March 2011 - The Blonde Side

Should I Get Grouper, Snapper or Seared Tuna?

@cponder7 timeline

Really Christian Ponder? How about you get a clue. In response to your ill-timed tweet lacking respect and any semblance of school spirit, that’s what you should get, a clue. A clue about being a real fan. Of all people, you should know just how important fans are during every single game, especially a game with this much to lose.

March Madness is just that – Madness. Utter nonsense. Madness for your team. Madness for your bracket. It isn’t for the faint of hearts which every sports fan knows, so it should go without saying every college athlete knows too.

You Ponder, are the same guy expecting fans to throw up a tomahawk chop right after throwing an interception to end the half. You ramble on and on in press conferences about how important your fans are to your success. To the vitality of your team. But at the same moment your basketball team, your fellow Seminole athletes, who are in the midst of their first overtime game of the season, you’re more concerned with posing a question via twitter as to what kind of fish you should eat? Really Ponder? That’s the kind of man I cheer for to lead my team to a championship? That’s the kind of man I’ve been rooting for and praying gets back up on his feet after an earth-shattering sack that he should have seen coming? Not to mention during a game like this, who the hell cares what kind of fish you eat or if you eat at all?

A New Model for Sport’s Media – Blogs with Balls (SXSW Review)

Sports

Image adapted from Design Mind

Remember the “story” that broke on Twitter announcing Magic Johnson was buying the Jacksonville Jaguars? Well, Darren Rovell, Sports Business Reporter at CNBC remembers it well. Not long ago, someone claiming to be affiliated with ESPN radio broke the news via Twitter. Darren immediately picked up the phone and called Jaguars owner, Wayne Weaver, asking if it was true. And of course it wasn’t. Twitter and sports reporting have become the equivalent to dating rumors of the Mean Girls variety – it’s becoming increasingly hard to tell a factual report from a rumor.

Thanks to the invention of mobile apps and social networks like Twitter, virtually anyone can be a sport’s reporter these days. Blogging and podcasting have been the gateway for anyone to portray him or herself as a legitimate source and there are success stories everywhere. But hidden behind a computer and not in front of a network television camera, you start to question whether these reports come from a reputable source or a geek simply trying to see how viral their reports can get. Think of the network of journalists and bloggers like America; there are some bad cities out there that give all of us a bad name.

The NHL Was Not Afraid (SXSW Review)

Hockey

Image adapted from Design Mind

Music and sports are two of the most unifying and emotional forces around. Without much effort, both create an intensity every other industry craves. Put those two forces together, united with the same goal and the result is epic.

The weeklong SxSWi conference, which ended last week in Austin, was devoted to innovators from every level. Those that have stories and advice to share, as well as those trying to take in as much information possible. The Sports and Music – Perfect Harmony Panel (#SXSWSportsMusic) led by Adrian Amodeo (Marketing Director, Interscope Records), Bill Bergofin (SVP, Marketing & Creative Services, Versus), and Brian Jennings (Executive VP of Marketing, NHL) was a case study on how the relationship was created between Eminem, the Detroit native, and the NHL. This case study and similar ones have become extremely beneficial as teams, fans, and businesses alike try to connect on new levels.