Super Bowl Metrics

6 02 2012

A social TV analytics company called Bluefin Labs provided a range of data on the Super Bowl. (Their Twitter feed is here.) Let’s get into it.

Game and halftime

Social media comments made during the Super Bowl rose from 1.8 million in 2011 to (wait for it) 12.2 million on Sunday. That’s a  578 percent increase. Last night’s Super Bowl also set the record for social media comments made in any kind of TV event. The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards was the previous record holder with 3.1 million. The fact that this year’s Super Bowl had 12.2 million should tell you why TV advertising rates are so expensive. On no other stage will a company be able to have so many eyes and ears on its product.

Of the game’s 12.2 million comments, 862,000 of them came during halftime. That nearly matches the number recorded for the 2011 Academy Awards, which inspired 966,000 comments. The halftime show on its own would rank fourth all-time for entertainment-related social TV comments – behind the ’11 MTV Video Music Awards, the ’11 American Music Awards and the ’11 Oscars.

Commercials

Bluefin Labs measures commercial comments from when they air live to the 45 minutes following it. The commercial altogether received 985,000 comments, which is ahead of the ’11 Oscars. Here the top five commercials for parents, students and sports fanatics:

Parents – CareerBuilder (“Business Trip”); Teleflora (“Adriana Lima”); Best Buy (“Phone Innovators”); Honda CR-V (“Matthew’s Day Off”); Budweiser (“Prohibition”)

Students – ‘Hunger Games’ trailer; Planet Fitness (“I Lift Things Up”); Sketchers (“GO RUN Mr. Quiggly!”); Doritos (“Sling Baby”); M&M Wars (“Miss Brown”)

Sports Fantatics – Chrysler (“It’s Halftime in America” featuring Clint Eastwood); Bud Light (“Rescue Dog”); Doritos (“Man’s Best Friend”); ‘Act of Valor’ trailer; Chevy (“Happy Grad”)

Top 10 commercials with social media comments – Samsung (“Next Big Thing”, 26K); Bud Light (“Rescue Dog”, 29K); Sketchers (“GO RUN Mr. Quiggly”, 35K); Doritos (“Sling Baby”, 41K); Chevy Silverado (“2012″, 41K); Pepsi (“King’s Court”, 45K); Doritos (“Man’s Best Friend”, 74K); NBC The Voice (“Vocal Kombat”, 90K); Chrysler (“It’s Halftime in America”, 96K); H&M (“David Beckham Bodywear”, 109K)

My three favorite were the Chrysler Halftime in America spot, the NFL evolution piece and then the Volkswagon one with the golden retriever who gets in shape. Laughs are always worth points, but ultimately humorous commercials don’t typically have much takeaway value. (Save for Bud’s “Rescue Dog” commercial, which promoted a worthy cause.)

Ultimately, I want commercials to mean something. I want value. That’s why I was so intrigued by the Halftime and Evolution spots. The Halftime was my favorite because it hit the deepest emotional chord it realistically could during a sports event. Most of us in this country have known some sort of suffering since 2008. Most of us have had to dig for some sort of inspiration or perseverance to progress our lives – professionally, personally and in other ways.

Chrysler has embraced the “serious” side of commercials with its Eminem-laced spot in last year’s game, and now this year with Eastwood. Even though he’s 81. There’s something strangely relatable between Eastwood and people of my generation who are in their mid- to late 20s. We think of Eastwood as being a badass because of Dirty Harry. More than that, Eastwood seems “real”. He’s authentic, doesn’t bullshit and we respect that. That’s why his words brought so much value, even if they were written by other folks.

The NFL Evolution commercial piqued my interest obviously because I’m a sports lover at heart. The evolution of sports is a particular interest, from how equipment changes to the types of player who mark specific eras in a league’s history. I believe that commercial captured it appropriately.

I’ll show three very good visuals that Bluefin Labs provided along YouTube videos of my three favorite commercials.

     


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Definition of a Dynasty

23 01 2012

I had a short Twitter debate today with my friend Paul Bourdett on the timeline of the New England Patriots’ dynasty. I tweeted a remark that the Pats’ dynasty is ongoing with their recent admission into Super Bowl XLVI (46). He retorted that the franchise was no longer in dynasty mode since it hasn’t won the big game since 2004 (representing the 2003 season). He thought it ended with their Super Bowl loss to the Giants a few years ago. He made me consider what standards I have for calling an organization a dynasty.

Before I get into that, I want to point out that terming a franchise a dynasty can be made on a case-by-case basis. There’s no clean definition for it.

My first general rule is that the same core group of players and/or coaches must win multiple league championships, e.g. Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series. And the time frame in which that franchise was elite in its sport should have lasted for at least five seasons. By saying ‘elite’, that doesn’t mean a team has to appear in a semi-final or final series or game every year. There are times when a team has a great regular season and flames out early in the playoffs. Yet if that campaign is sandwiched between others in which it advances far in the playoffs – or wins the damn thing – then it’s fine.

A good example is the ’90s Dallas Cowboys. They get automatically called a dynasty because they won three Super Bowls in four years – ’92, ’93, ’95. They were absolutely a dynasty, but I think people forget that their run atop the NFL was relatively short. In that four-year window in which they won three Super Bowls, they won 12 regular season games three times and 13 once. In ’94, they lost to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. (It was technically in ’95 but it was for the ’94 season.)

Yet the ‘Boys won 11 games on the front-end of their Super Bowl years and 10 games on the back-end. In totality, they had six straight 10-game win seasons, with four of them having the ‘Boys playing at a Super Bowl level. I suppose it’s arguable whether they were truly elite for five straight years, but they come close enough.

I consider the Patriots to still be a dynasty because, first and foremost, Tom Brady has been the quarterback and Bill Belichick has been the head coach. They’ve been around the whole time. I can’t argue the Super Bowl title thing, since they won one in ’01 to kickstart their dynasty, two more in ’03 and ’04 and haven’t brought home the Lombardi Trophy since then. They obviously lost in ’07 (technically ’08; these NFL seasons are so confusing) and they’re back in the ’11 season. Look at their overall timeline, though.

Since the 2001 season, they’ve won 11, 9, 14, 14, 10, 12, 16, 11, 10, 14 and 13 regular season games. That’s a run of almost 10 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. They’ve made the playoffs all but two years – the nine-win campaign in ’02 and the weird 11-victory season in ’08 when Brady was hurt and Matt Cassell QB’d the team. The Pats have been remarkably consistent in this NFL era of increased free agent movement. This is their fifth Super Bowl appearance during that time. Given how little difference there is in team quality between the Super Bowl winner and loser, I think Super Bowl losses shouldn’t count too much against a team.

That’s why I consider the ’90s Atlanta Braves to be a dynasty. They don’t pass my requirement of multiple titles – they won a single World Series during their 15-year reign atop the National League East from 1991-2005 – but they were still so damn dominant. They nearly strung together 15 consecutive NL East titles. The only division title they didn’t capture during that ’91-05 period was in the strike-shortened summer of ’94, when they finished second, even though they may have won the NL East had the season not halted in August.

During their reign of terror on the NL, the Braves lost four World Series – ’91, ’92, ’96, ’99. This got people to call them the Buffalo Bills of MLB, although they were stronger over a much longer period of time than the western New York club. Extended dominance must count for something, especially when factoring in the need to replace productive players due to injuries, retirement or reduced, you know, productivity.

Anyway, I think the Patriots are still in the midst of their dynasty, which stands a decade long. I’m interested to hear (or read) from my readers about this subject. Do you think the Patriots are still a dynasty? What is your criteria for determining what constitutes a dynasty? Fire away on here or get at me on Twitter (@KyleStack) or Google+ (+KyleStack).


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Categories : MLB, NBA, NFL

Wired.com: NFL Teams Embrace iPads

27 12 2011

When I decided to write a story about the effect iPads are having on the NFL, I knew at least four or five articles about the topic would come out in other publications before mine. I was spot-on.

My research on the subject began in early September after I read an article in the St. Petersburg Times about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ use for the tablets. I knew the way I would start it was by contacting each team in the NFL. It was necessary to run team-by-team to see who was putting their playbooks on iPads, who was using them to watched edited video and to see who was and wasn’t using iPads, or other tablets, in the first place. It’s a responsible thing to do when writing a national story, as I intended this to be for Wired.com.

Given that I didn’t have a particular locale to cover, it was better for the story that I cover all my bases. So, I contacted each team. As you might suspect, that is a lengthy process. Some teams respond immediately; others doesn’t. For those who do, it then takes awhile to coordinate interviews with those willing to talk and it takes time to convince other teams to discuss things. But this was just one part of what I knew had to be a well-rounded story.

By October, I noticed the New York Times had a story of their own. In it, they detailed the Bucs and the Baltimore Ravens creating digital playbooks via iPads. The story also incorporated information from the NFL on how the league monitors security issues. Contacting the NFL was a given, but this story made it that much more of a priority that I included it in my story.

I recognized that my goal for the story had to encapsulate as many aspects of the NFL’s relationship to tablets as I could find. That meant embracing teams which use them for more than just playbooks, as the two stories I had seen represented only that part of it. Which led me to contact the software companies which make applications and programs that make it possible for teams to view playbook information, scouting reports, video edits and other stuff on their tablets. (I discovered early on that iPads were the only tablets relevant to this story.)

So, I called and emailed XOS Digital and DV Sport, two software companies I already knew of. Through speaking with people there and with more teams which were getting back to me, I became aware of Hudl and Coach’s Office. Then I found out about Ironworks Sports through an email the founder of that company sent my editor.

Player quotes weren’t a valued asset for this story. They’re in the newspaper stories I mentioned above as well as subsequent stories in the Baltimore Sun and Los Angeles Times, which each outlined only the Ravens’ incorporation of their playbook into iPads. (A CNN.com story shined a light on how iPads were revolutionizing several sports, including basketball.) While those newspapers likely included player’s quotes on iPads because fans are intrigued by what they have to say, I avoided players for their lack of specificity. I did make an exception when the Bills told me they would rather offer a player to speak with than someone in their front office; I relented.

By and large, I wanted this story conveyed by the several teams I spoke with and then the software companies to explain what they’re focused on developing. The NFL interview would play a supporting role in it. That’s how this story came together.

Click on the link below to read the story:

For NFL Teams, iPad Is Valuable Playbook


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Raiders or L.A.

11 10 2011

Hopefully, the Raiders move to Los Angeles and solve my dilemma. Ever since 2008, when I officially dropped the 49ers as my favorite NFL team, I’ve been in this weird fan free agency in which I’ve sought a new favorite club. My dilemma exists primarily because my hometown, L.A., doesn’t have a team.

I’m a supporter of people rooting for teams from their hometown. The Dodgers and Lakers are my teams and have been since I was 5 or 6, whenever I started paying attention to sports. The 49ers became my team around that time mostly because I was a frontrunner. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Super Bowls. I was all in. Plus, the L.A. teams didn’t do anything for me.

The Rams played in Orange County. For those not in the know, Orange County is NOT in Los Angeles. The Raiders were a natural fit since they played at the Coliseum in downtown L.A. But my Dad didn’t like them and the association with the Raiders wasn’t great. Yes, they had Bo Jackson in the late ’80s/early ’90s. Yet they played in the rundown Coliseum. The neighborhood surrounding that stadium when I was growing up in L.A. wasn’t good; it’s different today.

Of course, I regret not rooting for the Raiders. Now that they’re back in the Bay Area, I wonder if I could root for them. It would violate essentially every reason I had for dropping the 49ers. For one, they were a Bay Area, specifically, San Francisco team. Given that I’m a Dodgers fan, San Fran is the last city for which I want to cheer for a team. Second, the 49ers aren’t in L.A., which goes against my belief that people should support hometown teams.

I’m considering waiting out the situation to see what develops in Los Angeles. Two viable stadium projects are set up for potential NFL landing spots. The Chargers, Jaguars, Bills, Vikings and even the Rams and Raiders are considered teams which might make a move to L.A. How long a wait there is before a team makes a move is undetermined. I hope it happens sooner than later because I’m tired of being without an NFL team. If I get impatient, I may just bite the bullet and do what I really want: to become a Raiders fan.

 

 

 

 


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Football’s Best Tailgaters

22 09 2011

ESPN Magazine told me to find the country’s best tailgates for its GO section. That was an assignment handed to me two Tuesdays ago, due the following Monday and in the issue which drops this week. The idea was to find the best NFL tailgating spots; I expanded it to college football to capture a few of the traditions held on campuses a handful of Saturdays each Fall.

I eventually amended the story’s angle by targeting a specific tailgater for a select number of teams, rather than try to describe the tailgating culture, or atmosphere, of an entire NFL or college team. Given the limited space in which we have to write stories for GO, I thought it would be easier to detail specifics of a tailgater’s typical experience instead of an entire team’s tailgate scene.

The number of capsules I would have to write – one capsule for each team – wasn’t clear to me. The word count expanded during the week as I found more and more information. I had basically three days to do this, Wednesday – Friday. So, I had to hit it fast, which I did by emailing each NFL team’s PR department and 10-15 college team PR or SID departments. I estimated that I would have to do 6-8 capsules by the time the word count was somewhat finalized. (That’s usually a fluid process with these types of stories. And whatever I turn in will eventually get cut down as editors design their pages.)

Three things were imperative to the story as I began receiving information from teams: 1) I had to try to split teams between the NFL and college, 2) all, or at least most, regions of the country should be represented and 3) I would go after the tailgaters of teams that got back to me first. I was relying mostly on teams to tell me who their fanatic tailgaters were, and I didn’t have time to wait around for teams to get back. But it was tough.

For instance, I really wanted the Packers in there, but they had a Thursday night home game to start the NFL season. There was virtually no chance their PR department would have time to help me. So, I tried the University of Wisconsin, which is in this story. I figured the Seattle area would have something special to offer, and the University of Washington happened to have a very cool tailgating tradition. They’re in there. I wasn’t sure I needed another West Coast team, but the San Diego Chargers had die-hard tailgaters, two of whom I spoke with. One of them is in the story.

I didn’t feel as though the Rocky Mountain region was critical for inclusion, but the University of Colorado had an angle that doesn’t represent a team’s typical tailgate. I thought it might be refreshing to have their family-style atmosphere in a story which would inevitably have the drinking details that is associated with the story’s topic.

Now, the Midwest and the South definitely needed a couple of representatives. The KC Chiefs are a natural fit, but I didn’t hear from their people right away. I did hear back from the Houston Texans, who were exceedingly informational. We all know Texas barbeque is amazing, and the Texans had a boatload of willing “super tailgaters” who wanted to talk to me. I chose one of them for the story. Still, I needed another. I tried a group of New Orleans Saints tailgaters, but they never got back to me. The folks at LSU didn’t get back to me. But I did get in touch with the Ole Miss athletics department, who gave me a few leads. I ended up talking with one of their tailgaters, who has extended me an open invitation to join him for a tailgate whenever I find myself in Oxford. I hope to one day take him up on it.

Washington, the Chargers, Colorado, Wisconsin, the Texans and Ole Miss ended up being the six that made it into the story. I tried a few other teams, particularly the Cincy Bengals, but the editorial process sometimes weeds out information. It’s not ideal, but it’s a reality. I tried to find the most details I could in the amount of space I was given. Hopefully, this gives you a somewhat valuable peek into the football tailgates which exist throughout this country.

Click on the link below to read the story:

Football Tailgates

(I’ll tweet about additional story details Friday, Sept. 23 by using the #tailgate hashtag.)


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NFL players have brains

26 02 2011

You know that theory that football players are empty-headed jocks who have an IQ no higher than a Golden Retriever? Well, it’s not true. Chances are, an NFL player is smarter than you or I — definitely me. As with many other sports, football is perceived as a simple game. Minimize your turnovers, run the ball, create scoring opportunities on defense, prevent the big play. It all seems so simple, so refreshingly lacking complexity. It’s a bunch of b.s., as I found out in a story I wrote for AOL Fanhouse about how NFL players memorize their playbooks.

Football is a very complicated sport, and the level to which coaches and players strategize at the highest level is mind-boggling. I’ve always been impressed at the number of plays coaches can think of, much less the nuances each one contains. That’s to say nothing of the vocabulary of each play. Some NFL coaches and players will say that most teams have similar vocabularies to their playbooks, but that doesn’t mean the verbage is easy to absorb. It’s highly difficult, which is one reason why the average career of an NFL player lasts four seasons. Physical maladies obviously play a role in that, but the mental execution, or lack thereof, is what can doom a player’s career. Teams might take a chance on an injury-prone player who shows potential; not many have the time to waste on a guy who can’t absorb the playbook and execute what’s within it.

The subject of how NFL players memorize their playbooks has always interested me. The same goes with NBA players and their playbooks, or MLB players and the coaching signs they memorize. Hell, even the way some MLB players memorize all those 10-step high-fives with teammates throws me for a loop. How does Jose Reyes pull it off with 24 teammates?

In my research for this story, I was surprised to find that so little had been written about NFL playbook memorization. It seems as though every other aspect of the NFL has been endlessly debated. I found this bothersome.

NFL fans are smart, curious folks. They deserve intelligent subject matters that discuss the intricacies of the game. I pitched the idea for this story to Fanhouse, and they told me to go ahead and do what I do. So, I began e-mailing NFL team PR staffs to ask if any players would be willing to talk about their preferred methods for playbook memorization.

I didn’t have particular players in my mind — I just wanted variety. I wanted to make sure I represented each position, since an offensive lineman studies a different playbook than a cornerback. Yet even an offensive lineman’s playbook responsibilities differ from that of a wide receiver. Receivers don’t really need to know interior blocking responsibilities, while linemen aren’t always aware of every route pattern. And I wanted to make sure I talked to players young, old and in between. A heady vet like Matt Birk might see things differently than a young buck like Josh Johnson.

The teams I spoke with for this story, mostly off-the-record stuff, told me of the software companies they work with who make digital playbooks possible. This is a new territory, and I’ll throw a hint that I have an upcoming story on a different sport which also takes this into account. Digital playbooks are coming on strong in all sports, although the NFL and college football programs have been using them in some facet for nearly 20 years.

Anyway, I’ve written enough. Here’s the NFL playbook piece.

Click on the link below to read the story:

Method Men_ How NFL Players Memorize Dizzying Playbooks


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Under Armour’s “smart” shirt

24 02 2011

The NFL Combine has been popularlized as an overrated workout session, where the NFL’s next brightest and best get poked and prodded. NFL scouts and general managers on the prowl for the next superstars get an up-close look at how fast players run, how quickly they change direction and how well they perform all physical tools within a tense and competitive environment. Every player is competing for the millions of dollars that are to be gained with a rise in draft selection. And now Under Armour has a shirt that they can wear to give NFL teams even more information about the state of their physical condition.

I was presented an opportunity to write about UA’s E39 compression shirt a few weeks ago. I thought Wired.com might make a natural fit for something like this, as it has for several other forms of sports apparel and shoes which I have covered the past few months. So, I wrote about it, and I learned about braking forces and deceleration. Not that I’m fast-footed enough to think it will affect my athletic future.

Click on the link below to read the story:

In-Chest Sensors Gather Data on NFL Prospects


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The NFL’s Uncertain Offseason

18 01 2011

Everybody seems to love the NFL, as their ratings show. The New York Jets-New England Patriots matchup last Sunday received 43 million viewers, the highest number ever for the NFL’s playoff divisional round. The league can’t seem to do anything wrong. Of course, the one way they can shoot themselves in the foot is to enforce a work stoppage. That seems like an eminent possibility as the league and the Player’s Association bicker publicly about a Collective Bargaining Agreement which expires March 4.

If a deal isn’t in place by March 4, the owners will likely lock the players out, forcing the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987. Given that free agency will effectively stop with a work stoppage, I thought it would be relevant to assess what questions NFL teams need to consider now, in case that work stoppage actually occurs. I spoke with two former NFL team executives and a sports economist to find out what questions are most relevant to answer.

NFL CBA (print version)

NFL CBA (Web version)


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My NFL rules changes

28 12 2010

I have been in Montana the past two weeks, obviously without access to my mail in New York City, and so I don’t have the new ESPN Magazine in-hand. I haven’t bothered to check the new mag on ESPN.com, and I feel like I don’t need to in order to know the new issue’s theme. ESPN has promoted the magazine just fine during each of the five or six bowl games it’s broadcasted. And the theme this issue, I believe, is new rules that should be enacted in various sports.

Then I watched Bill Cowher recommend NFL rules changes during a weird, chemistry-themed spot on CBS’ Sunday pre-game show. So, I figured I would come up with three rules changes that I think should take place. (I’ll be honest — you’ve probably heard/read arguments for all these.) Here they are:

1) Change defensive pass interference to 15 yards instead of spot of the penalty.

Sure, not all pass interference penalties are created equal. But how often do you see NFL quarterbacks throw the ball downfield in the hopes that they’ll get an interference call if the pass falls incomplete? Think of how often announcers comment during games that so-and-so quarterback should take a chance downfield to see if he gets an interference call. It’s ridiculous. The lack of fairness which results from handing out the same yardage penalty for various interference calls isn’t as game-changing as the inequality of being able to throw almost any type of pass and having a decent chance at drawing a flag on the opponent.

2) Make it so that coaches can’t call a timeout during a field goal attempt with five or fewer seconds left on the play clock.

There’s been a lot of debate on this. I don’t believe that a kicker should have to possibly kick two times to achieve one result. Let a kicker do his job without fretting in the final seconds whether the scheming opposing coach will call a timeout. The point of a field goal play is to see if a kicker can measure the distance and accuracy to kick the ball between the goal posts. It isn’t to see whether the opposing coach can let all the time dwindle on the play clock before “icing” the kicker.

3) Change the ruling that made The Calvin Johnson Catch an incomplete pass.

You know what I’m talking about — Megatron’s would-be game-winning catch vs. the Bears in Week 1 was ruled incomplete because he didn’t maintain control through the catch, whatever that means. I think it’s because after he caught the ball, he didn’t continue to control the ball as he fell to the ground and picked himself back up. How about the NFL makes a rule that if you control the ball up until the point  you fall to the ground, it’s a catch? The ground shouldn’t factor into a decision of complete vs. incomplete.

Thanks for reading…

 


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The NFL and player concussions

23 12 2010

What I love about writing a sports blog for WeightWatchers.com is that it allows me to vent about relevant health issues. There are many sharp opinions on concussions, and in particular how athletes should be treated after sustaining one. So, I’ve spent my last three posts celebrating New Jersey’s decision to monitor concussions in their student-athletes while chastising the Indy Colts for how they treated Austin Collie after his concussion last weekend. The posts run 350-400 words apiece, so they’re concise and won’t take much time for you to read.

Unfortunately, I’m on a different computer and can’t link to the files. If you click on the WeightWatchers.com tab above, then scroll down to Sports Stack blog and click on the first three links underneath that headline, you can read what I’ve written. New Jersey > Austin Collie > NFL injury treatment is in chronological order.


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Tony Gonzalez reshapes his diet

13 12 2010

Athletes are as conscious as ever about what they eat and how it affects their on-field performance. They have plenty of incentives to eat healthier. To be an athlete in a professional sports league is as competitive as it’s ever been, especially with the amount of money they’re paid. Since their checks are cut with such large sums on them, teams are more discriminating on who they place on their team. That means athletes have to look for any edge they can get. And that leads them to opting for healthier diets, particularly with the guys who eat junk food when they come out of college. As they mature, they recognize the benefit in consuming healthy food. Tony Gonzalez is a prime example of that.

Gonzalez is well-known for his healthy eating ways. He owns a nutritional supplement company called All-Pro Science, which he started after altering his diet in 2007. I wrote about why Gonzalez changed the way he ate, and what he changed it to, for this story on WeightWatchers.com.

Click on the link below to read the story:

NFL Star Reshapes His Diet


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Clyde Frazier’s style, Cam Newton’s shoes

9 12 2010

I had my second interaction with Clyde Frazier at the NBA Store yesterday, and I came away with an even stronger impression of him than the first time, when we spoke on the phone for an amNew York story. This time, I was talking to him for a SLAMonline story about his new book, which is really his old book. He came out with Rockin’ Steady in 1974, yet a re-issue gives Frazier new material with which he can use to re-introduce himself to a younger fan base who might not know him. If younger basketball fans don’t know who Frazier is, then they should. They should know what a great player he was for the Knicks. And they hopefully can tell through the interview what a cheerful, engaging person he is.

Click the link below to read the story:

Clyde Frazier Chats Fashion, Knicks

We go from Clyde to Cam. The likely Heisman Trophy winner is wearing a pair of cleats which almost nobody else has. They’re made from Under Armour, who sponsors Auburn, among other schools, such as South Carolina, Utah and Delaware. Auburn’s position in college football’s national championship game — only about 63 days from now — is monumental for UA. They can be considered a mainstream athletic apparel and shoe brand, yet they’re not quite on the scale of Nike or adidas. But representing a possible national champion — and very likely a Heisman winner — can instill their brand into the minds of casual sports fans who don’t associate the brand with college or professional sports. The shoe’s technology will become far more well-known in 2011, but you get a sneak peak at it in this Wired.com story.

Click the link below to read the story:

College Football Star Sports Next-Gen Shoe Tech


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Categories : NBA, NFL

Deion Sanders the Quarterback/Kicker

19 11 2010

I was sitting with Deion Sanders this past Tuesday at the Chelsea Piers sports complex, on Manhattan’s West side, when he admitted he wanted to play quarterback and kicker in the NFL. Apparently, cornerback, kick returner and, briefly, wide receiver weren’t enough. He told me a lot of other things as I was there to interview him and a game producer for EA Sports’ Active NFL Training Camp, which was released the same day. I got only a few of Deion’s quotes into the story, so I figured I’d run the entire interview here. First, the link to the Wired.com story and then the Prime Time interview after that:

EA Brings NFL Training Camp Into Your Home

Kyle Stack: Does this bring back memories of Training Camp?
Deion Sanders: It does. It’s the closest thing to it. It’s not going to simulate the NFL or Training Camp or the Combine, but this is close. They did a great job of getting a lot of coaches, trainers as well as strength and conditioning coaches and guys like myself behind the scenes to help. They did a good job.

KS: What was the toughest Training Camp experience for you?
DS: Training Camp isn’t tough, man, to me. I loved it because you get to compete every day. Anytime a man gets to compete; I thrive on challenges. This game offers not just 70 different drills but eight different challenges. I love challenges. That’s what Training Camp was to me — a challenge every day to improve your game.

KS: When you trained in Atlanta, where did you train?
DS: You’re not hearing me, man. I’ve only gone to like two training camps in my life.

KS: Even with the 49ers and Cowboys?
DS: Never as a Falcon. Never as a ’9er. I think two…maybe two as a Cowboy. One as a…yeah, one as a Redskin and Baltimore. So, never early in my career did I go to a training camp.

KS: Of the camps you went to did you ever race with guys?
DS: [Smiles and shakes his head] Too old and too bold to be racing. Racing days are over after the Combine. After you run the 40 at the Combine, that’s it.

KS: So, in Major League, when Snipes is in that race…that’s all Hollywood?
DS: Yeah, that’s Hollywood. You know, some guys, ooo, I take that back. One training camp, one day in the summer in Dallas a young kid thought he could run against me. I got out the hole on him and looked back at him and just let him know who he was dealing with.

KS: You didn’t give him a head start?
DS: No. I just wanted to humiliate him. [Smirks] I had the high-step on him, hand behind the head, everything. [He's] lucky they weren’t YouTube-ing back then.

KS: When you talk to players, what’s the toughest part of camp for them?
DS: I don’t think a lot of guys like the contact part of it because you’re [physically] sore. Then you gotta come back the next day and rekindle that fire. Just the monotony of two-a-days, pretty much, because you practice, you get a nap, then waking up from that nap you feel pretty sluggish. You got to get that energy level back up again to do it all over.

KS: I’ve talked to players who’ve said it’s tough for them to just memorize their playbooks.
DS: Well, not really. I mean, I don’t buy that one. I don’t buy that one. It’s not that hard. Maybe quarterbacks but the playbook isn’t that hard. Football isn’t like it used to be when it was just show up to training camp. Now it’s the off-season and OTAs all year! So, if you can’t learn something and you’re constantly in a meeting room…and that’s the thing kids don’t understand about the professional ranks. You’re in a classroom on the field. You get the opportunity to learn more about the game than you do competing in the game. If you pay attention in the classroom that translates to the field.

KS: How much have you played this game?
DS: A bit. Not a lot. A bit.

KS: Do you feel like you get a good workout from this?
DS: Yeah, I mean, I was breathing hard early but I put in only four minutes.

KS: What drills have you done so far?
DS: I did the quarterback challenge, which I love. The timing of it all, trying to hit the receiver through the window. And the kicking drills, which was unbelievable for me. We have a black President but not a black kicker in the NFL. I’m trying to be the first, making a comeback.

KS: That’s your comeback?
DS: Yeah, even with a bad toe.

KS: You gonna be another Morton Anderson? What is he, 51, 52?
DS: 64. [Smiles] And then the running drills, stiff-arming. That winded me, that you have to run and get those knees up over the tires to make the jumps.

KS: Did you ever have a desire to be a quarterback or a kicker?
DS: Yeah, I was a quarterback all through high school. I had a choice to go to college as a defensive back or a wide receiver, never as a quarterback. But all my kids are quarterbacks, so I’m living vicariously through them as a quarterback now. My high school son is a quarterback and all the way through, so that’s what it is, man.

KS: I’m assuming your kids play video games. Is this game something you want them to play?
DS: Yeah, because they’re getting off the couch, man. I mean, the biggest criticism is kids are on the couch but this gets them up off their butts. It not only stimulates them physically but mentally and emotionally. They’re challenged. You can play individually but you can play competitively. All my kids are very competitive.

KS: With the drills you played so far, which one is most realistic?
DS: I like the quarterback challenge. I just like the accuracy throw. It is fun. Just trying to hit that window, you gotta have to time it.

KS: Did you play games growing up?
DS: Man, nah, growing up, man, I was Atari 5200, my man. And in college, I remember that. [Mentions the name of a Florida State teammate] He almost flunked out playing that Atari 5200, man.

KS: Did you ever envision this kind of game?
DS: No, no. These games are so darn life-like, it’s unbelievable, man. It really is. They do a great job of capturing everything.


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John Elway Q&A

8 10 2010

The NFL has made great strides in its effort to globalize football, including holding regular season games in England. The league will host a game at London’s Wembley Stadium for the fourth consecutive year Oct. 31 when the Denver Broncos take on the San Francisco 49ers.

In order to capitalize on the Broncos’ inclusion in the game, Pepsi Max is staging an Ultimate NFL fan contest in which the winner and three friends get to hang with John Elway in London. As part of the contest, fans have to submit a photo expressing their passion for the NFL by October 10 to NFL.com/PepsiMax. I spoke with Elway via phone last week to discuss a quarterback’s responsibility to his team, what he thought of his throwing mechanics and the ramifications of an 18-game NFL regular season schedule:

How much football — college and NFL — do you watch?
I still love to watch it. I watch quite a bit. Sundays are not built around it but as the weather cools…I like to watch the Broncos. I watch all the Broncos games. If a football game is on, I’m gonna watch it.

You’re a Pac-10 guy. What do you think of Colorado and Utah joining the conference?
You know, I think it’s good. Obviously for the Pac-10 they’re picking up those markets. You get the Utah market as well as the Colorado market. I think it’s a big step for the Pac-12. Obviously Utah has got a good program and been successful. They get a step up. I think it’s going to be another level from where they’re playing now but they’re a good football team that can compete in the Pac-10. I think Colorado has a way’s to go. They had some good teams back in the ’90s and they’ve kind of fallen off as a program. So I think for them to be competitive they’re going to have to make some strides. In the athletic department, they’re going to have to make a commitment to the football team to where they can be competitive in the Pac-10.

With a team struggling as the New York Giants are, looking for someone to take a leadership role, is it the quarterback’s responsibility to do that?
I think it’s part of it. That’s part of the quarterback’s job, is to be a leader and to be that guy. When you’re going through what the Giants are going through now, the morale is low. As a quarterback, not only are you asked to complete passes and to get guys in the right spot and score touchdowns, but I think it’s also part of your job of being the strong one within the group; strong mentally, keeping that morale up, think positive and get everybody’s noggin’ up. It’s part of it to change that morale. No question that’s part of the job of the quarterback.

Say a quarterback is leading in the locker room but isn’t doing so publicly. Are his teammates usually okay with that or do they prefer to see the quarterback also step up with reassuring comments to the media?
No, I think it would be good to be positive in the press, too. A lot of times when you’re struggling as a team, I’m sure they’re getting hammered in the press. So, I think it’s important to be the front guy. I think that’s one of the jobs of a quarterback. You gotta be the front guy for the media. The way I always looked at it is as a quarterback you be that front guy media-wise, when things are going well you gotta give credit to the other guys in the locker room, whether it be the offensive line or the defense or the running backs. When things are going tough, you’re kind of alone. Things stop with you and you gotta be the guy that’s taking the blame and saving those guys in the locker room.

You have to be protective of those guys in the locker room. When you’re protective of them, that’s when they’ll follow you. That was my philosophy. When things were good, things went to the players. When things were tough, the buck stopped with you as the quarterback. It was your job to protect those other guys and to keep their heads up.

Did you consider yourself to have perfect throwing mechanics?
No. I didn’t. I had a strong arm. My release was not nearly as quick as [Dan] Marino or [Joe] Montana. Dan’s arm was probably a little stronger than Joe’s, but they both did a great job with timing and getting the ball on target and throwing with accuracy. My advantage was I had a stronger arm. My release was a little bit longer than theirs. When you talk about a release, it’s not necessarily how long it is; it’s more close to how quick you can get rid of the ball. If it’s longer but it’s still quick and you can get rid of the football, I don’t think there’s not an issue with a longer release.

Do NFL coaches place too much importance on a “perfect” throwing motion?
No, I think they realize the bottom line is if you can make all the throws and make them with accuracy and you have good timing, I don’t think coaches care what the release looks like. It comes down to being able to getting rid of it in a hurry, as I said. So it’s not necessarily the length of the release; it’s the quickness of the release. Probably the most important thing is the accuracy. Getting in those guys’ hands where when they’re on the move they don’t have to break stride. That gives them an opportunity to do something with the ball after they catch it.

Is there a team rivalry from your playing days which you feel doesn’t exist today?
I think there was always a big rivalry with the Raiders. The Raiders were, especially back in the ’70s and ’80s when they had real good teams, that team people enjoyed going to games and playing against. Especially within the AFC West when you talk about Denver, Kansas City, San Diego. And I think because they’ve been down for so long, the Raiders don’t have that mystique they used to have. People don’t root against them. It’s more fun when the Raiders are a better football team because it brings more passion to the game. People love to hate the Raiders.

There’s a lot of controversy with the proposed 18-game season. Would your career have been shortened had you played 18 games per year?
It’s hard to say. When you add two more games to a year, there’s that much more opportunity to get hurt. It might have had an effect. The thing I look at with that 18-game schedule is that it’s really going to hurt the younger players. They’re not going to get a chance to show themselves in preseason. It’s going to make decisions tougher for coaches because they’re not going to have had a chance to see those young guys perform in game situations. Which is what preseason is all about. So I think less on the shortening of careers, it’s going to hurt the NFL more in those development of young guys. A lot of guys are late bloomers who come into the NFL and get a chance to show themselves in preseason. They’re going to lose that opportunity now and the NFL is going to miss on some of those guys that have been late bloomers.

I use Karl Mecklenberg as an example of a guy who was a 12th or 11th round draft pick who got an opportunity to show what he could do in preseason. Now with only one or two preseason games those are going to be more about getting veteran players ready to start the regular season.

You’re familiar with passionate NFL fans having played in Denver for so many years. This Pepsi Max competition has to be up your alley.
It really is. I think it’s great for Pepsi Max to give back to fans because as an NFL player, we know we’re not anything without the fans. It’s funny how so many people are so passionate about the NFL. Number one, football is a great, great game. Plus, the NFL has put out such a great product. So it’s nice to be able to include the fans and have the fans show their passion for the NFL. And for London. I think it’ll be a great trip for whoever wins this to be able to go to London, take three friends with them and get a chance to see London and watch a football game. Plus, we get to go to dinner and talk a little football.

You think football in London will be a successful venture for the NFL?
I think it’s important for the NFL to spread football to other fans. Obviously, outside the United States, Canada has football. But football’s not close to soccer [in world popularity]. We’ll see if the NFL can introduce people to football. The world is a huge market, so I think it’s advantageous for the NFL.


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