The Masters New Technology

With the 72nd Masters wrapping up for Augusta, GA yesterday, we got to see first hand the new technology that was available for the first time at a Major. CBS Sports had several new tools to bring fans closer to the action and to understand what is really happening in the game. First of all the Masters was available on three screens, (for AT&T Wireless subscribers only). The screens were the television, the computer and your cellphone. This technology is advancing by the minute, so the picture quality is getting better and better. This was available last year but it had several kinks, such as slow load time, freezing and unclear picture quality. This year however the reviews have been mostly positive, which is a step in the right direction. CBS also launched the 3-D course views, which was unbelievable. Anywhere a player was on the course, CBS could show you the exact geographical situations the player would be facing. You got to see how the lie was, what they had to watch out for, the hills, runoffs and the like. It really gave you a first hand look at just how hard Augusta National really is and why the low scores have been declining over the years. It used to be when they said that the player had to hit it up 30 degrees, you just had to take the commentators words for it. Now you actually got to see what 30 degrees was and how the player would have to strike the ball to play the shot properly. The best views that came from the 3-D animation were when a player was stuck in the trees or rough, and to play the ball past some obstacles. As the viewer only certain angles are provided for you by television, so you basically had to guess what they were going to do. Now the 3-D showed how high they had to hit, what they had to play the ball around and how they had to do it. CBS also unveiled shot tracker for certain tee shots. This was great because on certain dog legs at Augusta you really have to fade or draw the ball or else you would find yourself in some real trouble. Shot tracker allowed the viewer to follow the path of the ball in slow motion so that you could see how the players struck it with his club, to do what the ball did. It was interesting to see how high the players shoot the ball and how much a fraction of an inch really matters. For the first year ESPN, covered the afternoon rounds of Day One and Two at Augusta. What ESPN did very well was they set up live views from Amen Corner and Scott Van Pelt even did a podcast recapping the days highlights. The Masters is one of, if not the, pristine tournament of the year and technology allowed coverage like no other. Finally, the best part of Masters coverage has been the same for years, just allowing a few sponsors to shell out an insane amount of money so that there were hardly any commercials. More sporting events should follow this premise.

SportsCenter Minute

Da-Na Da-Na. Sportscenter, one of the greatest shows ever to grace the airwaves just got better. To compete with themselves SC launched the SportsCenter Minute. A sixty second rundown of everything currently going on in sports every hour on the hour. ESPN plays it on both the website and the television station. No more waiting for the Internet or 11:00, you can get current information now. Don’t have ESPNNews? No problem, the video saves online for the hour until the next one launches. It’s a little annoying to watch the same Aflac ad all day (I hate that duck, but he saves me money) but you get filled in with the most current information available. If you don’t like to read this is Heaven for you because all you have to do is watch. (Now if they can only get Erin Andrews to do the SportsCenter Minute, that would be an idea). The SportsCenter Minute works very well because it is everything Americans like, it’s quick, fast and it’s about sports. Kudos to whoever invented it.

MLB.TV

In my opinion one of the greatest inventions in sports history is MLB.TV. There is nothing better then sitting back on a summer evening enjoying a cold beer, a nice sandwich and watching your favorite team play America’s National Pastime. I myself am a Yankee fan and I live in enemy territory, Boston. So I don’t get to see the greatest sports franchise under the sun play. But now with MLB.TV I get to watch every game my beloved pinstripes play. Whether they are in Toronto battling Roy Halladay and the Big Hurt, or they are in Oakland battling the Pathetics, I can see them play. It is very interesting to see advertising from around the nation, (people from the west buy some stupid stuff). For those of you unfamiliar with MLB.TV here’s how it works. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. You plug in, log on and you get streaming video of the game. It’s a little behind but MLB.com promises that this year will be better. Last year they added a mosaic feature, which lets you watch six games at once. SIX GAMES AT ONCE! It highlights your favorite teams and you can have it send alerts when something is happening in your game. One of the things that I enjoy most is the fact that you hear commentary from around the nation, and the way some people these days can call games is like a 21st century Jack Buck. (For the record nobody will ever be Jack Buck). MLB.TV is one of the greatest technological advances to ever happen to the sports world and it’s getting better as we speak.

NASCAR in Car

The fastest growing sport in America has another way for you to enjoy it. They put you in the car, in the pits and hearing the radio. Well not literally of course. I am talking about DirecTV’s NASCAR in Car, a service available with their very popular NASCAR package. Hear Junior curse at his car, watch Tony Eury Jr. call the number 88s shots and see super owner Rick Hendrick huff and puff up and down pit road coaching his drivers and hoping to pull away with another cup win. This service has boosted DirecTV’s sales tremendously and is one of the most improved aspects of covering sports in history. For those who find NASCAR boring and think it’s cars driving in a circle, this is a new aspect that can bring them in. For the die-hard car fans it brings them one step closer to the oval.

New Uniforms

When uniforms in all sports started they were pretty much heavy, bulky, rough pieces of wool crudely sewn together. Now uniforms are just as technical as the equipment covering the sports. Light fabrics that wick away sweat to make you lighter, skin tight material that keeps you warm and your barely wearing anything at all. Uniform sponsorships in all the major sports lead to newer and newer technology and better competition between companies. Currently Reebok makes uniforms for both the N.F.L. and the N.H.L. Adidas, primarily a soccer company has expanded their sports repertoire by branching out and sponsoring the N.B.A. Majestic has won a fierce battle with Reebok and Nike to sponsor M.L.B. But just because one company has won the sponsorship of a sport doesn’t mean they own it forever. NFL Equipment, made by Reebok, held a monopoly over all uniforms, gloves and arm protection worn in football. This year however, the juggernaut that is Nike slipped in and was allowed to make gloves for the players they sponsored. Paul Lukas columnist for ESPN’s Page Two, writes a weekly column called Uni Watch, wear he points out idiosyncrasies in the uniforms and writes about the new technology taking place in them. (His site can be viewed here). Reebok developed streamlined uniforms for the N.H.L. that make the players more aerodynamic and give them less weight to have to carry around. Technology contributes to all aspects of sports, to the way there covered, to the things the athletes wear, and it will change over and over again.

Technology that has failed in sports.

For years sports have experimented with technology, some of which has succeeded and some that have failed. Cameras mounted on layers, officials and every possible angle on the playing surface. ESPNNEWS, Fox Sports Channel and the NFL Network have all had success bringing constant streaming sports news to cable television. But not all ideas have worked. Ideas like the NHL’s glow puck and the synthetic leather ball in the NBA. Ideas that were made to change and revolutionize their respective sports were met with extreme criticism. The glow puck which was showcased by Fox during the 1995-96 and briefly the 96-97 seasons was supposed to make non hockey fans enjoy the sport because too many complained they couldn’t follow the speeding vulcanized rubber disc. The concept was great on paper but its concept failed because frankly, it made you dizzy watching the game. You tried to watch the colored disc but after a few seconds you felt like you were going to lose your lunch. Fox also added a comet tail feature for shots that went over 75 M.P.H., this failed too because it was always to far behind the puck, and followed the puck for too long. The N.B.A experimented with a synthetic leather ball in the 06-07 season but it was quickly shot down. Conspiracy theories surround the rock, that it was P.E.TA. Who was behind the change (no theories have been proven). The ball slipped out of players hands, felt tacky and playmakers complained they couldn’t perform some of the moves that made them all-stars with it. Steve Nash and Agent Zero, Gilbert Arenas were two such players. Technology and sports always go hand in hand, but sometimes like the examples above, they fail.

9 neighbors

9 neighbors is a website dedicated to the people who live in and around the hub. It is site that is devoted to bringing up to date information on the news around Boston. Everything from traffic and train schedules, to pot hole maps and current Red Sox information. This site has it all. 9 Neighbors is journalism because well it covers the news, has an audience and because it's truthful information. Sometimes there is an opinion or two, but mainly it is truthful information. 9 Neighbors is not journalism because it is unregulated, it is hard to verify all the facts on it (if they are facts at all), and most would argue since it just takes links from other sites and does very little of its own reporting it isn't really journalism. However I would need to argue that even though most of the information is provided by other sources and links, somebody has to find it and compile it, so that makes it journalism. There is a role for professional journalists everywhere so their is definitely one on 9 Neighbors. A professional journalist could do some original reporting, they could help fact check and they could help better the reputation of the site by being a part of it. Mainstream sites should definitely use sites like 9 Neighbors because since it's citizen journalism, the citizens are going to read it. This helps their readership and it makes them feel more at home with citizens and less like the big media machine that a lot of sites and news organizations are viewed as. I think that 9 Neighbors pulls of the citizen journalism part of their site very well. However I think they need to add more meat to their reporting, all it is, is a few sentences explaining the link. They should put some more into their blurbs. All in all I think 9 Neighbors is a very good site.