From Bleacher Report Review by Chris Lee in SRM 334 (section 1)
For the current event presentation we chose to discuss the new NFL rule changes being made in the 2013 off season. Along with the decision to eliminate the infamous tuck rule, NFL owners also voted to enforce the “crown of helmet rule” in their annual winter meeting held in Phoenix, Arizona on March 20, 2013. The crown of helmet rule basically states that ball carriers are no longer to initiate contact with the crown of their helmets outside the tackle box. There will be a 15 yard penalty for this infraction and incidental contact will be excused by the referees.
The reasoning behind the recent helmet rule change was to reduce concussions, neck damage, and head trauma in an effort to make the game safer. Since the rule has passed, plenty of controversy has surrounded it within the media and many players, coaches, and league affiliates have shown varying opinions about the issue. People like St. Louis Rams’ head coach Jeff Fisher agree with the rule and think that it will have a positive impact on player safety. When asked about the new rule he responded, “We're bringing the shoulder back to the game. The helmet is a protective device, but it's not being used as that as of late. This is to protect the players.”
While there has been some support for the rule change many players, mainly current and former running backs, have been upset with the idea that the league is becoming too soft. Many of these people have turned to social media devices such as twitter to express their dissatisfaction. Marshall Faulk, a football analyst for the NFL network and legendary running back, is among these people and recently tweeted, “The new RB rule is a joke.” Emmitt Smith, Matt Forte, Justin Forsett, and many others have also publicly disagreed with the crown of helmet rule.
This topic is relevant to the class because it deals with sports media outlets such as ESPN and how they have heavily covered mainly the negative reactions to the rule change. Personally I have heard very few analysts stick up for the rule change, and most of Sportscenter’s coverage broadcasts the negative views about how the game will never be the same and how the NFL is turning into “two hand touch football.” Overall I think that it is important for the media to share both sides of the story in order to not come off as being biased about a particular issue. --- Review by Donnie Carroll in SRM 334 (section 1) The NFL recently passed several rule changes to take effect in the upcoming season. Most of which were necessary and improved the game, but the one that stirred up a lot of negative attention was the “crown of the helmet rule.” This rule states that a ballcarrier three or more yards downfield cannot initiate contact leading with the crown of his helmet. Many believe that the passing of this rule has to do with the former NFL player plaintiffs in the concussion related lawsuits toward the NFL not protecting the players enough.
Twitter absolutely blew up with outrage once this rule was passed, with former and current NFL players in opposition to the rule. All of this negative attention towards this rule caused fans to also express their opinions on the rule and believe that the NFL is taking the protection issue way too far. ESPN has conducted several interviews with players who oppose the new rule on Sportscenter. It seems as if both media and social media have accomplished associating a negative connotation with the new rule change. A few coaches and former players have stressed the “safety first,” aspect but not much positive attention has come with this new rule. If only negativity is coming from all angles of the media, the fans will react the same was as the players who are expressing their opinions through the different channels of media.
The media has a reputation for putting a negative spin on stories, but it seems a bit too much when regarding entertainment purposes being more important that players’ safety. It is evident that the fans will follow the players’ reactions but it does not help that the media is not giving an ample amount of coverage to the other side of the story.
From AL.com Review by Ethan Miller in SRM 334 (section 2) When I was graduating 8th grade, the only thing I had on my mind was what summer camp I was going to attend or how to avoid getting shoved in lockers my first day of high school. I was not at a stage in my life where I could make one of the biggest decisions of my life and choose where I would attend college. That’s why I believe that there should be an age limit on when college recruitment can begin. Dylan Moses is currently an 8th grade student, who next Fall will be attending University Lab High School, which happens to be 2 miles away from LSU’s football stadium. Moses has received scholarship offers from both Alabama and LSU, two bitter rivals, but has not signed a letter of intent for either. For now, he has only given a verbal commitment, which allows him to change his mind if he chooses later on.
This whole system is wrong. It is wrong to recruit an 8th grader. It’s wrong to put a 14 year old under that kind of pressure. It’s wrong to expose a child to the media scrutiny that Dylan Moses is now going to face. Moses is being forced to choose between the two best schools in the SEC. He’s going to be playing for a high school that is within walking distance to the LSU football stadium. Do you really think there won’t be any backlash if he chooses to play for Alabama? Do you really think that people in the community aren’t going to try to persuade him to choose one school over the other? Through their recruitment of Moses, these college programs have forced Moses under a microscope from the media that could change his life forever. One thing that increased media attention could bring would be more exposure for Moses and possibly lead him to getting more offers from other schools. If he has the proper support system that is able to help advise him amongst his newfound fame, then he will be able to benefit from the media exposure. However, it seems to rarely happen that way. The majority of the stories that we hear about are how kids’ lives are ruined because of the increased media coverage. Often, the kids turn into celebrities within their communities and it ends up ruining them as a person. 14 year olds aren’t supposed to supposed to be making the decisions that Dylan Moses is now forced to make, and I believe that the NCAA needs to step in to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.
Within college recruitment right now, early recruitment is a growing problem. I think that the NCAA needs to be proactive in facing this problem rather than being reactive as they normally are. The recruitment process is beginning earlier and earlier, but we need to make sure that these athletes are still able to have a childhood instead of being forced into the spotlight. The focus needs to remain on the well being of the athlete, rather than the well being of the universities. --- Review by Jonathan Parker in SRM 334 (section 2)
Dylan Moses is a 6 foot 1 inch, 215 pound eighth grader from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dylan plays both running back and linebacker in football. He was invited to the University of Alabama’s Junior Day, which is a day where Alabama offers scholarships to rising seniors in high school who were personally invited. Dylan met the whole coaching staff and personally sat down with Nick Saban, the head coach. Coach Saban informed Dylan and his parents that he would like to offer Dylan a scholarship to play football at the University of Alabama. He told Dylan and his parents that he could be the best player in the class of 2017 and that Alabama wanted to reach out. LSU had already reached out to Dylan earlier by offering him a scholarship, after attending LSU’s football camp for the last couple of years. Dylan will be attending University Lab High School, which is an ear shot away from the LSU stadium and where a recent signee to Alabama attended. This situation could lead to the media following this rising star from now to where ever his career might take him.
Sports Media and Communications should find something like this as an extraordinary opportunity for a story. There are not a lot of eighth graders, or really anyone, that get offers from two of the best football schools in the nation. I feel the media could make it or break it for Dylan because the media could start highlighting him and putting his name out to the nation to follow. This could lead to more scholarship offers for football from other universities. The media could also over hype Dylan, which could put more pressure on Dylan to perform. This could also make him play off his game which could lead to offers being taken away for bad performances. It is possible that it could force so much pressure that it might lead to a career ending injury and ruin Dylan’s plans for his future in football. The media might also ruin Dylan’s parents by the added pressure of being nationally recognized. This in turn could cause the parents to put even more pressure on Dylan to perform better. The parents might cause Dylan to burn out of football by sending him to too many camps and having him completely focused on football instead of life as a 14 year old. The pressures from the media could also affect Dylan’s parents by not allowing their son to participate in any other sports or events that might lead to an injury damaging any chances for other scholarships. Sports Media and Communications in sports are so important because they bring us stories about scholarship offers for sports about young rising stars.
This article is relevant to SRM 334 because it deals with an unusual eighth grader getting scholarship offers from two of the best football school in the country and some of the media attention it has drawn. Since it deals with how the media handles a story, there are certain ways the media could affect a person’s life. One way is that the media could just highlight the player with his play, awards, and his sports career, which could lead to more college offers of scholarships. The other way is that the media could ruin a young rising star by all of the publicity they would implement on this star. Young Dylan would receive and feel the added pressures that come with the territory. So again, this article is relevant for this course because we are not sure how the media will take this young man and shape the rest of his football career. Dylan Moses, a 14 year old just trying to live a normal life, will no longer. This would be due to the media putting the spot light on him at such a young age.
The topic we selected was the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The reason we selected this topic was because of the lack of media coverage, the incorrect way the media perceives, and the flaws of the WBC. We used numerous sources to cover our topic from all different angles. However, one of the main sources we utilized was the ESPN clip of the Canada versus Mexico brawl. This video offered great insight and inspiration for us to understand the issues amongst the media and the WBC.
There are numerous issues with the WBC and media. When it comes to the WBC itself we can begin with the scheduling. The WBC poorly decided to start the tournament during the NFL Free Agency frenzy and the hype of NCAA Basketball. With the WBC scheduling during the spectacle of NFL Free Agency this makes it extremely difficult for the WBC to gain any media coverage in the U.S. When football is the considered by many as the number one sport in the U.S. baseball must realize that the bulk of media coverage will be geared towards the NFL. To also schedule the WBC tournament around the same time that NCAA Basketball is at its height of popularity is also foolish. During that particular time frame with college basketball conference tournaments going on as well as March Madness it is pure stupidity to assume that the WBC will dominate in terms of media coverage over college basketball. Both events overshadow the WBC with ease. Other issues with the WBC are lack of U.S. baseball stars participating and that games are not televised on cable and only available if fans have the MLB Network channel. If the WBC wanted to improve its chances of receiving heightened media coverage they would have to develop some type of incentive or invoke desire for the top players to play. Many of the players on team USA are minor league prospects or lesser known major league players. If the WBC can make it attractive enough to appeal to the big name players that would drastically enhance the media coverage; because stars attract the eyes. The other issues, as mentioned before, are the games not being televised on cable. The true fans of baseball who would like to watch cannot watch the games unless they have the MLB Network. The WBC has to consider resolving that dilemma by allowing its “blue collar” fans the opportunity to watch the games. Treating the sports fans that way only damages its media coverage.
Now as far as the media and its coverage of the WBC the one flaw they have is summed up perfectly by Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci, “the media covers the WBC for what it is not, rather than for what it is.” This quote exemplifies exactly what is wrong with the media when it comes to covering the WBC. Many of the times the media only shows a brief two-minute highlight clip of a game or sometimes a ten second update of the scores. What also occurs quite frequently is the only time the media gives the WBC extended coverage is when something like the Canada and Mexico bawl takes place. So in order for the WBC to receive any in-depth coverage something rather than the game of baseball itself must occur, aka a brawl. Many were unaware that the WBC was taking place until sports media started discussing the WBC brawl. To relate it to Verducci’s point, WBC only gets mentioned for what it is not (fighting and brawl) rather than what it is, which is the game of baseball. There would not have been an issue with the media coverage of the bawl had the media been offering more in-depth analysis and coverage concerning the games itself. Other issue is whenever media covers the WBC with extended analysis they discuss all the flaws of the WBC, such as scheduling, MLB player participation, etc. The media hardly ever focuses on just the games and the players performances. It always seems to be negative coverage towards the WBC.
All the issues with both the WBC and the media the blame should be mostly blamed on the WBC. The poor decisions thus far have led to many of the WBC lack of media coverage. Why should the media want to cover a sport that does not even appear on television? On top of that why would the media prefer to cover an event that is not on television and is during two of the more popular events (Free Agency and College Basketball) during the same time frame? It does not make any sense for the media to invest their time and money for the WBC, when in reality the WBC can solve these issues by simply swallowing their pride. Baseball is a very prideful sport, it prides itself in its rich history and tradition; it is also handcuffed to it as well. You see the struggle with the MLB today in regards to instant replay. It has taking the MLB years to reach the point it has now with instant replay and yet the MLB still refuses to allow technological advancements to help solve human error which can cost a team a win or a loss. Baseball is so prideful and stubborn that it in the end it hurts the game more than it helps it; this is the same for the WBC. The WBC needs to look at itself and accept its flaws in order to safe itself. Stop blaming the media on this one because it is the WBC’s fault for its lack of media coverage.
This topic is relevant to the course because it shows the flaws on both ends of the spectrum. Yes, the media could do a better job at covering the WBC, but the WBC could do a hell of a lot more to make the media want to cover the WBC. This offers great insight for our course to see how sometimes the media is not the one to blame. Usually people blame the media and sometimes rightfully so, but there are times when it is not the media but the event/sport that is the main issue. This also shows our course what not to do when trying to have a sports tournament. It helps people realizes how important timing and scheduling can be in order to maximizes the tournaments media coverage. Sometimes it is about configuring to the media, because the majority of the time the media does not configure to you. --- Review by Brett Ireland in SRM 334 (section 1)
March 19, 2013 marked the completion of the third World Baseball Classic, crowning the Dominican Republic as world champions. This “tournament” involves 16 teams that represent their country where players may play for the team of the country they were born in, or are a citizen of, regardless of what professional league they play for. Japan has been crowned champions twice while the Dominicans recently became the new champions. Major League Baseball is considered the best and highest level of professional baseball in the world, yet the United States team has yet to place. This tournament happens every four years and has become “Baseball’s Olympics” and the Unites States has not been treating it as such or giving it the recognition in the media that it deserves.
Competing in the Olympics amongst the world’s best is considered a great honor for any individual. This tournament is considered the baseball segment of the Olympics and has showed great success worldwide including high popularity on Japan. The Unites States is not fielding a team that has the best players available. MVPs of recent years were left off the roster and fans and other players of and for the United States team don’t take pride in the team. This is a contributing factor to the lack of media support and coverage of the United States team. Solutions that will allow for better media coverage of the team include, forcing players to participate and changing the time of year the tournament is played. Fielding the best possible team will make the team more competitive and thus more enjoyable to watch. Also, the event takes place at a time when teams are putting together rosters and don’t want to risk their players health ultimately leading to teams prohibiting their players from participating. Changing the time this tournament takes place may allow for more players to join the team.
This is relevant to Sport Media because this presents an important sporting event not getting media coverage. Regular season baseball games are televised on a daily basis as are the Olympics. This is a world stage event that includes high profile players from many different teams and countries. It is considered an honor for some to represent their country and more important than regular season baseball. For the United States, however, many of the best players, including MVPs, elect not to participate and the tournament is not seen as a big deal to American citizens because the games are often not made available for the public to view or listen to.
