Sports

  • Links roundup for 27 February 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Monday, 27 February 2012 - 7:52pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Gender and Sexuality, Sports, Fannish Practices

    Here's a roundup of stories on fan practices that might be of interest to fans:

    • A feature in Parade Magazine titled Inside the Mind of a Superfan discussed the level of commitment of the most avid fans. Fans place their fannishness "above other social commitments. “I’ve missed countless baby showers and wedding showers because they’ve conflicted with Eagles games,” says Kelli Gail, 41, a communications consultant and lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan. When a good friend got married during the playoffs a few years ago, she spent the majority of the wedding reception in the coat closet watching the game on a handheld TV." Or to put it another way "“I’m a passionate guy,” Big Lo explains. “My motto is, if you’re gonna love something, just love it, you know?”" One thing powering that love may be "chemical changes. ­“Researchers from Georgia State University studied soccer players and extreme soccer fans and found that both groups exhibited the same increase in testosterone levels after a victory, and decrease in testosterone after a loss,” says Robert Cialdini, a professor of psychology and marketing at ­Arizona State University. “These fans are almost physically merged with the team in terms of their hormonal states.”
    • Certainly hormonal states can be in evidence in fandom grief. In a fun piece Rookie Magazine breaks down the denial in fans that their small fandom can conquer the world. "It’s a beautiful thing, actually, to leave the dark side of fandom. You like things, but they’re not who you are. You enjoy yourself, but you’re not going to be traumatized if you don’t get to enjoy yourself in the exact same ways all the time. You aren’t a “fan,” you’re a person who likes stuff. As a wise TV show once said, “I guess I just like liking things.”"
    • Entertainment Weekly ran a piece in its February 17, 2012 issue called "Just Do It" (subtitled "TV's Weirdest Fans") which focused on the shipping aspects of fandom. "Most showrunners in Hollywood consider shippers to be a minority voice..."But they really are your core audience and you can gauge the level of investment of your entire fan base by their interactions with you." The article cites academics, including the OTW's Kristina Busse, to provide the details of key fandom shipping events, provides a handful of definitions such as slash, shipper wars and Wincesters, and features several fans in a sidebar. The article concludes that most networks would like to have a shipper driven show because "They're cheaper, easier to manage, and inspire the same buzzy interconnectivity that sci-fi does. They also encourage the thing that TV needs more than anything: passionate loyalty over time."

    If you are a shipper, a sports fan, or in a small fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links roundup for 17 February 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 17 February 2012 - 4:41pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Gender and Sexuality, Commercialization of Fans, Comics, Sports

    Here's a roundup of stories on commodification of fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • AdWeek wrote about a new branding service called "FanDNA, and it’s pitching itself as an alternative to the established Marketing Evaluations’ Q ratings by matching brands with celebrities." The survey is intended to find out what the fans of a given celebrity like as a way of better utilizing celebrities to market products.
    • Ad Age utilized online conversation to determine who were the NFL teams' truest fans. "To find where the true fans lie, back in August we took a look at the volume of team conversations coming from true fans during the off-season. We re-ran the date to see how this played out during the season." The ultimate purpose, of course, was to determine how best to utilize fans for marketing. "Brands outside the NFL can learn from all of this. There are true fans and bandwagon fans. In a brands case, true fans are often referred to as advocates or champions. A social campaign should start from the point of view of the true fans."
    • Perhaps spurred by the success of Big Bang Theory as one of the most popular shows on U.S. television, several more series are airing around the globe that focus on fans. One of these is Kevin Smith's Comic Book Men, an unscripted series focusing on a New Jersey comic book shop. Australian TV's Outland just began airing as well, which is about a fan club who are "openly gay but closeted sci-fi fans." One of Outland's creators' "research included sporadic attendances at science-fiction conventions (he admits to being a fan of Doctor Who and Star Trek), but despite the fanatical devotees, it was always the gay fans he remembered. “I don’t know what it is, but I think they’re always a little ‘extra-obsessive.’ They have to collect the full set of Doctor Who dollies. The gays, we get a little bit too excited about things sometimes, I think."

    If you are a sports fan, part of a fan club or love comics, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links roundup for 10 February 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 10 February 2012 - 7:56pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Sports, Fannish Practices, Fan Conventions

    Here's a roundup of stories on sports fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • In the post Competitive Fandom in the Social Media Age blogger Carles notes how fannish values have changed to prioritize online networking. "Attending a live sporting event forces consumers to analyze a monetary and emotional break-even point. Is it really worth it for mass-market suburbanite families to make the trip all the way to the stadium in order to watch some meaningless, a la carte regular-season game from the upper level? After the team jogs through the motions, a bad basketball game can turn into an almost dehumanizing consumer experience." He observes that it is also an experience few people can have. "[W]hen you get older, you start to witness the typically inverse relationship between the proximity of your seat to the court versus the level of genuine rooting interest...Somehow we all turn into post-reverse-classists who assume that basically no one should be allowed to watch live sports from nice seats. We are the other 99 percent of sports fans."
    • The Daily News Egypt also looks at sports in a larger political-economic context in "Football fans as revolution." "The Ultras’ unconditional support to their teams, whether they win or lose, reflects unrestricted faith in an idea and working relentlessly to support and improve it. Their motivation and organizational capacities in achieving that goal, using team work in an unmatched creativity, induces hope and inspiration. The dynamics of the process brings (positive) patriotism and freedom to the forefront, two critical values that have been subdued and suppressed by the ailing regime but are experiencing rebirth."
    • From national politics to fandom politics, a Chicago sports blogger took it upon himself to lecture fellow fans on how fandom should be performed. "I’m a Cubs fan and root for them harder than anyone. I also understand that the Cubs play a game, and I respect myself too much to ask another grown man who plays a game for a living to write his name on something while I’m wearing a shirt with that man’s name on it. And I know you make fun of Trekkies and the weirdos who go to adult entertainment conventions and buy the rubber genitalia replicas of their favorite porn stars. But guess what? You’re no different." As one respondent points out, given the sorts of depths that sports fandom can sink to it's a bit much to declare conventions to be an over-the-line form of fannish expression. "I’ve never been to an adult entertainment convention or a Star Trek convention – or a Cubs convention for that matter. But I don’t mock anyone who does because it’s their hobby and their money and it in no way, shape or form concerns me how other folks entertain themselves as long as it does no harm to me."

    If you are a sports fan or attend conventions, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links roundup for 27 January 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 27 January 2012 - 8:37pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Sports, Fannish Histories, News Media

    Here's a roundup of stories on sports fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • Jane Dough cited a study on football viewership that revealed "Women, actually, love watching football. More than they like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and American Idol. So pipe down, imaginary husbands and whiny beer commercials. Sunday Night Football is the third most popular primetime show among adult women." These current numbers demonstrate a continuity from the fandom's early days discussed in Football Girl. "Similar to the matinee girl, the football girl was a common subject of male journalistic curiosity. That someone of the "fairer sex" (gender stereotypes of women as emotional, overly-sensitive, and nurturing were alive and well in the 1900s) would be interested in watching a competitive match involving "brute" physical force was both titillating and confounding for many male writers."
    • Sadly not much has changed in sports media depictions. Baseball Nation took the show MLB Fan Cave to task on its treatment of women. "In the last few years, many media outlets have reported that women now comprise 45-47 percent of all baseball fans, making it the most gender-balanced of the four main professional sports." Yet the women who do appear on the show are there primarily for gratuitous appeal to male viewers. "The 2011 version of the Fan Cave offered nothing for the score-keeping, numbers-crunching, roster-watching woman fan. Well, if you don't count insults to her baseball intelligence."
    • The Baltimore Sports Report wrote about the personal connections in sports merchandise. "This holiday season, I am sure anyone reading this will probably wind up getting a sports-related gift of some kind, but I encourage you to consider it more than an overpriced logo or even a way to show off your team. It is a reflection of where you are in life, what you care about, and what you value. I was a UVa fan because of what I thought they represented (way in the past now, mind you), and my Dad went nuts for that jersey not just because he loved the Ravens but because he felt a meaningful and permanent connection with the city of Baltimore."
    • Meanwhile, the Baltimore Sun reported on baseball fan get-togethers which included everything from conversation and trivia games to guest lecturers. "He and his fellow conversationalists are looking forward to the next "Talkin' Baseball" on Jan. 14, when Maryland author Bob Luke is scheduled to discuss his latest book, "The Most Famous Woman in Baseball: Effa Manley and the Negro Leagues."" Manley is "the first (and still only) woman admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. Her story is one of a million threads in the fabric of baseball, which people such as Paulson see as a game but always, in addition, something bigger. "You never run out of things to talk about," he says."

    If you take part in a sports fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links roundup for 11 January 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Wednesday, 11 January 2012 - 6:50pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality, Fandoms, Anime and Manga, Sports, Television, Fannish Practices

    Here's a roundup of stories on the meaning of fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • Indonesian filmmaker, Mouly Surya wants to explore the great influence from Japanese culture on Indonesia’s younger generation and is planning a movie titled Fandom Diary, which is itself inspired from Western "movies like ‘Almost Famous’ and also documentaries on The Beatles’ fans. There are so many things that we can explore about the differences between fandom in those days and now.” Her film will not be a documentary but "a dark comedy feature. It will highlight the different identities of many Indonesian teenagers, both online and offline" and will focus on involvement with "the J-Pop boy bands to comics and anime costume play."
    • A post on Muppet Central asked about the likelihood of fandom growth with new projects and speculates on the pluses and minuses of being "the world and internet's most under the radar fandom." While enjoying the reactions of the general public to Muppet fare, the poster writes "I have a feeling the majority of Muppet fans are NOT online, or at least arent on here or TP. Im hoping Disney finally does a Muppet fan weekend celebration to bring out all the closested Muppet nerds:) Still, would be cool to see more Muppet geeks out there at conventions that I go to or out and about...tho in a way, its kind of nice to have it more underground and have it still be kind of a cool secret you kind of have to discover."
    • While hardcore Muppet fans may be wanting some more company, at least one football fan celebrates the joys of being alone. "It used to be a given that my friends would meet up at someone’s house each week. And this year, only four out of 12 of us bothered to show up for our fantasy draft barbecue. The Bowling Alone effect isn’t just for participatory sports any more. In this age of fantasy football and DVR, rooting for your favorite team has become a pastime that’s best enjoyed by yourself, hunkered down in a fandom isolation chamber. We are now millions of audiences of one."

    Whether you wish for a bigger fandom or more solitary pursuits, or wish your fandom was closer to home or farther away, why not contribute your fandom experience to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links Roundup for 9 December 2011

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 9 December 2011 - 6:21pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Gender and Sexuality, Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality, Commercialization of Fans, Movies, Sports, Television, Fannish Practices

    Here's a roundup of stories on fan behavior that might be of interest to fans:

    • The upcoming release of Hunger Games has brought a new case of fan outrage over film casting. In a post at Blogher, one writer examines fan commentary "when the characters they had imagined in their minds did not look the same as the actors who will portray them in the film." After examining specific examples the blogger concludes, "the most telling issue about these comments is how people have envisioned these characters, not because of how they were described in the book but because of how they see the world."
    • The world of sports has also had controversies regarding racial attitudes embedded in team names and fan practices. In this post about University of Kansas sports fandom, a Missouri Tigers fan focuses on the "slaver" taunt used by fans and examines its historical accuracy, concluding "Perhaps someday the classier and more enlightened segment of the KU fan base will evolve into a majority that relegates the “slaver” taunt to the trash can where it belongs."
    • As this post by a sports journalist points out, however, some fans are more defined by their opposition to things than support. Discussing attendance at a football game while wearing a hockey jersey the writer found himself in an uncomfortable atmosphere. "When did we get so callous as a fan base? When did it become unacceptable to wear Denver sports gear to a Denver sports game? At the game, the crowd itself was divided. Fans in Terrell Davis jerseys yelling at fans in Tebow jerseys, fights breaking out in the stands only to be broken up by police officers."
    • A different controversy broke out in Supernatural fandom over fictional fans. Various bloggers offered opinions on the portrayal of slash fandom through the character of Becky Rosen, a recurring character in the series. One blogger attempted to start a conversation among fans asking why Becky was so hated, venturing "While it’s difficult to see yourself in a TV character especially when it’s not the most flattering light, Becky (while a mockery) is just another playful jab at the fandom in its entirety. Why do I love Becky? She is devoted to her fandom. No one can say that Supernatural fans aren’t rabid and defensive of the show, their “ships”, or their characters...Becky personifies that, why not embrace her?"

    If you are part of Supernatural fandom, are a football fan, or have stories about race and fandom, racebending, or anti-fandom why not post about them in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links Roundup for 2 December 2011

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 2 December 2011 - 6:41pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Music, Sports, Television, Fan Videos, Fannish Histories

    Here's a roundup of stories on fans going pro that might be of interest to fans:

    • The Urban Wire writes "Last year’s Anime Festival Asia (AFA) attendees may pick out some familiar faces from the I Love Anisong concert line-up – these 4 girls went from greeting customers in frilly maid outfits to performing on stage together as homegrown J-pop band Sea☆A." The band members also revealed how fandom gave them more than a job. "“We learnt basic Japanese mainly from watching anime,” Valerie revealed. “We’ll watch the original Japanese version and pick out certain keywords that we really want to learn, then we learn according to the English translation. We’ve gotten very used to the pronunciation from that.”
    • French fan Melanie D'Anna's fan videos got the attention of House M.D. producer Greg Yaitanes who commissioned her to make some videos the producers hoped to use as DVD extras. While this did not happen for legal and budget reasons he wrote "These are exciting times. A talented fan can be recognized by the talent who makes the show and find a way for all to work together...We are across the world but have creativity as our common language."
    • Although Frederick Exley never became a football player, he did find success by writing about his fandom. This review of A Fan's Notes quotes "According to his “fictional memoir,” Exley spent his Sundays in a murky bar watching his beloved New York Giants and their star running back/wide receiver Frank Gifford clash with opponents. He would physically act out every play while offering a frantic running commentary on the game, guzzling beers during the huddles as other patrons looked on in amazement." Aside from the success of his memoir, Exley became the subject of two posthumous books. The review concludes "Perhaps Exley is better suited to immortality in fiction than he was to life in reality."

    If you are part of football, J-Pop or House fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links Roundup for 16 November 2011

    By Claudia Rebaza on Wednesday, 16 November 2011 - 5:40pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Gender and Sexuality, Studies, Books, Sports, Fannish Practices, Technology

    Here's a roundup of stories on the performative aspects of fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • Several researchers at Lousiana State University have been studying sports fans. "Osborne's research on "Performative Sport Fandom" looks at how fandom is socially constructed. Her major area of interest is how the performances of fandom, particularly for hyper-masculine sports like football, work in conjunction with other performances such as gender. Put simply, how is performing as a fan different for women than it is for men?" Another professor studying sports fans' use of social media found "that the more active you are in the these social areas, the more passion you have for the sport and the team. People that were high users had a lot of frustration and anger - they are more aggressive."
    • One look at a very clear performative aspect of sports fandom is on ESPN’s College GameDay, which relies heavily on fans to provide both audience and backdrop for the broadcast. "At the heart of the show are the students. When I asked coordinating producer Fitting what was the best part about doing GameDay he replied that it was going to a campus for the first time. “To see the excitement and the thrill these kids have to see the guys and be a part of the show, it’s awesome."
    • Another clear aspect of fans' "performance" is a non-traditional sport taking place on college campuses. A University of Kansas article mentioned the International Quidditch Association's documentary about last year’s World Cup titled “Brooms Up” on YouTube and also the activities of the local team. "The Kansas quidditch team members ...travelled to Overland Park on Saturday afternoon to teach local kids how to play quidditch or, as they call it, “kidditch.”"

    If you're part of a sports fandom or on a quidditch team, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links Roundup for 14 November 2011

    By Claudia Rebaza on Monday, 14 November 2011 - 5:48pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Fannish Communities, Sports, Fannish Practices, Technology

    Here's a roundup of stories about technologies used by fans that might be of interest to fans:

    • As this Nielsen study reveals, a major reason "for following/"liking" a...celebrity on Social Networking Sites" is "to show support" and to share the fannishness of one's friends. However, at least one case of sharing with friends has been impeded by changes to Google Reader. Aside from the Sharebros group and Iranian dissidents, many fans have relied on the Reader to collect RSS feeds from various fansites, especially if the fans used independent blogs as their home base. Google is folding Reader into its Google+ site, but although they have backtracked on their policy of banning pseudonyms, changes to the Reader's functionality may yet disrupt people's personal networks. This is likely to be particularly unwelcome news in the wake of similar problems with the sale and transfer of del.icio.us.
    • Unfortunately, fan concerns have rarely been a priority for the entities providing entertainment and services as this "letter to the editor" points out in regards to the history of sports fandom in ancient times: "The welfare of the average fan has only occasionally and for quite specific reasons (absent here) been an object of great concern to the people who organise games." Instead, "the public benefited only when there was competition among the rich to provide better amenities."

    If you used del.icio.us or other social networking tools, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

  • Links Roundup for 11 November 2011

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 11 November 2011 - 5:40pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Commercialization of Fans, Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction , Sports, Fannish Practices

    Here's a roundup of stories on things people learn from fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • Romance author Cooper West has been blogging a series called "Everything I learned from Fandom" that includes lessons in marketing, writing fanfic, and what it taught her about women's interest in porn. She complains that "companies like Vivid think “porn for women” equals bad costumes, bad scripts, weak plots and porn-perfect, hairless bodies...The result being that...women will still talk about how they hate “porn”, and industry watchers will crow in victory at their misguided assumptions based on false data. But fandom ran over those assumptions while no one was looking."
    • Another fan, whose website offers professional advice to geeks, focused recently on "fansourcing". His argument is that skills learned as a hobby can be put to use professionally, some examples being: "List those skills used in fansourcing on your resume, and note anything you added to them - did you have a new computer program? Learn plugins?" or "Can you do a panel about what you did/do at a convention? This helps others, promotes you, and improves your speaking skills."
    • On a more esoteric level, Rabbi Jeff Goldwasser posts about Why Torah is Like Baseball, noting "Baseball is a universe in which the past and the present are commingled. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Yaz and Pedro all play forever on the same field and our memories of baseball past become interchangeable with our hopes and expectations of the future."

    What things have you learned from fandom? Don't keep them to yourself: contribute to Fanlore! Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

    Read more

Pages

Subscribe to Sports