NBA Players Turn Reporters…

When many people think of NBA players a lot of times it is associated with how much money that player makes or how good (or bad) that player plays on the floor. But what if we dug deeper and talked about how skillful of a writer a player is or how interesting his blog was? For many of the general public, they wouldn’t even think that at NBA player has the time or the skill to write an award winning blog. Well if you do think that you are wrong.

Gilbert Arenas is a point guard who plays for the NBA’s Washington Wizards. Many people know him for his skills on the court but off the court he is the winner of the 2007 Weblog Award Winner for the Best Celebrity Blog. His blogs are also referenced sometimes in sports media outlets such as ESPN simply because of the interesting opinions he puts in his blogs and the inside news he reports on.

What does Gilbert Arenas write about? Surprisingly it isn’t all about basketball. His most recent post has him talking about the fact that his girlfriend has just proposed to him. He describes his feelings about it and even posts pictures of the event. 14 people have commented on it so far and I’m sure many others will as his blog totals in over 2,000 comments.

Even though many will say that this is the best blog in the NBA, there are other players that have their own blogs too. These blogs also cover a wide range of topics and give the reader and inside look at their favorite players and their favorite teams. It just goes to show you that NBA players aren’t just good at playing basketball and making tons of money. They have other skills as well.

The Media Vs. The Leagues: Who Has The Best Coverage?

Over the weekend, in my graduate class, we had a guest speaker from Media General (Company that owns a lot of newspapers from the Richmond Times-Dispatch to newspapers in Tampa, FL.) who said that it is getting hard for sports journalists to gain access to many sports events because of the restrictions that the professional leagues are putting on them. He said that the leagues want to have their own coverage (NFL.com and NBA.com are two examples of leagues who do this) and don't want other sports media outlets to get more coverage than they do. This leaves the other sports media outlets digging deeper and starting to cover more high school and college sports. ESPN is a perfect example of this as they even have a website dedicated to high school athletes.

With all this being said, it made me wonder, who really has the best coverage and who deserves it?

Well lets begin with the sports media. Before leagues like the NBA and the NFL had their own media, companies like ESPN and Fox Sports have been doing a good job covering them, in my opinion. ESPN seems to be the more popular because of the fact that even athletes talk about getting on Sportscenter's highlights reel. In my opinion, their shows are more entertaining and that may be because they have been around longer. I feel that without media like this the NBA and the NFL may of not received the publicity and the popularity that it enjoys today.

However, with the leagues I understand why they would want to branch out and have their own outlets to provide their news. It is a lot of money to be made and I assume that they feel that it is an opportunity to make more money. However, I don't feel that it is right, if they are in fact doing this, to push for more restrictions on newspaper writers and other media outlet writers so that their own writers and reporters can gain that inside edge. The NFL, NBA and I think the NHL all have their own networks but customers have to pay for it whereas ESPN and Fox networks come for free on most cable network lineups. This makes it more easier for fans to get their news from them than it is to get their news from the league networks.

Overall, I think the leagues should just make access equal. The leagues have no need to get into the media field, in my opinion, because ESPN is so much more popular and more available to customers than the leagues media outlets are. As for the local newspaper writers and reporters, I feel that they shouldn't be shut out either because when you think about it, they are even more available and provide that local feel to readers more than the league's media does. But will the league do this? I doubt it because like it is most of the time in the business world, if their is money to be made then that company will push hard to make it. Even if they have to shut others out to do so.

The Early Bird Gets The Worm...

I'm sure many sports fans know that in order to bring in new talent to college sports teams, the college must have their scouts search for talent at high schools across the nation. What may be overlooked is how much effort is put into recruiting and scouting talent and that this process involves a lot of multimedia tools that they are able to use to make better decisions. There are many sports recruiting websites that provide videos, slideshows and articles on every top high school prospect in the nation. Two of the best websites, in terms of high school football recruiting, are Rivals.com and Scouts.com. They have high school footage on some of the best high school football talent in the nation. Most of which will play pro football some day. Here is a video of one of them who did just that:



I find this amazing that reporters for these website produce this much content on high school athletes. I think that this proves that online sports journalism can prove to be more than just informative to sports fans. It can also be helpful to colleges and professional sports teams. I also think that it is cool that they cover high school teams and rank them according to how well they think they play in their leagues. Another thing that I think is interesting is that they just don't limit themselves to just covering the top prospects in the nation. They also cover high school athletes that are in every state.

Overall, like I said earlier, I think that this proves that there are more people that are interested in coverage like this outside of just sports fans. Colleges put scholarship dollars and invest a lot of time to make correct decisions that will help their athletic programs. Websites like these that provide these multimedia resources help them make the right decisions.

Speaking of Podcasts...

Until this past weekend, I was among the people who didn't even know what a podcast was. I mean I saw the links on ESPN.com's homepage but I didn't know what they were.

Not only do I know what podcasts are know but I also realize that these can be entertaining and useful tools to the sports media. Once you go to ESPN.com and then go to its ESPN radio section you will find links to live radio shows and podcasts where you can subscribe to your favorite radio and television shows and put them on your IPod's or your phones. Here is a video on how easy it is to access it from your phone:


In my opinion, I think this should and will replace sports radio broadcasts on clock radios and other home stereos systems in the future. I feel that the days of you and your family sitting around the radio and listening to a sports game are over. With media now trying to be accessible to everything that is portable and bigger (in terms of HD TVs) the sports media world will soon have no use for home radio equipment. If they you can listen to radio on in your car and in your mp3 players, who needs a home radio or stereo? And if you miss a show you can podcasts such as the Mike and Mike Show in the ESPN Podcast section has links to every show that they did three months prior to the most recent one.

Now that I know what podcasts are I plan on using these to catch up on the sports shows that I miss and listen to the radio shows I can listen too due to frequency issues. I wish I would've found out about this sooner...

My Podcast...

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EA Sports...Its In The Game (Even The Sports Media)

In August, the biggest sports game of the summer hit the market, EA Sports' Madden 09. For those who are not familiar with this game it is one of the most anticipated football sports games every year and the only professional (NFL) football game available since EA Sport's has exclusive rights to make the game. However, One thing that people may not know is how involved this game is with the sports media, particularly ESPN.

In 2005, EA Sports announced that it bought the rights to ESPN which means that they are able to use ESPN's online media (such as videos and articles) in their games. This gives the customer the ability to see and hear breaking news, highlights and read sports articles that ESPN provides online through the game.

But the game doesn't limit itself to just ESPN. One of the new additions to this game is that they have brought back commentators who speak on the games that users play. One of these commentators used to be on HBO's NFL Show. This has brought an element to the game that a lot of fans are enjoying.

Madden 09 not only involves the sports media but is also a topic that sports shows talk about. There is something that has got the sports reporters talking every time this game is releases news on the who the athlete on the cover will be called the "Madden Curse". The "Madden Curse" is said to be a curse that is placed on the athlete who graces the cover of this game every year. In some eerie way, whoever is on the cover of this game has something bad happen to them. They may get seriously injured in the following season or they may play horribly. This myth is something that is tied to this game and is talked about by many popular shows such as Around the Horn on ESPN.

Madden may be the most popular sports game but isn't EA Sport's only game that involves the sports media. Many other games on its line-up such as NBA Live 09 and NHL 09 do a good job of this also. This proves that customers may have a new outlet in gaining sports news other than online, television, and print.

More Fan Participation = More Popularity...

In my opinion, no one incorporates and involves fans opinions and views more than ESPN. They do so much to involve the fans in everything that they do, online and on television, that it is no wonder why they are the largest and most popular sports media outlet in the nation.

Everyone of their articles online has a comments page or a forum in which fans can respond to and some of the posts is more entertaining than what the article talks about. For example, it was funny to me to read the many things football fans has to say in regards to the Brett Favre issue. There were some who hated the idea of Bret Favre wanted to come back, some wanted Favre to come back to their team, and others wanted Farve to return to the Green Bay Packers.

Aside from providing the opportunity for fans to respond to ESPN articles, the network also gives fans a chance to have their voices heard on television, or at least their questions read. For example, on one of the network's shows called College Football Live, they give a college football fan the opportunity to send in a video of themselves talking about how much they love their team. They select the best and most enthusiastic one and airs it on their upcoming show.

To take it a step further, online they have a place where fans can customize their own ESPN.com home page which will be tailored to the things that the person likes or wants to see and read. You can also create your own profile which will allow you to join conversations, send writers comments, plus a number of other things that you can get involved it.

Even though all of this is probably more than any other sports network will allow fans to do this is still not all ESPN provides. Recently they created a tournament in which allowed fans to submit videos of their town and reasons as to why it should given the title of "Titletown USA." In order to be "Titletown USA" your town will have to symbolize what it means to be called this by showing how many championships your town has won, how enthusiastic your sports fans are, and how strong of a winning tradition you have. The contest was then narrowed down to 20 finalists and they were to be voted upon by other sports fans. The town with the most votes won the title and surprizingly it wasn't a big city that won. It was a small city in Georgia who didn't even have a professional team but won over 100 high school championships.



Being that ESPN is the number 1 sports network in the nation it is safe to assume that one of the major reason why this is so is because of the opportunity that this network gives to fans to participate in anything ESPN does. Whether its television or online ESPN makes sure that they make fans feel important. And thats the way it should be.