From The New York Times
Analysis by Tyler Brecht in SRM 334
The 2014 draft could be a huge milestone for the future of the NFL and the players in the league. Michael Sam was a defensive lineman for the Missouri Tigers in the 2013 season. He was a defensive star for the Tigers with 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. This helped Sam achieve a 12-2 season with a bowl win, Missouri's MVP, and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. The curiosity of what this athlete could do in the professional stage was on everyones mind. This was before Michael Sam announced something that would change the way fans, future coaches, future teammates, and the media would view Michael Sam possibly for the rest of his career. On February 9, 2014 Michael Sam openly came out about his sexuality. He did so before the draft in order for the media attention to hopefully simmer down before he starts his rookie career. Michael Sam would be the first player to go into the NFL being openly gay in a prospective third round pick(Branch, 2014). With the possibility of changing the way the NFL has functioned since its existence, the media is going to take no day off from this young man.
Michael Sam first coming out has since been the beginning of the media attention that have spiraled around this player. One event came from the support of his own school prior to a home basketball game. Fellow students created a manmade wall to block off protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church in order to rally around Sam's homosexuality(Patterson, 2014). Sam has also received support from our President, Barack Obama, and his first lady. Obama said to Charles Barkley, "I really like the fact that Michael did it before the draft, because his attitude was, 'You know what? I know who I am. I know I can play great football and judge me on the merits.(Patra, 2014)" With support from others outside the league the question of how future teammates would respond came into question. ESPN took a poll from 51 current NFL players asking how they would feel around a openly gay teammate. The results were that they were comfortable knowing he was gay, but the issue was whether they would have to behave differently around him and how they would relate to him(Goessling, 2014). Another problem raised when two CFL players were fined for their remarks on social media towards Michael Sam.
The real question is wether Sam's plan of dispersing the media attention before game day to focus on football is really going to work. There are going to be many future days were the media is going to have easy coverage of Michael Sam including the NFL draft, Missouri's pro day, the NFL Combine, and preseason attention. I think that it was a courageous act to pave the way for future gay athletes trying to make it to the big leagues. With that said Sam must be ready for the amount of media scrutiny coming his way. The media has a reason to give the amount of attention to this athlete because it is a game changer. Other athletes waited until they were retired from the game. Most likely the attention will fade away once they see what he can do on a professional field. Michael Sam may not be the only one receiving negative media attention from his actions. Other players and teams might be criticized for their actions because of his sexuality. Johnny Manziel is a great quarterback entering the draft, but might be overshadowed in his early career due to Michael Sam. Also, teams not willing to draft Sam because of team chemistry might be criticized. Teams might also have to worry about their players' remarks towards Sam's sexuality. In the case of the CFL two players were fined for their remarks(Alper, 2014).
This current event is important to understand in media for knowing that media affects everyone. Stakeholders are important to understand. Sports Information Directors are challenged with confidential information all the time and must know what to do in that situation. Before going to the media they must know how it will affect the stakeholders involved. No matter what media will always be there and it is important to understand the correct steps in approaching it. It was Sam's advisor's decision to allow Sam to release this confident information to the media before draft day knowing the consequences that would arise from the media. All this attention will not be set aside either. Future events will bring the topic back to surface and the media and those involved must be ready for it. With the new communication model in today's world, many forms of media can address this issue. It is important for those to look at the feedback in order to learn what to do in these situations.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Danica Patrick says Richard Petty entitled to his opinion
From ESPN.com
Analysis by Travis Garth in SRM 334
I decided to analyze the sport of NASCAR in this week’s class discussion. A few weeks ago NASCAR hall of famer Richard Petty was prompted on the subjected of Danica Patrick, he stated: “This is a female deal that's driving her. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's good PR for me. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport." Petty also states that, “The only way she will win a race is if everyone else stays home.” Richard Petty’s comments bring an interesting theme in NASCAR racing. His comments suggest that the drivers that win the most races do not receive the most attention in the sports media world or in the sport itself. This suggestion is supported by the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. won NASCAR’s most popular driver award for a record breaking 11 consecutive years despite only winning one race in the past five years. Also, Danica Patrick was the most popular driver award winner in NASCAR’s nationwide series and has yet to win a race in her career. It seems that NASCAR is becoming a popularity contest for drivers who have not proven their skills on the racetrack. On the other realm of the spectrum there is a driver like Jimmie Johnson who has won 26 races in the past five years. He also won the championship for five consecutive years and earned another championship in 2013. Even with Jimmie Johnson’s proven success in the sport he has yet to win the most popular driver award. With Jimmie Johnson’s career still in progress the media still tends to overlook him and other winning drivers in the sport.
Overall, it is intriguing that the most publicized drivers are not the ones who are winning the races. In competitive sport, where the overall goal is to win, the winners on the race track still lose in the world of sports media. This poses the question of how the drivers that are winning the races must feel, and what role sports media plays in the sport of NASCAR.
Analysis by Travis Garth in SRM 334
I decided to analyze the sport of NASCAR in this week’s class discussion. A few weeks ago NASCAR hall of famer Richard Petty was prompted on the subjected of Danica Patrick, he stated: “This is a female deal that's driving her. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's good PR for me. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport." Petty also states that, “The only way she will win a race is if everyone else stays home.” Richard Petty’s comments bring an interesting theme in NASCAR racing. His comments suggest that the drivers that win the most races do not receive the most attention in the sports media world or in the sport itself. This suggestion is supported by the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. won NASCAR’s most popular driver award for a record breaking 11 consecutive years despite only winning one race in the past five years. Also, Danica Patrick was the most popular driver award winner in NASCAR’s nationwide series and has yet to win a race in her career. It seems that NASCAR is becoming a popularity contest for drivers who have not proven their skills on the racetrack. On the other realm of the spectrum there is a driver like Jimmie Johnson who has won 26 races in the past five years. He also won the championship for five consecutive years and earned another championship in 2013. Even with Jimmie Johnson’s proven success in the sport he has yet to win the most popular driver award. With Jimmie Johnson’s career still in progress the media still tends to overlook him and other winning drivers in the sport.
Overall, it is intriguing that the most publicized drivers are not the ones who are winning the races. In competitive sport, where the overall goal is to win, the winners on the race track still lose in the world of sports media. This poses the question of how the drivers that are winning the races must feel, and what role sports media plays in the sport of NASCAR.
Super Bowl XLVIII and weather concerns
From Fansided.com, USA Today 1, USA Today 2, 9news.com, and NFL.com
Analysis by Donshae Joyce in SRM 334 (section 1)
For our article review, we chose to do it on the weather concerns surrounding Super Bowl XLVIII and the accommodations that were planned to counter any inclement weather threatening the event. Although the weather for the game turned out to be more ideal than originally expected, the National Football League encountered uncharted territory in having to plan for the “coldest Super Bowl in history”, as many emphatically described it. As a group, we wanted to dive into the effects that the weather had on the NFL’s preparations for the game, and further educate ourselves on the duties of sports industry employees when dealing with situations such as this one.
Of course, the decision of having the Super Bowl in New Jersey in February came with intense consideration and deliberation on behalf of the NFL. Therefore, it is a safe assumption that the NFL would be prepared for the weather. However, the New Jersey/New York area was hit with a huge snowstorm just weeks before the scheduled date of the game. This caused for major contingency planning from the NFL and MetLife Stadium (where the game was held in East Rutherford, New Jersey). A few of the modifications that had to take place involved: hiring over 1,000 workers to shovel more than 13 inches of snow inside of MetLife Stadium, the NFL providing fans with a cold gear package when they enter the stadium (including hand warmers, gloves, a hat and scarf), groundsmen had to paint the endzones of the field under tents to keep snow from ruining the paint, and the most controversial altering was the possibility of rescheduling the date of the game. Another modification that the NFL might not have taken into consideration was the issue of ticket prices decreases due to the inclement weather. According to a report by Darren Rovell on ESPN.com, Super Bowl tickets went from being the most expensive to the least expensive by reactions from the resale ticket market. Nine days before Super Bowl XLVIII, the cheapest ticket to buy on NFL Ticket Exchange was $1,779. That is $409 cheaper than it was on the site with that many days left last year and $809 cheaper than the year before. The original price was $2,700 before the snowstorm.
The relevancy relationship between this situation and our course has to do with the contingency plan. Working in the sports industry, there are factors that may be uncontrollable that require quick planning and maneuvering for. In this case, the NFL having to deal with inclement weather and how it handled the situation was a good example of a contingency plan and adjusting to the hand that was dealt to it.
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Analysis by Anthony Rose in SRM 334 (section 1)
The Super Bowl was played on February, 2, 2014 at East Rutherford New Jersey in the MetLife Stadium. The teams that are participating in the game are the Denver Broncos as the home team and the Seattle Seahawks as the away team. This Super Bowl is such a big deal because it is making history because its the first cold weather Super Bowl in NFL history. The National Football League has been doing a lot of work to get the Super Bowl played on the set date but with the weather that New Jersey is used to getting the NFL has to have a contingency plan.
The National Football League had to hire over a thousand workers to clear the MetLife Stadium a couple of days before the Super Bowl game because of the snow storm that hit the area messed the stadium up. The endzones were painted under tents to stay clear of the weather of the weather. To help the fans out with the cold weather the NFL has teamed up with a company called Woodinville based company BDA Inc. to get the fans warm gear to for the game such as hand warmers, ear muffs, gloves, and scarfs. The MetLife stadium also have warm area for the fans that are going to tailgate. All these are the strategies to prepare for the game.
The contingency plan for the Super Bowl is just in case of bad weather. The NFL will be played and hour later or a couple of hours before just so they won’t have to deal with lawsuits from other leagues. The other plan is to move the game the Monday after the original date and the Friday or Saturday before the original date planned.
The plan for the game has not been set yet these are just some temporary thoughts. The National Football League are just taking precautions for the weather because this is one of the biggest events that take place in the country. The NFL want to make sure the fans are going to have and awesome experience also while also the people watching the game also.
Analysis by Donshae Joyce in SRM 334 (section 1)
For our article review, we chose to do it on the weather concerns surrounding Super Bowl XLVIII and the accommodations that were planned to counter any inclement weather threatening the event. Although the weather for the game turned out to be more ideal than originally expected, the National Football League encountered uncharted territory in having to plan for the “coldest Super Bowl in history”, as many emphatically described it. As a group, we wanted to dive into the effects that the weather had on the NFL’s preparations for the game, and further educate ourselves on the duties of sports industry employees when dealing with situations such as this one.
Of course, the decision of having the Super Bowl in New Jersey in February came with intense consideration and deliberation on behalf of the NFL. Therefore, it is a safe assumption that the NFL would be prepared for the weather. However, the New Jersey/New York area was hit with a huge snowstorm just weeks before the scheduled date of the game. This caused for major contingency planning from the NFL and MetLife Stadium (where the game was held in East Rutherford, New Jersey). A few of the modifications that had to take place involved: hiring over 1,000 workers to shovel more than 13 inches of snow inside of MetLife Stadium, the NFL providing fans with a cold gear package when they enter the stadium (including hand warmers, gloves, a hat and scarf), groundsmen had to paint the endzones of the field under tents to keep snow from ruining the paint, and the most controversial altering was the possibility of rescheduling the date of the game. Another modification that the NFL might not have taken into consideration was the issue of ticket prices decreases due to the inclement weather. According to a report by Darren Rovell on ESPN.com, Super Bowl tickets went from being the most expensive to the least expensive by reactions from the resale ticket market. Nine days before Super Bowl XLVIII, the cheapest ticket to buy on NFL Ticket Exchange was $1,779. That is $409 cheaper than it was on the site with that many days left last year and $809 cheaper than the year before. The original price was $2,700 before the snowstorm.
The relevancy relationship between this situation and our course has to do with the contingency plan. Working in the sports industry, there are factors that may be uncontrollable that require quick planning and maneuvering for. In this case, the NFL having to deal with inclement weather and how it handled the situation was a good example of a contingency plan and adjusting to the hand that was dealt to it.
---
Analysis by Anthony Rose in SRM 334 (section 1)
The Super Bowl was played on February, 2, 2014 at East Rutherford New Jersey in the MetLife Stadium. The teams that are participating in the game are the Denver Broncos as the home team and the Seattle Seahawks as the away team. This Super Bowl is such a big deal because it is making history because its the first cold weather Super Bowl in NFL history. The National Football League has been doing a lot of work to get the Super Bowl played on the set date but with the weather that New Jersey is used to getting the NFL has to have a contingency plan.
The National Football League had to hire over a thousand workers to clear the MetLife Stadium a couple of days before the Super Bowl game because of the snow storm that hit the area messed the stadium up. The endzones were painted under tents to stay clear of the weather of the weather. To help the fans out with the cold weather the NFL has teamed up with a company called Woodinville based company BDA Inc. to get the fans warm gear to for the game such as hand warmers, ear muffs, gloves, and scarfs. The MetLife stadium also have warm area for the fans that are going to tailgate. All these are the strategies to prepare for the game.
The contingency plan for the Super Bowl is just in case of bad weather. The NFL will be played and hour later or a couple of hours before just so they won’t have to deal with lawsuits from other leagues. The other plan is to move the game the Monday after the original date and the Friday or Saturday before the original date planned.
The plan for the game has not been set yet these are just some temporary thoughts. The National Football League are just taking precautions for the weather because this is one of the biggest events that take place in the country. The NFL want to make sure the fans are going to have and awesome experience also while also the people watching the game also.
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