CMC in Sports

We always talk in class about how CMC effects us in our everyday lives. Today I'm going to shake it up a little bit and show how CMC has changed the face of sports for the better...and the worse. I'm going to share the pro's and con's for each in my opinion. Let's get this party started:

First and foremost: Fantasy Sports

Fantasy sports came on the scene in the mid 1990's where people who were interested in statistics could combine players of all professional teams in one sport onto one team. So how did this little hobbie become a national obsession? Money...the almighty dollar has a tendency to make things a little more interesting, especially when it comes to males and sports. CMC may not change the athlete in this scenerio, but rather the faithful fan. I was at the Cleveland Browns/New York Jets game this year, where the game came down to the wire. The Browns ended up pulling it out, however, I heard some people earlier in the game cheering the Jets QB Chad Pennington after he threw 2 touchdown passes. Why?? They weren't Jets fans, so I wondered to myself, and eventually found out that Chad Pennington was on their "Fantasy Team" and they had successfully attained 15+ points for scoring on their favorite team. Loyalty goes right out the window when it comes to watching football anymore, as long as your "Fantasy Team succeeds."

Secondly...the use of the headset in football

This may not be the most obvious, but let's think about it...without the headsets implanted into the helmets of all NFL QB's, chances are the wide out would still be responsible for running in the plays. How does that change the sport? Imagine if you will a world where Terrell Owens brings in a play. For those of you who don't know T.O. he likes getting the ball, even when he's nowhere near open. I can almost foresee him calling his own number every time he receives a play (Or at least 81% of the time. ;-D ) The headset changed all that, the QB is now solely responsible for the receiving of the plays, and as technology continues to excel, I can expect text messages to the armband of the QB so there is no mistaking or muffled sound from the booth to the field.

Finally...computer illustration

From everything from instant replays, to fastball projectiles...computer illustration is officially everywhere in sports...Can you remember the days where the bright yellow line didn't mark the first down, you had to rely on the announcers and your very own eyes? What about that strike 3 call you saw on your favorite player that was completely out of the zone?? With computer illustration they can show you exactly where that ball is in a matter of seconds, with his hot and cold zone. This to me is probably the most useful out of the computer advancement in sports, mainly because it does nothing but help the audience. People go crazy with the telestrator (John Madden) but ultimately its a device that makes understanding the game, and the plays in sports much easier to comprehend.


Bottom line...CMC has changed the face of sports forever, and continues to do so. I've only named a few minute advances, there are thousands of them out there. So next time you're watching a game and instant replay comes on...see how many advances CMC has made for us...I bet you'll be surprised. Until next time...

Message Board Chaos

Message boards...love them or hate them. Many people enjoy going onto a messageboard and being part of an online community. You can give your visions, your insight, your opinions, and fact that you learn that others may not know...basically you give your 2 cents. On the other hand there are people who just like to stir the pot of a messageboard, or chatroom. These people do whatever they can to slam, put down, and embarasss a certain subject. Of course there are the people that just make up things to try and get some attention. These people are often ignored because they talk out of context, and provide no proof or links to their "stories." I love going on the Steelers messageboards for inside info, and often times it will either give me what I want to know, or lead me to where I can find it. However, there are those times when people go too far and give a little too much of how they feel. The funny thing about the moderators in the Steelers MB is that the fans moderate more than anybody, if you do something wrong, the posters will point you out long before a moderator even has a chance to. Self-modding is something that has been occurring more and more along online communities, which is definitely a good thing, perhaps online moderators will start a union just like what seems to be every TV station known to man.

I see online communities as a way to relieve all the pent up stress you have without people having to put a face to a name. It's very much an example of anonymity and how you can have your suggestion/opinion/fact heard without a true identity (with the exception of some of course.) They can be used for both good, and bad causes, and taking note of what the majority of posters do on boards, the majority of the time it's used for opinions or breaking news. Lord knows if you ask Mr. Weaver, the blogs will soon take over the internet and cause mass chaos. The bottom line for me is that as long as people continue to respect the online community, and respect those in an online comm. there really won't be much of a problem. It's when a board gets bombarded by trolls that they'll start to be a nuisance and turn the online community into an online catastrophy...(i.e. sportspickle.com)