION

This blog was built for school purposes, however, I feel that it is time to take it in another direction. My classes that require posts are officially over, and there are only a few things I have strong passions for in this life. Sports, Religion, and my Family. I think I am finally going to start using this more of a journal type record. Nevertheless, y'all know that I love to write and I love to talk sports. I am going to incorporate my thoughts on the issues and events of major sporting events and the minor ones that I am involved in. Please comment and treat this as a column type format, I would love to get feedback or new ideas for what I can write on. Happy 2011 to everyone. Let's hope this is a better year for my sports teams. (Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Braves, Utah State Aggies, Utah Jazz, Real Salt Lake)

2011

It is hard to imagine how fast time has gone. It seems just yesterday I was in Blacksmith Fork Canyon proposing to Brittney ... Now we have a handsome son who is everything I have ever hoped for. I look forward to the coming years of making memories with him and his future siblings.

Often times I find it hard to allow people to become close to me or my situation. I think it is more of a fear of me letting people down. I have great family. My parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. are the greatest ever. That is including my in-laws side and their extended families. I am truly blessed.

Photo Shop Pic 2

In this picture I decided to take out the baseball player that is standing.  I used the stamp tool in photo shop and matched the colors so that it goes together. I also changed the image levels so that the photo is darker than it orignally was.  I then changed the hue/saturation for the reds, which brought out the the dirt a lot more. As you can see there is a shoulder in the bottom left corner.  I used the stamp tool to take that out as well.  I then used a text box to put the player's name and the year.

Photo Shop Pic 1

Here is the before and after picture of our trip to St. George. I changed a few things.  I went in and changed the hue saturation for Yellows, and also for Reds.  That way you can see the red rocks and the true color of the cactus.  If you look in the rock bed I took the sprinkler out of the picture by using the stamp tool to recreate the rocks the cover it. For my last change I changed the levels so that it was a little darker and more profround.