Disc Golf

Most of those reading this have swung a golf club before, however, few have ventured the game of disc golf. Disc golf holds the same rules of golf, except it is played with a frisbee or disc, and the goal is to throw the disc into a chainstar (see below).

 Disc golf is free to play and the discs are relatively cheap ($8-$15/disc). Also, the game is easy to catch on to, and it's addicting. Believe it or not, a pro league exists. The Pro Disc Golfers Association, or PDGA, is taken very seriously by many. www.pdga.com has a directory of courses all over the map. Check and see how many courses are in your area (its more popular than you think). 

Disc golf, like regular golf, is a relaxing sport. For me, its a way to get out in the woods and away from society's noise-filled, fast-paced reality for a while. While perusing the internet, I discovered DeLavega, a course in Santa Cruz, CA. It is the #1 rated course in the world as it sits right on the ocean in beautiful southern California. 

So, if you know someone who plays the sport, you should ask to join sometime, you won't be let down. As far as sports marketing goes, there is a long road ahead for Disc Golf. There is potential star power, however, the sport is often neglected when compared to regular golf.

Online Sports Betting

For those of you who are nieve of online sports gambling,

meet Bodog Sports: 

Bodog allows you to gamble on nearly any sport from pro football to college baseball to international rugby. Not only can you gamble on ncaa/pro sports but you can also gamble on celebrity props such as what color eyes Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's kid will be born with, or who will win the next American Idol. You can even bet on who will win the next U.S. Presidential Election. My favorite facet is how you can bet on other people playing poker (this almost makes watching poker on espn2 exciting!) This also means that you can now lose all your money in your living room on Charles Barkley folding on the 'river' card.

Such new technology gives old-time sports-betters the 24/7 accessibility to sports books that they've always wanted (not to mention the ease of finding odds, team/player stats, and all-time records). In addition, it captures young gamblers by having an attractive interface and marketing scheme. Yesterday, I was at Brann's Steakhouse on Leonard St. and they have a poster above the urinal in the men's room, which displays a MMA fighter and a fancy slogan for Bodog's website. Various other bars around town also advertise bodog's entire organization. They do offer more other than sports gambling; such as, fantasy sports, music, and video channels. 

Lastly, this gives the typical sports fan a whole new perspective on sports. It opens up a lot of windows and I assume that investors will capitalize on this venture.

MLB and instant replay

Lately, sports critics have been arguing over the use of instant replay in certain areas of Major League Baseball, such as arguable home-run calls. 

Baseball has always had an image of being a

n old-school sport. The NBA, and especially the NFL are quick to adopt the latest technology to their game. However, baseball has always stuck to the old ways of the game. 

For the sake of baseball's image, the use of instant replay is out of line. Baseball is already considered a boring sport by our nation's attention span-less youth; therefore, there is no need to add additional replay-reviewing time to the game.

When it comes to the playoffs, however, instant replay may have some use to the game of baseball. During the regular season, I believe instant replay has no useful purpose.

Did David Stern want Celtics vs. Lakers in the finals?

It's Christmas in June for David Stern and the NBA. An old rivalry resurrected, the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant and his enormous star power was one decision away from walking out on his team. 9 months later the Lakers are in the finals...arguably the greatest turn-around in the franchise's history. 

The Celtics, on the other hand, have emerged from being one the worst teams in the NBA to the team with the best record in the NBA. After a few shaky moves, the Celtics were left with three dominant superstars, whose stomaches are starving for a championship sandwich. 

But the question is, did David Stern want the Celtics to play the Lakers in the NBA finals? Of course he did, but did these two teams make it this far legitimately? That question is unknown. It doesn't seem as obvious as it did last year with the Cavaliers. But it does seem likely. 

Analysts have decided that the Pistons don't grab as much attention as other teams. Why? because they play like a team. The Pistons have a great starting five, and a great bench. But they don't have any players that stand  out as super-icons like Kobe Bryant or Lebron James.

So, its up to you to decide if this whole game is rigged. In the meantime, let's just wait for next year's college b-ball season.

Kimbo Slice

For those of you who don't know, this is Kimbo Slice:

Kimbo Slice is a beast of a man. Slice fought on the streets just to make a living. He recently rose up from the underground through the use of social media and has professionally fought twice in the area of mixed martial arts, or MMA. 

Slice fought in the backyards of Miami, and had someone videotape them. He posted the videos of himself brutally beating the living crap out of people on youtube. His videos became viral and everyone from teenagers to people screwing around at work began to watch them.

The use of social media, or more specifically youtube, allowed "Kimbo Fights" to have ripple effects on the internet. When the video's eventually reached marketing executives' ears and eyes, Kimbo's career took off. All in all, the kimbo fights are a great example of sports marketing through the use of social media.

Check out Kimbo's professional fights too:

The MLB's Star Power

So far this 2008 MLB season, two players have emerged with tremendous star power:Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros and Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves. 

Berkman’s numbers so far have been simply amazing, with a combination of 16 home runs, 44 RBI's, and a batting average of .389 (the league’s second-best). This gives many of us a reason to believe that he has the potential to end the season as the Triple Crown winner. 

On the other hand, Chipper Jones currently leads the league with a batting average with of .410, and has 32 RBI's, but has fell behind in home runs with 11.

Both of these players have gotten their share of the spotlight in the past, but this season it feels like they are both reaching their prime. For example, Jones' new studious film routine has given him more prestige at the plate, which is why he has been the hardest player to get out.

Red Wings Speculation

Did the Detroit Red Wings take a dive in at least one of the two losses to Dallas? My guess is Yes in game 4, I don't believe they necessarily lost game 5 on purpose; however, the coaching staff knew that they could afford it.

The Detroit Red Wings organization is not naive when it comes to momentum and blowing it in the playoffs (The Tigers '06 playoff run is still burning in Mike Illitch's brain). When it comes to the NHL playoffs, a team often finds itself on a hot streak. The same goes for other primary professional sports. Look at what happened to the Colorado Rockies last year. The Rockies essentially swept their way through the MLB National League Playoffs, and then were iced over as they waited for the Red Sox to clean up the AL. 4 games later, the Rockies' uprising season was ended by Boston.

On the other hand, the Red Wings found themselves on a 9-game winning streak last Saturday when they matched up against the Dallas Stars. The wings were 1 win away from the Stanley Cup Finals; and I believe they intentionally lost this game. Why go into the finals this hot? You don't want that kind of pressure on Osgood to win 10+ games in a row, and you don't want to wait around for Pittsburgh to finish their series.

Game 1 of the finals is this saturday, we'll see if the NHL can get the viewers they need for a big turnaround. Pittsburgh vs. Detroit, the young vs. the experienced.

Horse-racing's new image?

The sport of horse-racing,  which was once a dominant sport, has become a secondary sport over the course of the second half of the 20th century. As the face of the sport changes, one has to wonder which direction it will go. Big Brown is gaining immense amounts of media attention as he hopes to sweep the Triple-Crown. 

On the other hand, a majority of people who watched the Kentucky Derby were more concerned about the heath of Eight Belles, who broke both legs during the race. PETA, or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has argued that Eight Belles jockey, Gabriel Saez, should be liable for the death of his horse. These two separate incidents that occurred that day have given two faces to the sport. As the next race in the Triple Crown looms, only the future will tell what will happen to the sport of horse-racing's image

Mascots and promotion

From mascots dunking through flaming hoops to the newly remodeled hot dog/t-shirt cannon, professional sports teams are trying just about anything to fill the seats in today's highly competitive marketplace. Most fans today can only afford to take the wife and kids to a basketball game a few times a year. When they do go to the game, however, they have high expectations of family entertainment.

This Youtube clip is a great example of sports marketing gone wrong. Im not sure what chemical is burning on the hoop, but it takes the crew way too long to extinguish the fire. Half of the people who attended this game probably walked in late, so the danger of the stunt was excessive for the amount of impact it was supposed to have. On the other hand, maybe the stunt caught more people's attention because of the fact that it went terribly wrong.

 

The Sports 'Icon' and the NBA

     Has the league given up on Lebron? The panel of 126 media members voted Kobe Bryant as the MVP last night. Meanwhile, in Boston, Lebron went an unheard of 2 for 18. Are the rumors true? Lakers vs. Celtics in the final round?

  In the past few decades, the league has been committed to focusing on superstars not superteams. For example, on the cover of the NBA videogames you see one player, a superstar. 

All of the hype about Kobe Bryant draws Lakers fans from Texas, New Jersey, and Kentucky. One player is a lot more marketable than a whole team. 

The Celtics have taken a different approach this year with their three-faced team. But for the most part, NBA hype is based on one player. Other professional sports leagues have taken similar approaches, but none as serious as the NBA.

Although basketball is a team sport, the image of an individual icon will always exist... in fact, I hear Air Jordans are still selling strong.