Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Super Bowl Media Day

It happens every Tuesday before the Super Bowl. Thousands of media outlets from all over the world congregate on the gridiron to ask every question under the sun. It's called Media Day at the Super Bowl, or for Bill Belchick "The Worst Day of the Year." Every player from each of the two teams is asked a barrage of questions, some having to do with football others not. For example Coach Belichick was asked what he eats late at night during film sessions? To which he replied, "Anything with salt." Tom Brady was asked by a female reporter, "Would she marry him?" (Watch it here). Media Day does nothing more than provoke controversy and let us hear the answers to the same questions that have been asked all year. But with sites like Espn360.com streaming the video live, Media Day has taken on a whole new audience. It used to be that people would only hear about what was said at Media Day after they returned home from work or school, now with live video on all the time, people can pick it up instantly. If a player says something memorable or even worse, something terrible, a lot of people see it live. For those that don't, well I am sure that people that did will post the video on the internet shortly after the moment occurs. Media Day now becomes a huge deal to the players because instead of just being watched by the couple hundred or thousand reporters at any one given time, they can be watched by millions. Welcome to the Super Bowl in the 21st century. Enjoy.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Stub Hub

Before the rise of Stub Hub.com and Ebay, the only way to get tickets sometimes was illegally from a scalper. Now that these two sites have completely revolutionized the industry, tickets are being resold for every event on the planet. A few years ago the only way to go to the Super Bowl was to a) be really lucky b) work for a really rich company that was trying to impress people or c) win a contest on a sports radio show. Now if you want to fork over the money, (tickets start in the high $2000 range) you will be guaranteed a ticket. There is no having to listen to the same sports reporter talk in monotone about the same thing in the two weeks leading up to 42, instead you can be planning your itinerary in Glendale. Even though the tickets aren't cheap, it's the guarantee that's most impressive. StubHub has a policy that your tickets will arrive on time and if they don't they will buy them. All vendors in StubHub need to be approved and if you get a faulty ticket, StubHub will get you real ones. The Internet has revolutionized the news, entertainment, sports and now tickets. Enjoy.

Tom Brady: Does Anyone believe you are hurt?

For the last week and a half we have been hearing about Brady's walking cast. (Footage here. )
The former Super Bowl MVP was thought to have hurt his ankle in the second quarter against the Chargers. The footage that first aired on TMZ, and was picked up by pretty much everybody, shortly afterwards, which then made it a big deal about how he was hurt and how it would effect his status on Super Sunday. Let's get this straight, we are talking about Tom Brady here, a quarterback who defines winning He is playing in what could be the biggest Super Bowl ever, his team is undefeated, and if they win they could be called the greatest team that ever played the game. Do you really think he's hurt? Do you really think this is a big deal? It's not. Maybe if this was the regular season or maybe if he wasn't seen the very next day in wingtips (here). Let this injury go, he's fine, the only reason we are talking about this, is because there are two agonizing weeks between the conference championships and the Super Bowl.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Roger Clemens who are you trying to fool?

Arguebly one of the top three gretist right handed pitchers of all time was fingered in the Mitchell Report. We all know this by now. He has leveled a lawsuit against former trainer Brian McNamee, saying that his accusations in the report were false. How is he going to clear his name when it appears so many times in the report. (View it here). Clemens tried to claim his innocence by holding a press conference and playing a taped phone call in which Clemens was clearly trying to lead McNamee. (Hear the call here). Does Roger Clemens think the American people are going to buy the fact that he didn't take steroids or HGH? Does he really think that the taped phone call would convince us, that he was innocent? Clemens needs to buck up and face the music, I am a Yankee fan, and a Roger Clemens fan too, so it is hard for me to say he cheated, but if you look at the evidence it clearly points to that. Clemens has bulked up significantly throughout his career, specifically since 1998, when McNamee said he first injected Clemens. If his training partner Andy Pettitte can admit he did it, why can't the Rocket do the same. He will look a lot better than when he goes to Congress and either lies and commits perjury or tells the truth we all know. I know you are supposed to believe innocent until proven guilty, but with the state of baseball and the amount of evidence against him, how is he going to prove us otherwise?

One Crazy Saturday

It's January now and college basketball is in full swing. Last Saturday was one of the reasons you watch, a bunch of kids play the game. The number one team in all the land, North Carolina fell to rival Maryland on Tobacco Road. It was a back and forth contest the entire 40 minutes but Maryland pulled away with the 82-80 victory. Psycho T, a.k.a. Tyler Hansbrough had 17 points and 14 rebounds, but that was not enough as Maryland upset a team who could be cutting down the nets in San Antonio. Maryland was led by James Gist who had 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Terrapins weren't the only upset win of the day, as Southern California shocked U.C.L.A. Just like U.N.C., the number four Bruins fell at home. The Trojans were led by the "other freshman" Devon Jefferson who had 25 points and 9 rebounds. The most celebrated freshman O.J. Mayo scored 16 points in the biggest win so far of his college career. Kevin Love, of U.C.L.A. who has been called the second best freshman in the game, had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mayo and Love hugged after the game, in what will certainly not be the last of these two's meetings on any level. In other games The Ohio State University (unranked) nearly pulled the upset of the number 9 Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. Tennessee was knocked out of the Big Dance by the Buckeyes last year so it was nice for them to get revenge and bump up to the number 5 team in the country. Number 15 and 16, Mississippi and Pittsburgh respectively, were upset by conference rivals Auburn and Cincinnati. If this Saturday was any indication of how this season is going to look, we are all in for a treat.  

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Welcome to my blog. I am senior at Northeastern University in Boston, finishing up school and getting ready to face the world. This blog is going to be about the exciting, fast paced world of sports with a focus in how new media is changing the game. Everything from college recruiting to instant replay, to injury reports and text messages, and how they are all shaping the game for the better or sometimes worse. Enjoy.