HBO's 24/7, aka the 2011 NHL Winter Classic hype machine

A couple of story lines previewed in this 12 minute clip from HBO's production of 24/7, a series about the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins matchup in the 2011 NHL Winter Classic.

In no particular order:

• First, playing hockey outdoors is fundamentally special and, also, returns the game "to its' roots." Except for the fireworks and the overwhelming amount of corporate sponsorship, of course.
• Second, HBO behind-the-scenes shows are awesome.
• Third, these two teams have a rivalry that is concentrated around their two superstars, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. And, both teams are Stanley Cup contenders.
• Fourth, although the third narrative will be prevalent - these teams have other characters that will be interesting to watch.
• Fifth, hockey players are tough.
• Sixth, nobody - apparently - knows what hockey players do off the ice.

Should be an interesting series, especially as an "innovative" extension of the sports/media spectacle.

Absolutely brutal...

What a way to run a club.

Seriously, just a brutal breakdown of how the Glazers have run up the debts on one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world. Amazing, to me, is how overall revenues - including game-day revenue - are going up.  Too bad the 16% (!!!) interests on those debts have still shackled the team.

Q&A with Kevin Nelson, author of Operation Bullpen

He put the piece on Autograph Magazine's website, which is here.

I really appreciate his help and I think the Q&A is worth a quick read.

It never ends...

...or the Norwegian curling team/John Daly apparel outfitter strikes again.

This time, it's at Morehead State University, where women's basketball coach Tom Hodges whimsically signed a contract with LoudMouth golf to outfit his coaching staff for the 2010-2011 season. "It's a little outside my comfort zone," he said, "but anything that gets Morehead State in the headlines and puts our great university front and center, I'm all for it."

This is Tom Hodges first season as a head coach. At just 27 years old, he will be the youngest D-I women's basketball coach this year. But he's inheriting a squad that went 22-11 last year - the school's best season in three decades - and finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference regular season. That season, however, did not include an NCAA tournament berth.

At the end of the day, this just seems silly. But the media attention Hodges and MSU have received does underscore the issue of women's sports coverage in the media. When less than 5% of all sports coverage (on TV) is devoted to women's sports, this stunt is emblematic of the gimmicks required to get some publicity. Kudos to Hodges for realizing that, certainly there are worse ways to get media publicity. Still, I maintain a fragment of hope that it's his team's play can earn some coverage - and not just his garish garb.

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?

New logo video for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil

This whole presentation is both interesting and weird at the same time.

And the logo, I guess it looks fine.  I'm not as blown away by it as Paulo Coelho but, then again, I'm no Paulo Coelho.

More posts will come.  The rigors of schoolwork and dissertation aren't mixing so well right now, but hopefully they'll even out soon.

Nike really goes for it...