The Politics of Sports

Sports are more than just the game that is played. Sports are a politicized arena where tactical decisions are made that influence more than those playing the game.

In February, the 2011 NBA MVP, Derrick Rose, signed a $185 million sponsorship deal with Adidas. This deal was reached with a purpose of helping Adidas compete with Nike in the U.S. basketball shoe market. Nike currently dominates this market thanks to the popular (Michael) Jordan brand, as well as endorsements by Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant.

However, Adidas' dreams came crashing down when Derrick Rose suffered a torn ACL in the first playoff game of the offseason against the Philadelphia 76ers. Rose is now out for the remainder of the playoffs. But that's not even the worst news for Adidas. Rose was scheduled to play in the 2012 summer Olympics in London, but will now be sidelined. This is a huge blow to Adidas, as they were counting on Rose's endorsement at the biggest sporting event in the world to showcase their brand. The Olympics will now be full of Nike endorsements from some of the biggest names in basketball. Adidas faces the challenge of building their brand without a superstar behind it.

This just goes to show how fast circumstances can change, and how being prepared for adversity is the key to success, both on and off the court. How Adidas overcomes this setback will determine a great deal about the future strength of their brand image as well as their race against Nike. So yes, there is more to sports than just the game that is played.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

I have identified the world's most unfortunate (and fortunate at the same time) sportscaster.  During a live broadcast, an inexperienced, behind the scenes worker accidentally set the teleprompter to fast forward, so reporter Brian Collins had to improv his segment of the show.  The link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45DRy7M1no

After stuttering through these fast paced lines, Collins had to take matters into his own hands.  He proceeded to make up his own lines and kept the show from coming to a sputtering halt.  His most recognized line is when he is analyzing an Indiana Pacers basketball game.  A pass comes to Pacers star, Reggie Miller, and Collins says, "Gets it to the man, and boom goes the dynamite," as the shot goes through the hoop.  This proves to be a long lasting remark, as there is now footage of this news clip all over the Internet titled "Boom Goes the Dynamite."  With increased popularity, Collins became more recognized among viewers and fans.

Perhaps his biggest break was when he received a contract with a high end news studio, who took notice of Brian after this video spread.  Even though this very unlucky event happened on a local news network, Collins hit the jackpot by thinking quick on his feet and gave his broadcasting career the boost it needed.  One day he was stumbling through a report, waiting for his time to finally come to an end.  Then his unfortunate affair went viral, and boom went the dynamite.

Austin Woodruff

KONY 2012: Part II

Katy Schaffer

Invisible Children, the makers of the film KONY 2012, have released a second video, a followup to the first, called KONY 2012: Part II. Their purpose in making the 20-minute film is to explain the campaign to rid the world of Joseph Kony, Ugandan war criminal and kidnaper, by the end of 2012. The video takes a closer look at the solutions offered by leaders of communities affected by Kony's crimes and child abduction.

However, the video seems like more of a reaction to the widespread criticism of the first video rather than a real attempt to continue their campaign.

Part II starts off with a montage of clips from news sources, such as CNN, and other media that criticize Invisible Children and their KONY 2012 video. These sources call the first video "naive" and argue that it "manipulates the facts" to emotionally blackmail its audience into blind action against a warlord they have only seen in a 30-minute clip made by a shady nonprofit organization. The second video, just as the first, relies heavily on pathos, showing images of suffering children and painting portraits of suffering communities. To add some ethos, an Invisible Children narrator follows the montage by saying that Invisible Children has created the second video to explain the first. Invisible Children spokespeople admit they need to explain themselves. But in reality, this really doesn't add ethos--it subtracts from their credibility because it looks they are now trying to cover their tracks and mobilize people to "informed action," rather than just riding the hype of the latest social media trend, which the first video did in less than a day. The second video has garnered just over 300,000 hits in a day, significantly less than the first Kony video, indicating that the KONY 2012 trend was just that--a passing fad.

Is anyone still paying attention to Kony? It doesn't seem like it. And that's unfortunate, because whether Invisible Children is honest or manipulative or not, they have a point--people are suffering half a world away, and the rest of the world needs to be aware.