Importance of Sport Communication

Sports communication has seen a fast movement over the past couple decades.  It has moved even faster this past decade as the advancement of technology has increased with iPads, smartphones, and other technical gadgets.  Players themselves have their own individual way to get their opinion out to fans while using social media outlets like twitter and Facebook.  This has been an important part of the advancement of sport communication as anyone has the capability of following any professional athlete who has their own account.  While watching ESPN or any other network during the sports section they talk about what an athlete has said about a certain topic.  A recent tweet on Twitter has caused an interesting topic to talk about as LeBron James made a comment that suggested that he would possibly join the NFL if the NBA continued the lockout.

While the Yankees have the YES network and the Braves have TBS, other teams or conferences are starting the trend of using their own networks.  One of them is The Big Ten Network that shows games and other sports shows dealing with the Big Ten Conference.  In the past couple of years the University of Texas has been in the talk in starting their own network that would show various games and shows dealing with the Texas Longhorns teams.  This is a good way for teams to build their fan base as they would be able to reach a wide fan base.  It brings media attention to the team or conference and it can also be used as a recruiting tool as student-athletes want to play on television in some aspect.  In the next few years we may see more professional teams branching out and starting their own networks as media is becoming an important part for how a team broadcast their information.  ESPN has started a few websites that are based on the geographic locations of various teams as they have ESPN New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and some other networks.  These ESPN sites allow fans to follow their teams closely has the focus are on the teams within that remote region. 

Players are using television and other media outlets to promote their own brands or their opinions on various matters.  Most sports fans will remember LeBron James choice of using television to promote his “Decision” during last year’s off season.  Various magazines and commercials have a wide array of athletes promoting some sort of product.  Troy Polamalu commercials with head and shoulders, Kobe Bryant have his own brand similar to LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and other professional athletes.  Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco had a reality television show consisting of their own daily lives and this is only beginning for professional athletes letting fans know what they do on a daily basis. Before too long sports athletes may develop their own media networks that will give fans access to them nearly 24/7.  Sports communication will continue to grow as the popularity of sports grows with technology.

References:  Rein, I., Kotler, P., & Shields, B.  (2006). The future of sports media.  The Futurist, 41(1), 40-43.  Retrieved from http://www.theelusive fan.com/Fut.pdf

Why Coshocton, Ohio needs a skate park.

With the increase of popularity with skateboarding and the X Games, young adults have become more involved with extreme sports.  The traditional sports world has taken a popularity hit as younger generations are more involved with more individual extreme sports compared to the traditional team sports.  These sports give younger generations the opportunity to show their individual skills.  Some of these athletes do not like the structure of team sports as they feel restricted and they do not fit their personalities.  With extreme sports those athletes can develop their own style and technique that makes it theirs.  While in high school I was more involved with the traditional sports of football, baseball, and basketball.  As I had friends who were involved with skateboarding, I myself did not have the capability to stay on the board long enough to do anything.  They made the sport look easy, however when it came to me and some of my fellow teammates we did not have the coordination or experience on a skateboard and it clearly showed.  It was interesting to learn and see as it was a different type of community and the terminology skateboarders used was different from what my fellow football teammates had.  Years later I still respect the sport of skateboarding and I am still amazed by the tricks that are done during the X Games and other competitions.

While in high school I remember various businesses in the community putting up signs that skateboarders were not allowed in their parking lot.  This became part of the problem in Coshocton as the sport was continuing to grow and skateboarders had no real place to skateboard except to use the city itself.  The community seemed to have a difficulty accepting the increased popularity of skateboarding, as the city put in a recreational center for traditional sports.  If skateboarders in the community wanted to go to a skate park they would have to drive up to two hours to make it to one.  Evolution Skatepark is a bigger type skate park and those living in Coshocton would have to drive around an hour and a half to two hours to go.  Other stake parks within two hours were located in Zanesville, New Philadelphia, and Johnstown.  Right now some members of the community are trying to raise money to build their own skate park with the helpf for the Tony Hawk Foundation they could meet their goals even faster.  The problem with this is with the even younger individuals who are unable to drive; it limits their capability for improving their skateboarding talents as they may not get any outside help from those who are involved with the sport.  This sport is truly a community as everyone I have ever met who does skateboard has an understanding with each other and they are always intrigued by the individuality of the sport. 

Coshocton, Ohio would benefit from the Tony Hawk Foundation Skateboard Grant as the city is a low income community compared with the averages of Ohio.  Coshocton has an annual household salary of $31,500 while the Ohio average is $45,395 (Coshocton, 2011).  The Tony Hawk Foundation in their mission statement explains how they are there to help low-income communities and this is something Coshocton should be considered.  Many of the mom and pop stores and restaurants are being closed down due to large corporations such as Wal-Mart, Tim Hortons, CVS, and a variety of other larger corporations.  This is a steel factory community that has had difficulties going through the recession that the United States is currently going through.  Many families have left the community for jobs as they can no longer support their families due to the layoffs that have happened due to factories cutting back.  The unemployment rate in Coshocton, Ohio as of March 2011 was 11%, while the state of Ohio was 9% (Coshocton, 2011).  Coshocton has a lot potential for places as this could be placed Lincoln Elementary school.  This would be an ideal location as it is near the center of town and is easy to locate.  There is a few local churches, the police station, schools, and other community businesses around that location.  Putting the skate park in a clean and safe part of town would be beneficial to build awareness and help with keeping kids off the streets. 

References:  Coshocton, Ohio. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/city/Coshocton-Ohio.html

A little too late!!!!!!

On Sunday, October 9, 2011 the San Diego Chargers pulled off a victory that they earned.  While sitting at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, from the start of the game it looked like San Diego was going to run away with an easy win.  This game had a lot on the line as the Chargers have started the season with 3 wins and 1 loss, while their divisional counterparts the Denver Broncos have started off slow with only 1 win and 3 losses.  The Broncos needed to win this game to stay within a few games to be tops as divisional leaders.

From the start of the game it was a back and forth battle between the two divisions rivals.  As the Chargers jumped on top with a field goal by Nick Novak, the Broncos answered back with a touchdown drive which gave them the lead in the first quarter.  The Chargers kicked another field goal towards the end of the first quarter leaving the score at the end of the first quarter with the Broncos on top 7 to 6.  The second quarter is where things started to get away from the Denver Broncos as they led off the second quarter with a field goal, after that the Chargers started connecting and moving down the field with ease.  Philip Rivers led drives of 80 and 54 yards and Nick Novak kicked a field goal.  This gave the Chargers a big lead going into halftime as they put up 17 unanswered points.

Right before half-time fans starting cheering for Tim Tebow to replace starting quarterback Kyle Orton, has he was unable to get the offense going.  Tebow came out after half and took the rest of the snaps for the Broncos.  The crowd went crazy once they saw Tebow entering the game.  Tebow seemed to give the offense a little momentum when he was playing as the Broncos started to move the ball more efficiently across the field.  Each team however was unable to put any points up on the board during the third quarter.  The fourth quarter seemed to look like it was going to be the same as the third as both teams seemed to get some decent drives however, could not put anything together to put some points on the board.  Then the Chargers were able to change things as Chargers kicker Nick Novak connected on a 51 yard field goal putting the Chargers up 26 to 10.  With the game starting to look as it was getting out of reach for the Broncos, Tebow was able to lead his team down for two touchdowns making it a game again.  It looked as though Tebow could bring back the Broncos from being down 16 to possibly pulling out a victory over their division rival.  As the game now was only separated by less than a field goal the Chargers added a few extra points onto the board as they were able to kick a field goal forcing the Broncos to score a touchdown on their next drive to possibly pull out a win.  Tebow and the rest of the Broncos offense were unable to do so as the clock ticked down the Chargers came out winning against the Broncos 29 to 24.  Even though the Broncos lost the game fans were cheering Tim Tebow as each team walked off the field.  Head coach John Fox has a lot to think about over these next two weeks to see who he will be putting in as his starting quarterback.