Author: sunilagni

Power of the professional sports fan

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Came across an article recently that really made me think about pro-sports and fans. It’s by Gladwell of the New Yorker and can be found here. Gladwell talks about how professional football has a lot of characteristics similar to dog fighting. This was written around the time Michael Vick was sent to jail for running a dog fighting operation.

Really it’s a kids game, but these athletes are under tremendous pressure. Expectations are from everywhere: teammates, club owners, families, sponsors and fans.

Teammates expect your best effort every game and every play. Contracts are paid before they even play a game, raising the owners’ expectations. Families rely on the pay cheque to cover child care, mortgages and bills. Sponsors expect a high level of professionalism, as athletes represent the brand.

And of course, the fan.

It’s a gate driven business. The people in the stands, people tuning in and those buying merchandise have invested in the pro-athletes financially and emotionally. They’re there to be entertained and to be engaged. They want the best. Failure to do so means the fan spends less or finds other options.

Athletes don’t just represent their team. They represent a city, a country or even a religion. If the team loses, the community loses.

The athlete themselves know that their careers can end at any time. They work their entire lives to get there but it can be taken away pretty quickly. There are younger players coming through the ranks every day, ready to take their jobs and pay cheque. Competition gets fierce because realistically, there are only a few spots out there in the professional ranks.

No matter how hard they get hit or how bad they get hurt, they are expected to get up and keep playing. The long term ramifications of continuous shots to the head or the beating their bodies take are still under review. But it’s safe to assume the majority of pro-athletes won’t be feeling too great in their old age.

The cause of this is pretty spread out across different factors, and of course depends on the situation. But the influence of fans on pro athletes and sports is extremely high, and could be growing because of social media.

Terry Fox

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ESPN’s 30 for 30 series has done an amazing job covering different topics and stories over the past thirty years in sports. I haven’t watched every single one yet, but the ones that stand out for me are “King’s Ransom”, “The Two Escobars” and now “Into the Wind”. Each one deals with the impact sports has on the culture and society it’s within. The stories go into the ramification of sporting events on nations and social issues existing at the time. Terry Fox’s story goes one step further, dealing with Canadian identity and how sports play a role in its development.

The story of Terry Fox is inspirational. A man determined to raise awareness about cancer by running across Canada brings a lot of pride to Canadians. “Into the Wind” gives a lot of unseen footage of Fox’s trek and the different challenges he faced along the way.

What stood out for me the most was the importance of Terry Fox to Canadian culture and identity. His “grittiness” was talked about in the documentary and symbolized the hard-working nature of Canadians, according to Leslie Scrivener.

I’ve always believed that sports reflect society. It reflects life and the stories we have. Both have a beginning, middle and an end. Both have ups and downs. Challenges, success, failures, triumph. Athletic performances like Terry’s mean so much more than just sports. They provide us with inspiration, faith and identity. Fans play an integral role watching, following and engaging with sports. They take away a lot from the game but also embrace its effects to play a role in their culture.

“Into the Wind” can be watched here.

Bloggers analyzing 1972 Summit Series

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The 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia will forever be remembered as one of the greatest events in hockey history. The Canadians stacked with the top NHL players were expected to roll over the unknown Russian squad. Instead, they needed a final game to decide the winner. Legends were made for sure, with one of the most memorable goals of all time being scored to win it for Canada.

You can read up on all of the history, players and storylines at Joe Pelletiers excellent website.

As a project, blogger Pat Maclean of Black Dog Hates Skunks is applying modern methods of hockey analysis to each game of the Summit Series. Not an easy task considering how old the footage is and the lack of instant replay. There’s not a lot of people out there to bounce ideas off of, no Youtube and not a whole lot of stats. He does an amazing job regardless and provides detailed analysis of players, events and the coaches decisions.

I’m also in the midst of reading Ken Dryden’s “Face off at the Summit”. Dryden played goal for Team Canada and kept a journal of his thoughts during the series. After losing game 1 against the Russians, Dryden (1973) writes:

I’m afraid that this series will be analyzed and analyzed ad nauseam. People in the street. Cab drivers. Bellboys. Waiters. Writers. Coaches. League presidents. Prime ministers. Everyone. They all have a theory. They all picture themselves as a coach or a player, and they become theoretical and hypothetical. It’s so much bull, believe me. They’re all sitting there and playing verbal games to make themselves sound important. We have to play the real games. We know what we have to do. Or do we? (p. 64)

Fan analysis has always been around. It’s just with more people online, and more tools readily available for fans to contribute, the analysis has increased significantly. The community online is stronger and the amount of information available continues to grow. Gotta wonder what Dryden thinks of today’s fans compared to those in 1972.

Dryden, K. (1973). Face-off at the summit. Toronto: Little Brown.

Professional Athletes and Social Media

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Professional athletes aren’t strangers to the public eye. They play in front of fans in stadiums and around the world. They get paid to play a game and get an incredible amount of attention and adulation. Of course, they also get dumped on when things are tough. Sports fans are not the kindest bunch. Just ask any player in a performance slump or asked to be traded.

Dan Ellis learned the hard way what it means to be a modern professional athlete. He got into Twitter, had thousands of followers but had to delete his account for a mistake he made using the service. Additional commentary by CBC’s Elliotte Friedman and Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski.

Here’s what Ellis had to say about the NHL owners keeping money because of escrow:

If you lost 18% of your income would you be happy? I can honestly say that I am more stressed about money now then when I was in college.

More and more pro-athletes are getting into social media to get their own voices out to fans. Tools such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace eliminate the filter that existed between athletes and fans. But fans don’t want these accounts managed by a team or player rep. They want honesty from athletes when they send out thoughts, ideas and actions. Not advertising for tickets and team-sponsored contests.

The media’s role has always been to give fans what they want from the sport and athletes. This includes post game interviews, extensive statistics, insider information and editorial/opinion pieces. Even though the media has been removed as that filter, fans are still in control of what the sport and athletes provide. They pay to watch the games, support the team by buying apparel and, in essence, pay for the player salaries. It’s a gate-driven business. What fans don’t want is a comment from a millionaire athlete complaining about money problems.

Twitter users are all under the same rules and protocols online. Everyone has an equal voice and range of freedom. This includes following, retweeting, hashtagging, etc. So when fans are unhappy with the game or an athlete, it’s much easier to voice their displeasure and form a community online. Instead of a couple calls coming into the leagues office or a media outlet, a wave of tweets come in mocking the pro-athlete. The barriers to expression are gone so pro-athletes must be more mindful of what they do online.

Real World vs Online Community

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Hockey fans definitely have an online community. But what exactly does it mean to be online? It used to conjure up ideas of being in a separate world, away from existence and in solitude from others. It was a distant place with its own rules and protocols. And of the few that ventured online, barely any would give away their real name or personal information. The real world was where we were physically, while the digital world was out there.

But with more people participating online and the advancement of communication technology, the two worlds, ‘real’ and online, are overlapping. Mobile technology keeps us connected from anywhere, making it harder to leave one and go to the other.

We remain connected online, even with no terminal to access it from. We don’t need to be sitting on a laptop or even a mobile device to be online. Our personal information, comments, contributions and ideas are other there in the digital realm being read, commented on and shared. We don’t just leave a mark on the internet. Our mark is active and in continuous flow even when we’re disconnected.

Having this overlap is beneficial for those who have ideas to share. These ideas are able to be magnified and extended to an audience. Because of social media and the ability to connect to anyone and their ideas/contribution, at anytime, there is a greater opportunity for the extension of these ideas. When like-minded individuals interact in this dynamic environment for ideas, a community is formed online. A major strength of these online communities is the fact that they are always connected regardless of time and space. The marks that are left by participants, whether or not they actually contribute, have the potential to be significant and are in an environment that allows ideas to be constantly exchanged.

Bloggers vs MSM

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Some interesting discussion (Wyshynski, Mendes) about the whole mainstream media (MSM) versus bloggers topic lately. MSM would include the big networks such as TSN, Sportsnet, ESPN, etc. Bloggers would include those not employed by these networks and do not have the support of a corporation (check out the blogroll). We’ve seen recently some MSM types get into the blogging world and vice versa. But for the most part, an individual is perceived to be in one camp or the other.

MSM relies on the traditional model of information development. Information is created, distributed and then consumed by the customer. With internet technology and the development of social media, we’ve seen a major shift in this information development. Bloggers have emerged as they not only consume this information but then they use it to create their own content.

More recently however, these bloggers have taken it one step further and begun developing their own method of actually creating information. Instead of reading the boxcar stats for a game in the paper the next day, they’ll watch a game and analyze it themselves to determine their own stats. They can then aggregate this information, share it with an online community, and then have discussions to build on it even more.

A tension has developed between the two sides. Bloggers can be pretty critical of the MSM’s work and demand more from the regular reports available. Bloggers, on the other hand, tend to be viewed as those living in the confines of their parents basement without a real understanding of the game. Both have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of content and tend to feel separated from the other. There’s talk of how blogging could one day replace MSM to cover sports. But as long as professional sports remains the object of analysis, it’s hard to see this happening. It’s a powerful industry, includes large organizations and million dollar players. It’s a well oiled machine that has norms and practices in place, making it difficult to change. The information and data that comes from this can have major ramifications for individuals, organizations and the industry as a whole. How it works now, with official media covering the games, is what works best for the industry and their stakeholders.

Bloggers have grown in prominence and the quality of work is pretty remarkable. They are replacing MSM as the source of information and analysis for a lot of fans. But as long as professional sports is the topic, MSM will always have a role. There’s still value in their work but they have to recognize that blogging and getting into these online fan communities is going to be important for their success.

Oilers vs Oilogosphere!

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Greg Wyshynski of the Puck Daddy blog broke a story regarding bloggers and their role covering NHL teams. According to Wyshynski, teams that do not grant any bloggers press credentials such as the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, have requested that bloggers from other cities not be given access to their players. As it stands right now, a blogger covering the Washington Capitals does have access to the Oilers when they visit DC. Some interesting discussion happening online (Staples) about this including what the difference is between a journalist and a blogger.

Teams like the Oilers have the option and can choose what best suits their business goals. Unfortunately, shutting out all bloggers reduces the amount of information they can possibly use and share with their fans. Giving these bloggers access also gives a new perspective on the game and could potentially generate some new ideas. The blogs out there really represent the demand hockey fans have. For example, points and assist statistics are great, but fans want a lot more statistical analysis.

But is it best that they remain out of the mainstream press box and stay in their parents basement? If the Oilers were to grant them access, would it change the bloggers relationship with their own fans? What if a new set of bloggers emerges scrutinizing the now mainstream bloggers work?

If bloggers are granted press credentials at games, there might be some interesting ramifications. For one, their relationship with their own fan base would change. Becoming a part of the mainstream media panel could change the way their perceived. Instead of being that accessible individual, they may be seen as “one of them”. This could change how bloggers are received and if their work grants merit.

Also, their perceived motivations could drastically change. A blogger tends to function on intrinsic motivation. They do things for self-satisfcation, without the need for financial rewards. Becoming a part of the MSM segment might change the perceived motivation. The demand on them will be from external factors and may significantly increase. This in turn may discourage them or alter their blogging activity.

In my opinion, bloggers should be granted press credentials. Of course, not every single person with a website should be let in. A set of standards must be established and agreed upon by both sides. The Oilers can really benefit from having a new perspective on the game from people motivated by intrinsic factors. It remains to be seen what would happen in a market like Edmonton where hockey remains front page news even in the summer. Teams such as Washington do grant bloggers access, but Edmonton would be different just because of the Oilogosphere and their presence online.

Computer games

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The prospect of including video gaming is going to haunt me until I either accept it or find a really good argument to avoid it.

First off, I’m going to use “computer games” to describe both video games,online games and of course the latest updates with virtual games, you can also review services by professional gamers here. Video games would include Mario Bros for Nintendo or Solitaire on your desktop. Pretty static games, single port to play and not much interaction with other players directly. Online gaming would include online checkers, where you play with another friend or stranger online or World of Warcraft, where you engage with milli When I’m playing League of Legends – I frequently need see folks using running services in competitive servers. ons of other users. For the sake of this posting, I’m going to wrap up all games under one debatable umbrella.

Without a doubt, it’s a huge industry with millions of players online. A ton of money is spent developing and promoting these games. A lot of interesting work has been done researching computer games well. Studies have examined its impact on society, how it’s used by various age groups, how it can used in schools and what lead to its popularity.

Sports computer games are pretty amazing right now. The amount of visual detail is something, but the intelligence of the computer is off the charts. Each ensuing version gets better and better, enhancing game play and realism. For example, at the start of the playoffs, a simulation using EA Sports NHL 2010 correctly predicted that the Hawks would win it. A.I. is defined here as well:

“artificial intelligence…uses real-life data from each team, such as player ratings and line combinations, and includes variances such as injuries and hot streaks to predict a realistic outcome of each game and series”

Online games are a way for the fan to learn more about the game/sport, get into roles they may never be in (game 7 of the finals), and get entertained. Computers games can work as that conduit between fans to generate ideas and collaborate. Information gathered from the game can be used, knowledge generated and ideas shared.

My goal is to examine an online fan community, and their interaction primarily through weblogs. Computer gaming technology is a great way for fans to interact with one another and create/share information. But the barriers to get into computer games and use information still exists. Fans rely on EA to create the game, they buy the gaming console and pay subscription fees. Sport video games don’t allow for much tinkering with the code to alter the game. Aside from creating and trading players, fans don’t have as much freedom as those that are using weblogs when it comes to “produsing” (Bruns, 2008). This could very well change dramatically in the next few years, so I can’t completely forget about it either.

Oilogosphere

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Great to see that Oilogosphere has its own wikipedia page. A brief excerpt:

The Oilogosphere is the name collectively applied to blogs that cover the Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team. They are widely considered to be among the best and most popular hockey blogs on the internet, with Globe and Mail sportswriter James Mirtle estimating in late 2007 that “five or six” of the best hockey blogs were members of the Oilogosphere.

The Oilogosphere averages 10,000 hits per day not counting people who visit the official Oilers site or read the sports stories online.

The wiki cites work done by David Staples of the Edmonton Journal. David is pretty active himself writing about the Oilers and provides new ways to measure player performance on his blog The Cult of Hockey.

Blogs considered to be part of the Oilogosphere can be found in the links section to the right. It’s not just the blogs and their writers that make up this group. Regular fans have to be included as well since they do a lot of the reading and sharing of this information. The reason these blogs have been so successful is because they remain open to everyone and not just Oiler bloggers. Writers regularly respond to reader comments leading to some interesting discussions.

Online fan community and culture

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Just wrapping up a great course called Digital Tribes. The concept of cyber culture will probably sneak into the final project for good reason.

The one thing that stuck out most is the fact that culture plays an integral role in online behavior. A culture that is open to ideas, welcomes both participants and observers will probably be more successful. If you want to get people to contribute and share ideas and knowledge, you have to provide an environment that is open and ready. This culture is formed by the technology being used, the structure, including norms and values, and of course the people.

Perhaps this is why the Oilers online fan community has grown to be what it is today. People spread all over the world are talking about the Oilers, sharing ideas and generating knowledge regularly. One thing you will notice when surfing these blogs is the openness to comments. Some comments last a couple sentences, others go on for paragraphs. But both are accepted and reflected upon by the blogging community. The comments that are vulgar, or may be irrelevant are often ignored and eventually get phased out. The majority of the comments have some thought behind it and are typically responses to previous ideas.