"Chris Jones Dismissed by Louisville: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction"

From Bleacher Report

Analysis by Tyler Murphy in SRM 334 (section 1)

Within the past two weeks the University of Louisville released a statement that their basketball player Chris Jones was being released due to his charges with the police department. Jones was charged with rape and sodomy, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Another issue arose when a female student reported Jones had texted her and threatened to “slap the f*** out of her.” The Louisville head basketball coach, Rick Pitino had come out and said that he will no longer be apart of the team and no further comments will be made.

We did our power point on crisis management and what the University could have done to further prevent this crisis. The athletic spokesman for Louisville, Kenny Klein, had no comment on the report and let the media be the first to tell the public. Travis and I both agreed that he should’ve addressed the fans and public before the media to keep the image at Louisville upheld. The university a have had multiple incidences in the past 2 years dealing with suspensions and releases of players on the team.

I commend the University for releasing the player after finding out the true evidence, but something needs to be done to prevent these accidents from occurring because its starting to become a regular occurrence. Background checks before scholarship offers, curfews during the season, and more strict rules to abide by are multiple options for actions that could be taken to limit these problems.

Overall the crime has already been committed and there is nothing else to be done except serve your punishment. The university, along with Chris Jones, but can learn from this incidence and ensure that nothing like this happens again. On the university side, if it does happen again, they need to handle the situation better and address the media before the fans hear from other sources.

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Analysis by Travis Oyler in SRM 334 (section 1)

Over the past two weeks, The University of Louisville Men’s Basketball program has been in the media spotlight over the suspension and dismissal of one of their star players. Chris Jones, a senior at Louisville, was suspended and dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. Jones was first suspended from the team February 17 for sending threatening text messages to a female. With Jones out of the lineup, Louisville lost their following game to Syracuse by a score of 59-69. Jones was then allowed to rejoin the team under strict disciplinary measures, and in their next game, Jones led Louisville in a comeback to beat Miami. Jones was then dismissed from the team the next day after being charged with two counts of rape. Louisville will now go on this season without their star point guard.

This article is relevant to sports communication because the negative attention that Louisville now faces will have to be battled with good public relations and crisis management. Personally, I believe that Louisville did all of the right things before Jones was finally dismissed from the team. When Jones sent threatening text messages to his girlfriend on February 17th, Coach Rick Pitino did the right thing by immediately suspending Jones for one game. Louisville gave Jones a second chance to get his act together by placing him back on the team with strict disciplinary measures, but Jones slipped up again on February 22nd, when Jones allegedly raped and sodomized two women and broke his curfew. Louisville made the call to dismiss Jones the next morning which was the right move to protect their brand, but they could have done a better job of getting their version of the story out before the media could get a word in. Overall this situation is a great example of why organizations need to utilize good public relations and crisis management to protect their image.

"With Hill Holliday's Marketing Support, Boston Will Bid For 2024 Summer Olympic Games"

From MediaPost

Analysis by Margo Savage in KIN 501

Hosting the Olympics is an honor that is bestowed upon only a few select cities. There is certain criteria and many years of planning that go in to make the Olympics a success. Through a meticulous process, Boston has been chosen as the American Olympic bid for the 2024 Olympics. After reading “With Hill Holiday’s Marketing Support, Boston Will Bid For 2024 Summer Olympic Games,” it is easy to see the different layers that are present in the years leading up to the games.

Although Boston has not been chosen as the city for the 2024 Summer Olympics, there is already backlash surrounding the possibility of the city hosting the games. In the article, some of this backlash is addressed: It includes topics such as the cost attached with hosting the games, the security concerns after the recent terrorist attack during the 2013 Boston Marathon, and what the citizens of Boston think about hosting the games. On the flipside, the article also addresses some positive aspects. These positive components include the business that it will bring to the city, the notoriety that Boston will receive, and the perseverance that the city can show from rising from recent tragedy.

From a marketing standpoint, I think that Hill Holiday takes the right angle for Boston 2024. They present, in their “Beacon” video, the idea of patriotism. The video starts out showing a person in an old colonial outfit who passes off the “beacon” to an Olympic horse racer. From there, the beacon travels through the city visiting different athletes in a plethora of sports venues. The idea and theme behind the video is that patriotism is passed on and runs through the veins of the city in all aspects. It shows significant Boston landmarks such as the Charles River and Boylston Street.

I thought that the use of the blue light across the advertising was good for Hill Holiday. It gave different advertisements a sense of uniformity and something that people could easily identify as part of the Olympic brand. I also liked that the icon traveled around the city of Boston to show the highlights of the town. Finally, the aspect that I liked the most from these advertisements was the sense of perseverance and pure grit from the people of Boston. I think that Hill Holiday wanted to capitalize on the face that the people of Boston are “Boston Strong” and that they are determined to continue on, no matter what hardships come their way.

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