SRM Alumni Updates - September 3, 2013

Elle Bunn (’11) is now the Director of Community Relations for the Charlotte Checkers.  Elle has held various positions with the organization since May 2011.

Dana O’Brien (’13) accepted a position as Assistant Soccer Coach at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Pelletier (’12) has been promoted to Food & Beverage Manager for the Salem Red Sox.  He has been with the team since January 2012.

"Social media communication has changed baseball -- but not for better"

From the San Jose Mercury News

Review by Justin Graves in SRM 334 (section 2)

After the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers in a game of small ball, Rangers starting pitcher Matt Garza went on a Twitter tirade, even calling out the wife of one of Oakland’s players. Throughout the game, A’s infielder Eric Sogard and others laid down bunts that Garza is known having trouble fielding. Apparently at some point, Sogard’s wife said something to get under Garza’s skin, and he lashed out on Twitter, using severely sexist and even misogynistic terminology. Garza has since made his Twitter account private and “apologized” for his inappropriate actions. 

The article goes on to talk about how social media is changing the way players communicate in baseball, but not for the better; at least in this case. Before the game (ironically), Rangers manager Ron Washington was interviewed about the whole concept of Twitter. Washington admitted to not even knowing what Twitter was, which can potentially be a major problem for his players’ sake.

Looking at this issue, it could not apply more directly to this class and what we are learning about. Matt Garza provided a prime example of exactly what not to do with social media. By now, we are all following our favorite athletes on Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and every other possible social media platform. We use these platforms to feel a part of these athletes’ lives, and they use it to interact with their fans and each other. This can be a risky platform because, as Garza so wonderfully demonstrated, athletes can get caught up in the moment and say things they don’t mean. Or maybe they mean exactly what they mean, but it isn’t meant for the public to hear or see.

A’s manager Bob Melvin was also interviewed before the game about Twitter, and he unintentionally pointed out the pivotal downfall in players using Twitter so avidly; once you write a post, there is no going back. Sure, you can delete it later, but you’ve already sent that tweet out for thousands of fans to read, and take screen shots of. You can make your account private, but people have already seen, and taken screen shots of those tweets you sent. Matt Garza both deleted the tweets and made his account private, which really didn’t change anything. I was able to search Google Images and within seconds I had thousands of pictures of the tweets that Garza sent out. Other than the fact that the tweets were mildly disturbing, they were immature, inappropriate, and childish.

The problem with athletes using social media, specifically Twitter, is that they get frustrated, grab their phone, send an angry tweet and five minutes later they immediately regret what they just did. However, as was just mentioned, there is no turning back from what is now available for the entire Twitter universe to see. The other problem is that baseball managers have no way of controlling their players from doing so; they are too old to even understand what Twitter is or how to use it. Baseball is one of many sports that is adjusting to the online world, but they have yet to figure out a way to lay down a sort of “code” on the etiquette players should take on to the social media world. In fact, this isn’t the first time that Garza has gotten “in trouble” for his tweets. Earlier this year Garza went to Twitter calling out Cubs (who he was playing for at the time) fans being “fake” and being excessively negative. While Matt Garza may be somewhat of an extreme case, it seems as though the MLB needs to try to pull in the reigns a little on their players and what they post on their social media accounts. However on the other hand, they are simply humans that have strong emotions as the rest of us, but they have much more of a spotlight on them. Maybe Matt Garza just needs some anger management courses.

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Review by Kenta Kuroki in SRM 334 (section 2)

As we talked about the class for the print media, we have been seeing tremendous changes in providing contents from a paper to a screen in the web. Because of the progress of technology, everybody could be a part of media, which is good. Of course, players could say everything if they want to do. But, at the same time, it becomes more difficult to keep their privacy. Here is an example of bad case for using social media as celebrities. 

Texas starter Matt Garza insulted A’s infielder Eric Sogard and his wife by using the Twitter on the weekend after the game. He tweeted badly because Sogard did a bunt to score knowing that Garza has a trouble with his fielding. Garza said that “It’s a man’s game so keep you trap shut!” apparently to Sogard’s wife. After a while, he seemed that he deleted his tweets, but that was too late. Followers, reporters, and fans knew what he did it.

The article also talks about some problems related to sports communication in baseball by using the current technology. The manager Ron Washington in Texas Rangers did not what the Twitter was before the scandal happened. I think this could be really problematic because the boss should know what is happening in this world as a responsibility of their work. Moreover, the article says the bosses in the sport team might have lack of knowledge how to treat with the Internet things for players, which they should fix that as soon as possible. As another problem with the social communication including the Twitter, the article says “Once you write or say something and post it, there’s not going back.” As I mentioned about the Garza’s case, it is really right. As I found his tweets on the Google images, possibly every baseball fan might know what he has done even if he deleted his stuffs. As a last problem, baseball has many games and more games than other sports have, and that makes baseball get troubles to talk about a lot of things related to games according to the article.

Before going to the conclusion of this paper, I need to mention that other sports players besides baseball do the same thing like the Garza’s case, and actually put the video into our Powerpoint. I found interesting because athletes says something which is not appropriate to speak up as their life standpoint. I mean that celebrities have less privacy and more limitation, so they should be careful on the statement.

This article is relevant to our course because we should know what is happening around us, even if it is a basic level just saying that be careful to use social media as athletes. Lastly, to avoid the Graza’s case, we need to educate players as well as possibly coaches, managers, and maybe everybody related to sports industry. For Garza’s case, he should not use social media as my opinion because he cannot draw the line whether it is ok or not.

"Listen up: NFL moving to mike players"

From SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Jacob Nicely in SRM 334 (section 2)

The National Football League, commonly referred to as the NFL, is one of the most watched and largest revenue generating sports leagues in North America as well as the world. Every Sunday afternoon and Monday night during the fall you can cut on your television and catch an NFL game being broadcasted live with extensive in-game analysis, statistics, fantasy football analysis, and almost every fact you could ever want to know about the players and the teams that are involved in the game. Professional football is one of America’s past-times and it still draws massive amounts of attention but, just like any other business, the NFL is always looking to improve and make the experience better for the fans. One of the newest ideas that owners and the league are pushing for is the idea of placing microphones on players and making the content available for fans live during the game instead of having to wait until afterwards to hear what their favorite players and coaches are saying. This could be a potential smash hit and the next big thing for the NFL but not before it is looked at more in-depth.

Placing a microphone on players and making the content available as a live feature during games is a great attention getter for the NFL and has sparked quite the buzz in the sports world. Even though the talks are just in the beginning stages, the sheer idea of the concept has drawn plenty of attention. With already having such a great product, the NFL needed to come up with more ways to get fans involved in the experience thus generating more money as well as an increased fan experience. This could be a complete game changer for the media world and possibly not in a good way for the NFL or the players. In today’s world everyone already has so much access to the players and coaches through social media and in-depth coverage by the media. Nowadays, players do not have to be interviewed by a reporter or have a press conference to release information when they can just simply send out a 140 character tweet or post a Facebook status and instantly have the world see it and have people directly communicate with them. This has already caused some problems with players not appropriately tweeting or interacting with fans on twitter as well as players tweeting live during the games. Once players are mic’d up, fans will be able to hear everything that they say, and most of it will not be tasteful or be appropriate for a younger audience. This could be a big issue with Commissioner Roger Goodell’s already disciplined player conduct policies and low tolerance for misbehavior. However, per usual, this move is more about generating revenue and media attention for the league than the concern for player’s reputations.

We hear all the time in today’s world about all the negative things that athletes do in their daily lives. As we have discussed in class, negativity sells and if that is what sells then that is what the media is going to cover. You can turn on ESPN and see what Chad Johnson tweeted that was inappropriate or what offensive comment Kevin Garnett made during the basketball game that night or see what just about any athlete did wrong. In athletic competition, athletes are in the heat of the moment and trying to get in their opponent’s heads the entire game. What comes out of athlete’s mouths during games is more than likely fine worthy and will cause fans to look at their favorite athletes differently. Also, with all this unedited, instant access to players and coaches the media will be able to report and comment on it before the game is over and before the team or player can begin damage control. With all the ways we have discussed that sports news can be released, from professional writers to fan’s blogs and anyone being able to discuss in-game conversations that wants to, this could potentially result in being a huge nightmare for the NFL, the owners, the coaches, and the players. On the other hand though, the potential revenue stream could blind owners from seeing the possible negative outcomes.

With a few small-market NFL teams struggling to sell tickets in conjunction with an unfriendly economy, the NFL is looking to increase fans desire to attend games and purchase tickets as opposed to watching their favorite teams from home. This is more so a move on the owner’s part to have it as only an in-game option but nevertheless it is aimed at generating untapped revenue. An increased involvement in the in-game experience would allow fans to get into the game without physically being on the field. This is a brilliant idea from the viewpoint of an NFL fan and probably a dream come true for many fans being able to listen in on their favorite teams and coaches. With the NFL already having “Red-Zone Coverage” of all NFL games, numerous apps, instant score updates, fantasy football, and countless other technological advances it only makes sense to let fans get even more involved in the game experience. Fans of NASCAR can go to a race and listen in on their favorite driver communicating with their spotter and crew chief so it only makes sense for the same option for NFL fans. The revenue from this potential option would more than likely be greater as an in-home option on television due to the increased ad-revenue, subscription fees for the service, and just simply a much larger audience than the number fans at the game. If implemented as an in-game only service, it will only increase ticket sales to games that would not already be sold out, increasing revenue by a much smaller number. Also, if implemented as an in-game option it will eventually be phased out to include an at-home feature in due time because the NFL will not miss out on that large of a potential money making opportunity.

All in all, the plan to mike up players is still in its early stages and probably will not be an available option for a couple more years. With this news release, it garners the media and fans attention and gets them stirred up and discussing this option before it is ever put into effect. Placing microphones on players could very well be the next big money maker that the NFL is looking for but it may come with the cost of NFL player’s unhappiness and their reputations on the line due to the nature of in-game conversations. This new idea would also give the media, as well as fans, instant access to report on players behaviors and actions as well as fans being able to live tweet, blog, or use other outlets to also release news and discuss events before the players and teams ever have a chance to explain or begin damage control. Whether this idea will be good for the league and it’s players has yet to be seen but one thing that is for certain is that this will generate more money for the NFL and as a business they are always looking for new ways to do so.
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Review by Marshall Cohen in SRM 334 (section 2)

The National Football League is always looking to bolster attendance and improve the fans’ in-stadium experience, and miking up players during games appears to be their next move. There is no timetable for beginning this process, but it is apparently becoming a matter of when they adopt the new feature as opposed to if they will adopt it. Stephen Jones, the Dallas Cowboys Chief Operating Officer, has emphasized that there is a level of urgency on all projects designed to increase fan attendance. After player health and safety, ensuring that stadiums are full is the league’s top priority.

There seems to be little controversy on the subject, as NASCAR has shown how easy it is to broadcast interactions between spotters and drivers during their races. However, some competitive issues were raised by players and coaches when talks of miking up players began back in 2011. Audio from players and coaches during games is currently used by NFL Films, but is not available to anyone during the games. There are talks of using the player audio exclusively in-stadium, as an added benefit for fans to attend the game. Making the audio available to broadcasters is another option, which would only increase the experience of watching a game from your couch.

It seems like the most likely path for the NFL to take is to make the player audio available to broadcasters and to find some way to incorporate it into each game on television. Their goal might be to make the in-stadium experience better, yet with better technology the only thing really happening is the improvement of the home broadcast experience. Despite being a cool feature and an interesting concept to improve fan attendance, having the player audio exclusively available in the stadium just does not seem like a huge draw. The more likely outcome would be a slight increase in television ratings, which could possibly lead to an increase in rights deals that companies sign with the league.

There are still a few questions that remain concerning the logistics of having the players miked up at all times. Having the audio available in the stadium might not be the best idea; there is an extreme amount of cursing and trash talking that goes on during NFL games (and almost all other sports for that matter). Another question that comes up is whether or not players would be suspended or fined for cursing or excessive trash talking. The NFL has pretty strict conduct policies, and having the players miked up all the time creates a difficult scenario for the league, forcing them to monitor and deal with players talking during the games. Making the audio available to broadcasters would be much simpler since they would be able to edit and/or bleep out anything that would not be fit for a national audience. However, if it was available during the game in the stadium, it seems as if there would be no way to filter the audio.
From a fan and media point of view, miking up the players and having the audio available somewhere seems like a great idea. It would benefit in getting to know the players and their personalities, which is sometimes difficult during the games as they seen more with their helmets on than off. If the league can work out some logistical issues with having the audio available in the stadium or on television, miking players might just be the next big thing in the NFL.