From CBSSports.com Review by Matt Butta in SRM 334 (section 1) The current event that my group presented on was written by Will Brinson who wrote a response to a negatively written article about the Houston Texans. Dan Shaughnessy, a columnist for the Boston Globe wrote that the Texans were a terrible team and had no chance to beat the New England Patriots during Sunday’s divisional playoff game. Shaughnessy said that this was the first time the Patriots had two straight bye weeks because of how easy of a win the Texans game would be. Shaughnessy also had several insults about the Texans including calling them “fraudulent” as well as other things (Brinson, 2013). The article that we used talks about how Arian Foster, starting running back for the Texans, changed his avatar on Twitter to a picture of the article written by Shaughnessy and about how the article is not accurate. I agree with Brinson’s article completely. He talks about how the Texans are a good team with excellent players and how they have a chance to win the game on Sunday. He also talks about how they are not favored to win but should be taken seriously as a contender in this weekend’s game. This article is relevant to the course because it shows how professional athletes use social media to gain motivation for their games. It also shows how athletes use social media to display their response to criticism whether the criticism is positive or negative. Four years ago if something like this occurred chances are Arian Foster would have used a different approach to handle the situation because social media was not used as often as it is now. Now players use social media not only as a way to connect with fans but to also to motivate their teammates and themselves. With all the changes in social media it will be interesting to see how athletes will use social media in the future.
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Review by Forrest Lodge in SRM 334 (section 1)
This article brings up the controversy of Dan Shaughnessy’s column in the Boston Globe about how much of a blessing it was for the Patriots to draw the Texans in the second round of the NFL Playoffs. The main thing in this article however is how Texans running-back Arian Foster acknowledged Shaughnessy’s column and even took a screenshot of it and made his Twitter avatar. The Twitter world nowadays is huge and it spits out news and information like wildfire, so once Foster changed his Twitter avatar to the picture of the article, everyone and their mother’s found out about this article. It is not uncommon for players to find out about harsh comments and opinions of sports analysts and other critics, however Foster took it to the next level by putting the word out through social media. What we did notice through the YouTube video that we found was that Foster never actually commented on the article at all, and that the only thing he did was put the picture of the article as his Twitter picture. I feel like this was a proper way to handle the situation because it is a form of motivation for not only himself but for players, coaches, and fans of the Texans. Ultimately I think it is a prime example of how social media plays a major factor within sports today because of the endless access and availability that it provides to everyone in this world with a computer or smart phone. Twitter allows anyone with an account to connect directly with athletes and celebrities who also have accounts and that is something that we haven’t been able to do for all that long and I feel that it has changed the way athletes handle the public because they can also connect back with anyone they want through social media.
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Review by Sean Petrizzi in SRM 334 (section 1)
After the Houston Texans advanced passed the Wild Card Round to face the New England Patriots Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote an article claiming the Patriots were the “first team in NFL history to get back-to-back byes before advancing to the conference championship game.” This was in reference to the Week 14 matchup where the Patriots outplayed the Texans to the tune of 42 to 14. Texans running back Arian Foster posted three paragraphs of the article as his Twitter avatar without comment. It was seen by many as a move to post bulletin board material for all to see.
I feel that Arian Foster handled this situation perfectly. By leaving out any commentary on the article Foster showed he took offense from the article but did not complain which would have opened him up to criticism of being overly sensitive to the media. He brought the article to the attention to people outside of New England and possibly was trying to bring it to the attention of his teammates to help motivate them. My criticism would be of Shaughnessy. Football fans will know that the New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick is very reserved with his comments and is very calculated in what he says as to not provide the typical “bulletin board material” that may help other teams be motivated to win more than they already are in the ultra-competitive NFL. By writing this article, Shaughnessy flies right in the face of that train of thought. As someone who has covered Belichick and will continue to do so, I wonder whether Shaughnessy’s relationship with Belichick will be slightly strained now.
This article shows that changing forms of media are affecting the interaction between sports reporters and athletes. It is now much easier for athletes to respond to criticism from sports reporters and these responses can be seen by almost anyone at any time.
The 2013 BCS National Championship Game was held in South Florida this past Monday, and as always it came with a lot of hype. Coaches and players are interviewed, analysts pick apart the teams and choose their winner, bets are placed and people around the country tune in to see the spectacle. However, one major part of any event like this that skates somewhat under the radar is the economic impact it has on both the schools and the local area where it is held. SunSentinel.com reports that total retail sales for the game between Alabama and Notre Dame could reach as high as $40 million. South Florida could also be seeing as much as $10 million of that, which is the average 25% of total retail sales that the region gets for a BCS National Championship Game. Without the impact of sports marketing, the teams and the local features and attractions would not be known to the fans and a large chunk of these earnings would go down the drain.
The local community and the schools playing in the National Championship might see some big numbers, but they aren’t the only ones. The Highland Mint, a collectibles manufacturer and distributor, makes anywhere from 30-40% of their annual earnings off big games like this including the Super Bowl and the NBA Championship Game. Without big venues like this stores like The Highland Mint would quickly be out of business. They too not only rely on the teams marketing themselves and making their brand desirable, but stores like these must also market themselves and show the consumer that they make a quality product that is superior to knockoffs and especially competitors.
Unfortunately, when there is such a large market for sports memorabilia like this people will find any way they can to make a quick buck from it and when they do no money goes back to the local economy or to the schools. After the games is when many of the counterfeiters come out to sell and the Collegiate Licensing Committee estimates that after BCS games around 5,000 items are confiscated outside the host stadium. Even though the internet has become the main culprit in counterfeit sales and forged items, people can still be tricked on the street and it is absolutely crucial to check out items before buying them and make sure that they are CLC certified and are completely legitimate. Whether fake or real, people will try to sell their memorabilia and it can be tempting to go with a counterfeit that is much cheaper. Even though it may cost a little extra, making sure that the items that are being advertised are real not only gets the customer a higher quality product, but also ensures that money goes to the right places so the teams and locations can market themselves again in the future.
In this article the author talked about the company Under Armour and how it got to where it is today. This company was started in 1996 but truly found its identity after Sept. 11th 2001. It is a company that always specialized in performance apparel for sports but after 9/11, they wanted to exhibit more nationalist pride. They also wanted to show a more masculine and side to their brand of sportswear. As a former player for the University of Maryland football team, the CEO wanted to target these more masculine sports for promoting Under Armour's products. As a way to show their pride in both the military and our nation, they chose the slogan “Protect this House”. Using this marketing campaign, it showed their vision for focusing on the defense of athletic, corporate, and military spheres. To help the marketing of their products in these areas, Under Armour started a partnership with the NFL and Zephyr technology. This shows that they are current with the most popular sport in America and also have these newest advances in technology. Under Armor has shown that this is not just the words of a marketing campaign. They have proven their support by actually doing many important things to help support our troops. One of the things they've started is the "freedom initiative." This is also partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project. Under Armour also sponsors events that are both military and sport based like the "Tough Mudders," an intense race that resembles a military obstacle course. Another one of the ways they get their name into the main stream of the sports world is by providing custom football uniforms and cleats to universities of Maryland and Texas Tech. When they did this for these two teams, they wanted to keep the themes of militaristic and nationalistic pride, so they made them both in camouflage print, with the Under Armour logo on them. They have also used the NFL scouting Combine as an important event to help promote their corporate identity and reinforce a sense of national pride.
I felt that in this article by Gavin Weedon was very interesting to me because Under Armour did a very smart thing in capitalizing on nationalism after what happen on 9/11/2001. Under Armour was looking for a way to become more main stream in the sports industry, so they took their identity of the brand in a direction where the consumer would want to be a part of the company. Under Armour can show through there cloths and their advertising that they are nationalistic, masculine, and militaristic. This was a good way for people to feel like they were a part of the company and being that patriotic shows that Under Armour cares about our nation. I feel the people really responded to what the company was trying to do with their slogans that they came up with “Protect this house”. The slogan can be thought of in so many different ways like in sport or the way that the military talks about protecting the US. I think that rallying people around your corporation with something as nationalism is a good idea because it is something that everyone can relate too.
