| Published When We Feel Like It |
Vol.
16, No.3
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What is it about boxing that lends itself to hyperbole? Consider: Journalist Jeremy Schaap recently wrote a book entitled "Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History." Problem is, as Earl Gustkey pointed out in his book review in the Los Angeles Times, the odds against Braddock were about 10-to-1. In fact, the greatest upset in heavyweight championship history took place in 1990, when James "Buster" Douglas, a whopping 43-to-1 underdog, knocked out Mike Tyson in Tokyo. Add boxing . . . The recent Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo lightweight championship fight was an action-packed brawl from start to finish. And, Showtime, the network that aired the fight, has spared no hyperbole in praising the bout on its website, raving that Corrales and Castillo produced "not only what many regard as the greatest, most exciting fight in history, but also one of the most dramatic sporting events ever." Last boxing . . . And then there's this. In hyping the recent Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor middleweight championship bout, Golden Boy Productions (run by Oscar De La Hoya) trumpeted the news that LeRoy Neiman has been commissioned to create artwork for the fight. According to a Golden Boy press release, "LeRoy Neiman is probably the most popular living artist in the United States. His art is unique. It stands alone, without any real comparison. It is an art which has become controversial because Neiman has broken the barriers of many of the most hallowed assumptions of modern art history and contemporary criticism." And we thought Don King was full of bluster.
Department of Headlines That Failed to Grab Us . . . "Opinions Sought on Alternative Badminton Scoring Systems." Sportscal.com, June 24. Suite music . . . Where does the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Association of Luxury Suite Directors, known to one and all as ALSD, meet for its annual conference? In a hotel, of course. Exhibitors at the 15th annual ALSD Conference and Tradeshow, which took place in June at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, included such vendors as Milliken Carpet, Omega Massage Chair, Inc., and United Receptacle. The title of ALSD's quarterly publication? That would be SEAT Magazine. American fútbol . . . In the March 13, 2005, edition of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, journalist (and SportsLetter contributor) David Davis profiled Jorge Vergara as he readied Chivas USA for its debut season in Major League Soccer. In the article, Davis noted that MLS hoped to tap into the passion that the Mexican League team, Chivas of Guadalajara, generates among its fans, writing "The fanatical followers of Chivas Rayadas de Guadalajara, one of Mexico's most popular soccer teams, aren't anything like the leave-after-the-seventh-inning Dodger fans or the negotiate-a-deal-sitting-in-the-luxury-suite Laker supporters." Add Chivas . . . So far, Chivas USA has been a major league disappointment. The team has won only three games, two of which came against MLS' other expansion team (Real Salt Lake), and its original coach has already been fired. In addition, despite Vergara's reputation as a bold businessman, Chivas USA ranks eighth among the twelve MLS teams in home attendance, with an average of 11,743 (through eleven games) at the Home Depot Center stadium that it shares with the L.A. Galaxy. Interestingly, Real Salt Lake ranks second in average home attendance at 20,738 (through nine home games), trailing only the Galaxy at 23,570 (through eleven home games). Add Chivas . . . Davis also noted that "For MLS, after nine seasons still beset by spotty fan support, so-so competition, limited media coverage and millions of dollars of red ink, the stakes are higher. Indeed, soccer officials are counting on Vergara to accomplish what many consider to be impossible: generate a buzz about soccer in this country." The expectations notwithstanding, MLS 2005 average home attendance, at the All-Star Game break, had dropped by about 800 a game compared to the same period in 2004, from 15,380 to 14,568. The dip in the live gate hasn't translated into big television ratings. The average rating for MLS coverage on ESPN2 in 2005 is 0.2. Last Chivas . . . If Chivas USA starts winning some games, look for attendance to rise. Even in the absence of a better record, the club will get a big attendance boost on August 10, when Chivas USA meets its local MLS rival, the Galaxy, as part of a doubleheader at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum featuring a match between Chivas of Guadalajara and Club America, two Mexican teams with large followings in Southern California. The attendance at the Chivas vs. America match will be used as the gate count for the Chivas USA vs. Galaxy game regardless of how many spectators actually show up for the MLS contest. Museum watch . . . Do you want another glimpse of figure skater Timothy Goebel’s sequined costume? Do you need to see that infamous green Jell-O trading pin again? According to the Deseret News, a new museum in Park City, Utah, promises to “recapture the magic” of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Officially known as the George Eccles Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum, the 2,500-square-foot space contains Olympic medals and torches, athletic gear, posters and photographs, video kiosks, and even a pin-trading display. Located at Utah Olympic Park, the museum is upstairs from the Alf Engen Ski Museum.
Passing the torch . . . Olympic researchers should note the name Jaime Loucky. He is the nephew of David Wallechinsky and the heir apparent to take over the writing and research chores of the comprehensive books that Wallechinsky has produced for every Olympic Games since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Wallechinsky, who notes that Loucky assisted him in writing the last two books, says he will continue to help produce the books through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
SportsLetter reader Pat Mooney wrote to us recently wondering why Major League Baseball named its anti-drug effort the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Mooney adds, "Wouldn't you think someone would use a better word than 'joint' when naming a drug abuse program? . . . This is probably from the same guy who decided that the U. S. government agency in charge of the entire outdoors should be called the Department of the Interior."
Recent academic writing on NASCAR, abusive language, NCAA violations and dangerous sports. An Exploratory Investigation into NASCAR Fan Culture. Christie H. Amato, Cara Lee Okleshen Peters and Alan T. Shao. Sport Marketing Quarterly 14 (2) 2005. "NASCAR fan commitment generates a degree of loyalty that is unmatched to any other sport in the United States." NASCAR fans can be classified into two groups. There are fans who are "'married'" to the sport (i.e. hardcore to moderate fans), and those who are merely "'engaged'" to it (i.e. casual fans). The hardcore to moderate fans are more likely to follow other forms of motor racing than the casual group and rely more heavily on a variety of media, including the Internet, to obtain NASCAR information. "These fans construct their NASCAR experiences as family oriented events, and NASCAR-related interactions may be used to acculturate the next generation of fans." The hardcore to moderate group decides to support particular drivers "independent of his sponsor," but is more likely than the casual fan group "to know about and purchase products from NASCAR sponsors." Therefore, a "firm's strategic selection of the appropriate driver to sponsor is particularly important." Free Expression versus Prohibited Speech: The First Amendment and College Student Sports Fans. Louis M. Benedict and John D. McMillen. Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport 15 (1) 2005. "[C]an fans say anything they like while attending a sporting event?" A growing number of college students "believe they have a Constitutional right to shout lewd, vulgar, abusive, and personal insults" at members of opposing teams at intercollegiate sports events. Some colleges and universities are reluctant to take action against such behavior because they fear "potential litigation under the First Amendment." "College campuses represent a unique arena for the First Amendment." Freedom of expression is a fundamental, but not absolute right in our society. "The increasing lack of civility in sports not only concerns athletes but also is increasingly affecting fans . . . Colleges should not abrogate their responsibilities simply to avoid complicated legal issues involving First Amendment jurisprudence. The Constitution was established to protect rights and should not be used as an excuse to violate the rights of others." Major Violations and NCAA 'Powerhouse' Football Programs: What Are the Odds of Being Charged? K. Alexa Otto. Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport 15 (1) 2005. NCAA Division I "'powerhouse'" football programs are charged with more major violations than "'non-powerhouse'" programs. "The NCAA and its members should be mindful that the penalties that universities, athletic departments, and football programs receive for committing major violations do not seem to deter them from committing more. The NCAA must recognize that the benefits of being a 'powerhouse' football program seem to far outweigh the cost of being charged with a major violation." The Value of Dangerous Sport. J.S. Russell. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport XXXII (1) 2005. Sports such as hang gliding, skateboarding, rodeo, downhill ski racing and boxing involve "serious threats . . . to life and limb." Why do people "freely choose to take unnecessary risks to their lives and bodies" by participating in dangerous sport and does dangerous sport have value? "[W]e discover and affirm who we are and what we can be by confronting and attempting to extend" the boundaries of our ordinary lives. Dangerous sport "tests us by requiring us to make the most of our whole selves, of our bodies and minds working together as a unity, when (or because) everything, or almost everything, is at stake." Extreme exertion characterizes "human activity in all areas of serious endeavor." The human "strivings" that propel people to engage in dangerous sport are similar to the "yearnings of romantic militarism that emerged in the 19th century as a response to the waning opportunities for expressions of martial spirit amid the orderly comfort and security of modern civil society." Dangerous sport appropriates the ideals of romantic militarism without posing a similar threat to civil society. "Dangerous sport can civilize those ideals to constrain their worst excesses. Thus, dangerous sport represents a practical and morally defensible institution for realizing an important source of human value."
ABRAHAM MADKOUR
Published by Street & Smith, the Daily also mines original material from its roster of reporters at sister publication SportsBusiness Journal, a weekly print magazine. Five days a week, the Charlotte, N.C.-based Daily posts three issues to its subscribers: the "Morning Buzz" with brief headlines; the full-length Daily with an expanded roster of links; and the "Closing Bell" for late-afternoon reports. The Daily divides its stories into several pertinent categories, including "Sponsorships, Advertising & Marketing;" "Sports Media;" "Leagues & Governing Bodies;" "Franchises" and "Finance." A one-year subscription to the Daily, which enables users to access archival material, costs $1,300. A one-year subscription to the print magazine costs $229. A former legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Abraham Madkour was hired as a staff writer for the Daily just before it launched in 1994. He was named editor-in-chief in 1996 and oversaw the Daily's transition from a newsletter to an online news service in 1998. In 2003, he became executive editor of both the Daily and SportsBusiness Journal. SportsLetter spoke with Madkour by telephone from his office in Charlotte. — David Davis SportsLetter: How did SportsBusiness Daily begin? Abraham Madkour: The SportsBusiness Daily was founded by a gentleman named Jeffrey Pollack, who came from the political consulting world and partnered with a group called the American Political Network. The American Political Network publishes a very successful, influential, daily newsletter called the American Political Hotline, which is owned by the National Journal. They saw a connection between politics, sports, and the way that the Hotline was summarizing news on a daily basis and decided to establish a sports-business publication. Our first publication was in September of 1994. SL: How has it changed from its original format to what it is today? AM: It's had a few different life forms. Initially, it was available via fax--we sent out a 12- to 15-page fax that people received every day by noon. When we first started doing it, we got phone calls saying either, "You'll never be able to do this every day;" or "I can't live without this;" or "Stop jamming up my fax machine." We also would upload it to a bulletin board system, and newsrooms and publications could go to the bulletin board and download it. At one time, we started emailing the full-text of the Daily to clients. The problem with that was, we had very little control over the distribution of our product. It was very easy to pass around and forward multiple copies illegally. In 1998 or 1999, around the time Street & Smith got involved and acquired the Daily, we knew we needed to change our business model. What we did was to put it entirely online. It is now password-protected. Every user has to have a user name and an account to access the publication. We also added many different elements besides the flagship Daily, which goes out every day around 1 o'clock. We added morning and afternoon briefings, and we have an area where we post research data. SL: How much material in SBD crosses over to the weekly print magazine? AM: We walk a fine line because we can't make the print magazine that comes out on Monday a direct synopsis of articles that were in the Daily the previous week. So, we prime the magazine with breaking news and exclusive news, whereas the Daily is the industry's daily pulse of what's out there. Certainly, there is some cross-over. If a writer at SBJ can contribute something to SBD or vice versa, we utilize that. If a writer for SBJ has a story that is not going to hold for the magazine, that we're going to lose to some other publication, then we're going to come out with it first with the Daily. SL: Do you see the Daily as a stand-alone or should it be read to accompany SBJ? AM: What we've tried to do is make the products extremely compatible and complementary, so that even if you get daily feeds out of SBD, you also need the weekly magazine. They're different reads. We try to make the brands consistent so they look, feel, and sound alike. At the same time, their mission on news is a little bit different. The magazine provides exclusive news and larger takeout and trend pieces. People can spend time with the magazine, like on an airplane or at the office. The Daily is a down-and-dirty, high-end trade publication for people who have a direct financial interest in the business of sports and need to get that information every day. On average, people spend about 12-20 minutes with SBD a day, and they spend anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes with SBJ a week. SL: How many staffers on the Daily are combing through the papers and wire services every day? AM: We have a staff of eight to do that. SL: What are your personal must-read sports- and media-related websites? AM: No one in this business goes very far without having ESPN.com book-marked. To me, ESPN.com has so much news and information. We're on them for their daily blogs, we're on them for their headline links, we're on them for their great columnists. But there's a lot out there--the list of favorites is endless. I mean, you got to read SportsPages.com. I'm still a believer in the big papers. My favorites are the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the L.A. Times. For non-traditional sites, I always check out MediaBistro.com, which I think does a nice job of summarizing and compiling a lot of different media news. I read Howard Kurtz whenever he writes, and visit sites like IWantMedia.com and Jossip.com. SL: How has the coverage of sports business changed over the past decade? AM: When we started in 1994, sports business was very much an infant beat. Once it got traction and momentum in '96, '97, '98, we saw a lot of newspapers go out and hire specific sports-business writers. They had stadium issues, they had team relocation issues, so they started creating a sports-business beat. Then, with cutbacks and with different changes, I saw those beats disappear and I don't see them as much anymore. However, the amount of people who are writing about business issues related to sports has only increased. There may not be specific staffers writing about sports-business solely, but there are regular columnists and writers taking more of a business angle to their sports stories. So, it's far more prevalent. We also see a lot more of the intersection between sports and the entertainment industry, through Hollywood entertainment in films, television, and music. SL: In the past decade or so, how has the business of sports changed? AM: It's become a lot more sophisticated and a lot more advanced. It's much more competitive. You're seeing a lot more people who are focused now, in terms of their careers, on the business aspects of sports, where before they were involved in sports and did some business on the side. The whole business has taken off, with the proliferation of agencies and consultants and even so-called "branding experts" dealing with athletes or with sports properties or with the networks. I see no signs of it slowing down. There's so much money involved in the sports business, a lot of people are trying to mine the opportunity. SL: Let's hit on some current sports-business stories: What must the NHL do to woo back hockey fans after the lockout? AM: The players and the owners have to work together, first of all. There can't be one side blaming the other, and there can't be one side saying they need to do all the work. It can't be the league saying, it's all on the players' shoulders, and it can't be the players saying the league needs to make rule changes. It has to be a true partnership where they're being pro-active together. I don't think the occasional meet-and-greet player appearance at the local YMCA is going to work here. At the same time, they have a unique opportunity to re-brand and make up a whole new game, and I think that's what they're trying to do. In the last two weeks, we've seen some pro-active changes to the game. They're trying to make it a more fan-friendly in terms of the product on the ice by changing the rules. They've already upgraded the new logo and shield. That looks very nice. At the local level, you need a lot of different fan-friendly measures, whether it's ticket discounting, concession discounting, improvements in the season-ticket packages, or certain types of value-added components, like concerts after the game. There has to be a better, more consistent television presentation. Right now, they're going to go to NBC, but they don't have a cable deal. They have to be on a cable network to give them a lot of exposure and promotional support. It's a challenge. It's not going to be an easy task. SL: Did you foresee the astonishing growth of NASCAR and can it continue to grow at such an amazing pace? AM: I can't say that I saw it coming. When we started in '94, we'd get a lot of phone calls saying, you guys should pay more attention to motor sports and to NASCAR specifically. I've got to give those people credit because they were right. Can it continue to grow? I think so. I don't think it's peaked. There are markets that they aren't strong in, and there are some markets that they're not present in. They're trying to get to the Upper Northwest. I think they would still like to have a better foothold in the Northeast. SL: Is competitive poker going to be a viable television franchise in years to come or is it just a fly-by-night trend? AM: It's more than the flavor-of-the-month, but I don't think that this is going to be a continuing strong property. I see it having its, maybe, 35 minutes of fame. It's showing itself to be pretty viable, but I do think it's going to peak and I do think it's eventually going to fade. There's a glut of programming now. That could hurt it after a while if it becomes so ubiquitous that it loses its uniqueness. I also think that other sports could come along where people are more engaged after a while. I have to tip my hat. That's another one I did not see coming. ESPN deserves a lot of credit. They took a chance. They threw something to the wall and it stuck. SL: How about extreme sports? How will they transition into the future? AM: That is a genre, or a segment, in the industry that still has a lot of growth potential, only because a lot of the data we're seeing shows that these are the sports that youth are playing and participating in. 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