USA Today’s article titled, “Tattoos but a fraction of Colin Kaepernick’s story” explains his life from adoption all the way up until his time as an NFL starter on the way to the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is a player to admire. I absolutely believe that there are media sources in sports that are trying to tarnish Kaepernick’s image. This particular article written by USA Today portrays Kaepernick in a good light.
Kaepernick was adopted at five weeks old and grew up in Milwaukee, WI. He attended and played football for the Nevada Wolf Pack and became the only FBS player to throw for 10,000 yards and rush for 4,000 yards in a career. This ultimately led to the 49ers selecting Kaepernick 36th overall in the 2011 NFL draft. Kaepernick was also selected in the 43rd round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs as a right-handed pitcher.
The media has brought up personal information about Kaepernick including his family and tattoos. I personally believe this is not the place for sports media to get involved and believe that those things are to be left alone. This particular article allows fans to see how great of an athlete and person Colin Kaepernick is. The tattoos on his body and his family background should not hinder the perception of a fan because social media says it should. Sports media rules our society and it is refreshing to see an article promote a successful athlete and show his path to the Super Bowl. --- Review by Brad Burgess in SRM 334 (section 2) Colin Kaepernick is the current starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. A player picked in the 2011 NFL Draft 36th overall. After veteran quarterback Alex Smith suffered a concussion in week 10 Colin had an opening. The buzz around the 49ers was whether or not Smith would play in their next week’s game. When Monday came it was Kaepernick who got the start. He shocked the world and displayed his ability with a big win over the Bears 32-7. Kaepernick would be the new starter.
However, with Kaepernick’s rapid rise to fame came the media frenzy finding out who this guy was under the helmet. Reports started pumping out articles on this kid. He is a half white, half African American, who was adopted by the Kaepernick’s, a white family from Wisconsin. The only college to offer him a football scholarship was the University of Nevada. He went on to be the only FBS quarterback to throw for more than 10,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000. One of the biggest controversy’s that has been discussed in articles has been his tattoos. He is tatted up all over his upper body. In one article it was said that Kaepernick looks like a thug out of prison. Colin doesn’t listen to the media and says that he loves his tattoos, and he gets them because he wants to and no other reason.
The way this relates to this class is the question of how the media can shape a fans opinion on an athlete. Before Colin was the starter there was little talk about him. Now he is a household name and is taking his team to the Super Bowl. There are reports arguing his tattoos, talking about him being adopted, and asking him about how he got to this point. If you read some articles you end up loving Colin’s story and become a big fan. Other articles you perceive him as a thug with a lot of swagger. Without the media we would not know about this stud from the University of Nevada. The media controls athlete’s fame. They control the emotions of a fan. The media today has changed the way we look at players and their backgrounds.
From Athletic Business Review by Christine Steiner in KIN 332 The Athletic Business article titled “Schools Attempting to Control Athletes’ Use of Social Media” By Paul Steinbach published in November 2012 investigates the social media use of collegiate student athletes and whether or not their use of these websites should be monitored or regulated to protect the reputations of the individual players as well as their teams and schools. For example, Ohio State University third-string quarterback Cardale Jones recently tweeted “why should we have to go to class if we came here to play football, we ain't come to play school, classes are pointless." This statement caused an issue for the entire team when Jones’ name was Googled mere hours later and his statement turned up right on the first page of search results. His words not only display his individual ignorance, but also reflect on the intelligence of his fellow teammates and school as a whole. Because of this issue, more and more coaches are beginning to ban their players from using twitter, including Boise State's Chris Petersen, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher. Some athletic departments are even employing the services of software by companies like Udiligence and Varsity Monitor. These programs allow coaches to flag specific words or phrases that could be embarrassing or detrimental to the reputation of their teams and send both the coach and the player and alert that their tweets are inappropriate and must be removed. The problems that arise with these social media restrictions include the possible violation of free speech of the players, as well as the issue of whether the standards of conduct for participation on a team should be able to include off-season actions of the players. In terms of the sports marketing implications of this issue, if no bans are implemented in this area, then a mere Google search of a school’s athletic teams may return results of student athletes’ inappropriate or disrespectful tweets, giving the searcher an immediate negative opinion of the school as a whole and potentially causing the school to have to drastically improve their marketing techniques to make up for these statements that are destructive to their reputation. It appears that more collegiate athletic departments are choosing to implement these restrictions for the purpose of protecting their reputations and preserving their current marketing campaigns.
From Sports Marketing & PR Roundup Review by Kevin McGough in KIN 332 In this article it spells out the new importance for venue operators to find ways to attract high-end clientele to their facilities. The reason for this clearly, is more money associated with more popular people buying tickets and representing their teams. It’s not just the hot dogs and beer anymore to attract fans and clients to the game. There needs to be a selling factor now and new ways to market it in order to get more fans, and have a venue be focused on being held as more than just a place for “special events”.
I agree with all these statements in order to make facilities part of the community and not just a venue for one event at a time. From a marketing standpoint, restaurants figured out the right idea by importing their specialty brands into arenas and stadiums. By giving the fans a better taste of the city on game nights. Also, the “original” stadiums are not effective anymore.
I completely concur with the way London has a joint venture with the Barclays Premier League with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and US-based Legends Hospitality. Having a famous Chef provide a taste of their food in venues is a brilliant way to bring in more guests. It is providing the utmost hospitality in all the public concessions and catering of private suites. Legend’s is already found in the US at Cowboys and Yankees Stadiums and they are working on expanding to the public of other venues. Box and private suites now need to have big projection screens of the games, free food and drinks included in ticket price, and a lucrative fan experience.
The reasoning behind this being so important is the use of Oliver’s name brings credibility to the fan experience that they will be taken care of in more than just a way of hot dogs and beers. It is an elite experience and will bring in more than just fans of the game. It will bring in fans of the food as well, expanding a fan base further than just the game. The venues will have more to offer to accommodate all types of fans for any match or game.
