1. Game Day
B. Haves vs. have nots
1. GAME DAY
A. FUMBLE! WHO WILL CRACK UNDER PRESSURE?
One statistic that's almost a sure bet to show up in any Super Bowl analysis is turnovers. Which players are most likely to miss a key tackle, fumble the ball, or throw an interception? University of Cincinnati psychologist Tony Grasha turned the question around and lists four characteristics of people who don't fold under pressure. "They are people who need to achieve a high standard of excellence, have a high degree of confidence and a past history of success, place a high value on what they are trying to succeed and have little anxiety over failing." Grasha says that means top-performing athletes aren't even worried about getting ridiculed by the media or their own teammates.
Contact: 513-556-5543
B. "SPIN DOCTORS" AT WORK
The most successful players in Super Bowl XXXV might be the "spin doctors" of sports according to Ron Huston, an engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati who has studied the biomechanics of athletics for many years. Huston said "It is important to put spin on the ball" whether you're kicking it or passing it. There are three reasons. First, spinning stabilizes the ball so it flies smoothly in an arc through the air. Secondly, spinning helps to overcome the adverse effects of wind. Finally, spinning keeps the flight of the ball stable. That makes it easier for receivers to catch the ball. Huston added that the direction of the spin is also critical. Passes and punts should rely on that classic spiral. For extra points, field goals and kickoffs, end-over-end spinning is most effective.
C. SUPER BOWL MINUS DOT.COMS = BETTER ADS
The Super Bowl is as much about high-end advertising as it is about touchdowns and field goals, says John H. Antil, associate professor of business administration in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware and an expert on Super Bowl advertising. "With the return of many experienced advertisers, this year has the potential to produce some terrific Super Bowl commercials," says Antil, pointing out that the 2000 broadcast was overrun with commercials from inexperienced dot.com businesses. "It is also interesting to note that this may be the first year that the advertising rates actually decrease from those of the previous year."
Contact: 302-831-1791
D. THE ADS DIDN'T COST A MILLION PER MINUTE, EITHER
Pro football isn't just for men anymore, but the female alternative has a long way to go to catch up, according to Kevin Grace, a sports researcher and assistant head of university archives at the University of Cincinnati. Grace says women are far behind in both glory and salary. "The Women's Professional Football League held its Super Bowl last weekend. The players were paid $50 a game," he said. Although female football players still need to work their day jobs, women's basketball is showing promise. "They have the power of the NBA and a TV contract behind them, and the only way you're going to sell a sport is through television."
Contact: 513-556-1953
2. THE WIDENING WORLD OF SPORTS
A. GONE GLOBAL
Just as globalization has swept through the business world, it has become a trend in the world of sports that few could have imagined 25 years ago, according to Suja Thomas, an assistant professor at the UC College of Law. Thomas is an expert in sports law who has worked on behalf of the National Football League Players Association, the Major League Soccer Players Association, corporate clients and individual athletes, including an athlete accused of a doping violation by a national governing body. "Sports have moved beyond the U.S. -- they have become global now," says Thomas, pointing to the international marketing efforts of the NBA and the NFL as examples. The same growth trends, she adds, have taken the field of sports law far beyond where anyone might have imagined 25 years ago. "It has become part of big business, and it has become a bigger part than anyone would have imagined years ago," she says.
Contact: 513-556-0027
B. A MEASURE OF WHO WE ARE?
Sports is the "broadest cultural common denominator in our society today," says sports researcher and expert Richard Lapchick, who serves as director of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at Northeastern University. "It receives more ink in the newspaper than any other topic. It gets more time on the nightly news than anything else. Look at the all-sports networks that are proliferating. It's becoming one of the world's biggest commercial enterprises. More people like sports than like the arts or hold one single religious philosophy," said Lapchick, who writes a column for The Sports Business Journal and has written 10 books related to sports.
Contact: 407-397-6359
C. THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF SPORTS
Baseball and football emphasize individual achievement and individual competition in the context of team play. Professor Tony Grasha of the University of Cincinnati department of psychology says those sports "feed into our American sense of individualism and personal achievement. Our loyalties are not so much to a team as they are to individual stars on the team." Grasha noted that few American sports fans put "team play" at the top of their list. "This is somewhat unique to western cultures such as the U.S., but not exclusively so. Even in cultures where there is a collaborative base to life and a better sense of group and community such as eastern cultures, a little competition brings out the focus on the individual hero." Grasha said baseball plays well in Japan because "it is almost like a ballet and invokes time for players and fans to think. Football, on the other hand, is too crass and wild and aggressive for folks who want to meditate and look for deeper meanings to life through their sports."
Contact: 513-556-5543
D. THE AGONY OF DEFEAT (FOR THE FANS)
Sports fanatics live vicariously through the achievements of their team, so they're likely to wind up a bit depressed when their favorite team goes down to defeat. "They have a bit of their self-image wrapped up in the symbolism of the team, identification with particular players, and the spirit of competition. When their team loses, they take it somewhat personally. It's a blow to their confidence and sense of self-worth," said University of Cincinnati psychology professor Tony Grasha. On the other hand, when your favorite team wins, fans enjoy the psychological reward. "There is nothing like another victory to restore faith in themselves and the team. In other words, their lives are enriched when the team succeeds because symbolically they are a member of the team."
Contact: 513-556-5543
3. SEASON OF OUR DISCONTENT
A. LOSING THE POPULARITY CONTEST?
Despite sports' popularity, its future as a leading cultural denominator may be in jeopardy, according to Richard Lapchick, director of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at Northeastern University. "The average adult fan is on a precipice of becoming less passionate because of the amount of money professionals are demanding and getting, the various stadium issues, the coaches leaving college sports for more prestigious offers and the college players jumping to pro sports earlier than ever. Fans can't even count on the team being in the same town anymore," he said. Even crimes committed by players are contributing to the problem. For the past five years, there has been a steady decrease in television viewership of major national sporting contests, including the recent AFC and NFC playoffs.
Contact: 407-397-6359
B. MESHING BUSINESS WITH SPORTS
If there's a common complaint among disaffected sports fans, it is that money is ruining the games they love. Suja Thomas, an assistant professor of law at the University of Cincinnati's College of Law, has an expertise in sports law developed through years of practice in the specialty. She says the visibility of problems may be higher, but they have always existed in pro sports. "Wishing for the days of old is something people talk about, but they may not know what the days of old were really like," Thomas said. "(The public) just didn't hear about these kind of problems back then." Labor issues have always existed in pro sports, she says, but the advent of strong unions and media interested in covering these off-field issues has changed perceptions. Thomas thinks rhetoric pining for the days of old is most often associated with owners and league management, parties that have had to give ground to the players' movement of the last 30 years.
Contact: 513-556-0027
C. WRESTLING WITH WRESTLING'S IMPACT
The line between athletics and entertainment has become more blurred as promoters have invented ways to fulfill our appetite for spectator sports. A prime example is the growth in professional wrestling. UC language arts professor and pop culture expert Rebecca Borah explains why the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) is such a hit among young men. "It has the same allure as comic books, video games and other forms of imaginative, action-related programming and fantasies. The wrestlers take the job very seriously and see themselves as entertainers. It's very personality-driven and, combined with the body building aspect, it becomes a spectacle, and the screaming fans get to be a part of it. I've heard fans describe matches as soap operas for guys."
Borah does worry about pro wrestling's impact on children. "This can be great fun for adults, but the negative part is that youngsters don't always understand where fantasy starts and reality begins. Some children may think it's acceptable to pile drive a smaller child into the linoleum until they try it and cause a serious injury," she says. Borah calls wrestling "a hyper-masculine sport - out of proportion with reality. The wrestlers' bodies are big and so are their overdone personalities." She adds that toy figures of wrestlers don't match reality, creating the same kinds of issues for boys that girls have had to deal with concerning Barbie dolls. "There are concerns over how this will affect younger kids and encourage possible steroid use as they try to bulk up to play sports in high school or even earlier. Girls suffer from one type of distorted body image while increasing numbers of boys suffer from another."
Contact: 513-556-1792
4. BASEBALL: PASTIME OR PAST ITS TIME?
A. THE GREAT AMERICAN GAME NO MORE
Baseball has too much competition, most notably from football and basketball to claim the title "the" American Game anymore, says M. Philip Lucas, a professor of history at Cornell College who teaches a course on baseball. Even soccer is a competitor these days. "If children continue to play soccer as persistently as they once played baseball, then soccer has a chance. Still, I will believe it when I see it. In the meantime football, baseball and basketball will dominate." Lucas says baseball parallels American history to a certain extent. "Baseball is perceived as too slow. I think the culture today demands instant gratification -- or instant information if you want to compare it to the high-tech culture. We want sound bites from our politicians, not long speeches or analyses. Video games lack subtlety but provide instant results, unlike baseball. Football and basketball (and hockey to some extent) provide the instant excitement that baseball tends not to." Lucas says Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's homerun duels helped re-energize interest in baseball. He also believes new ballparks, like Houston's, are deliberately designed to help big hitters rather than pitchers because homeruns provide the instant gratifications today's fan demands.
Contact: 319-895-4205
B. HAVES VS. HAVE NOTS
Economic and pop culture factors are dimming children's interest in baseball. Kevin Grace, sports researcher and assistant head of university archives, University of Cincinnati, says cramped inner city neighborhoods have no space for a baseball field, let alone the money to pay for equipment. If children are dreaming of a career in sports, Grace adds they're thinking of personality more than performance. They're looking ahead to starring on national television, so they want to shine on the hard court, rather than the baseball diamond or football field.
"Baseball needs to get its financial ship in order and until then, they're going to have a tough time selling the game," Grace continues. He says baseball has become a genuine case of the "haves" versus the "have nots" because of the cost to the fan. "It has to be a very special event, and there are many things competing for the entertainment dollar. The family won't spend $150 to sit high up in the seats where they can't see the players, when fans feel they would have a better time going to a NASCAR event or hockey game. Minor leagues are more affordable, causing the common fan to turn away from major league sports."
Contact: 513-556-1953
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