Deadspin.com Review 11/11

Hello,

In this weeks disussion post of an industry blogger I knew exactly who would fit this assignment, his name is A.J. Daulerio and he runs the blog site Deadspin.com. Prior to joining Deadspin full-time, A.J. has been around the sports industry for years and has written for several big name websites including staff writer for Philadelphia Magazine, Salon.com, Vice Magazine, The Huffington Post, and the New York Times. A.J. was the 2009 runner-up for the Mediaite's top online editor award. Mr. Daulerio has earned a huge cult following, and has showed why he is an opinion leader with his nack for breaking big stories first, speaking about controvesival topics that others ignore, and really pushing the boundaries on what a journalist should write about. 

When looking into the 5-step consumer decision-making concept, A.J. Daulerio displays several of these steps. When looking over new sports information, A.J. is constently posting new blogs and stories daily and even sometimes hourly. The readers that visit his site grow to need his blogs, and can easily recognize A.J.’s work for his over the top take on stories and hard-hitting dialogue. Non-sports people are fans, because of blogs titled like this- Mets Third Base Coach Does Not Like My Pants And Will Not Eat My Poop Sandwich. Stories like the one above have helped A.J. and Deadspin.com have over 1.7 million returning visitors each month. 

The biggest, baddest sports blog on the block. Since he’s been given the keys, he’s broken stories on Josh Hamilton’s momentary fall off the wagon, and famously emptied his inbox full of tips about the crazy sex stuff that may or may not happen at ESPN.

Journalistic ethics aside, the ESPN episode proved that Daulerio was not afraid to take on an entity that effectively controls the way we view sports. It also showed that Deadspin is more than just fights, boobs and athlete dong, but an important voice, that, if ignored, will totally put you on blast.

Branding 11/11

Branding 

     

The Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team that got started through MLB's expansion process back in 1993. In the Marlins short history they have managed to win the World Series twice in 1997 and 2003 as heavy underdogs. With one of the smallest annual payrolls every season, the Marlins seem to be always be in the competition of things and have managed several winning seasons. Since their inception the team had the same logo, uniforms, color schemes, and stadium. As part of the new ownership group trying to re-invent their baseball model they felt that the teams opening of their new ballpark and an increased mind set of actually spending money on the team would jumpstart their re-branding strategy. With the exception of having a fish in the logo (a marlin) they overhauled everything. First the name was changed from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins. Next the color scheme of teal, white, and grey in the logo were replaced with bright orange and yellow, sky blue, and deep charcoal and black highlights. The uniforms changed from dull basic color patterns of teal, white, and grey to bright red-orange, modern grey, and an all black design.   

I think that this re-branding will be very successful. Even though the franchise is young when compared to other franchises' in the league, the Marlins looked at this historic move to a new stadium as a chance to embrace the city and fans further. I think that having the name be the Florida Marlins was to vague and left some fans not knowing where the team actually played at. The name change to the Miami Marlins shows all of the viewers of the game exactly who is playing and develops that team's identity with the city better. The teams logo and name have an artsy feel to it and look to reflect Miami's hip scene and lush weather. The teams new symbol has mass appeal to it as fans young and old can appreciate a bright and fun logo and mindset. As more and more people flock to Florida for its great weather, and culture the efforts of Miami Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria will have a direct impact to the economy on a local and national level. I definitely can hardly wait for the new t-shirts to appear in the stores as I am buying one or maybe even two of the teams new trendy design. 

Here is the link to the Web site Under Consideration - Brand New:

<http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/like_marlin_out_of_water.php> 

Kyle Thompson 

Blogs & Consumers 11/11

Hello fellow classmates, 

In this weeks discussion post of blogs and consumer behavior I knew exactly who would fit this assignment, his name is A.J. Daulerio and he runs the blog site Deadspin.com. Prior to joining Deadspin full-time, A.J. has been around the sports industry for years and has written for several big name websites including staff writer for Philadelphia Magazine, Salon.com, Vice Magazine, The Huffington Post, and the New York Times. A.J. was the 2009 runner-up for the Mediaite's top online editor award. Mr. Daulerio has earned a huge cult following, and has showed why he is an opinion leader with his knack for breaking big stories first, speaking about controversial topics that others ignore, and really pushing the boundaries on what a journalist should write about. 

When looking into the 5-step consumer decision-making concept, A.J. Daulerio displays several of these steps. When looking over new sports information, A.J. is constantly posting new blogs and stories daily and even sometimes hourly. The readers that visit his site grow to need his blogs, and can easily recognize A.J.’s work for his over the top take on stories and hard-hitting dialogue. Non-sports people are fans, because of titles such as these two blogs- Mets Third Base Coach Does Not Like My Pants And Will Not Eat My Poop Sandwich and Why It’s Okay to Compare College Athletes to Slaves. Stories like those above have helped A.J. Daulerio to have an audience that according to his hit counter has over 1.7 million visitors for the month.  

Having such an extensive history with writing and working with different publications and websites has given A.J. the ability to endorse several products. It seems that most of the services he is trying to plug are allifated with Deadspin. Whether it is fellow sports blog sites or just a somewhat random site, A.J. provides most of his feedback in his blog about the entity-ESPN and their cover-ups and in-house hush, hush of matters related to their employee’s mistakes. A.J.’s opinions affect consumers when they are buying into what ESPN is trying to sell and shows light on what the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” is trying to hide. 

As the Marketing textbook states “Consumers’ products and service preferences are constantly changing”. This is probably the main reason to Dualerio’s success as he is always blogging about new and exciting material and can turn his attention to major sports topics faster than most bloggers can. Even though ESPN is a large property, small bloggers like A.J. are giving the big companies fits and might prove to hurt ESPN’s overall expansion plans in the future.

Check out one of A.J. Dualerio’s latest blogs that ran 11/23/11 in the Atlantic:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/09/why-its-okay-to-compare-college-athletes-to-slaves/245195/

Self Reflection as of 10/11

Hi, my name is Kyle Thompson. Three things that I have in common with Livia Montanez are music concerts, shy demeanor, and Thanksgiving. I enjoy going to music concerts and have been to Britney Spears, Presidents of America, Linkin Park, Katy Perry and many more. I am a very shy and quiet individual that takes a while to warm up to someone. When I do warm up finally I can be pretty talkative though. Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays, not only do you get time off from work during the week, you get to chow down on so much good food. 

Here is a little more about me and my life.

1. Born and Raised in the Pacific Northwest. Went to Centralia Community College for my Computer Science AA, but had to withdraw due to teacher falsely accusing myself of cheating on a paper. Loved the outdoors and sunshine even though ¾ of the year is cloudy and rainy. 

2. I love cooking and find it very relaxing. I am always coming up with new ideas. I am always watching the Rachael Ray show for ideas. She is the best cook out there.

3. Exercise is a vital part to my life. I enjoy taking my dogs to the Dog Park and love running errands just to get out of the house. 

4. I love palm trees and cacti. Even though I don’t see them up here, I always have a picture of two saved for my wallpaper on my computer. 

5. I have two Basset Hounds. Their names are Donald and Daisy. They are brother and sister and will turn 7 years old in January 2012. 

6. My Favorite television shows are: American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Picker Sisters, Dance Moms, Weeds, Breaking Bad, and Dogs 101. 

7. I love the movie series Friday the 13^th, and have watched all of the movies. 

8. Some of my favorite writers are in the sports world and are: John Clayton and Mike Sando.

9. My favorite bands are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, The Presidents of the United States of America, and Eminem. 

10. My real passion though is for video games. I love Bioshock, Bioshock 2, FarCry, FarCry 2, Wolfenstein, Mario Bros, Call of Duty, and just about any other first person shooter game out there. 

Remembering the Late Al Davis 10/11

On-Camera Lead-Ins - Sports Media 10/11

Week 2 Assignment #3: On-Camera Lead-Ins

Order of videos:

Feature Story- Jack Nicklaus wins his sixth Masters

Breaking News Story- Cal/Stanford 1982 game “The Play”

Game Highlights Story- Cal “Iron Man” Ripken Jr. consecutive games streak record

Commentary Story- McGuire/Sosa homerun race of 1998

Current News Story- Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis passes away

Following Scripts For Videos

• Feature Story – Jack Nicklaus wins sixth Masters 

Sunday  - April 4^th 1986

In tonight’s feature story Jack Nicklaus capped off his major championship career by recording his sixth Masters victory. Jack Nicklaus played some incredible golf posting a six-under par 30 on the back nine at Augusta for a final round of seven-under-par 65. Nicklaus played the final ten holes seven under par, with six birdies and an eagle. At age 46, Nicklaus became the oldest Masters winner in history, a record that will probably last for years to come. 

• Breaking News – Cal beats Stanford

Saturday, November 20th 1982  Cal/Stanford 

This is just in, out of Berkeley, California the California Golden Bears have just defeated the Stanford Cardinal 25-20.  Already being referred to as “The Play” Cal was down by one point, scoring a winning touchdown on a kickoff return that included five lateral passes.  What made this finish even more unexpected is that the Stanford Band came rushing onto the field before the finish thinking that they had won, only to watch a Cal player run thru them and score the deciding touchdown. 

• Game Highlights – Cal Ripken passes Lou Gehrig 

On today’s game highlights a record many deemed unbreakable was broken. On this Thursday September 6^th 1995 it will go down as the day Cal  “The Iron Man” Ripken Jr. surpassed New York Yankees Hall of Famer - Lou Gehrig’s 56-year-old record for consecutive games played. In front of a sold out crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Cal Ripken appeared on the line-up card against the California Angels for his 2,131st consecutive game. 

• Commentary- McGwire/Sosa v. Maris (1998) 

In tonight’s commentary I look back at the year that was McGwire & Sosa vs. Maris. Battling it out throughout the season, fans were caught up in a roller coaster ride of emotions of who could beat Maris’s 37-year-old record. St. Louis Cardinals Mark McGuire and Chicago Cubs Sammy Sosa went back and forth the entire 1998 season with both beating the mark of 61 in the beginning of September. Sosa finished the year with 66 and McGuire with 70 homeruns.

• Current Story - Oakland Raiders Al Davis Dies

I have some sad news to report. Al Davis, Hall of Fame owner of the Oakland Raiders, has passed at his Oakland home at the age of 82.  As one the most important figures in pro football history, Al Davis was huge in the development of the AFL, the merger with the NFL, and the success he built on the field with the Raiders. Al built a dynasty with the Raiders having won three Super Bowl titles  in a eight year span. Lets take a moment to remember the life of Al Davis. 

Here is the following links to my video:

From the Vimeo website-        http://vimeo.com/30288992 

My personal blog-                     http://kthompson2k11.wordpress.com 

Sports Media ABC's Silver Anniversary Wide World of Sports Video 10/11

Hello Classmates, 

Looking back at ABC's Silver Anniversary Wide World of Sports video, the sports world has changed dramatically. The amount of camera crews, news correspondence, and news stations has increased greatly. They way the nation watches every event and the reaction of those events has such a huge following throughout the nation. Having so many technical advances over the years has made it so the events on the television are captured in different angles and views, making the experiences sometimes better than that in real life. 

Many sports have maintained their value and appeal, with the following falling into that category; Car Racing, Olympics, Baseball, and Football. All of these sports have experienced huge audience gains and cult followings. Car Racing like Nascar, Indy Racing, and the Grand Prix have not only have had some of the largest crowds watching in the stands, the racing leagues have made the thrill of the chase very captivating week to week. Football went from probably being the third ranked sport (behind baseball, and basketball) to being the most watched and followed sports league today.  Even though the Olympic events are years apart and they have their preliminary events for qualifying spread out throughout the year, have turned TV. coverage on the Winter/Summer games into a larger than life event and spectacle. 

At the same time a few sports have had huge drop off in their appeal and value. Those sports are: Horse Racing, Cricket, and Boxing. Besides Horse Racings Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes) the sport has seen a lot of changes to their industry. The popularity outside those three races leaves a lot to be desired and has 10 1/2 months of lightly watched races and events to fill in fans for the year. Cricket still remains a minority sport in the United States, failing to gain a substantial following. Even after all the years. Cricket is on the edge of completely dissolving in the U.S. and was saved in 2008 by the West Indies Cricket Board and the ICC to continue playing the sport.  Boxing is another sport that has gone from one of the most covered and talked about events, to being an afterthought today. Whether you blame the MMA, UFC, and the likes for taking the Boxing world spectators, I believe it to be several reasons. Boxing has a water downed product with little exposure and poorly run owners and managers that are too money hungry. 

The different events that play out on the broadcast networks and cable networks have little effects to my viewing habits. Since I do not have access readily to a television, the choices are made for me with what is on the local broadcast stations channels. If I had to decide between the two, I would have to go with the broadcast networks every time and watch the local areas sports teams instead of the national games of the week that is predominantly on the east coast. In the big picture of things, as long as there is some sort of sporting event on the television, I will be tuned in and be watching intently even if it’s the Yankees/Red Sox, Celtics/Knicks, or Redskins/Eagles. 

Here is a website that I found that had an interesting take on the Boxing world's demise. 

http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles/11985-boxing-not-mma-is-why-fewer-care-about-boxing