From ESPN.com
Analysis by Michael Creighton in SRM 334 (section 1)
The Grambling State football team did not play in their game scheduled for Saturday October 19 against Jackson State. According to an article on espn.go.com, the players were protesting poor facility conditions, management, and the administration. During the week leading up to the game the players boycotted practice and walked out of meetings. The administration fired the head coach, Doug Williams, in September and replaced him with an interim head coach that the players did not approve of even though they had submitted a list of other possible coaches they would have been much happier with. Facility conditions and management of the team have been deteriorating since the beginning of the season and the players had finally had enough of it and refused to get on the buses to travel to Saturday’s game. If the players had not refused to play in their game on Saturday I don’t think the media would have gotten involved.
Grambling State is a small school and does not receive much media attention as it is. Refusing to play in their game Saturday was the breaking point and now multiple media outlets are covering the story. It appears that the players were attempting to deal with the matter internally because there was no formal outcry or attempt to gain media attention. The original perception of the players boycotting the program was taken as a bunch of stuck up college athletes looking to corner the administration into getting what they wanted. As the media began to pick up on the story however, what they unveiled was a more serious matter that involved player safety and unsafe training conditions.
The letter that the players wrote to the administration detailing their concern and frustration with the program has been leaked through media outlets and provides the public with a much bettering understanding on why the players chose to forfeit their game. Additionally the media has given the public the opportunity to actually see the conditions that the players are complaining about by uploading pictures to the Internet. The situation at Grambling State highlights the power of the college athlete and their ability to gain media attention so quickly. On Saturday, the twitter account for the school’s newspaper, The Gramblinite, had hour-by-hour updates of whether or not the players were going to get on the buses to travel. Last week The Gramblinite also tweeted every time the players skipped a meeting or practice in protest. In today’s world, a tweet about a local situation or controversy can spread so quickly that the national media does not even have to try to locate a story; it simply falls into their lap. When I first saw the tweets about Grambling State, the most popular ones that appeared on my news feed stated that the football team would not be traveling to their game. To understand why they were not traveling I had to do some investigating. I think the media’s take had an interesting spin to it because the bigger concern is the player safety, not the fact that they forfeited their game. Luckily for the Grambling State football team their situation is being brought into the national spotlight. However, it is a shame they had to go through such drastic measures to get there.
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Analysis by James Naylor in SRM 334 (section 1)
On Tuesday October 15th, the Grambling State football team held a meeting with administration. A team decision was made by the players to not attend practice the following day. Administration realized that it was time to make a change so they fired interim head coach Greg Ragsdale. The players decided to not play in Saturday’s game at Jackson State. Buses were in the parking lot waiting for players to board at 2:30 but no one showed. The buses waited over an hour for the student athletes, but they made their message to administration clear that they were not coming.
What is getting so much media attention however, is the letter the players collectively made regarding all the problems they want changed within the program. They noted complaints of mold and mildew in the locker room, grass growing excessively too high on the field, jersey’s that aren’t properly washed and are giving the players staff infections and a number of other things. What is most important here is all the coverage Grambling State is receiving over this. ESPN, Bleacher Report, and various social media have brought the public’s attention to this issue. If this story had not been brought to the public, these players could have been stuck accepting these poor conditions or potentially lose their scholarships. The media has made this a major news story and now Grambling State is responding to these players’ concerns by renovating the weight room and looking at the other problems like the jerseys being properly cleaned. What is very surprising about the media coverage of Grambling State is that this team is a very poor FCS college team. This national media attention is mostly due to the fact that the team simply forfeited. USA Today tweeted about the whole situation on Saturday stating, “The most interesting story in college football is the team that won’t be playing Saturday”.
This story relates specifically to our class because it is the perfect example of the new model and how information is being spread across the nation. Various media such as print, electronic and social media are disseminating this information about Grambling State, many with the main goal of helping this team reach their goals. The fact that this team forfeited and the condition in the program are horrible is already newsworthy, but since the media is covering this story so in depth, administration at Grambling State will now have to respond to these players’ concerns and not just sweep it under the rug. This just shows the power and importance of media in sports.
Showing posts with label NCAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA. Show all posts
Monday, October 21, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
"Manziel Gets Own Camera"
From Sports Illustrated
Analysis by Patrick Gotimer in SRM 435 (section 1)
Johnny Manziel has been, is, and will continue to be the star of NCAA Football (at least until the NFL Draft).
Texas A&M is taking full advantage of the Heisman Trophy winner by using his face and name to increase the university’s visibility. In December 2012, the university already had a billboard in the infamous Times Square with a picture of Johnny along with the phrase “They call him Johnny Heisman.” (Rovell, 2012).
According to an August 22nd tweet by Reporter Darren Rovell, the fundraising department of Texas A&M Athletics raised $20,000 by auctioning off the right to sit with Manziel at dinner (Rovell, 2013).
The latest episode of “Johnny Mania” took place September 14th against the top-ranked Crimson Tide. The game that took place at Texas A&M’s home facility, Kyle Field, was a rematch of the 2012 game in which the Aggies upset Nick Saban’s powerhouse program.
While the game received and deserved national attention, it did not appear to be a rematch of Alabama and Texas A&M, rather the Crimson Tide versus Johnny Manziel and CBS is probably to blame for that.
CBS set aside a camera that would be strictly focused on Johnny Manziel. The goal of having Manziel always front and center was to catch any and everything Manziel did. Manziel has become so popular that CBS was obligated to set aside a camera for Manziel specifically. Mr. Football is not helping the situation either (Deitsch, 2013).
But all of the marketing attention of Johnny for Texas A&M and the NCAA is not positive. This is because the marketing attention he receives shows a good, well-behaved Manziel and the media attention shows anything but a well-behaved Manziel.
It may not seem fair but Manziel is under the microscope. Media is constantly following him so everything Manziel does is scrutinized.
In June of 2012, Johnny was arrested for disorderly conduct and possession of a fake ID. While this was pre-Heisman Trophy, it never would have surfaced had Manziel not become so popular.
A year later, Manziel made headlines for his off-field antics again after he used Twitter to post “Shit like tonight is a reason why I can’t wait to leave college station…whenever it may be.” He was responding to a parking ticket he received at Texas A&M but understandably, A&M doesn’t want their famous quarterback to be talking about leaving A&M as soon as possible (Newsday, 2013).
In January, Manziel was photographed with a bottle of alcohol. Under-age drinking happens consistently across the country and this actually was not the case; under-age persons can drink with consent of their parents if their parents are present and Mr. and Mrs. Manziel were at the club. Regardless, Johnny received a considerable amount of criticism for the photo.
Manziel was even ignorant enough to attend a University of Texas fraternity party. The University of Texas happens to be one of Texas A&M’s rivals and Manziel was easily recognized and escorted from the fraternity house while students threw beer at him (Newsday, 2013).
Lastly, and probably most notable was Manziel’s antics that showed during the Texas A&M opener. Manziel was suspended for the first half of the game versus Rice University for allegedly selling memorabilia he signed for a profit of $10,000 (Rovell, 2013). Once Manziel entered the game in the second half, he was quickly side lined for taunting a Rice defenseman after having already signaled at another Rice athlete that he would not sign an autograph for him.
Because of Manziel’s behavior, Peter King from Sports Illustrated issued this comment:
But Manziel, to many teams right now, would be undraftable because they’re scared of his mood swings and off-field questions. But it only takes one team out of 32 to fall for him. And some team will, unless he self-destructs between today and draft day (Daniels, 2013).While Johnny has the right to do what he wants, his actions will continue to be scrutinized if he is not careful which will hurt the reputation of Texas A&M, the NCAA, and himself.
Analysis by Jacob Harris in SRM 435 (section 1)
The game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas A&M Aggies will be one of the most watched college football events of the year. CBS, who has ties with the SEC will be making its first television appearance of the 2013 football season with this huge game. CBS will be adding an extra camera to solely focus on Johnny Manziel, which they will call the Johnny Cam. No matter what is going in this game, whether Johnny is playing or is drinking Gatorade on the bench, this camera will solely focus on him, and him only. Craig Silver, coordinating producer of college football for CBS Sports, said that this camera will not be a distraction to the purpose of the game. Silver claims that this camera has nothing to do with any of the off the field media attention that Johnny received over the past offseason. He promised that it wouldn’t turn into the Manziel show, but viewers will get their fair share of the former Heisman Trophy winner (Deitsch, 2013).
From a sports marketing view, I think that CBS has gone overboard and ruined the integrity of this game just to gain more hype and attract more viewers. CBS turned the Alabama vs. Texas A&M game into the Alabama vs. Johnny Manziel game. That’s not only disrespectful to the rest of Johnny’s teammates, but it’s disrespectful to the rest of the college football world. CBS wants to promote Johnny Manziel and have a camera follow him for all the wrong reasons. He has been the most talked about college football player this offseason not because he was the former Heisman Trophy winner, but because of all the trouble he was getting into and the suspected “illegal” activity he was caught doing. Instead of focusing on what is important about college football such as the environment, the passion and loyalty of the fans, and the drive of the players to represent their school, CBS has decided to turn this in to the E channel and have their main focus on a drama filled Johnny Manziel. Not to mention that previously in the season Johnny received a lot of criticism for his unsportsmanlike gestures he made to the other team.
I believe that Sports networks are trying to turn these Educational Institutions into business organizations just to make an extra dollar. Their success rate in turning their marketing and promotions attempts into added viewers and popularity is quite impressive, but it’s gone about the wrong way. If this was the NFL, I would have no problem with it because all of the players are paid to receive this attention. College players are not allowed to receive a dime. Nothing can be sold by any university or business that has a college players name on it, so companies like CBS should not be allowed to market a single player just for the benefit of themselves. Not only did CBS market an unpaid athlete to gain attention, but they promoted the athlete who accumulated more criticism for his behavior this past offseason than any other athlete in sports beside Aaron Hernandez.
To sum up this article and how it applies to our class, I think this is a good example of what’s wrong with college sports these days. The extremes that Networks and Universities go to so that they can make an extra dollar is ridiculous. It has been completely forgotten that these people are student-athletes, not professionals, and that how they need to be marketed. We have learned that integrity is one of the most important qualities is this business and as a consumer myself, I’ve lost a great deal of respect for CBS and Texas A&M. I already didn’t have any for Johnny Manziel.
Analysis by Patrick Gotimer in SRM 435 (section 1)
Johnny Manziel has been, is, and will continue to be the star of NCAA Football (at least until the NFL Draft).
Texas A&M is taking full advantage of the Heisman Trophy winner by using his face and name to increase the university’s visibility. In December 2012, the university already had a billboard in the infamous Times Square with a picture of Johnny along with the phrase “They call him Johnny Heisman.” (Rovell, 2012).
According to an August 22nd tweet by Reporter Darren Rovell, the fundraising department of Texas A&M Athletics raised $20,000 by auctioning off the right to sit with Manziel at dinner (Rovell, 2013).
The latest episode of “Johnny Mania” took place September 14th against the top-ranked Crimson Tide. The game that took place at Texas A&M’s home facility, Kyle Field, was a rematch of the 2012 game in which the Aggies upset Nick Saban’s powerhouse program.
While the game received and deserved national attention, it did not appear to be a rematch of Alabama and Texas A&M, rather the Crimson Tide versus Johnny Manziel and CBS is probably to blame for that.
CBS set aside a camera that would be strictly focused on Johnny Manziel. The goal of having Manziel always front and center was to catch any and everything Manziel did. Manziel has become so popular that CBS was obligated to set aside a camera for Manziel specifically. Mr. Football is not helping the situation either (Deitsch, 2013).
But all of the marketing attention of Johnny for Texas A&M and the NCAA is not positive. This is because the marketing attention he receives shows a good, well-behaved Manziel and the media attention shows anything but a well-behaved Manziel.
It may not seem fair but Manziel is under the microscope. Media is constantly following him so everything Manziel does is scrutinized.
In June of 2012, Johnny was arrested for disorderly conduct and possession of a fake ID. While this was pre-Heisman Trophy, it never would have surfaced had Manziel not become so popular.
A year later, Manziel made headlines for his off-field antics again after he used Twitter to post “Shit like tonight is a reason why I can’t wait to leave college station…whenever it may be.” He was responding to a parking ticket he received at Texas A&M but understandably, A&M doesn’t want their famous quarterback to be talking about leaving A&M as soon as possible (Newsday, 2013).
In January, Manziel was photographed with a bottle of alcohol. Under-age drinking happens consistently across the country and this actually was not the case; under-age persons can drink with consent of their parents if their parents are present and Mr. and Mrs. Manziel were at the club. Regardless, Johnny received a considerable amount of criticism for the photo.
Manziel was even ignorant enough to attend a University of Texas fraternity party. The University of Texas happens to be one of Texas A&M’s rivals and Manziel was easily recognized and escorted from the fraternity house while students threw beer at him (Newsday, 2013).
Lastly, and probably most notable was Manziel’s antics that showed during the Texas A&M opener. Manziel was suspended for the first half of the game versus Rice University for allegedly selling memorabilia he signed for a profit of $10,000 (Rovell, 2013). Once Manziel entered the game in the second half, he was quickly side lined for taunting a Rice defenseman after having already signaled at another Rice athlete that he would not sign an autograph for him.
Because of Manziel’s behavior, Peter King from Sports Illustrated issued this comment:
But Manziel, to many teams right now, would be undraftable because they’re scared of his mood swings and off-field questions. But it only takes one team out of 32 to fall for him. And some team will, unless he self-destructs between today and draft day (Daniels, 2013).While Johnny has the right to do what he wants, his actions will continue to be scrutinized if he is not careful which will hurt the reputation of Texas A&M, the NCAA, and himself.
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The game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas A&M Aggies will be one of the most watched college football events of the year. CBS, who has ties with the SEC will be making its first television appearance of the 2013 football season with this huge game. CBS will be adding an extra camera to solely focus on Johnny Manziel, which they will call the Johnny Cam. No matter what is going in this game, whether Johnny is playing or is drinking Gatorade on the bench, this camera will solely focus on him, and him only. Craig Silver, coordinating producer of college football for CBS Sports, said that this camera will not be a distraction to the purpose of the game. Silver claims that this camera has nothing to do with any of the off the field media attention that Johnny received over the past offseason. He promised that it wouldn’t turn into the Manziel show, but viewers will get their fair share of the former Heisman Trophy winner (Deitsch, 2013).
From a sports marketing view, I think that CBS has gone overboard and ruined the integrity of this game just to gain more hype and attract more viewers. CBS turned the Alabama vs. Texas A&M game into the Alabama vs. Johnny Manziel game. That’s not only disrespectful to the rest of Johnny’s teammates, but it’s disrespectful to the rest of the college football world. CBS wants to promote Johnny Manziel and have a camera follow him for all the wrong reasons. He has been the most talked about college football player this offseason not because he was the former Heisman Trophy winner, but because of all the trouble he was getting into and the suspected “illegal” activity he was caught doing. Instead of focusing on what is important about college football such as the environment, the passion and loyalty of the fans, and the drive of the players to represent their school, CBS has decided to turn this in to the E channel and have their main focus on a drama filled Johnny Manziel. Not to mention that previously in the season Johnny received a lot of criticism for his unsportsmanlike gestures he made to the other team.
I believe that Sports networks are trying to turn these Educational Institutions into business organizations just to make an extra dollar. Their success rate in turning their marketing and promotions attempts into added viewers and popularity is quite impressive, but it’s gone about the wrong way. If this was the NFL, I would have no problem with it because all of the players are paid to receive this attention. College players are not allowed to receive a dime. Nothing can be sold by any university or business that has a college players name on it, so companies like CBS should not be allowed to market a single player just for the benefit of themselves. Not only did CBS market an unpaid athlete to gain attention, but they promoted the athlete who accumulated more criticism for his behavior this past offseason than any other athlete in sports beside Aaron Hernandez.
To sum up this article and how it applies to our class, I think this is a good example of what’s wrong with college sports these days. The extremes that Networks and Universities go to so that they can make an extra dollar is ridiculous. It has been completely forgotten that these people are student-athletes, not professionals, and that how they need to be marketed. We have learned that integrity is one of the most important qualities is this business and as a consumer myself, I’ve lost a great deal of respect for CBS and Texas A&M. I already didn’t have any for Johnny Manziel.
Monday, September 23, 2013
"South Carolina's Star Player Jadeveon Clowney Hasn't 'Lost His Swagger'"
From Bleacher Report
Analysis by Alex Mosley in SRM 334 (section 1)
Jadeveon Clowney is one of the most gifted, explosive and most talked about players in college football history. He makes freakishly great plays that seem impossible for a person of his stature, seem like routine plays. Not in recent years has a player, that plays the same position, created such a huge star power about themselves. The article talks about the media frenzy about the player known as the freak, Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney has unique abilities and skillset that separates him from other defensive lineman. His size, strength, quickness and agility are all qualities that give him an advantage and gave him the identity of being known as the “freak”. A major quality that he has is being able to use both his left and right hands when getting into a stance. Coaches truly admire this as I allows him to play on both sides of the line which does not allow offenses to key on where he is going to be. That is a quality most guys in college do not have, as they are only comfortable with using their right hand. Wrapping all of these qualities into one and combining that with great technique has allowed him to be recognize as one of the best football players in the country. Coming into the year he was seen as a Heisman Trophy candidate and potential number one overall draft pick. The hype that surrounds him was accelerated throughout the summer in anticipation for another breakout yea. After a win against rival North Carolina, he faced major criticism. Clowney had only three tackles and was condemned to being “out of shape” as he seemed to have taken plays off. It was later discover he had a stomach virus the day before, but the criticism still followed. The media still ran with it as it seemed now that he was more human as he did not make the plays fans and reporters were accustomed to. What the article focuses on is that he is human and that though he has yet made any highlight plays, he still is “the freak” for a reason because of his major impact on the field.
It is ironic as to how media can create such hysteria on one person, build them up give them insane hero like abilities then break them down and overanalyze that same person. Jadeveon Clowney has been viewed as a freak of nature in the media, the hype surrounding him is unreal as it is said that he could play in the NFL right now. For a college football player, that is one major statement . Though is a great player, the media depiction of him makes one believe that he is somewhat of a superman and will make every single play. That is not the case as it was evident in his first couple of games this year. He has made plays but offenses realize his dominance and scout around him. If you listen to media reports though, you would think that he has made no plays and that he was over hyped. In my opinion, the media overanalyzes him, on one hand when he makes plays he’s the most dominant player in college football and on the other hand when he doesn’t make the highlight play, he is seen as being no as dominant.
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Analysis by Dana Allaband in SRM 334 (section 1)
Jadeveon Clowney, a defensive end for the University of South Carolina, was recognized for his sack against Michigan’s player Vincent Smith. This was Clowney’s rise to fame, just one hit and he immediately spread throughout social media. Since then Clowney has been scrutinized for his performance in his games thus far for the 2013 season.
In the article “South Carolina’s Star Player Jadeveon Clowney Hasn’t Lot His Swagger,” Brian Leigh explains how much the media has been extremely critical over Clowney’s performance on the field. Leigh states that the public has created the image that Clowney is a “God.” That due to one impressive highlight play, he will now be expected to perform at that level every game and if he does not the world will hear about it. For instance in the article, it states that Clowney was ranked first in a poll for the Heisman award after his highlight play. Now after only three games into this season he is left off the list completely. Also Leigh states that, “there was a time when Clowney was the bar-none favorite to go No. 1 in next April's NFL draft,” and this now has become questionable. The medias’ involvement in Clowney’s life has essentially altered it. In this instance Leigh is explaining how the media has become overly involved in Clowney’s life and he is defending him to a degree. Leigh states that the this issue with “impossibly high standards; they’re impossible.” Meaning that the media should not portray him as this unbelievable player. They should just state facts and statistics and let the public form an opinion about Clowney’s ability to play instead of being influenced by the media. For instance after South Carolina’s game against UNC the media stated that he was tired throughout the game, that he had to be pulled off, and that he will not win a Heisman with that performance. When in reality, if the public watched the game they would see that he performed extremely well against UNC. For most of the game he was double teamed, UNC placed two players to block him. Even with this in front of him Jadeveon managed to force UNC to rush their plays for a majority of the game. This exemplifies how the media can tweak a story so that the public will become interested and want to talk about it. Overall Jadeveon Clowney, an exceptional player, has become a name in the media and his performance this year will be scrutinized by the media because of this. The question left to ask is how will he react?
"Special Report on Oklahoma State Football: Part 5 -- The Fallout"
From Sports Illustrated
Analysis by Lindsay Butler in SRM 334 (section 2)
The Oklahoma State scandal is something we have seen time and time again in the world of college level sports. Players receiving payments or benefits of some sort as an incentive to push them to do their best and win is not a dirty secret kept by few, but instead a major issue on the rise, specifically in football. Although, Sports Illustrated shocks its audience when in a five-section spread they expose not only cash rewards but also drug use, female hostesses used for sex, and the falsifying of grades. With numerous players coming forward with allegations and accusations made against boosters, professors, and coaches the media became the number one information source for curious readers.
Sports Illustrated broke the story in a way that would draw reader’s attention and keep them wanting more. Disguising an over talked on issue as something much more they released the story in sections with each headliner completely different from the last and never giving readers a conclusion telling them to wait for the next section. A cleaver marketing strategy that worked just how the SI team planned. Whether you believed the stories being released or thought it was a load of junk you would still read the story upon it being released to judge the information provided. After the fifth section finally hit the public, media sources of every kind began examining the content and looking to interview any party associated with the scandal.
ESPN reacted immediately with an article that questioned the credibility of those quoted in the SI release and pulled facts that disproved multiple claims made within it. With two of the largest sports outlets in the nation touching on the issue Oklahoma all of a sudden became a hot commodity and was receiving media coverage from every angle. If you hadn’t had the opportunity to read the full story on Sports Illustrated you could easily gain access to it through a link posted at the end of the article released in response to it by ESPN. In the modern world we live in today the internet is a powerful source and this scandal was not going to escape from it. Looking toward social outlets such as Twitter we see not only the accused players responding to the article but news sources tweeting quotes from interviews with those affected by its accusations. Potentially one of the most impacting articles in response to SI’s was from Kansas City Sports where they finally said what no one else had, “who cares”. Quotes from this particular article spread like wildfire through short clips posted on YouTube, and once again Twitter. As fans and spectators we crave the most up to date news on our favorite teams and wait for bad exposure for our least. It is the job of members of the media to exploit stories such as the scandal in Oklahoma State. The media touches the lives of nearly every citizen daily and it is their responsibility to find a way to make us stop and look at the stories they provide us with. The headlines chosen by Sports Illustrated were short and to the point so readers knew exactly what that portion of the article would be about before reading the first sentence. By breaking their story into sections SI also ensured that the interest level of readers would stay high until they had all the dirty details and could make a firm opinion of their own. Within the world of sports, communications is critical for the reason that it can either benefit you or you can become victim to its wrath but you can’t escape it. As a student with intentions of working in the field of sports I believe having the knowledge of dealing with media is extremely important for a successful career.
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Analysis by John Boitnott in SRM 334 (section 2)
The five parts series of Sports Illustrated’s investigation into Oklahoma State’s football program included over 60 interviews of former players who talked about their experience while at the school. The five series addressed the money, the academics, the drugs, the sex, and then the fallout faced by many players after they were no longer on the team.
This story was investigated and reported by Sports Illustrated, arguably the nation’s most popular sports magazine. Whether through television channels, websites, social media, or in this case print media, the sports stories we talk about and discuss with the people around us are all influenced by the media and help shape our views of the issue. While these days ESPN seems to always be the ones that come out with the breaking news of what is going on in the sports world, it was interesting that Sports Illustrated (SI) was the first one to reveal the story. Most everyone in our class seemed to think that print media will completely die off within 10-15 years and is becoming less relevant to how we find out information. But with SI being the first to find out and tell us the information on such a huge story it showed that print media may not be as far behind digital and social media as some think. Because of a media source breaking the story the NCAA will most likely conduct their own investigation in the matter soon, and if SI didn’t shed light on the matter it is very possible the NCAA would not have found out about all the infractions and violations.This article was relevant to the course because it focuses on things we have discussed during class, such as how the players were interviewed and also how media loses trust when coaches or administrators do not communicate with the media. Both coaches Miles and Gundy would not talk about the subject when SI asked to interview them about what they knew, which led to the tone of the article having a lack of trust in the coaches due to their non-compliance when asked about the possible infractions their players may have committed.
"More Fun for Fans"
Analysis by Alyssa Truesdale in SRM 435 (section 1)
The article, More Fun for Fans, by Mary Kate Murphy (Athletic Management, 2013), looks at the reasons why more and more college athletic programs across the country are adding alcohol to their concessions at sporting events. The three main reasons listed as to why schools are allowing the sale of alcohol now are: it boosts revenue, enhances game-day experience, and increases crowd control.
According to CBSSports.com, as of July 2012, of the 120 Division-I football programs, just 21 sell beer to all fans of legal age and out of those 21 schools, only 11 of them are on-campus, university-owned stadiums (DeRusha, 2012). One of the major schools listed in the article that we read is West Virginia University. In 2011, one year after being appointed Athletic Director, Oliver Luck began having beer sold in the stadium during football games. After this first year, WVU saw its number of police cases, calls made to police, and arrests during games drop significantly. The other positive for the university was increased profits. By combing alcohol sales and sponsorships the Mountaineers were able to profit over one million dollars after just two seasons.
A few other schools mentioned in the article that have added alcohol to their list of beverage choices at sporting events are Colorado Mesa University, University of Texas-Arlington, and University of Maine. Colorado Mesa started selling beer at their baseball games for similar reasons that WVU started selling beer; they wanted to control the amount of alcohol their fans were drinking in hopes that they would have less incidents. The University of Texas-Arlington had location on their mind when adding beer and wine to the menu at basketball and volleyball games. Because of their close proximity to professional sports stadiums in the area, the university felt the need to enhance fans’ game-experience in order to compete. Also, they wanted to make sure that they were appealing to alumni and adults in the community. “The Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers are in our backyard, so our spectators are used to the professional experience, and that's what we're trying to provide,” stated Athletic Director, Jim Baker (Murphy, 2013). The University of Maine also wanted to increase entertainment value by created a “Bavarian Beer Garden” for their home football games. “It's more about providing a convivial, positive social environment where mature adults are given access to something they enjoy,” says Robert Dana, Vice President of Student Affairs (Murphy, 2013).
Ohio State University was the only school represented in the article on the negative side of adding alcohol to concessions at sporting events. OSU Athletic Director, Gene Smith, wants to keep their school moving in the opposite direction. He does not feel that with the size of the university they will be able to control the crowds if alcohol is sold. He also feels that it would be very costly to add more security and programs to help with the increased number of intoxicated fans. The fans’ safety his most important value, which is why he accepted the fact that there would be a loss in revenue when cutting ties with all alcohol sponsors also.
From a marketer’s standpoint, I think that universities should absolutely sell alcohol at sporting events, especially football games. It is obvious that most students, alumni, and other adult fans attending the games are going to tailgate beforehand and consume alcohol. If they knew that there was going to be alcohol provided at the stadium, then they would be less likely to spend their money at other stores to purchase it and would spend their money at the stadium instead. Also stated in the article is the cost for alcoholic beverages, which can be at a higher price. A fan consuming alcohol is most likely going to purchase more than one drink in the time that they are at the game. Revenues will increase from game day purchases, and also from increased sponsorship by alcohol companies.
This is also a way to get the student population at games to increase. Many students at JMU for example have admitted that they would rather tailgate than actually attend the game. If students knew they could purchase alcohol at the game, they might be more inclined to go, and stay there longer which also means possibly spending more money. One other point is that colleges are competing with other professional sports and entertainment events. If they want to be at their level in entertaining the crowd, they need to provide alcohol. Like Athletic Director Jim Baker said, if fans are paying a lot of money to attend college games, they should be provided the best game-day experience.
This article directly ties in with the topic of promotion and sales, which have been discussed in class. Part of the promotional mix is the atmosphere at games. We asked the question, “How can you keep fans coming back?” The other question we can add to this topic after our discussion last week about the declining number of students in attendance at football games is, “How can you keep fans for the duration of the game?” I believe that selling alcohol is one solution to this problem. According to this article it will not only solve the issue of promoting collegiate-level sporting events, but will also increase ticket sales revenue, concessions sales revenue, and sponsorship revenue.
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Analysis by Jen Nelson in SRM 435 (section 1)
All across the United States, students, fans, and alumni are taking part in tailgating at their colleges and universities. Tailgating has become accepted as the “thing to do” before a sporting event. Not only at the college level, but at the professional level as well. Students and fans are looking to continue their drinking, but most schools and universities can’t meet their needs. Their alcohol consumption is put to a halt before they are allowed to enter the game. What many people don’t even realize, is the amount of school and universities that don’t allow alcohol sales at games. The big debate that has become quite controversial, is if alcohol should be allowed at sporting events. The article goes in-depth about several different athletic departments that believe selling alcohol is beneficial to their program which will help increase revenue for their school. On the other hand, there are many factors to consider, especially many legal aspects, which is why the majority of schools have opted not to sell alcohol.
This topic is extremely relevant the Sports Marketing Industry. Schools and Universities are essentially a business whose main goal is to provide entertainment for their fans. College and Universities are always looking for other ways to earn revenue, so why are some of them not allowing alcohol sales during games? Sporting events are all about the game-day experience, and getting everyone involved. Jim Baker, the AD at the University of Texas-Arlington states, “Another big reason to sell alcohol at athletic events is to appeal to alumni and adults in the community” (Page 2). He makes a valid point explaining that alumni and adults are an important demographic that attend a good amount of sporting events. From a promotion aspect, allowing alcohol sales would create sponsorship deals with alcohol companies, which would increase the schools revenue. On the other hand, if only 21 schools currently allow alcohol sales that is something to keep in mind. There has to be a main reason why Division 1 schools aren’t jumping on the band wagon. As a society, the drinking culture in colleges and universities will continue to increase, which will also cause more schools to need to provide more law enforcement. In the future, this is something Athletic Directors may need to change their schools polices, or keep them the way they are.
For JMU, if eventually they are going to move up conferences in the future, allowing alcohol sales, may be an option that the AD will need to take into consideration. A main problem JMU marketing faces now, is how can they get upperclassman to stay past half-time? This is a huge consideration that would potentially cause upper-classman to stay past half-time. Most upper-class man are tailgating anyways, but would like to have a drink during the game if available. Maybe JMU could establish some sort of system, like wearing wrist bands to signify you are over 21, or even a designated area of alcohol such as a Beer Garden like the University of Main has. Or like WVU, they have a no-pass out policy meaning you can’t leave the stadium at half-time to stock up on drinks and come back into the game. These are all ideas that AD’s can factor into making their decision. At the end of the day, the AD needs to do what is best for their institution. The Ohio State AD states, “It depends on the environment of a particular university. Athletic Directors who put adequate controls in place and ensure the safety of their fans should go ahead with the idea” (Page 3). So now the question is, will universities be turning off the taps, or kicking them into full gear?
Monday, September 16, 2013
"Special Report on Oklahoma State Football: The Overview"
From Sports Illustrated
Analysis by Graham Sharples in SRM 334 (section 1)
On Tuesday, September 10 2013, Sports Illustrated began the release of a five part series of their findings after a 10-month investigation on the Oklahoma State football program. Their special report examined violations that occurred within the OSU football program from 2000-2011. After receipt of information of possible corruption at the university, SI senior writers George Dohrmann and Thayer Evans sought to speak with more than a hundred individuals, which included 64 former Cowboys. All of these players spoke on the record and shed light on the extreme measures OSU took to build a winning program. The 5 part series that SI released detailed individually all the accounts of corruption through money, academics, drugs, and even sex.
Though the investigation covered a decade of NCAA violations committed by OSU, only recently were these transgressions revealed. The media, Sports Illustrated being the main source, played a huge role in highlighting the extreme measures taken by the program and also the damages that resulted from them. It all began from a leak of information given to these two reporters and consequently an investigation began in attempts to obtain more information. They used available resources by techniques of communication through interviews to individuals with ties to the university in order to gain insight about the corruption within the program. From that Sports Illustrated created a five series special report that detailed their findings and started their release on September 10 and titled the whole series “The Dirty Game.” The five parts were named: the Money, The Academics, The Drugs, The Sex and The Fallout. The violations that OSU committed aren’t uncommon in regards to big-time college sports programs especially in specifics to the acceptance of money or academic dishonesty, but one of the most troubling aspects of this case that the media wanted to emphasize was the collateral damages to humans that were also exploited by the university. Sports Illustrated looked to not only investigate these allegations against OSU but also the impact that it had on the players. They exposed how many of these players that were involved in this scandal were basically “cast aside.” Consistently from the interviews, the players exposed how their experience in university didn’t build them up for the future but their involvement with the corrupt football program left them with next to nothing. Some players were even kicked out, stripped away of their scholarships and returning to environments they believed to be done with.
Sports Illustrated took a very strategic approach to this case by releasing their results in an investigative series on all SI platforms. The fact that they decided to release it in individual parts makes the story much more appealing and intriguing. The main reason why this story is now such a big issue is due to the investigation that Sports Illustrated conducted. Since the release of the story there have been multiple press releases, news conferences and interviews investigating in depth of the allegations uncovered by SI.
The relevancy to this course rests in the techniques that Sports Illustrated used in order to present their story. Specifically, the amounts of time spent in creating this story as well as the amount of promotional work used to market the OSU scandal as well, not to mention the press release prior to the five segments were set to release. The story itself was set to release on multiple platforms, first on their website and then all together in a published magazine to increase their coverage. Sports Illustrated through the release of this story has profoundly affected both the university’s reputation as a football program as well as the players involved. They looked to not only exploit the deceit and disingenuousness of the school but also invited the audience and SI readers to feel empathy with the players who were deemed no longer useful to the program.
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Analysis by Austin Hersh in SRM 334 (section 1)
In this article Sports Illustrated investigators bring to light the foul play that occurred during Les Miles and Mike Gundy’s tenders as head coach of Oklahoma State University football. In the article you will find that there was everything from failed drug tests, sex provided to recruits, and money payments for good play.
The investigators found it odd for OSU to go from a, “big school stepping stone” to a major contender for a national championship in such a short period of time. Sports Illustrated interviewed 64 former Cowboys and received stories of players failing multiple drug tests with no repercussions. Many players would receive drugs for free and some on the team were dealing drugs as well. This lack of authority in these young men’s lives led many to drug abuse and some to end up in prison after leaving Clear Water. Payments for good play and sex provided to big name recruits seemed to be something of the norm in the OSU football community and as long as wins were rolling in, figures of authority seemed to turn a blind eye.
After life as head coach for OSU, Les Miles went on to create a powerhouse in Baton Rouge for LSU. With no consequences for his actions and how he ran his programs he now has more power and more tools at his fingertips to create champions on the field and rake in the cash for the university. What was interesting is that while all of this did occur, that SI decided to investigate years later. The investigation will do nothing but tarnish a once proud school and once proud program. Players with no association to the regime that caused so much pain now have to represent a legacy they did not sign up for.. Being a former college athlete and in speaking with former and current athletes at universities all around the country I still find it amusing to hear stories such as this one. Foul play occurs at programs all around the nation and it seems to be accepted that in order to succeed, “if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.” While I understand it is the nature of the media beast to find dirt any way possible, I feel that the majority of fans do not realize that this sort of thing has been happening for decades and will never go away. Coaches will always give players/ recruits whatever it takes to keep food on their tables. OSU might be the latest on the long list of scandal ridden programs but the surface has only just been scratched.
Analysis by Graham Sharples in SRM 334 (section 1)
On Tuesday, September 10 2013, Sports Illustrated began the release of a five part series of their findings after a 10-month investigation on the Oklahoma State football program. Their special report examined violations that occurred within the OSU football program from 2000-2011. After receipt of information of possible corruption at the university, SI senior writers George Dohrmann and Thayer Evans sought to speak with more than a hundred individuals, which included 64 former Cowboys. All of these players spoke on the record and shed light on the extreme measures OSU took to build a winning program. The 5 part series that SI released detailed individually all the accounts of corruption through money, academics, drugs, and even sex.
Though the investigation covered a decade of NCAA violations committed by OSU, only recently were these transgressions revealed. The media, Sports Illustrated being the main source, played a huge role in highlighting the extreme measures taken by the program and also the damages that resulted from them. It all began from a leak of information given to these two reporters and consequently an investigation began in attempts to obtain more information. They used available resources by techniques of communication through interviews to individuals with ties to the university in order to gain insight about the corruption within the program. From that Sports Illustrated created a five series special report that detailed their findings and started their release on September 10 and titled the whole series “The Dirty Game.” The five parts were named: the Money, The Academics, The Drugs, The Sex and The Fallout. The violations that OSU committed aren’t uncommon in regards to big-time college sports programs especially in specifics to the acceptance of money or academic dishonesty, but one of the most troubling aspects of this case that the media wanted to emphasize was the collateral damages to humans that were also exploited by the university. Sports Illustrated looked to not only investigate these allegations against OSU but also the impact that it had on the players. They exposed how many of these players that were involved in this scandal were basically “cast aside.” Consistently from the interviews, the players exposed how their experience in university didn’t build them up for the future but their involvement with the corrupt football program left them with next to nothing. Some players were even kicked out, stripped away of their scholarships and returning to environments they believed to be done with.
Sports Illustrated took a very strategic approach to this case by releasing their results in an investigative series on all SI platforms. The fact that they decided to release it in individual parts makes the story much more appealing and intriguing. The main reason why this story is now such a big issue is due to the investigation that Sports Illustrated conducted. Since the release of the story there have been multiple press releases, news conferences and interviews investigating in depth of the allegations uncovered by SI.
The relevancy to this course rests in the techniques that Sports Illustrated used in order to present their story. Specifically, the amounts of time spent in creating this story as well as the amount of promotional work used to market the OSU scandal as well, not to mention the press release prior to the five segments were set to release. The story itself was set to release on multiple platforms, first on their website and then all together in a published magazine to increase their coverage. Sports Illustrated through the release of this story has profoundly affected both the university’s reputation as a football program as well as the players involved. They looked to not only exploit the deceit and disingenuousness of the school but also invited the audience and SI readers to feel empathy with the players who were deemed no longer useful to the program.
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Analysis by Austin Hersh in SRM 334 (section 1)
In this article Sports Illustrated investigators bring to light the foul play that occurred during Les Miles and Mike Gundy’s tenders as head coach of Oklahoma State University football. In the article you will find that there was everything from failed drug tests, sex provided to recruits, and money payments for good play.
The investigators found it odd for OSU to go from a, “big school stepping stone” to a major contender for a national championship in such a short period of time. Sports Illustrated interviewed 64 former Cowboys and received stories of players failing multiple drug tests with no repercussions. Many players would receive drugs for free and some on the team were dealing drugs as well. This lack of authority in these young men’s lives led many to drug abuse and some to end up in prison after leaving Clear Water. Payments for good play and sex provided to big name recruits seemed to be something of the norm in the OSU football community and as long as wins were rolling in, figures of authority seemed to turn a blind eye.
After life as head coach for OSU, Les Miles went on to create a powerhouse in Baton Rouge for LSU. With no consequences for his actions and how he ran his programs he now has more power and more tools at his fingertips to create champions on the field and rake in the cash for the university. What was interesting is that while all of this did occur, that SI decided to investigate years later. The investigation will do nothing but tarnish a once proud school and once proud program. Players with no association to the regime that caused so much pain now have to represent a legacy they did not sign up for.. Being a former college athlete and in speaking with former and current athletes at universities all around the country I still find it amusing to hear stories such as this one. Foul play occurs at programs all around the nation and it seems to be accepted that in order to succeed, “if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.” While I understand it is the nature of the media beast to find dirt any way possible, I feel that the majority of fans do not realize that this sort of thing has been happening for decades and will never go away. Coaches will always give players/ recruits whatever it takes to keep food on their tables. OSU might be the latest on the long list of scandal ridden programs but the surface has only just been scratched.
Friday, September 13, 2013
"Schools Strategize to Increase Student Football Attendance"
From Athletic Business
Analysis by Cameron McKinley in SRM 435 (section 1)
Football has been a long standing tradition of the college experience, however recent trends may suggest a falling off of the place gameday holds in the hearts of many students. This article by Paul Steinbach entitled “Schools Strategize to Increase Football Attendance” spoke towards the increasing difficulty with which college football marketers are trying to engage their respective student populations in order to increase involvement and attendance. Not only does the article go into depth about the course of action taken by many schools, but also details the reasoning behind the alarming trends schools are starting to see. This trend is not solely based on the smaller schools not traditionally known as powerhouses. The blue-bloods of college football, such as Alabama and Michigan, nor teams celebrating recent success they have long since been without, such as South Carolina and Georgia, are not exempt from having difficulty attracting fans and convincing them to stay for the entirety of the game. In all, there is a two percent decrease in student attendance while schools seek out solutions to reverse this trend.
In the article, the main two conferences detailed about their recent lack of student involvement for football games are the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big 10, perhaps the two biggest conferences in terms of fan base and money-making power. SEC school Alabama, which has won three out of the past four NCAA National Titles and is this generation’s closest thing to a college football dynasty, has seen the percentage of student tickets used hover at about 70 percent. At the University of Georgia, another SEC school, only approximately two thirds of its student tickets are being used on a per game basis. At South Carolina, a team that has enjoyed back-to-back 11 win seasons and an Eastern Division Championship, there is a new trend of a mass student exodus at halftime. For a conference that boasts about its football fan bases, these trends can be unsettling for schools across the nation as they seek out ways to combat them before they take their toll on the programs.
Schools across the country are employing a multitude of new ways to get students more involved in the gameday atmosphere. For example, Michigan State has added a two million dollar wi-fi system that will run throughout the stadium in an attempt to keep students connected while they are in the game. Maryland has upgraded their ticketing operations to allow students to access games via their smartphone rather than traditional ticket printouts. Both of these examples shows that teams no longer want to compete with the technology craze of this generation and are accepting it as a way to lure fans into the games.As covered in our class, higher attendance rates can lead to more money for the respective program. This is not just due to an increase in ticket revenue, as many student tickets are priced at a point where they will do little to increase overall income on gameday. However, many of these teams are ones that play on television week in and week out. These bigger names in college football are ones with which sponsors can easily get their names out on a national stage. But they are more willing to spend their money in sponsorship deals with teams that are able to fill their stadium and have their names be seen by the highest amount of people. Without being able to fill their stadiums and create an atmosphere that sponsors will want to be a part of, teams may see their revenues fall if they are not able to reverse these gameday trends.
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Analysis by Dejor Simmons in SRM 435 (section 1)
Student’s involvement in games is a big problem in collegiate sports. Most students are either leaving the game early or arriving late which is a problem in keeping the home team at an advantage when it comes to the twelve man. Even big schools like the University of Alabama who won three out of the last four national championships, has seen ticket sales hover between 68.4 and 71.8 making student apathy one of the biggest concerns facing the school’s football association. University of Georgia officials are heated with the turnout of the student section that usually sat 17,910 people only averaged 11,800. Now officials are opening more than 2,000 seats to recent graduates who will be willing to pay $40 per ticket compared to the $5 student price. South Carolina students almost made it a weekly tradition to leave games at halftime, pressuring Coach Steve Spurrier to publicly plead students to act like they're part of a winning program and stay to the end of the Gamecocks' home finale. Making USC officials wonder if it’s the heavy party scene in Colombia or the social media that make students leave maybe even the heat. So a solution to the weather they offered free bottled water on the hot games. There are many different things that collegiate officials are doing to make the students attendance increase and making and keeping them satisfied during and before games. Michigan is raising student prices by 23 percent and switching the policy for student seating to first come first serve in hopes of contesting a student no-show rate last season of 25 percent and a late-arrival rate of 50 percent. The University of Minnesota are dedicating parking lots close to the stadium for tailgating since studies shown that students want places to gather before the game. Also, a year after installing a new sound system and two new video boards in its stadium, Michigan State invested in a stadium wide Wi-Fi system to allow greater fan interaction. And lastly, Maryland has a new ticket system where students can get there tickets via email instead of the hard process of printing out tickets which allow greater ease of access.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
"Media Reaction to Johnny Manziel's Antics Atrociously Unfair"
From Fox Sports and Bleacher Report
Review Kyle Clarke in SRM 334 (section 2)
The buzz around Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has reached a high to the point where anything he says or does gets reported and from there, his remarks or actions are critiqued to the max. In these articles, Clay Travis and James Sullivan try to dive inside the minds of audience opinions on Johnny Manziel and point out unfair critiques of Johnny Manziel.
Since beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa last year and winning the Heisman trophy award, Johnny Manziel has been under the microscope of the media across the nation. Every thing he says or does, someone has an opinion on it. Most recently Johnny Manziel played in his first game of his redshirt sophomore season against Rice University. During the game Johnny Manziel did a lot of taunting, “money” gestures after scoring touchdowns, and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which caused his coach to pull him from the game. Clay Travis wrote on the reactions from the media. “ESPN reacted like Manziel was the Unabomber” (Travis, 2013). He also wrote how Tim Tebow received a taunting penalty however no one really reacted in a way they did towards Johnny Manziel. Clay Travis believed that how someone felt about Johnny Manziel could tell a lot about how that person. For an example, if someone were not in favor of the way Johnny Manziel played the position of quarterback, that person is most likely someone who is a rules follower. “You believe Johnny’s a showboat, and you are rooting for Nick Saban and Alabama, the ultimate rule-following-team, to teach Johnny a lesson” (Travis, 2013).
James Sullivan took the same position as Clay Travis but went into a little different direction. Presented a timeline of what transpired throughout the game. He displayed “The National Response” which was the opinions and thoughts of the media who reacted negatively towards the antics of Johnny Manziel. For the most part, James Sullivan thought Manziel is being crucified for acting like a confident 20-year-old who happens to be the reigning Heisman award winner. Everyone is going to have an opinion on Johnny Manziel. Some feel that he is very immature and that he does not handle his high status among college football well at all. Others feel that he is just your average college student athlete he just happens to receive more attention then others. Because of his success on the football field last season combined with his personality, everything Manziel says or does will draw millions of opinions and analysis. One has to wonder where did this spotlight come from. Was it his performance against Alabama last season that led to an upset of the number one team in the nation, was it being awarded the Heisman trophy season for dominating the opposition last year, or is it a combination of both. His status has elevated beyond Texas A&M and possibly college football in general. No matter how people may feel about him, Johnny Football is the face of college football. Whether he likes it or not, everyone will be watching his every move and it will draw headlines, even if it is him attending a party.
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Review by Patrick Boling in SRM 334 (section 2)
The article “Manziel opinions say a lot about us” (Travis, 2013) is an insightful analysis regarding the recent controversies surrounding 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel. Manziel has recently been involved in a number of incidents that have circulating the national media. These incidents include: Manziel partying with Drake, getting into a bar fight, unexpectedly leaving the Manning Passing Academy allegedly due to heavy drinking, partying at a rival school at Texas University, and then was accused of accepting $7,500 in exchange for signing autographs. Clay Travis quickly comes to the defense of Johnny Manziel with respect to the national exposure and criticism, particularly by ESPN. Yet, Travis does not directly address the controversial behavior by Manziel. Travis goes as far as saying Manziel is, “the most scrutinized athlete in college sports history.” It is my opinion that Clay Travis is correct in saying that, whether Manziel is deserving of the scrutiny or not. Travis was surprised that ESPN made such a big deal out of Manziel taunting the opposition Rice and celebrating by pretending to rub money in his hand after scoring a touchdown. But to me, the thorough coverage of Manziel is not surprising given the advanced evolution of social media and technology. In fact, Manziel was video recorded with someone’s personal cell phone signing dozens of autographs in a hotel, but there was no evidence of Manziel receiving payments for them and thus breaking NCAA rules. ESPN and the most of sports media rely on advertisements for revenue and it is athletes like “Johnny Football” that will make people tune into ESPN for constant coverage of Manziel’s every move on and off the field. Another polarizing attribute about Manziel is he is either loved or hated, but even those who dislike him will still watch Sportscenter story on him or read articles about him online.
The article then goes into depth about how one feels about Johnny Manziel can be a reflection of your personality and values. Travis uses examples of this both on and off the field. For example, if you do not like Johnny’s unorthodox style as a quarterback then you are probably someone that is traditional and a rules follower, but if you embrace Johnny Football’s unorthodox style then you are more likely to be a free spirit and, “prefer heroes to be rebels.” Another point Travis makes is that he sparked a social and cultural debate regarding his party lifestyle off the field. For example, is it wrong for him to be out partying and drinking even though he is underage? If not, what about the fact that every other college student drinks while they are underage and is it fair to hold him to a higher or different standard? No matter how you feel about Johnny Football, odds are you are at least intrigued by him and intrigued enough to keep using sports media to see what Johnny Football will do next.
Review Kyle Clarke in SRM 334 (section 2)
The buzz around Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has reached a high to the point where anything he says or does gets reported and from there, his remarks or actions are critiqued to the max. In these articles, Clay Travis and James Sullivan try to dive inside the minds of audience opinions on Johnny Manziel and point out unfair critiques of Johnny Manziel.
Since beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa last year and winning the Heisman trophy award, Johnny Manziel has been under the microscope of the media across the nation. Every thing he says or does, someone has an opinion on it. Most recently Johnny Manziel played in his first game of his redshirt sophomore season against Rice University. During the game Johnny Manziel did a lot of taunting, “money” gestures after scoring touchdowns, and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which caused his coach to pull him from the game. Clay Travis wrote on the reactions from the media. “ESPN reacted like Manziel was the Unabomber” (Travis, 2013). He also wrote how Tim Tebow received a taunting penalty however no one really reacted in a way they did towards Johnny Manziel. Clay Travis believed that how someone felt about Johnny Manziel could tell a lot about how that person. For an example, if someone were not in favor of the way Johnny Manziel played the position of quarterback, that person is most likely someone who is a rules follower. “You believe Johnny’s a showboat, and you are rooting for Nick Saban and Alabama, the ultimate rule-following-team, to teach Johnny a lesson” (Travis, 2013).
James Sullivan took the same position as Clay Travis but went into a little different direction. Presented a timeline of what transpired throughout the game. He displayed “The National Response” which was the opinions and thoughts of the media who reacted negatively towards the antics of Johnny Manziel. For the most part, James Sullivan thought Manziel is being crucified for acting like a confident 20-year-old who happens to be the reigning Heisman award winner. Everyone is going to have an opinion on Johnny Manziel. Some feel that he is very immature and that he does not handle his high status among college football well at all. Others feel that he is just your average college student athlete he just happens to receive more attention then others. Because of his success on the football field last season combined with his personality, everything Manziel says or does will draw millions of opinions and analysis. One has to wonder where did this spotlight come from. Was it his performance against Alabama last season that led to an upset of the number one team in the nation, was it being awarded the Heisman trophy season for dominating the opposition last year, or is it a combination of both. His status has elevated beyond Texas A&M and possibly college football in general. No matter how people may feel about him, Johnny Football is the face of college football. Whether he likes it or not, everyone will be watching his every move and it will draw headlines, even if it is him attending a party.
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Review by Patrick Boling in SRM 334 (section 2)
The article “Manziel opinions say a lot about us” (Travis, 2013) is an insightful analysis regarding the recent controversies surrounding 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel. Manziel has recently been involved in a number of incidents that have circulating the national media. These incidents include: Manziel partying with Drake, getting into a bar fight, unexpectedly leaving the Manning Passing Academy allegedly due to heavy drinking, partying at a rival school at Texas University, and then was accused of accepting $7,500 in exchange for signing autographs. Clay Travis quickly comes to the defense of Johnny Manziel with respect to the national exposure and criticism, particularly by ESPN. Yet, Travis does not directly address the controversial behavior by Manziel. Travis goes as far as saying Manziel is, “the most scrutinized athlete in college sports history.” It is my opinion that Clay Travis is correct in saying that, whether Manziel is deserving of the scrutiny or not. Travis was surprised that ESPN made such a big deal out of Manziel taunting the opposition Rice and celebrating by pretending to rub money in his hand after scoring a touchdown. But to me, the thorough coverage of Manziel is not surprising given the advanced evolution of social media and technology. In fact, Manziel was video recorded with someone’s personal cell phone signing dozens of autographs in a hotel, but there was no evidence of Manziel receiving payments for them and thus breaking NCAA rules. ESPN and the most of sports media rely on advertisements for revenue and it is athletes like “Johnny Football” that will make people tune into ESPN for constant coverage of Manziel’s every move on and off the field. Another polarizing attribute about Manziel is he is either loved or hated, but even those who dislike him will still watch Sportscenter story on him or read articles about him online.
The article then goes into depth about how one feels about Johnny Manziel can be a reflection of your personality and values. Travis uses examples of this both on and off the field. For example, if you do not like Johnny’s unorthodox style as a quarterback then you are probably someone that is traditional and a rules follower, but if you embrace Johnny Football’s unorthodox style then you are more likely to be a free spirit and, “prefer heroes to be rebels.” Another point Travis makes is that he sparked a social and cultural debate regarding his party lifestyle off the field. For example, is it wrong for him to be out partying and drinking even though he is underage? If not, what about the fact that every other college student drinks while they are underage and is it fair to hold him to a higher or different standard? No matter how you feel about Johnny Football, odds are you are at least intrigued by him and intrigued enough to keep using sports media to see what Johnny Football will do next.
Monday, September 9, 2013
"Johnny Manziel needs to mature"
From ESPN.com
Review by Tim Young in SRM 334 (section 1)
The main article I used for this project was “The Trouble with Johnny,” written by Wright Thompson for ESPN The Magazine. This article is an in-depth account of 12 hours in the life of Johnny Manziel. There is commentary from Johnny as well his family members. The thoughts and feelings of his father, Paul Manziel, are highlighted throughout the piece. The time Thompson spent with the Manziel family came four days after Johnny tweeted about how he can’t wait to leave college station. This tweet came out because Johnny had parked his car in the wrong direction outside the house and instead of the police just leaving a ticket they knocked on the door asking who was the owner the car. Something that is seen as borderline harassment by the Manziel family, especially since as Paul mentioned in the article, the police know where Johnny lives because they drop him off after every game. “The Trouble with Johnny” goes a long way to paint a picture of Johnny that the media hasn’t been portraying. Thompson shows Manziel as the average kid that he is, and shows how much his new found fame and success has changed things for everyone in his family. Family is a main theme of this article; it is very obvious that Johnny’s success has had a huge influence on his family. This article really adds a dimension to Johnny Manziel as a person; he doesn’t seem like the arrogant and rebellious wild child that most media outlets display him as. He seems more like a regular person who has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time in a couple of instances and is now trying to deal with a level of fame that most 20 year olds can’t fathom. This article is relevant to this class because it shows that there are always two sides to every story. Many of the major events that happened in Johnny Manziel’s summer are addressed in this article, and many of them are told differently coming from Manziel then other media outlets. It seems that sport media created a hero in Johnny Football and then after the Heisman Trophy was awarded they tried to turn that hero into a villain. Most news about Manziel these days is negative, showing him as someone who doesn’t respect authority. This article however shows a different, more relatable Manziel; one that is a normal person that rose to fame and now needs to deal with new pressures, especially that his mistakes and flaws will be broadcasted on national television if he slips-up.
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Review by Kevin Hoagland in SRM 334 (section 1)
Going back to August of 2012 Johnny Manziel was just a normal nineteen year old college kid trying to win the starting quarterback job for Texas A&M. In just over a year he has gone from a nobody to the Heisman Trophy winner, and is also one of the most criticized athletes in all sports. One of the main reasons he is so criticized is because of the growth of social media in the recent years. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram athletes have to watch what they say or do because fans have so much more access to content in todays world. For example, just two weekends ago during the opening game of the season after Manziel scored a touchdown he started trash talking to a player and was seen pretending to give the player autograph. When the media got a hold of the incident everyone was saying how cocky Manziel was, and how he needs to start showing more respect on the field. Immediately after the game the first headline on ESPN was “Manziel Taunting.” As a society we shouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly because after the game the player that Manziel taunted at went on Twitter and said the only thing Manziel said was “Nice hit nick.” So even though the goal of the media is getting the content out the public as soon as possible they aren’t always right. I believe what we see happening with Johnny Manziel is relevant to this course in many ways. In class we have been learning how media has grown over the years, and you can see it when it comes to Johnny Manziel. Back in day the media wasn’t out to scorn or attack athletes, the example was used when two news reporters saw Babe Ruth running through a train car naked. They didn’t report it because they it had nothing to do with Ruth’s performance on the field, and they weren’t out to ruin his reputation. Today's sports media is completely different because all media outlets are so concerned about getting the most viewers possible that they will report anything they can. In today's world Johnny Manziel just happens to be the scape goat of the media. He is only a twenty year old college kid making mistakes just like a lot of people did when they were that age. Even though a lot of people say he’s bringing it on himself I believe if the media didn’t blow up everything he does the criticism on Manziel would go down a lot. Plus, when it comes to a news story as a society we are more likely to tune in if the media is portraying an athlete as a villain rather than a hero. The more “juicy” the content is the more we are going to want to know about it.
Review by Tim Young in SRM 334 (section 1)
The main article I used for this project was “The Trouble with Johnny,” written by Wright Thompson for ESPN The Magazine. This article is an in-depth account of 12 hours in the life of Johnny Manziel. There is commentary from Johnny as well his family members. The thoughts and feelings of his father, Paul Manziel, are highlighted throughout the piece. The time Thompson spent with the Manziel family came four days after Johnny tweeted about how he can’t wait to leave college station. This tweet came out because Johnny had parked his car in the wrong direction outside the house and instead of the police just leaving a ticket they knocked on the door asking who was the owner the car. Something that is seen as borderline harassment by the Manziel family, especially since as Paul mentioned in the article, the police know where Johnny lives because they drop him off after every game. “The Trouble with Johnny” goes a long way to paint a picture of Johnny that the media hasn’t been portraying. Thompson shows Manziel as the average kid that he is, and shows how much his new found fame and success has changed things for everyone in his family. Family is a main theme of this article; it is very obvious that Johnny’s success has had a huge influence on his family. This article really adds a dimension to Johnny Manziel as a person; he doesn’t seem like the arrogant and rebellious wild child that most media outlets display him as. He seems more like a regular person who has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time in a couple of instances and is now trying to deal with a level of fame that most 20 year olds can’t fathom. This article is relevant to this class because it shows that there are always two sides to every story. Many of the major events that happened in Johnny Manziel’s summer are addressed in this article, and many of them are told differently coming from Manziel then other media outlets. It seems that sport media created a hero in Johnny Football and then after the Heisman Trophy was awarded they tried to turn that hero into a villain. Most news about Manziel these days is negative, showing him as someone who doesn’t respect authority. This article however shows a different, more relatable Manziel; one that is a normal person that rose to fame and now needs to deal with new pressures, especially that his mistakes and flaws will be broadcasted on national television if he slips-up.
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Review by Kevin Hoagland in SRM 334 (section 1)
Going back to August of 2012 Johnny Manziel was just a normal nineteen year old college kid trying to win the starting quarterback job for Texas A&M. In just over a year he has gone from a nobody to the Heisman Trophy winner, and is also one of the most criticized athletes in all sports. One of the main reasons he is so criticized is because of the growth of social media in the recent years. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram athletes have to watch what they say or do because fans have so much more access to content in todays world. For example, just two weekends ago during the opening game of the season after Manziel scored a touchdown he started trash talking to a player and was seen pretending to give the player autograph. When the media got a hold of the incident everyone was saying how cocky Manziel was, and how he needs to start showing more respect on the field. Immediately after the game the first headline on ESPN was “Manziel Taunting.” As a society we shouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly because after the game the player that Manziel taunted at went on Twitter and said the only thing Manziel said was “Nice hit nick.” So even though the goal of the media is getting the content out the public as soon as possible they aren’t always right. I believe what we see happening with Johnny Manziel is relevant to this course in many ways. In class we have been learning how media has grown over the years, and you can see it when it comes to Johnny Manziel. Back in day the media wasn’t out to scorn or attack athletes, the example was used when two news reporters saw Babe Ruth running through a train car naked. They didn’t report it because they it had nothing to do with Ruth’s performance on the field, and they weren’t out to ruin his reputation. Today's sports media is completely different because all media outlets are so concerned about getting the most viewers possible that they will report anything they can. In today's world Johnny Manziel just happens to be the scape goat of the media. He is only a twenty year old college kid making mistakes just like a lot of people did when they were that age. Even though a lot of people say he’s bringing it on himself I believe if the media didn’t blow up everything he does the criticism on Manziel would go down a lot. Plus, when it comes to a news story as a society we are more likely to tune in if the media is portraying an athlete as a villain rather than a hero. The more “juicy” the content is the more we are going to want to know about it.
Friday, April 12, 2013
"NCAA tournament 2013: James Madison’s Rayshawn Goins suspended for first half after arrest"
From the Washington Post
James Madison had its first taste of basketball success defeating Northeastern in the CAA Championship to secure a visit to the NCAA tournament. The basketball team got their 10 seconds of glory having a 30 second highlight reel of their win over Northeastern on ESPN. James Madison has never been known as a basketball powerhouse so they didn’t get much coverage on the championship win. Then came March 17th when star center Rayshawn Goins got arrested for obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct. The very next day James Madison had media coverage like they won an important game in the NCAA tournament. Before the incident the media coverage JMU got was small then the arrest happened and it blew up to a national story. James Madison had to act on the incident and decided to suspend star center Rayshawn Goins for the first half against LIU-Brooklyn. On March 19th The Washington Post wrote an article on the ordeal, which wasn’t the case after JMU won the CAA tournament. The media coverage brought James Madison into the limelight whether that’s good or bad that’s for you to decide.
This subject is relevant to this course because its shows what media is really after. The media wasn’t concerned with James Madison making the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994, they cared about the off the court arrest. In this situation I learned media is more concerned with the repercussions stemming from off the field actions more than they are concerned with the results of the game. A lot of the attention was on James Madison only suspending Goins for a half. James Madison was wrong for only suspending Rayshawn for a half. In my opinion James Madison should have suspended Rayshawn for the entire game. The media coverage we got from the suspension showed that it was a soft penalty. In my opinion since we haven’t made the tournament since 1994, James Madison was hesitant to suspend Rayshawn for the entire game. One thing to come out of this whole ordeal is James Madison getting a lot of media attention over this, whether that’s good or bad press we will have to wait and see.
Monday, April 8, 2013
"Final Four set as Louisville overcomes Ware injury to beat Duke 85-63"
From FoxNew.com
Six and a half minutes before half time, of one of the biggest games left in March Madness, the game took a break, literally. Louisville’s sophomore guard, Kevin Ware, jumped up to defend a 3-point-shot and snapped his leg clean in 2 places, it was unlike any injury I have ever seen. The reactions of the other players on the field, on the bench, and all the fans were the same, shocked and worried. Within minutes, the video image of the injury from the game was on youtube, twitter, and other social medias across the web.
Why was this such big news so fast? Understood, that an injury like this is unlike most we see, but why was this worthy of being instant headlines? In the end, Louisville won the game, and in post game interviews, Louisville head coach, Rick Pitino said, “We won this for him.” If Louisville had lost though, would the loss have been blamed on the injury? Chances are that media would have made that assumption and chances are that over the next few days media will say that the injury was the reason Louisville won. “The Cardinals simply refused to lose, breaking open a game that was tied at 42. They dove on the floor for loose balls. They pounded the boards ferociously. They contested every shot and swarmed around the Blue Devils like they had an extra player on the court. In a sense, they did. During every timeout, Pitino reminded the players of their hospitalized teammate” (Fox Sports).
Injuries like this are also huge, motivational stories because they always demonstrate team support. If an athlete gets hurt, you always hear about their teammates supporting their recovery and playing in honor of them, and readers and sports followers love up lifting, feel good stories. “Russ Smith collapsed onto the floor, along with several players, and was crying as doctors attended to Ware. While Ware was loaded onto a stretcher, the Cardinals gathered at midcourt until Pitino called them over, saying the injured player wanted to talk to them before he left. The sophomore, who played his high school ball in suburban Atlanta, urged his teammates to complete the trip to the Georgia Dome. Pitino wiped his eyes as Ware was wheeled out, as did several Louisville players.” (Fox Sports). Though injuries are tragedies for athletes, teams, and fans, they also bring out amazing teamwork and perseverance which makes for great uplifting stories.
Monday, April 1, 2013
"Significance and Ramifications of Conference Realignment in College Athletics"
From Sports Networker
Review by Eric Southard in KIN 332
One of the most talked about topics going on in collegiate athletics today is conference realignment. Conference realignment has been going on for over twenty years, but not until recently has it been such a controversial topic. The past five years or so, collegiate athletics has been filled with universities and colleges exiting and entering conferences. The idea of conference realignment has a big impact on the Sports Marketing Industry in many ways. In the article, “Significance and Ramifications of Conference Realignment in College Athletics”, Porsche Farr focused on three implications conference realignment has on the Sports Marketing Industry. Those three implications Farr mentioned were the loss of identity for conferences, the rivalries between schools and the financial impact involved.
The loss of conference identity affects sports marketing in that fans and players associate certain schools with certain conferences. One conference that is in shambles today is the Big East Conference. The Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament, held at Madison Square Garden, is one of the most exciting and recognizable events in all of sports. For years, this tournament has consisted of power basketball programs such as Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. However, as of 2014, the Big East will no longer have these three schools, as they will join the Atlantic Coast Conference. Marketing wise, this hurts the Big East Conference majorly because Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse consist of some of the conference’s biggest fan markets. The second implication conference realignment has on sports marketing is that it causes rivalries to be ruined, rivalries which date back as far as the 1800s. For instance, the “Backyard Brawl”, one of the most famous college football rivalries between Pittsburgh and West Virginia University, was ended in 2011 due to West Virginia leaving the Big East and joining the Big 12. Another example is “The Missouri-Kansas Border War” rivalry which dates back to the 1890s. This rivalry ended in 2012 when Missouri left the Big 12 for the South Eastern Conference. Rivalries are used as great marketing tools for the fans, as well as for the players. The rivalry game is usually the biggest game of the year, and as a marketer, you want your product to be known and seen by all the fans. Coaches use rivalries to market and recruit players to come to their university. With the loss of these traditional rivalries, marketers and coaches are going to have a harder time selling their product. Also, “Rivalry Week” in college basketball is a huge marketing week for ESPN. Without these long-established rivalries, “Rivalry Week” will not be the same, or even exist, and ESPN could possibly lose one of its biggest weeks for the network. Last, the financial impact caused by conference realignment has an impact on sports marketing in one major way, and that being television contracts. One important aspect to know in all of this conference realignment is that TV contracts rule everything, and for some conferences, such as the Big Ten and the SEC, conference realignment will provide a huge boost to their revenue. A perfect example of this is the Big Ten and their recent additions of the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. By adding these two universities, the Big Ten’s television network, Big Ten Network, will acquire more viewers from the Washington D.C./Baltimore and New York/New Jersey television markets. New television markets equals new revenue and not only will this help the conferences, it will also provide revenue for the individual universities as well.
Although there are a few negative implications to the Sports Marketing Industry, conference realignment provides one big, positive implication, and that being money. And in the end, isn’t that what college sports all comes down to?
"Alabama extends scholarship offer to 8th grade phenom Dylan Moses"
From AL.com
Review by Ethan Miller in SRM 334 (section 2)
When I was graduating 8th grade, the only thing I had on my mind was what summer camp I was going to attend or how to avoid getting shoved in lockers my first day of high school. I was not at a stage in my life where I could make one of the biggest decisions of my life and choose where I would attend college. That’s why I believe that there should be an age limit on when college recruitment can begin. Dylan Moses is currently an 8th grade student, who next Fall will be attending University Lab High School, which happens to be 2 miles away from LSU’s football stadium. Moses has received scholarship offers from both Alabama and LSU, two bitter rivals, but has not signed a letter of intent for either. For now, he has only given a verbal commitment, which allows him to change his mind if he chooses later on.
This whole system is wrong. It is wrong to recruit an 8th grader. It’s wrong to put a 14 year old under that kind of pressure. It’s wrong to expose a child to the media scrutiny that Dylan Moses is now going to face. Moses is being forced to choose between the two best schools in the SEC. He’s going to be playing for a high school that is within walking distance to the LSU football stadium. Do you really think there won’t be any backlash if he chooses to play for Alabama? Do you really think that people in the community aren’t going to try to persuade him to choose one school over the other? Through their recruitment of Moses, these college programs have forced Moses under a microscope from the media that could change his life forever. One thing that increased media attention could bring would be more exposure for Moses and possibly lead him to getting more offers from other schools. If he has the proper support system that is able to help advise him amongst his newfound fame, then he will be able to benefit from the media exposure. However, it seems to rarely happen that way. The majority of the stories that we hear about are how kids’ lives are ruined because of the increased media coverage. Often, the kids turn into celebrities within their communities and it ends up ruining them as a person. 14 year olds aren’t supposed to supposed to be making the decisions that Dylan Moses is now forced to make, and I believe that the NCAA needs to step in to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.
Within college recruitment right now, early recruitment is a growing problem. I think that the NCAA needs to be proactive in facing this problem rather than being reactive as they normally are. The recruitment process is beginning earlier and earlier, but we need to make sure that these athletes are still able to have a childhood instead of being forced into the spotlight. The focus needs to remain on the well being of the athlete, rather than the well being of the universities.
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Review by Jonathan Parker in SRM 334 (section 2)
Dylan Moses is a 6 foot 1 inch, 215 pound eighth grader from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dylan plays both running back and linebacker in football. He was invited to the University of Alabama’s Junior Day, which is a day where Alabama offers scholarships to rising seniors in high school who were personally invited. Dylan met the whole coaching staff and personally sat down with Nick Saban, the head coach. Coach Saban informed Dylan and his parents that he would like to offer Dylan a scholarship to play football at the University of Alabama. He told Dylan and his parents that he could be the best player in the class of 2017 and that Alabama wanted to reach out. LSU had already reached out to Dylan earlier by offering him a scholarship, after attending LSU’s football camp for the last couple of years. Dylan will be attending University Lab High School, which is an ear shot away from the LSU stadium and where a recent signee to Alabama attended. This situation could lead to the media following this rising star from now to where ever his career might take him.
Sports Media and Communications should find something like this as an extraordinary opportunity for a story. There are not a lot of eighth graders, or really anyone, that get offers from two of the best football schools in the nation. I feel the media could make it or break it for Dylan because the media could start highlighting him and putting his name out to the nation to follow. This could lead to more scholarship offers for football from other universities. The media could also over hype Dylan, which could put more pressure on Dylan to perform. This could also make him play off his game which could lead to offers being taken away for bad performances. It is possible that it could force so much pressure that it might lead to a career ending injury and ruin Dylan’s plans for his future in football. The media might also ruin Dylan’s parents by the added pressure of being nationally recognized. This in turn could cause the parents to put even more pressure on Dylan to perform better. The parents might cause Dylan to burn out of football by sending him to too many camps and having him completely focused on football instead of life as a 14 year old. The pressures from the media could also affect Dylan’s parents by not allowing their son to participate in any other sports or events that might lead to an injury damaging any chances for other scholarships. Sports Media and Communications in sports are so important because they bring us stories about scholarship offers for sports about young rising stars.
This article is relevant to SRM 334 because it deals with an unusual eighth grader getting scholarship offers from two of the best football school in the country and some of the media attention it has drawn. Since it deals with how the media handles a story, there are certain ways the media could affect a person’s life. One way is that the media could just highlight the player with his play, awards, and his sports career, which could lead to more college offers of scholarships. The other way is that the media could ruin a young rising star by all of the publicity they would implement on this star. Young Dylan would receive and feel the added pressures that come with the territory. So again, this article is relevant for this course because we are not sure how the media will take this young man and shape the rest of his football career. Dylan Moses, a 14 year old just trying to live a normal life, will no longer. This would be due to the media putting the spot light on him at such a young age.
Friday, March 22, 2013
"JMU star quotes LeBron James: ‘It’s about damn time’"
From the Washington Post
Review by Ryan Kilmon in SRM 334 (section 1)
This is a short article written by the Washington Post’s Ed Miller. After he covered the CAA championship game that the dukes won he received a lot of appreciation from readers. In his article he expresses his surprise at this reaction because he has never specifically been asked for more coverage of JMU. To please his readers again he wrote this article focusing on senior forward Rayshawn Goins and his interview after the dukes won the championship game.
I really thought this article was interesting because it showed the reaction of the author which articles don’t often do. I was a little surprised that so many people appreciated the expanded coverage of the JMU men’s basketball team. JMU is not really considered a big name school and hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1994. I guess a lot of people were as excited for JMU success as I was. No one who has gone to JMU in nearly the past two decades has been a part of this or seen this unfold. The success has garnered a lot of attention in the media even making it onto SportsCenters top plays.
The course relates to this topic and article in quite a few ways. Not only was the article related to our University and the success and happiness we were experiencing at the time, but it was a first-hand reaction from a very well respected writer of the Washington Post. It relates directly to media and media coverage that has been generated over the past week. Social media has also been blowing up with comments about JMU making it to the “Big Dance.” I have seen countless tweets and Facebook posts in the last week about this experience and it has made me consider how the situation must have been different 19 years ago. I am very proud that I will be able to look back years down the road as being a part of it and the JMU nation.
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Review by Joey Townsend in SRM 334 (section 1)
We decided to do our current event project on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament focusing our attention on JMU making the tournament. This is the first time since the 1994 season that the team has made it back to the tournament. James Madison last won a NCAA tournament game back in the 1983 season. Hopefully that drought will end Wednesday when they play LIU Brooklyn at the University of Dayton. Both teams are coming into the tournament as co-No. 16 seeds. The winner of the James Madison-LIU Brooklyn contest will face one of the college game’s most aristocratic programs, top-seeded Indiana, on Friday in Dayton. JMU was given little respect on Sunday when they were selected as a co-No. 16 seed. Some of the JMU players will be playing with a chip on their shoulder which could help them advance to the next round. However, many of the players are just happy to be recognized at such a competitive event. JMU has received tons of attention for making the NCAA tournament this year. If the dukes can win on Wednesday, the media coverage for the team and school will only keep going up. For the people who may be watching the tournament and don’t know about James Madison University, this could really be a chance to put JMU in consideration for many people who are choosing colleges to attend too. Also, many future college student athletes who are watching the tournament may consider attending and playing at James Madison after seeing their success this season and being able to make it to the tournament. This is not only a huge win for a men’s basketball team, but also a huge win for the University.
Monday, March 18, 2013
"James Madison wins CAA crown, ends NCAA tourney drought"
From FoxNews.com
Review by Shane McMahan in SRM 334 (section 2)
Last Monday, the James Madison Men’s Basketball team won the school’s first CAA Basketball championship since 1994. JMU beat their third team in as many days, jumping out to an impressive start, and coasting to a 70-57 win in front of a dominant JMU crowd at the Richmond Coliseum. Being a faithful supporter since I can remember, I believe that this historic event will help take not only our basketball team to another level, but take our school to another level.
Obviously, winning a championship will get you tons of media support and coverage. One thing that I have learned to be more aware of because of this class is how powerful Twitter really is. I don’t think that anybody really saw this much coverage for JMU coming. Nike Basketball tweeted about Harrisonburg being “now being on the map,” ESPN tweeted about it being our first time dancing since 1994, and Matt Brady took part in several interviews, including one by the well-known ESPN host, Jim Rome. Being that twitter is such a big part of today’s society, anything posted by a well-followed Nike or ESPN is huge for many reasons. One, it is just good publicity for the school and helps give JMU some coverage worldwide. Basketball related, this is huge for prospective recruits that are considering JMU. Like the quote, “If you build it, they will come,” it is not much different in basketball. If you win games, like VCU has recently shown, you will start getting high-level recruits. Just a few years ago we had two guys take official visits to JMU. One was Victor Oladipo, another was named Josh Selby. Oladipo now plays for Indiana and is a favorite for National Player of the Year, and Selby is a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. We were able to get these guys on campus for a visit. If we continue to win, it’s only a matter of time before we start getting some of these recruits to come to JMU. Overall, this is a huge step forward for James Madison University.
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Review by Tory Key in SRM 334 (section 2)
Our group did our presentation on the media’s impact on JMU basketball due to its recent success. The team did not start off the season as if they were going to win the CAA championship. The buzz about the team was not as high then as it is now. The media jumped on JMU when they won the CAA championship. It was the team’s first championship since 1994, so that became a headline right away. The championship was covered by NBC Sports, which is becoming a competitor with ESPN as far as sports coverage. NBC Sports usually covers teams from the CAA and others. Not only did NBC Sports give JMU basketball some exposure by putting the championship on national television, but media sources such as ESPN and NIKE talked about the team. Both tweeted about the team’s success and ESPN showed highlights of the game and the crowd storming the court after the victory. Having both of those situations happen are huge deals for the program. A lot of people follow NIKE on twitter and watch ESPN. Many people on the west coast who never knew James Madison existed probably do now. Also, Coach Matt Brady had significant interviews on the Jim Rome show and Tim Brando show. Once again many Americans listen and watch to these shows, JMU’s name reaches across the country. Most importantly, students have been showing their support for the team more now due to recent success. After all, the fan base starts with the students. JMU’s recent basketball success has gotten them a lot of exposure and it looks like the program has potential for more media attention in the future.
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Review by Donshae Joyce in SRM 334 (section 2)
After defeating Northeastern to capture the CAA Tournament crown, the JMU Men’s basketball team has brought about usual national exposure and an unfamiliar buzz amongst JMU Nation. The team’s recent success has been uncharted territory for all invested parties considering the program has not qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 1994. Since that time, JMU basketball has experienced minimal success that has resulted in low media attention and student support throughout the campus. Combined with the fact that other JMU athletic teams have experienced their fair share of success of the years, this run made by the men’s team has been long overdue.
After earning their place in the championship game, the excitement on campus from our students was blindsiding. Typically, the care for our men’s team is absent and the team is an afterthought. However, the amount of students that traveled to Richmond was shocking compared to the amount of that make the short trip to Convo every home game. Immediately after winning the CAA and clinching their spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament, there were highlights and analysis on ESPN that instantly put JMU on the national map. This is relevant to this course since the power of media outlets, such as ESPN and Twitter, has the basketball team, and the university as a whole, being discussed on a world-wide platform.
The opportunity the men’s team has playing in the NCAA Tournament has elevated the brand of JMU to levels previously not reached. The attention through the media and overall support for the team, the benefits has been and will be priceless.
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