The Future of Sport Communication

Throughout the course, we have seen the extensive strides and growth that have occurred in sports media and communication.  We started out with having no coverage of sports at all.  Then there were the developments of the radio and newspaper.  Then television came along and completely changed the way sports were covered.  With the developments of the radio, newspaper, and television, a career in sports media became more apparent and important.  Once we thought that sports coverage had reached its peak with cable television, the Internet was founded and once again completely changed the coverage and media outlets for sports.  Will it stop there?  Doubt it.

Stemming from the Internet, there have been new ways for teams, leagues, players, and coaches to connect to the outside world and their fans.  Twitter and other social networks as allowed for the insiders (players, coaches, etc.) to relay their message to the outsiders (fans, media, etc.).  This allows for sports fans to feel a sense of intimacy with their favorite athletes and teams.  On the other side, the players get to make sure their message gets out the way that they want it.  They don’t have to worry about a news reporter misconstruing their words and relaying the wrong message.  Therefore, in the future, I can see the internet being used to conduct interviews or conferences of coaches and players.  I can also see it as a device for players and teams to be able to relay messages to the world.  The internet will continue to grow and I believe be the main source of sports coverage.  This is a way for fans to get information inexpensively and can avoid sitting through commercials and interruptions.  The Internet will continue to grow and build in the infrastructure of streaming live videos.      

Technology alone will continue to grow in the sports industry and the way sport is covered.  In the next few years, we will no longer see sports reporters and journalists carrying about pen and paper.  The pen and paper will dissolve in the sports communication careers and profession.  It will all be done with technology devices.  We have already seen the growth of technology devices finding their way to sports communication.  It has been seen as quicker, more reliable, and efficient in many ways.  Reporters and journalists will practically be able to have their stories written before they even leave the event.  

Even though the Internet has and I believe will become the number one source for fans to catch highlights, news, and information regarding certain sporting events and news, the television will still be a major outlet for sport communication.  Leagues and teams will continue to look into developing and managing their own media companies.  For example, the aspects and characteristics of a network like the NFL network will continue to be seen throughout other leagues and even teams.  This will result in more games being broadcasted as well as more insider or behind-the-scene capabilities for fans.  

I am hopeful that with all the growth that will continue within sport communication, that we can see more media outlets directed toward women sports.  There is definitely room for growth in this area.  People may be uninterested in this now, but it is due to the lack of connection and outlets that people have to women’s sports.  I believe that this will be an area in which sport communication will grow in the next few years.  

Ann Arbor in need of a skatepark

City: Ann Arbor,MI 

Most knowledgeable or appropriate person to prepare the grant application: The Foundation Group called Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark.  The actual person that should prepare the grant is Scott Rosencrans, with the help of Diana Kern.  Scott is a former Chair of the Park Advisory Commission and has been on several City commissions, committees, and task forces that have worked on community improvement projects.  Diana, who is the co-chairman of Ann Arbor skatepark fundraising, has been in real-estate where she has overseen multi-million dollar projects.   

Recreation opportunities: Ann Arbor has around 100 city parks, but only 1 has a skating area and that area is only temporary during the summer time.  A majority of the parks have basketball courts and tennis courts, while a few have softball fields and soccer fields.  Only 5 have pools.   

At-risk-youths: kids are skating in the streets or traveling further from home or their neighborhoods to find somewhere to skate.  It is creating dangerous situations for young kids.  Also, obesity is a national risk, and skateboarding provides an activity for children.  A safe place to perform this activity is needed however in the city. Also, the youth can be fined up to $100 by skating on certain city property.   

Median household income: $26,712

The names/distance of nearby skateparks: Buhr Park in Ann Arbor but it is only a temporary skatepark and it is poorly put together with having only a few pre-fabricated ramps scattered around an empty ice rink.   

Qualifications of Applicant

1. Does the Applicant oversee any other programs or activities? 

        Yes, Diana currently does and Scott use to.  

If yes, please describe them.

Scott use to be involved with programs and projects that prevented sports and recreastion facilities from being closed.  

Diana also oversees NEW's ResourceConnect® program.  This program is a nonprofit program that is the community's first stop for assistance with management issues.

2. Who oversees the Applicant's budget?

Diana oversees the budget for the Friends of Ann Arbor skatepark foundation.  

3. Please provide an estimated total cost of the skatepark: 

$800,000-$1,000,000 

4. Please provide a breakdown of the total cost of the skatepark, divided into major categories, such as building materials, equipment, design expenses, etc.:

-30,000 sq. ft: $220,000

-Design: $30,000

-Elevation and Technical documents: $30,000

- Construction: $400,000

-Equipment: $98,000

-Materials: $150,000

5. Does the above cost include a land purchase? If so, how much did the land cost? If the land was donated, who provided it?

The land cost $220,000

6. How much money has been raised for this project? 

$436,000

7. Provide a breakdown of where existing funds have come from.

Grants: $341,000

Donations: $70,000

Fundraising: $25,000

8. Provide a total for additional funds you anticipate (other grants, donations, fundraising income):

$425,000

9. Provide a breakdown of the additional funds you anticipate (source of funds and amount each will contribute):

Grants: $125,000

Donations: $200,000

Fundraising: $100,000

10. Median Household Income in vicinity of proposed project (required), with source of data (Census 2010 from www.census.gov is recommended):

$26,712

11. Please provide any other statistics about "at-risk" youth in the region:

-Obesity

-Safe recreation areas

-Fines

-Skateboard safety

12. Please describe any local laws or bans on skateboarding in public. (Approximately 100 words or less.)

There is an anti-skateboarding ordinance on the campus of the University of Michigan.  There is also a $50-$100 fine for those skateboarding in areas that are off limits.  Since there is no skatepark, the city has become a skatepark.  

13. What is your total annual municipal budget?

$76,345,552

14. What is your annual parks-and-recreation department budget?

       $3,545,819

15. Where are the three nearest existing skateparks, both public and private? Please provide the name of the city and state the skatepark is located in, as well as the distance from your proposed skatepark.

                  a. Buhr Park Ann Arbor, MI (temporary skatepark) Distance (miles): 0

                  b. Riley Skate Park  Farmington Hills, MI Distance (miles): 20

                  c. Skate Zone Belleville, MI Distance (miles): 10

The foundation group that has been formed to build a skatepark in Ann Arbor has been working very hard to make this happen.  They have done everything from asking for grants, applying for grants, requesting donations, and issuing several fundraising events.  They have almost finalized the actual plan for the park, however, they are yet to reach the amount of money that they need.  For more information or interest in getting involved or donating, please visit: http://a2skatepark.org/

Honoring Steve Jobs and Al Davis

I think it is appropriate to show some appreciation for two people who changed the sport industry and communication industry.  As we have discovered, sports and communication go hand in hand.  Lets take a minute to think about where sports and communication would be today had it not been for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, both who passed away this month.  These two men are very well respected in their subjective fields of service, Jobs in the communication world and Davis in the sports world.

Steve Jobs was a visionary, and due to his vision of technology, he has changed the communication world.  Jobs pioneered the concept from items such as the personal computer, clicking images with a mouse, the iPad, iPhone, and iPod.  These are all products are used on a daily basis, and are essentials to many businesses.  They have also changed the way that we receive and use digital technology.  I recently ran into an old friend and college teammate, who is currently an assistant basketball coach at Thomas Moore University.  I saw she had an iPhone and I asked her how she liked it.  She responded by saying that she loved it and she has everything that she needs on it.  She was explaining that she has a recruiting application and it can track her calls to recruits, notes on what they talked about, the length of the call, the number of times she called the same recruit, and information about the recruit.  She said at any time, no matter where she is, she is able to relay this information to the head coach.  This is just one small example of how the iPhone is used in the sports industry and its impact on how we store and relay information. 

Just like Steve Jobs set the foundation for Apple, Al Davis set the foundation for the NFL.  Davis started out as being the Oakland Raiders coach in 1963, and three years later became commissioner of the AFL.  After talks about merging the NFL and AFL, Davis resigned as commissioner and went back to the Raiders organization.  Davis then became sole owner of the Raiders and soon had absolute power in the front office.  In 1976, Davis won his first Super Bowl with John Madden as the coach.  When the AFL and the NFL merged in 1970, the Raiders were looked at as a powerhouse in the NFL because Davis had a reputation of getting the right players who followed his criteria and instilling a competitive attitude in them.  Off the football field, Davis is remembered for breaking barriers, when he broke both race and gender barriers by hiring the first African-American coach, Art Shell, and the first Hispanic-American coach, Tom Flores.  Al Davis also hired a woman to the executive front office, Amy Trask.  Davis will go down in history in the NFL as an icon due to all of his achievements on and off the field.  It takes a special man to be the defining force in a single franchise for more than 30 years.

Steve Jobs and Al Davis will be greatly missed in their respected companies, but their impact and legacy that they are leaving behind will have them living on for many more years.          

Being a Sports Reporter

There are a few things that can hinder and facilitate the ability for a sport reporter to meet deadlines.  The time of the game or event can either hinder or facilitate the ability for sport reporter to meet deadlines.  If the game or event is held in the evening, such as a Friday night football game, it can be very difficult and stressful to meet the deadline.  Once the game is over, the job of the reporter isn’t over.  They usually meet with coaches or players to get quotes, and then they have to head back to the office and put all their notes together to form a story.  However, if the time of the game is held in the morning or early afternoon, the reporter is given plenty of time to meet the deadline for that night.  They are able to take their time talking to coaches and players, and they also have plenty of time to go through their notes and be thorough in their story.  Also, the availability of resources such as coaches, players, or other personnel that are needed to complete the story can hinder or facilitate the sports reporters’ ability to meet the deadline.  Sometimes it can be very difficult to reach the people that you need to speak too.  However, sometimes the people you need to speak too are very easy to reach and more than willing to give you the information that you need to complete your story.  Also, access to the Internet or technology devices can hinder or facilitate the reporter as well.  If the reporter is scheduled to cover a game that is a few hours from work, then they need to have access to some sort of technology in order to get their story in on time.  For example, a Friday night football game that is held 2 hours away is going to be very difficult for them to get back and write the story on time.  Therefore, the access to technology could help speed the process and allow them to complete their story before the deadline. 

I had no issue with reaching my deadline, and I feel like this had a lot to do with the simplicity of the game and the time of the game.  The game did not obtain a lot of crazy plays or occurrences.  Also, softball is a slow pace game.  Therefore, it was easy to keep the notes and highlights of the game.  So when I went back to write my story, I was able to easily follow my notes and understand everything that I had written down.  The slow pace of the game allowed me time to be thorough in my notes, and therefore, there was no confusion.  Also, the time of the game made it easy for me to meet my deadline.  The game started at 1:00pm and ended at about 3:00pm.  I had an hour drive back home, which gave me about 6-7 hours to complete my story.  This allowed for plenty of time to sit down and put my story together.  The type of information that I needed to put my story together was fairly simple.  I took notes from the game that highlighted the main points of the game and possible turning points.  I then talked to the head coach of ODU to receive a quote to put into my story.  Also, I used the tournament program, which had the rosters of both teams.  Therefore, I could put names in my story.  The overall experience of acting as a sports reporter really helped me appreciate what the do and the time it can take to put together one story. 

Softball: ODU vs. Toledo University

The Ohio State Softball team hosts every year the Ohio Collegiate Charity Classic, which is a breast cancer fundraising softball tournament.   All benefits from the tournament are donated to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.  There are fifteen collegiate teams that participate in this tournament. 

At 1:00pm on October 8, 2011, the Ohio Dominican Panthers took on the Rockets from the University of Toledo.  Ohio Dominican was the visiting team on the scoreboard.  ODU started freshman pitcher Brandis Fishel.  The first inning was a struggle for both teams offensively after both teams when three up and three down.  Ohio Dominican received their first hit in the game by sophomore Rebehka Lucas.  However, ODU could not capitalize on their first hit like Toledo did.  Toledo got their first hit of the game in the bottom of the 2^nd inning by Lindsey Tobias, who ended up scoring that same inning on a two out base hit by Brooke Gates.  At the end of the second inning, Toledo was leading 1-0.  It was a pitcher’s duel the next two innings as both pitchers shut down the offenses.  However, in the 5^th inning, Ohio Dominican was able to put together some hits.  Ohio Dominican led off the 5^th inning with a walk.  The runner was then sacrificed over to second base and in scoring position.  With two outs, ODU hit a soft line drive to right field, scoring the run from second base.  The score going into the bottom of the 5^th was 1-1.  Going into the bottom of the 5^th, Ohio Dominican brought in freshman pitcher Kelsey Seeds.  Seeds was able to shut down the Toledo offense in the 5^th and 6^th inning but struggled in the 7^th.  Toledo led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit up the middle.  The runner then stole second base to put herself in scoring position and a chance to become the game winning run.  The next hitter popped up.  With one out Toledo hit another base hit up the middle, and the runners were held at first and third base with only one out.  Ohio Dominican then intentionally walked the next batter to create a force out at every base.  Toledo is feeling pretty confident at this point.  However, the worse case scenario for Toledo happens.  The next batter hits into a game ending double play to the third baseman.  It was the game ending play even though the score was tied 1-1.  With a tournament like this and a set schedule for games, there was no time for extra innings.  Therefore, the game ended in a 1-1 tie, but it was a very competitive and hard fought game by both teams, especially the pitching and defense.  Coach Vanlandingham, the head softball coach at ODU, stated, "I thought today went really well.  Saw some good things, and saw some things we need to work on.  But I think we will be just fine this year once we get back our one pitcher in the Spring and our freshman catcher.  Our freshman catcher could really be a huge asset to this team.  I think we will be ready to compete come Spring time."            

Ohio State Players Suspended...Again!

Ohio State is in trouble with the NCAA once again.  Just today it was announced that three players were suspended for taking too much cash for too little of work during their summer jobs.  Two of the players have already been suspended for the first five games of this season for accepting cash and free tattoos.  Running back Daniel Herron and wide receiver DeVier Posey, along with offensive lineman Marcus Hall, have been suspended for the Nebraska game. 

Nebraska is only one of the biggest games of the season since they are new in the Big Ten Conference and currently ranked No. 14 in the nation.  This could have been a huge game for the Buckeyes.  Daniel Herron and DeVier Posey were expected to return for this game.  They could have tremendously helped a struggling Ohio State offense.  Gene Smith made a statement about the recent suspensions.  He emphasized that there is no systematic problem within Ohio State, but this has strictly fallen on the faults of the players and the booster member responsible for paying them. 

My question is: When is enough, enough?  Since the beginning of Ohio State’s troubles, there has been no light at the end of the tunnel thus far.  Things and other issues keep surfacing to the public and media.  This last suspension, which was announced today, came out of no where.  No one saw this coming.  All Ohio State fans were excited to get these players back in action and help a struggling Buckeyes team.  With the second suspension of Herron and Posey, why do they deserve to come back at all?  They have let their team, coaches, university, and fans down over and over again.  They have contributed in destroying the reputation of Ohio State University, Ohio State football, their coaches, and the city itself.  They have given people more reason to hate Ohio State and say bad things about them.  The road just keeps getting bumpier and bumpier for Ohio State, their football program, and Athletic Department.  It will be interesting to see how they bounce back from this and deal with these new findings.  Eventually they have to understand that sometimes suspensions just aren’t enough.  If Posey and Herron come back and start or play over other players who have kept the integrity of the program alive, what does that tell us as the fans and the other players who have worked week after week to get their chance to shine.  I have no problem with Herron and Posey being reinstated, but I think at this point, I would have a problem with them jumping right in and playing.  I think they need to prove themselves and earn their spot, and I do not think that can happen in one week’s worth of practice.  I will be anxious to see how this all plays out.  First year head coach, Luke Fickle, not only has the tough job of trying to get the Buckeyes back on track, but he has to make decisions regarding suspended players.       

To see Gene Smith's Address on the Allegations click on the provided link: http://blip.tv/theozonedotnet/gene-smith-addresses-additional-allegations-5610680

Media Release

Media Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: October 2, 2011

Media Contact: John Jackson

640-355-2785

jjackson@gmail.com

Indianapolis Colts trying to avoid 0-4 start on Monday Night Football

Indianapolis Colts will be playing on Monday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers October 3, 2011.  Indianapolis is trying to prevent a 0-4 start, which hasn’t occurred since 1998.  The Colts have won the past two games that they have played on Monday Night Football.

Indianapolis is trying to avoid this 0-4 start without star quarterback, Payton Manning.  Also, current starter, Kerry Collins, is now dealing with concussion symptoms.  Therefore, Curtis Painter will get to start his very first NFL game on Monday Night Football.   

Indianapolis’s head coach says that the team has made improvements over the past few games, but they still have a lot of work to do.  The Colts do have a lot of work to do considering they rank 28^th in the NFL in points, 29^th in total offense, and 27^th in passing. 

The Buccaneers currently have a record of 2-1, and are tied at the top of the NFC South with New Orleans.  Quarterback Josh Freeman and wide receiver Mike Williams will do their best to try to hand the Colts another loss and stay atop of the NFC South.            

The game will be televised on ESPN at 8:30, pregame starting at 7:30.  Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster, as well as both official websites for the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.### 

Included in this Media Release Kit would be:

-Stats from the first 3 games for the Colts

-Stats from the first 3 games for the Buccaneers

-Last week’s stats for both teams

-Injury report for both teams

-History of the two teams

-Time and location of the game

-An action photo

-More information on quarterback Payton Manning and his expected return