Euro 2012 Mascots Unveiled

How strange is this video introducing the new mascots for Euro 2012, the European soccer championships, to be held jointly by Poland and the Ukraine?

Seriously. These animatrons, of course, look a whole lot better when manifested in material form:

Yikes. Why international sports organizations insist on giving children nightmares via their mascots is beyond me.  At least, however, the new Poland/Ukraine mascots are a tad less creepy than their 2012 Olympic counterparts, Wenlock and Mandeville.

Yowza. Names for the Euro 2012 freaks have yet to be determined, as FIFA holds a fan voting competition to determine whether they will be called one of the following: Slavek and Slavko, Siemko and Strimko, or Klemek and Ladko.

The triviality of the spectacle, does it matter?

Soccer, Kids, and Nostalgia

Some interesting examples of sports messages aimed towards and/or involving kids today.  The first is from the Italian Serie A, where the top flight team Fiorentina (based out of Florence) has decided to forgo corporate jersey sponsorship this season in favor of the phrase "Il calcio e un divertimento," which translates into "football is entertainment/fun."

The team's nickname is "Viola," in reference to the squad's 

primary color - purple - as seen in the shirt above.

The team's vice president explained that the message is intended to "encourage young people to approach the game without taking it too seriously."  All in all, avoiding a corporate sponsorship - if even just for one season - is a good move in my book.  Reminds me of a couple teams who have eschewed corporate sponsorship in order to promote a good cause.  The biggest of these, by far, is FC Barcelona.  Beginning in 2006, the club has donated about $2 million per year to put the children's charity UNICEF on the front of its shirt.  It is the only logo to appear on the front of Barcelona's jersey ever

Perhaps the world's best player, Lionel Messi, and perhaps the world's best team, 

FC Barcelona, have partnered with UNICEF since 2006.

As a UNICEF ambassador, Messi recently visited Port Au Prince, Haiti,

on a goodwill mission.

Another example of charitable sponsorship by a soccer club comes from Aston Villa FC, an English Premiership squad that voluntarily placed the name of British children's hospice Acorns on their jersey the past two seasons.  In doing so, the team forfeited about $3 million in potential corporate sponsorship per season.

The British children's hospice Acorns, not to be confused

with the politically-troubled ACORN organization in the U.S.

Unfortunately, while Villa has decided to continue sponsoring the hospice, they've made a change in their jersey sponsorship for the upcoming season.  Their jerseys will bear the logo of "FxPro," a foreign currency exchange company.  The most unfortunate part of the change is that fellow Premiership club Fulham FC will also bear the FxPro logo on their shirts this season.

For 2010-2011 - Fulham on the left, Aston Villa on the right, 

bowl of soup not included.  I'm sure it looks good on you, though.

Finally, here is Sky Sports new commercial for its 2010-2011 coverage of the English Premier League season.  It's both endearing and, simply, good.

I would be more ecstatic if it wasn't an advertisement for SkySports, and thus Rupert Murdoch's ever-expanding fortune, but I think there is something more to think about here.  Consider the construction of the sport spectacle and how easily the genre is recreated in any format (or, in this case, parodied, perhaps).  Find slugs racing each other down an empty sidewalk and bring in announcers, slow-motion, helicopter cameras, and the like, and there you have it.

Even if that's not your cup of tea, you cannot deny the nostalgia dripping from the SkySports spot, emphasizing the myth of professional sports purity.  It's the kind of myth that we are constantly reminded of with regards to baseball in the United States, made especially plain by the Little League World Series, an event that combines America's desire for nostalgia with all of the trappings of a professional, commodified sports spectacle.  Thank you, ESPN.

Eerily similar to the SkySports advertisement, no?

The Daily Show tackles the World Cup

The following is a great piece from Daily Show correspondent John Oliver, who uncovers the commercialization and gentrification of the World Cup in Africa.  Just enjoy.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
World Cup 2010: Into Africa - Goal Diggers
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

I don't get this new Adidas ad......

 ...I mean, did they make this just because they could?  And what more random collection of folks than Daft, Punk, David Beckham, Snoop Dogg, Jay Baruchel, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Franz Beckenbauer, and a host of crazy aliens in a remake of a scene from Star Wars that takes place in a Mos Eisley cantina.

Well done, Adidas. I guess.

When I said that Microsoft owns Seattle...

...I meant it.  The following photo is from a press conference where Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's announced the team's draft picks (Russell Okung, Earl Thomas, Golden Tate, etc).  I feel like this goes without mentioning, but you do remember that the Seahawks are owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, right?

Carroll's forehead, not yet available.

Apparently, according to Darren Rovell, the microphone flag is the new frontier for media partnerships (about two-thirds of NFL teams already have practice jersey sponsorship deals in place.  The Seahawks' practice jersey sponsor?  C'mon, guess).  Even crazier?  The PR-speak from the respective parties involved.  First, the Seahawks' CEO Tod Leiweke:

"We rely on partnerships with companies like Bing to make our business work.  The mic flag seemed to be a rational thing to offer as part of our bigger relationship with the Bing brand."

And second, Bing's director of marketing and public relations Lisa Gurry:

"We're interested in building this brand in unique, unconventional ways and the mic flag is an example of that.  By putting our brand on the mic flag, we're putting our brand front and center of the most important dialogue that takes place."

This whole thing seems silly for a number of reasons.  Isn't Bing part of Microsoft?  Who are the Seahawks and Microsoft fooling acting as if Bing is some separate entity?  And, perhaps more importantly, all this for a microphone flag?

Sigh.  I guess when Gurry says that the brand will be at the center of dialogue, I can only hope she means that Bing, Microsoft, Windows 7, and Paul Allen hope Pete Carroll will say something ridiculous enough this season to be featured in a Coors Light commercial or something.

Good luck with that, Coach Carroll.

The post where Dale Jr. tells you how to eat a ham sandwich

On Monday, racing fans were treated to a full day of car racing, postponed from weather delays on Sunday.  Among those restarting after rain deluged the eastern half of the United States were the NHRA in North Carolina, NASCAR in Virginia, and IndyCar in St. Petersburg, FL.

Given the unusual scenario of racing on a Monday, these events provided no shortage of drama and intrigue, capped by the incredulously-named Australian Will Power winning the second IRL race of the season.  Considering Power's win in the first race of the season two weeks ago in Sao Paolo and I'd say the man is clearly going out like a lion this month.

2010 IRL points leader Will Power was born in Toowoomba, Australia.

I swear to you I'm not making this up.

Some might ask whether Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could use some will power at this point.  His last win in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series was almost two years and over sixty races ago.  But his performance on the track, not altogether unsurprisingly, has very little to do with the fact that Junior is not only NASCAR's most popular driver, but its' highest earning as well.  According to this week's Forbes magazine, without even winning a race last season, Earnhardt, Jr. made $30 million based on endorsements, sponsorships, and merchandise sales.

Because Earnhardt, Jr. is the most highly sought-after endorsement talent in NASCAR, I was drawn to his recent partnership with the mayonnaise company Hellmanns.

Iron Chefs, the Earnhardts are not.  But I suppose that's what

being part of a "real" meal is all about.

Specifically, what interests me is how our culture's fascination with celebrity extends into the strangest of areas and, in this case, into their kitchen.  Certainly we are constantly faced with celebrity chefs, but I think they can be excluded because their ethos is grounded in their expertise: culinary school, restaurant experience, etc.

Of course, extending the need to know what and how an athlete eats only adds new endorsement opportunities for athletes by presenting them outside of the world of sport (I'm purposefully excluding the litany of athletes who consume Gatorade, Red Bull, Powerbars, etc.).  Thanks to the pervasiveness of advertising, we can know such mundane details as what they use to shave, get over a cold, and now, the best way to eat a ham sandwich.

"Real food," apparently, doesn't include vegetables.  Unless, of course,

you count the potato salad made with an entire cup of mayo.

I understand why these advertisements exist, but I'm curious to know who, exactly, would be lured to making something because it comes from "Dale Jr.'s family."  It makes no sense to me.  But, I suppose, I have always preferred to hold the mayo.

Universities Celebrate Jordan-Nike Anniversary?

Three college basketball teams are wearing special silver uniforms and shoes this week to commemorate the 25 years of the Air Jordan franchise from sportswear behemoth Nike.

Silver uniforms for the Cal Bears and Georgetown Hoyas.

Why basketball shoes need windows is beyond me.

Unsurprisingly, Michael Jordan's alma mater, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, was the first of the three - California-Berkeley and Georgetown are the two others - to wear the outfit in game competition.  In the case of UNC, the introduction of the silver outfit kept one of college basketball's best uniforms (and uniform colors) in the locker room.  It's not called "Carolina Blue" by accident.

In any case, the Tar Heels debuted the silver uniforms last night against Florida State.  And like most games UNC has featured in this year, the Tar Heels lost to Florida State by a score of 77-67, dropping their record to 14-14 on the season.

Let the 25-year countdown to the gold jerseys begin.

And while this is just another case of an apparel company or corporate brand controlling athletics - and amateur athletics at that - it's not even close to the title for the ugliest uniform for the sake of advertising.  That distinction is held by the IHL's Kalamazoo K-Wings in a McDonald's-themed game from a couple of years ago.  And, not only were the uniforms yellow, but so was the ice.

Um.  Yeah.

Nothing pretty about yellow ice.

So, there is clearly no line that isn't able to be crossed.  I suppose that it just seems a bit more uncomfortable when that line is so easily crossed in college athletics.  It also seems that people care less and less.

Occasionally, however, there are people who fight back.  A recent example - which went down in late January - was the movement to stop Nike's redesign of the Michigan State University Spartan logo.  When news broke that Nike and the University were moving to rollout a new brand identity campaign, the public got hold of the potential logo change below and made their voices heard.

The old logo on the left, the proposed logo on the right.

Students mobilized on Facebook and created groups designed to reach the administration and stop the new logo rollout.  Almost 20,000 fans on Facebook joined the group, which mass e-mailed University coaches and administrators.  And even though head basketball coach Tom Izzo was in favor of the proposed logo changes, the fans eventually got their way.  MSU Athletic Director Mark Ellis, in a statement from earlier this month:

"The recent disclosure of an updated Spartan logo...has resulted in a flurry of concern and discontent among some of our students, alumni, and fans...After careful consideration, we will use the current Spartan logo design, first used in the late 1970s, to build our visual brand identity."

Good to know that opposition still exists out there and that people still think that some things, like Spartan helmets, are perfect just the way they are.

The Bakersfield Jam: Empty and elitist?

The original idea for the name of this blog begins with the French philosopher and sociologist, Jean Baudrillard.  Besides his many seminal works regarding postmodernity and/or post-structuralism, Baudrillard spent a bit of time theorizing sports, stadiums, and TV.

The man had many leather-bound books, not pictured.

In particular, he noted the powerful effect of removing fans from a stadium and broadcasting the event through TV, a process that displaces the real game for a media representation (he was taking stock of a 1987 European Cup soccer match played in an empty stadium in Madrid between Real Madrid and Napoli).  For Baudrillard, then, the real game - if it's not being played in front of anyone - doesn't even have to take place as long as it is broadcasted: "No one will have directly experience the actual course of such happenings, but everyone will have received an image of them." It is ideas like this that continue to fuel my attention to stadiums and sports around the world.

With that said, I'd like to point to an interesting experiment by the NBDL's Bakersfield (CA) Jam.  Granted, the situation is not exactly the same as what Baudrillard references above - but it is interesting.  After just three seasons in existence as an NBDL franchise, the Jam decided to cease operations after their playoff exit following the 2008-2009 season.  According to owner Stan Ellis, even with the franchise posting its first winning season, the team could no longer afford to continue because attendance figures were abysmally low.

A public vote rejected a host of other nicknames, 

including the Bakersfield Fundamental Bounce Pass.

While the goal was to draw about 3,500 fans per game, the Jam regularly mustered less than half of that figure and averaged just about 2,000 fans per game for the season.  Contrast these figures with the 7,000 per game average for the Bakersfield Condors - the minor league hockey affiliate for the Anaheim Ducks - and you can imagine that a Jam game would have seemed pretty empty inside the 10,000 seat Rabobank Arena.

The Jam had a hard time stuffing 

the Rabobank Arena.  Or this layup.

Then, just a couple months later - in June - Ellis announced the team would not go under and "armed with a new business model" would play in the 2009-2010 season.  What this new business model would entail, Jam fans would later find out, would be staging games in the recently-constructed Jam practice facility - known as the Jam Events Center.  Essentially, the Center is every bit a practice gym with a few small seating areas surrounding the court and a couple of skyboxes in place above the court at either end.

White linens courtside?  You got it.

The court is part of a larger convention hall that comprises the Jam Events Center.

According to a report from the D-League Digest, this setup allows for just over 400 tickets to be sold for each of the Jam's 21 home games.  Those season ticket packages - which include parking, catered dinner, open bar, and access to a cigar room - range from $3,000-$4,000 per seat.  The skyboxes located at the Jam Events Center, while pushing capacity to 550 fans, are for sale at $40,000 a year.  Because of these ticketing arrangements, there are no upfront ticket sales for any Jam games at the JEC this season (the team will play one game in March at the Rabobank Arena).  Ellis, responding to criticism last summer, said he realized "the flak I'll take for making this elitist.  I don't want to do that.  That's not the goal...We do want to serve the public to some extent.  The first objective, it's sad to say, but we've got to make profit."

The team has struggled this season, with a home record of 4-9 (8-23 overall).

Perhaps if someone courtside would pass them some brie.

Sounds bizarre, but apparently this new business model seems to be working for Ellis - in part, because the Jam have catered mostly to area businesses, encouraging a networking-like atmosphere before, after, and during the game.  More importantly, other NBDL franchises are now monitoring the situation to see if this kind of business model is viable for the long term.

The minor league sports system has seen its share of peculiar ideas.  This example reinforces the business element that is inherently connected to professional sports today.  In Bakersfield, CA, if you're willing to accept that and can afford it, you can eat and drink all you want while NBA-castaways toil within smelling-distance.  And while it's not exactly Baudrillard's empty stadium (the Jam don't have a TV broadcasting contract), it is another interesting case of sport and commercialization in our society.

Commercialism and the Vancouver Olympic Games

In the build-up to the Winter Olympics, the IOC is flexing its regulatory muscles.

The latest debacle centers on the Australian Olympic delegation flying this flag of a boxing kangaroo at their hotel, a practice they have embraced at every Olympic Games since Sydney in 2000.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a walla...bee?

Apparently, it is beyond regulations to display or promote an image that is trademarked - it is considered a commercial display.  The IOC has the measure in place so that nations can't advertise or use different logos for the purposes of selling merchandise.  The Australian IOC has insisted this is a tradition that has nothing to do with selling merchandise - in fact, not a single piece of Australian merch features this boxing kangaroo.

Defending the flag, Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred emphasized the flag as embodying the fun, pugnacious side of Australia's athletes.  "The boxing kangaroo is the team mascot," Tancred continued.  "Look, you cannot buy any boxing kangaroo merchandise here.  We would never engage in ambush marketing."  Still, it turns out that not all Australians are fond of the flag - which was originally created by America's Cup winner Alan Bond in 1983.

UPDATE: In the end, the IOC ruled just yesterday that the flag could stay.

With the Olympics in front of us this week, this may be a good time to note the increased commercial aspect - boxing kangaroos notwithstanding - of the Games.  Below is a breakdown of how the IOC uses the billions of dollars they receive from corporate sponsors and television rights contracts.  You can click on the image to open it larger, but the long and the short of things is that the U.S. dominates the Olympic movement.

Important things to take away: two-thirds of the corporate sponsorships come from American companies and the American TV rights for the Games is more than all other nations TV rights combined.  Wow.

In the end, it makes me wonder what is really the big deal about a flag hanging in the Olympic Village.  But with economic interests as deeply invested as we see above, the IOC has to desperately protect (insulate, even) the Games from any unofficial interests.

In some cases, like the Australian kangaroo, common sense was victorious.  Other cases, unfortunately, make me wonder whether all of this corporate control over the Olympics is such a good thing.  Example?  Here we go.

In British Columbia, the province that contains the Olympic city of Vancouver, the "First Nations" moniker refers to the people who can trace their ancestry to the aboriginal people that inhabited the land that is now British Columbia prior to the arrival of Europeans and Americans in the late 18th century.  The Vancouver Olympic organizing committee invited representatives from the First Nations to take part in the Games in a variety of ways (look for the connections at the opening ceremony on Friday).

The Vancouver Olympic Logo takes its design elements 

from First Nations Culture

This partnership is actually "the first time in history that indigenous peoples have been recognized by the IOC as official partners in hosting the games." Part of their participation as hosts included opening a food pavilion at the Olympics that would feature haute couture food from all of the indigenous tribes that comprise the First Nations.

The Olympic Logo commercialized a rock formation - known as an "inuksuk" - 

located on Whistler Mountain in British Columbia.  

The name of this particular inuksuk is "Illanaaq."

Sounds like a great story.  Until one of the food items caused an IOC-sponsor panic.  That item?  The First Nations' Bison Burger.  What's the problem you ask?  Well, turns out that McDonald's took umbrage as an official IOC sponsor, specifically the fast-food giant wants no confusion as to who can make and sell the Olympics' official burger.  That's right, in Vancouver for the next couple of weeks, McDonald's sells the only burger in town.

As a result, if you want to eat bison between two pieces of bread at the First Nations' food tent, you can't ask for a burger, you'll have to ask coordinating chef Andrew George for "sliders, or bannockwiches."

It's all part of what Bill Cooper, head of commercial rights management for the Vancouver Olympic Committee, says is included in the official sponsors' "significant commitment and investment" that forbids "certain brands or words that create special associations with our sponsors and their products."

That's fine.  It's still a burger to me.

The Sports/Media Complex at an apex?

Before I headed off to school this morning, I caught a couple minutes each of Mike & Mike and First Take on ESPN2.  In the span of just a few minutes, I saw last year's Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes hawking a rather ugly pair of Reebok trainers and a First Take host open her interview with Detroit Lions quarterback Drew Stafford with the following: "Drew, what does it take to have girl-approved hair?"  In case you're curious, that line is adapted from Axe's hair products, for which Stafford is a spokesman.

These help you train better.  Whatever you say, science.

Santonio Holmes with Greeny & Golic and his shirt matched his shoes.

I realize it's the Super Bowl and everyone is cashing in, but it's more indicative of what's happening at in the world of sports - and at the World Wide Leader - the past several years.

Advertisements are a big part of ESPN's SportsCenter

Looking specifically at ESPN, from their partnership with EA Sports that produced the strangest NFL Countdown segment ever...

...to asking their analysts which player in a given game needs to taste greatness the most...

What might greatness taste like?  Miller Lite thinks they have the answer.

...the commercial/infotainment element of sport is certainly at its apex.  But it's not just ESPN, as noted in posts from the past couple of days.  Television, advertising, and sport are more intertwined now than ever before, across all sorts of sports - professional, amateur, or otherwise.

Is there any way for consumers to opt out of this growing machine?  Well, more and more sporting contests are available online.  Also, blogs are also doing some good work right now - when it comes to insightful information and analysis - especially if you are interested in a sport that doesn't receive much television coverage.  And finally, players have opened themselves directly - some more open than others - with technological tools like Facebook and Twitter.

It may not be the end of the world, or even the end of sports, just that the line between advertising and content is getting more and more blurry, and we fans have seemingly so little input in that process.

Update: NCAA March Madness Expansion...highly likely

Even though the NCAA has denied they are expanding the Men's 2011 NCAA basketball tournament, NCAA president Greg Shaheen has said that the organization is currently "investigat[ing] the possibility of expanding the tournament" to 65, 68, or 96 teams."

So what about the NIT, taker of 32 teams just outside the NCAA tournament's bubble?  Apparently, the NCAA's deal with the NIT expires after this season, and the teams sent to that tournament could become a part of the now-expanded NCAA tournament in 2011.

Reports have coaches in support of the move.  Illinois head coach Bruce Weber told a Chicago news site,

"Selfishly I think as a coaching profession, there's so much pressure on you to get into the tournament, if you don't get in, you're a failure.  So, I think it would help keep jobs, it would maybe stabilize some programs, so I am definitely for it.  I think most of our coaching profession is."

Fair enough coach, but what happens when getting into the tournament is no longer a mark for coaches to meet?  Would fans and universities (presidents and athletic directors) create new benchmarks, like say, progressing to the round of 64?  Seems like a specious argument until you consider that even if 96 teams make the NCAA tournament, that means there are 251 teams that won't (a total of 347 Div 1 NCAA basketball schools).  From the current system where just 18% of NCAA teams make the tournament, the potential of a 96-team tournament would bump that percentage to almost 28%.  Wouldn't future coaches contracts take that into account?

Bruce Weber would have trouble wearing this jacket at the DMV 

if he got fired from his job at Illinois.

"Sitting at 2-5, I'm all for it," Texas Tech coach Pat Knight quipped yesterday.  But besides job preservation, coaches are realizing the economic impacts for their organization.  As Knight continued,

"From a money standpoint, I think it'd be good because it's not like people are going to not watch those early round games just because they extended it.  I'm sure they're going to be able to get TV contracts."

According to ESPN Dallas-Ft. Worth, Kansas coach Bill Self also recognizes that TV is a huge element of expansion:

"Whatever it is, if it's 96 there's going to be 97, 98, 99 that feel like they got left out...I think television will dictate so much of it.  I think it's worth discussing, but I haven't seen anyone's formula that would be the right formula.  Football can't figure it out and they deal with less teams."

While it's highly unlikely that Bill Self and Kansas will have to worry about being the 99th team on the outside of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, I find it interesting that Knight and Self acknowledge that television controls the sport.  It's no different than most other sports in the States or the world over, for that matter, but it is interesting that fans have no say whatsoever in sports and TV scheduling.  Consider the fact that college football, during the regular season, is broadcast five or six nights a week on ESPN.

Ranked number 1 in February 2010, 

ranked number 99 in February 2011?  Not likely.

As for the impending NCAA TV deal, currently Sports Business Daily has CBS partnering with Turner Sports (TNT/TBS) for a deal that will show the opening rounds on cable and eventually make the move to CBS for the later rounds.

Is the NCAA ready for these guys?

Long a player in the professional basketball ranks, is TBS/TNT a good fit for the NCAA tournament?  Furthermore, from an attendance standpoint, will an expanded tournament be able to fill the large arenas that typically house the opening rounds?  These questions are just a few that surround an issue I don't think is going away any time soon.

For your viewing pleasure, here's the 2009 "One Shining Moment," the best annually-occuring montage in all of sports.  And, of course, the only sports montage featuring the incomparable Luther Vandross.  The 2011 version?  Will probably need a new title..."One Shining Slightly Longer Period of Time?"

-------

As a short aside, one country that had placed regulations on TV scheduling for sports until recently was Germany.  Until 2006, in the nation's top soccer division, the Bundesliga, 7 games would be played at 3.30 pm on Saturday and 2 games would be played on Sunday at 5 pm.  And that was it.  Until Rupert Murdoch's Sky broadcasting, in 2006, moved one of the Saturday games to 6.30 pm and another game to Friday evening at 8.30 pm.

Even with a sport so staunchly defended in Germany as soccer, nothing is impenetrable to the mighty force of television.  Which means fans won't have a say here either - whether it's NCAA football, basketball, or any other sporting contest.

How many teams?...and Green Men Galore...

Will next year's March Madness have 96 teams?  According to reports, including this work from Sports Business Daily, the NCAA is looking to opt out of its current contract with CBS after this year and initiate a new bidding process for a 12-year deal.  They have until August 31 to opt out of the three remaining years left on an 11-year, $6 billion contract.

The 2011 NCAA tournament will be hosted in Houston, and, 

if the NCAA gets their way, 

every other arena available in the continental U.S.

The NCAA is hoping for a new deal that will give them a no-penalty exit clause and, more importantly, the ability to expand to tournament to 68 or 96 teams.  Under the 68-team format, there would be three play-in games to start the tournament.  A 96-team field would include an extra round for 64 teams, with the top 32 teams would receiving a first round bye.

Could the people on the side move in a bit?  

We gotta fit in 32 more.

It's being reported that Turner Sports, ESPN, Fox, and even CBS are interested.  According to Sports Business Daily, the options for the NCAA are thus:

• The NCAA could keep its current deal with CBS
• The NCAA could make a new deal with CBS
• The NCAA could make a new deal with a new partner, or
• The NCAA could create a split-rights agreement.

More games, more money for the NCAA -- the same reason there's no playoff in division one college football.

Anyway, here's something completely unrelated, but it made my weekend.  Gotta love those Canucks...

There's something new in (North) Miami...

It seemed strange to me that the first time I laid eyes upon the stadium home to the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes (as well as home to the Florida Marlins), I was actually no where near Miami.  Hardly downtown, the stadium (B) is actually located about 15 miles north of the city (A):

That pet peeve aside (the NFL Giants/Jets and Redskins are just a few more teams who don't play in the geographical space their name attests), the stadium formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium has a new corporate partner and, thus, a new name for the upcoming NFL Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.  That means that, tomorrow, this facility will be christened with its 7th name change in just 22 years.

T.I. says you could call it whatever you like

Those names?  Ok, here's the rundown:

• Joe Robbie Stadium (1987-1996)
• Pro Player Park (1996)
• Pro Player Stadium (1996-2005)
• Dolphins Stadium (2005-2006)
• Dolphin Stadium (2006-2009)
• LandShark Stadium (2009)
• Dolphin Stadium (Jan. 1, 2010 to Jan. 19, 2010)
• Sun Life Stadium (Jan. 20, 2010-2015)

Such turnover makes the abstinence from selling naming rights by the Cleveland Browns (Cleveland Browns Stadium), Cincinnati Bengals (Paul Brown Stadium), Kansas City Chiefs (Arrowhead), Buffalo Bills (Ralph Wilson Stadium), New Orleans Saints (Superdome), Atlanta Falcons (Georgia Dome), Green Bay Packers (Lambeau), and Chicago Bears (Soldier Field) seem noble.

It does draw attention, however, about the possibility of a naming rights agreement for the new Cowboys Stadium or New Meadowlands Stadium.  With Dallas set to host the Super Bowl next year (and the NCAA Men's Final Four in 2014), Jerry Jones could maximize the price of an agreement for that kind of premium visibility.  The same goes for the new stadium in the Meadowlands, with a slew of events to take place in the next year.  In an interview with Sports Business Daily, Randy Bernstein with Premier Partnerships, an agency that matches bidders and stadiums for naming rights contracts, said it is only a matter of time before these large stadiums (including nearby Rutgers University's updated football stadium) get new names: "The marketplace is very active again...and you will see some of the largest facilities do deals this year."

In the meantime, Sun Life Financial will pay the Dolphins $7.5 million a year for the next five years.  What are embattled Dolphins fans to do?  I suggest they join the underground swell of the Naming Wrongs Movement.

That t-shirt is available at NoMas-NYC.  The Naming Wrongs movement is a brilliant idea that came to fruition when the venerable Shea Stadium closed and the Mets opened Citi Field.  The idea of the original shirt "I'm Calling It Shea," has since spread to Mile High Stadium (now known as Invesco Field at Mile High), Jacobs Field (Progressive Field), and Comiskey Park (U.S. Cellular Field).  Part of the proceeds go to a local (NYC) food bank.

If it looks like a Joe Robbie, smells like a Joe Robbie...

Since fans are mere pawns in the financial games of far-richer men and women (J-Lo and the Williams sisters became part owners recently), I side with the Naming Wrongs movement and suggest a resistance to accept the name.  Let's just call it what it should be.  Like the shirt above, I'm calling it Joe Robbie.

Tottenham's New Stadium

Let's talk a bit about stadiums.  Not that the following information should surprise you, but I think it's interesting to consider the ramifications of corporate naming of stadiums across the world.  We know of the thousands of examples in the States, where corporate names attached to stadiums is so commonplace that venues such as Cowboys Stadium or Giants Stadium or Camden Yards are the exception to the naming rights deals rule.

This brings me to North London, England, home to the Tottenham Football Club.  I will begin by stating that this is a classic team with a classic logo (and color scheme).

Formed in 1882, the team has resided in its current grounds, White Hart Lane, since 1899.  White Hart Lane holds approximately 36,000 fans and, as a result of the stadium's history and capacity, Tottenham has been compared to the Boston Red Sox and historic Fenway Park (built in 1912 with a capacity of 37,000).

Both teams feature beautifully old stadiums that have been consistently upgraded throughout the century and each team offers a rich history in their respective sports as a counterpart to the incredible structures.  That is why it disturbed me to find out that Tottenham are currently developing a plan to build a new stadium on the same property as their current grounds.  And not just a new stadium, but a 58,000 seat monster that would look something like this:

Apparently, with over 70,000 fans on a waiting list for season tickets, Tottenham couldn't prevent the development of a new stadium any longer.  The especially sad thing, however, is that this new sport/entertainment/residential complex (there will be housing, retail, a hotel, and a 'public square') will literally have corporate naming rights written all over it.  In fact, the development team from Tottenham was so certain that "White Hart Lane" would be no more that they digitally imprinted the new stadium with as-yet-unknown title "Naming Rights" in what is the first image of the new design.

To think, would the designers for a new Fenway Park - if ever it was built - be so brazen as to implant a blank space for a corporate name on the new stadium design? Wouldn't people, as my North Shore cousins are wont to say, be ripped?

Turns out that in the top flights of English football, Tottenham is not alone in their attempts to cash in.  Much like stadiums in the 'States, the steady stream of corporate naming began in the early 1990s and has slowly spread.  In late 2009, Newcastle FC decided to rename their 117-year old stadium, St. James Park, to the following mouthful:"Sportsdirect.com@St. James Park."

A stadium which opened in 1892 now has a website-dot-com address preceding the title it held for over a century.  The corporate takeover trend does not end there as another London-based football club, Chelsea FC, also recently announced plans to sell the naming rights to its stadium, Stamford Bridge.  Named for the bridge that connects the Chelsea area of London to neighboring rival Fulham, "The Bridge," has been affectionately known as such since 1877.

Take a look at how long these stadiums have been around and to contemplate a name change, for any of them, is just sad (teams with/or considering corporate naming are highlighted).

• 1860 - Deepdale Stadium; Preston North End FC
• 1877 - Stamford Bridge; Chelsea FC
• 1882 - Ewood Park; Blackburn FC
• 1883 - Turf Moor; Burnley FC
• 1884 - Anfield Park; Liverpool FC
• 1889 - Molineux Stadium; Wolverhampton FC
• 1892 - St. James Park; Newcastle FC
• 1892 - Goodison Park; Everton FC
• 1896 - Craven Cottage; Fulham FC
• 1899 - White Hart Lane; Tottenham FC
• 1900 - The Hawthorns; West Bromwich Albion

To use another parallel, Lambeau Field is - and will always be - Lambeau Field...and it's only been open since 1957!  To seriously entertain the idea of something GoDaddy.Com@Lambeau Field is disheartening and I can only feel bad for Tottenham fans, who must be looking forward to 2012 when Naming Rights Stadium opens.

...I realize this is not new information, it just shocks me to see how easily we are overcome by corporations in what is supposed to be our strongest devotion (let's see corporations sponsor churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.)  Is it fan weakness or corporate strength or both?  Either way, and on the precipice of the Citi BCS National Championship Game, I miss the original bowl games: the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange.  (Don't talk to me about the Citi, Tostitos, Allstate, or FedEx games...)