The Super Bowl is the ultimate corporate event and since every television network is owned by a multimedia juggernaut, its really become a showcase for the home empire. NBC Universal had a lot of ads for its theme parks, movies, TV shows, and its parent company: GE. But I think what surprised me the most [...]
My Philadelphia Phillies are World Champions. I don’t know what to do with myself. Two weeks ago a colleague helped put the monumentality of the situation in perspective for me. As a die-hard Red Sox fan watching her team collapse, Nisha posted this message on her Facebook account about her newborn son: “Nisha is bummed [...]
ESPN The Magazine: Be the Ball. Pretty much the trippiest thing I ever read on ESPN.com (or any other sports site for that matter). The Magazine relates the experience of a Nike 3005 collegiate football (yes, the ball) as a part of the Spread HD offense in the Penn State-Illinois game. Never before have I thought so much about what it might be like to be a football.
The Genesis of the Roar. The second item on this page is a nice little story about the lion’s roar they play on the PA system at Beaver Stadium during football games. Apparently it started as a radio show effect, then started being used at wrestling matches and basketball games. Other schools have come up with copycats but the lion’s roar was the first.
Penn State basketball players go where nobody knows their names. A great feature on the forgettable Penn State men’s basketball team, which recently has become more of a Big Ten spoiler (though not a powerhouse). Poor Jamelle Cornley, no one even knows he plays basketball on campus! On a side note, I think its interesting that though I don’t like basketball that much I think Dana O’Neil and Henry Abbott are my favorite ESPN.com contributors.
Sonic Youth. Old news by now, but ESPN the Mag named Penn State the best student section overall and most fun. Says Beno Cook, “If you aren’t impressesd with the White Out, you’re probably one of those people who thinks the moon landing was faked in a TV studio.” Well said. I’m proud to have been part of the greatest show in college football.
Friedman: Melting Pot Meets Great Wall. I think Thomas Friedman is my favorite writer because of the way he can recognize the world’s most serious problems and yet still find optimism. In this passage he observes something I’ve also caught onto while watching the Olympics. Walking through the Olympic Village the other day, here’s what [...]
China well-versed in controlling flow of information. Lost amongst the amazing feats and sights of these Beijing games is a sad reality – China is still nowhere close to being a free and open society. In addition to the above reports of interfering with the press, there are also reports of the government arresting people [...]
SportsTravel Passport and SportsCenter.com. I’m a company man and these are two great time wasters to come out of ESPN this week. The travel passport is cool, you can submit and rank all the sporting events and stadiums you’ve ever been to. SportsCenter.com has info on all the anchors and many of your favorite commericals. Great stuff.
Update: And new search launched today too. Great things come in threes.
ESPN is polling the wisdom of the crowds right now to find out who is the greatest Olympian of all time. I voted for Jesse Owens because as impressive as Michael Phelps’ achievements are, I love the story of an African American raining on Hitler’s parade with four Olympic gold medals at the Munich 1936 [...]