- Error
Pay-per-view used to be a special thing.
I remember back in the early 90's when I was seven or eight years old and all I wanted to see was a WWF pay-per-view. Back then it was a privilege if you got a chance to witness one.
Those were the days when the biggest televisions most families had were 27" and if you knew someone with a big screen that was over 40" then you were in heaven. The big screens weighed about 150 lbs. and consisted of huge wooden base about the size of a large credenza.
Fortunately for me I not only had a friend whose grandparents had a big screen TV, but they also had the next best thing to go with it: The Black Box.
Other than a dog, the black box was a man's best friend. You could get all the premium channels for free, unscrambled porn, and any pay-per-view event you wanted just by running your cable through this genius piece of equipment.
My first pay-per-view I ever saw was WrestleMania IX from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. I can vividly still picture the main event where Bret "The Hitman" Hart faced defended the WWF title against Yokozuna. Bret had Yokozuna in the middle of the ring and got him in the sharpshooter and Yokozuna was about to tap. Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, threw salt into Bret Hart's eyes and Yokozuna won the title under the bright sun of the outdoor arena.
Immediately following the victory, Hulk Hogan came out, challenged Yokozuna to a title fight and the match began. Mr. Fuji tried to attempt the same salt throwing tactic, but messed up this time around and accidently hit Yokozuna and gave Hulk Hogan the title in a match that lasted less than 30 seconds.
From that moment since, I have always been in love with pay-per-view events.
Maybe it was just the era that we lived in and we didn't have the access like we had today to watch these events or see the results, but everyone was special. Maybe it was just my young age loving the WWF, Bret Hart, and Hulk Hogan like so many other kids my age. It doesn't really matter the reason, it just matters that back then pay-per-view was viewed as a special event.
Pay-per-view continued to be special throughout the 90's decade. It was still a rare thing to be able to watch these events. We didn't have the opportunities to watch them on the computer or visit a bar and see any pay-per-view we wanted, we had to find someone who was willing to drop $50 or get a group together and split the cost to be able to view these spectacles.
I guess back than it just felt worth it.
Things have changed so much since then that pay-per-view is dying in my mind. Changes in sports, in television, and in the Internet; all these things are major factors to why pay-per-view will end within the next ten years.
The most notable changes in sports are the lack of competitive boxing matches and the influx of the UFC. We all know the success of the UFC and we all know the lack of solid fights from boxing, but neither are the sole reason for the upcoming death of pay-per-view. The actual problem with pay-per-view is the television itself.
We became a society that wanted television to change from what we get is what we see to a country that wanted 700 channels so we would be able to have a television program for every single person out there. Not only that, but we also wanted the ability to watch whatever we wanted when we wanted. Nothing is special to all of us anymore, it's just personalized programs that each individual can decide to enjoy.
Increases in television programs also created an increase in pay-per-view events. The WWE no longer just focuses on WrestleMania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble. Now they have 14 pay-per-views that creates an event, but not a special event. The same is the case for the UFC and boxing is just in disarray.
I actually looked at my cable box today and Comcast is offering the boxing pay-per-view this Saturday of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. versus John Duddy in a middleweight bout in San Antonio. If a boxing pay-per-view is happening in San Antonio then it isn't going to be that great.
Who's buying this fight? Julio Cesar Chavez I and Julio Cesar Chavez III? That's about all I can think of who'd want to watch it.
The last and most important factor to the destruction of pay-per-view is the Internet. We now finally have the black box of the new century. Now with a couple clicks we are able to watch any pay-per-view event we want from numerous available web streams and it's all for free. I'm not sure if anybody will even be streaming the Chavez/Duddy fight though so you may have to drop the $44.99 if you really want to watch that battle.
Streams already give us decent picture quality and solid sound, but the increase in speeds and advances in technology will allow us to watch any event we want in hi-definition quality in the near future. Soon we will be able to all watch UFC 148.5 from our smart phones and be twittering about it at the same time. Our televisions will connect to these streaming services and we can instantly partake in any pay-per-view event we want from our 100" televisions that is just a wall that transforms to a TV screen.
Some people may think this is a bad thing for sports, just like downloading MP3's is a best thing for the music industry. I think the other way.
Maybe this decades black box technology will help these sports improve their products and go back to the time when the events were actually special. Maybe we will once again want to gather a crowd of people together and experience the spectacle with friends and be willing to drop the cash on the showcase.
I don't know where it will lead us, but I do know that pay-per-view is not here to stay.
As I turn on Game Six of the NBA Finals, I know one thing: I don't want either team to win.
Unlike most people, I never wanted a Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers finals rematch that had all the hoopla because of the battles in the '80s. I would much rather see the underdog versus the winner on paper in the NBA Finals, so then I would at least have a team I'd want to root for.
Instead I'm stuck wavering back in forth in my mind as to who I'd rather see win another ring.
I hate the Lakers.
If you're not from L.A. —or should I say, if you're not from L.A. and superficial —then how can you be a fan of this team? It's been in the finals three straight years, has the best coach in the league—if not the best coach ever —and also has the best player in the league.
The Lakers are the team that pulled off the greatest trade in NBA history by delivering Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for Kobe Bryant on draft night. It makes you wonder if the Hornets would still be around in Charlotte if it wasn't for that move?
Shall we also forget the Big Ben-esque maneuver that Lakers pulled on the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire Pau Gasol? I mean grabbing one of the best big man in the game for Aaron McKie, Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol, and first-round picks in the 2008 and 2010 NBA Drafts may not be a full on raping, but the Lakers definitely took the Grizzlies into a stall and forced them into it.
I hate the Celtics too.
Here's a team that was great, sucked for so many years, and then jumped back on the radar as one of the greatest NBA cities by pulling a New York Yankees and buying a championship.
Okay, I know the Celtics didn't really buy a championship, because there's a salary cap and every team has the same advantage, but let’s be realistic here, they bought their championship.
This team is much different this year though. The star studded trifecta of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are finally showing their age and were basically no-chance contenders throughout the year. I'll definitely give them credit for being able to show up in the playoffs, and finally harness all their talent together and make an unbelievable run that has a great chance of achieving their second championship in two years.
But did I mention I hate the Celtics?
I just hate watching this team because of the me-against-the-world attitude that the entire roster displays on a daily basis. The screaming, the yelling, the taunting, the mean mugging.
Come on, Kevin Garnett. Do you really think most NBA power forwards are scared of your skinny physique, fragile old body, and Beatlejuice-looking head?
Paul Pierce is the biggest actor in the league since Vlade Divac, and Ray Allen thinks his place in NBA history is much better than it really is. Now, we have to add in the antics of Rasheed Wallace to the mix this year and the new DreamWorks duo of Nate Robinson and Glen Davis, who now think they could be starters on an NBA team.
The cast of the Celtics is a big turn-off in my book.
So, since I don't like either team, who do I root for? I root for greatness.
I've thought about this for awhile, and I finally figured out who I am going to root for. Everybody wants to see a great series; if you're not a fan of either team, then of course the best scenario is to see a Game Seven that comes down to the buzzer, but there's still a problem with that thought process.
Even if you see a great game, there's still something missing when you see that last shot go in or rim out.
I said I'm rooting for greatness, which means I'm rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers. Tough decision to make, but one I am fully set on. We love seeing greatness in all shapes and forms, and the Lakers not only have the greatest player in the game, but the greatest coach as well.
I have to root for Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant.
I could go through all the stats for both of them to show how remarkable they are, but all I want to see is Phil get his 11th ring and Kobe get his fifth —both of them getting one step closer to be recognized as the greatest ever in the game as coach and player.
Phil may already be there with his 10 rings overall, but he's still near enough to Red Auerbach and his eight consecutive championships and nine overall to want to keep on achieving and set an unattainable mark.
Kobe has a chance to enter the MJ realm. The MJ realm is the league of extraordinary gentlemen that currently only consists of one man, Michael Jordan. It's a place that in the back of our mind we don't really want anyone else to reach, but also a little part of us wants someone to get in the discussion.
Kobe has a chance to do that. A championship this year would give Kobe five overall rings with another back-to-back championship run on his resume and would put him one ring away from MJ.
The comeback from 3-2 series and the need to win two straight at home would take his legacy to the next level, and the talk of any other player as the greatest in the league right now would diminish immediately.
It's what I want to see. It's a decision that I hate to make, but I know it's the right one.
Last Friday I left
For anyone who doesn't know what Blogs with Balls is, it's a national conference where sports bloggers convene to listen to and ask questions to a group of experts that are designated a specific topic for their panel. This was the third Blogs with Balls conference and this time around the topics featured were:
- Going Local: Evolution of the Local Sports Media Market in the Digital Age
- Today’s Sports Media Landscape: Blogs and Beyond, Where Are Ad Dollars Going?
- You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Right…to Blog?: A Legal and Ethical Primer to Sports Media
- Democratizing Sports Media: How Blogging Players, Fans & Leagues Are Changing the Game
- The Kings of All Media: Leveraging Podcasting and Video to Build a Media Megabrand
- The Future of Sports Media: What Today’s Innovations Mean for Tomorrow’s Fan
I finally arrived in
After checking off my name and receiving my wristband I walked downstairs and grabbed a drink. At this time there weren't too many people there so I stood around a little bit and then I met Ed from Ed The Sports Fan. We chatted it up for about ten minutes and then he introduced me to his friend Robert Littal from Black Sports Online and we were all just hanging out for awhile.
Not too bad. Only about fifteen minutes in and I'm already networking a little bit. This is the type of thing you do at conferences anyway right?
The party continued and the venue got much more crowded. There was a Guinness ""Head-to-Head” competition that went on to see who could pour the perfect Guinness. I was pretty solid with my pouring skills. I kind of felt bad for the older fellow I went up against. When he got done with his pour it looked like he was holding a big glass of diarrhea. Even worse then that was the fact that he actually drank it.
At about 7:30pm the entire downstairs was packed with people. Unfortunately there were no name tags so even if I talked to anyone I forgot their name about 15 seconds later. The funniest part of the entire gala was the nervousness running around the place when all these fellow bloggers found out that they couldn't receive a cell phone signal. I guess some people weren't smart enough to figure out there was Wi-Fi. All they had to do was read the email that was sent about 3 hours earlier.
With the influx of people jam packed downstairs combined with the hot and humid
I woke up around 9:00am, grabbed a shower, got dressed, and made my one mile walk down
The venue was mostly great. The setup was very good with a nice covered area where the main stage was for the panel to sit at. Behind them were wooden locker displays for the sponsors of Gillette, Old Spice, and Head & Shoulders. I grabbed my name tag and sat down at around 9:55am, getting ready for the conference to start at ten.
One negative was the name tag. Do most bloggers really know each other by their real names? It would've been nice to have our web sites, Twitter name, and real name on the badge, or at least something to help distinguish the people that I only know from their moniker a little easier.
The first panel came to the stage to discuss the Local Sports Media Market in the Digital Age. Unfortunately the only thing they didn't discuss was the Local Sports Media Market in the Digital Age. Amy K. Nelson from ESPN was the moderator for the panel; always a treat to see, but maybe not the best moderator around.
Quickly the entire discussion turned into a back and forth effort by Jim Bankoff of SB Nation and Dave Nemetz of Bleacher Report to distinguish each of their sites and explain the benefits that each site has. It really just felt like a back and forth infomercial between the two where each would just state what they do better then the other person. The semi-duel ended with Jim Bankoff telling the crowd of bloggers to come talk to him because SB Nation was looking for some new writers in some specific areas.
During all the panels we were encouraged to tweet about Blogs with Balls by using the hash tag #bwb3. This was the dumbest idea ever. There were the occasional funny tweets, but for the most part it was just a bunch of sports bloggers, tweeting live during the conference and repeating everything that was said at the show. Do I really need to see the quote of the person on a projector screen that I just heard a minute ago? Do I need a recap of an event that just took place in front of my face? If they were really tweeting to their followers then 1. The followers would not care one bit about these meaningless tweets and 2. If they did care they would've just turned on the live stream of the show and saw it themselves.
I was also in awe of the fact that people really had to have their laptops the entire time at the show. Towards the front and center of the conference there was like a brigade of nerds that actually had extension outlets running from the power cords where the video camera was setup so they could make sure they had full battery juice the entire time. I'm really surprised someone didn't setup a full on desktop so they could play World of Warcraft in between panels. Can anyone just act normal once in awhile? Sit back, enjoy the conference, and use your phone if you really need to be on the Internet.
I'm getting frustrated at this point. The panel was boring and horrible to listen to and none of the information was very useful, there's about ten bloggers who are continuously in the audience tweeting rampant and typing up the dumbest tweets that were either dumb, unfunny, or useless to the average reader of them, and, the chairs were the most uncomfortable things to sit on and I was already hurting after an hour.
The second panel showed up to talk about "Where Are Ad Dollars Going?" Surprisingly this panel was actually worse then the first one. The most attention getting part of this panel was that the very beautiful Michele Steele forgot that ladies are supposed to cross their legs when they're wearing a skirt the whole time. Maybe the nerd brigade in the center got some up skirt pics.
By the end of this tedious to listen to discussion I was almost about to walk out. I thought to myself, "Why the hell did I come to this thing?"
Most everything that was said already was common sense to me. I guess if you have some business savvy and understand that your web site is your business then you would have already known everything that was just discussed over the last couple hours. This panel didn't even focus on trying to help individual blogs. The gist of it was join a blog network and....... get lucky? Maybe this wasn't the best panel because all these people were the ones who provide the ad dollars, but none of them were people who have their own individual blog trying to do everything they can to one day achieve their dream of running their blog and making a full-time living from it.
That's all we wanted answered; that's the number one question for every single blogger in the audience.
Things somewhat changed for the better in the next panel that discussed the legal and ethical nature of blogging. This panel had some great discussion that was moderated very well by Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead. Unfortunately because of Jason's recent sale of The Big Lead for over $1 million we had to see lame tweets popping up again saying, "If @thebiglead is here, then he should be picking up a seven-figure bar tab." Wow, hilarious, I'm still guffawing over that one folks. There were a solid twenty more that were similar to that nature.
I say congratulations and great for him, but I don't need to be running up to him, patting him on the back yelling congrats and good job. I'll get back to this problem later though.
The ethics panel discussed everything from the Delonte West sleeping with LeBron James rumor, the usage of saying "Rapelisberger", to the credibility of web sites having verified sources. The panel was very good, but there just weren’t the right people up there. Why wouldn't you have a first amendment lawyer up there? It just seems so obvious that this is the specific person that we needed to help us with all these issues. Instead, the entire panel basically said, "Do whatever you want until you get caught." Oh thanks for that great advice panelists. I'm sure to use all of you for subpoenas in case I get sued and let the judge know that you guys told me to do what I want.
With about 10 minutes left in the discussion, Spencer Hall from Every Day Should Be Saturday asked Jason a question about if he checks his sources. Basically it turned into a little verbal soiree between the two where Spencer brought up a specific story that he sent to Jason on April Fools Day and Jason posted it without even checking the source. This in turn moved the discussion toward if we should have legit sources where the panel concluded that it depends on each web site.
At first I disagreed with Spencer on the issue, but after thinking about it some more, then I agree that we should definitely have to have legitimate sources and be held accountable for what we write. I could care less if people catch feelings over what I write or I'm politically incorrect because that is all freedom of speech, but to have a professional site that breaks news stories that are completely bogus is reprehensible to the blogging community. To gain the respect that we are looking to get as legitimate sporting news sources or sports writers then we must act with the same professionalism.
I'm not trying to write for a newspaper or specific company so I don't care if people are offended by what I say. I'm writing because it's something I'm passionate about and want to convey my thoughts to readers who hopefully gain some insight, either positive or negative, by what I say. If you don't want to read it then don't, but I'm not putting on a facade to try and make things seem like something they aren't.
By having a sporting news site that doesn't check sources, this is exactly what you are doing.
The next panel is where my true dislike for Blogs with Balls came about. The sports blog fanboys came out of the woodwork.
During lunchtime I just witnessed blogger after blogger basically stand in line to chat with their blogging heroes. The minute people like Jason, Spencer, Jonah Keri, Michele Steele, or Jim Bankoff stepped away from one conversation the next fanboy jumped up to try and get their name in with them.
Continuously I heard people talking to Jason saying stuff like, "Do you remember the story I sent you about LeBron James on April 24th this year?" Jason was very kind in trying to get away from them with a nice little response like, "Oh! That was you?" I think the kid who asked him creamed his pants on the spot.
One blogger I heard talking to Michele Steele brought up to her that he set behind her at Dorkapalooza. I wish I was making this shit up.
I think Spencer got more compliments on his Team USA soccer jersey then Landon Donovan would've got if he were there. Some of my fellow bloggers and this suck up nature were just starting to disgust me.
After lunch the fanboyism hit its pinnacle. The one and only Spencer Hall was the next moderator for the panel that was discussing, "Democratizing Sports Media." The flash bulbs went off and young men sat back in their chairs attentive, waiting to grasp on every single word that came out of Spencer's mouth.
The entire panel and the discussion was great; definitely the best of the whole day. Spencer's random questions and quick little insults made the time go by quickly and the discussion flow much better. I was actually surprised how much I actually enjoyed him as a moderator so kudos to you Mr. Hall. I'm not tweeting any of your quotables or posting pictures of you chugging a Smirnoff Ice like all your fanboys in the audience though.
To sum up the remaining two panels; sucked. The podcast panel told us that you should plan your podcast and then edit it at the end. Hmmm. Thanks for the genius advice that everyone should do almost anytime they are doing anything.
The Future of Sports Media was the last panel that discussed some technologies that would probably be coming to sports in the next five years. I guess I found this one a little more boring because I have a technology background so I knew everything they talked about. I would've much more liked hearing about the future of technology pertaining to actual blogs instead of the technology that would be coming to sports in general.
Why not have a discussion on blogs moving towards Internet television or if video casting will be of any importance? There was so much they could've touched on that would've directly affected the blogger instead of all sports fan and it was just left alone.
At the end of the conference I couldn't wait to leave. I just sat in the worst plastic chair ever for nearly 8 hours listening to discussions that seemed like common sense to me. I would however like to point out that the event was run great and if you are one of the fanboys or a blogger that lacks some business or tech sense then you probably won't find a better conference to come to for such a reasonable price.
I thought about the conference for awhile on my 450 mile drive back from
Maybe my head is just in a different place right now.
As you read this I'm driving 500 miles on I-90 East to move to
In the end the problem wasn't Blogs with Balls it was the bloggers with balls that were there.
The whole experience turned into a who can I meet that can help me propel my blog into the next tier. It just seemed that it was almost a suck up fest towards all the big name bloggers by the fanboys hoping that maybe one of them would pick up their card or remember their name and that’s how they would move ahead in the blogosphere.
I guess to each is own, but that's just not me. I'm not running up to Jay Busbee to ask him if he remembered my Tiger Woods Mistress Slot Machine game he posted about or any other big name blogger that has posted anything of mine before. I'd much rather work hard, be passionate about what I write about, and if the accolades come then the accolades come.
Promoting yourself is one thing and pimping yourself is another. Is sucking up to all the panelists really what you have to do to grow as a blog?
Maybe at Blogs with Balls 4 that will be a panel discussion.
no commentsWell we're a little over a week away from the start of the 2010 World Cup and I think it's time we all start getting excited. This World Cup is going to be wonderful this year with no clear cut winner and at least eight teams with a legitimate shot of winning. The setting of South Africa will also be interesting as well, as we'll get to experience African music with drum playing in the stands throughout the game. It's just one of those unique situations that is presented by having the World cup in Africa for the first time.
Of course with all the excitement comes the drama too. We've already heard that Argentina's coach, Maradona, has made the claim that he will streak through the streets of Argentina if the team wins the cup. I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing that.
We have a U.S. squad that is solid, but not great. A few battered players on our defense that will make or break this team. They could go on a crazy run or be out of the first round. Either way I think many of us in the states will be on the edge of our seats watching the opening match against England on June 12th at 2:30pm EST.
Last, but not least, we have the controversy we have every World Cup; the soccer ball. Adidas released the Jabulani ball and now players are starting to cry and whine about how it doesn't have enough grip or that it has too much spin. I haven't heard this much take about a ball since Lance Armstrong lost his in 2007.
Hopefully just the nature of the World Cup will get you excited to want to watch and root your country on, but if not then I have one last thing for you. I'd like to present to you the 2010 Favre Dollar Footlongs Cup where you can make your World Cup picks for a chance to win a Favre Dollar Footlongs shirt and a Best Buy card to the winner.
Here's the link: http://us.wc.fantasysports.yahoo.com/world-cup/group/6782
There are not many times when a true underdog goes on to win a championship. I'm not just talking about the lower seeded team winning it all in the finals, but a team that nobody thought had a legitimate shot to do so.
We've seen upsets, but the last miracle team that could even come close is probably the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers since they were the first #6 seed to win three away games before winning the Super Bowl. The NCAA Championship this year could have provided one, but like so often we see that the miracle finish just didn't happen.
The Philadelphia Flyers have a shot to be the miracle team.
Philadelphia had ups and downs all season. They signed Ray Emery to be their man between the posts and at the beginning of March he was gone due to season ending hip surgery. They also had a coach who was fired and replaced by Peter Laviolette in early December. This was a team that struggled the entire season just trying to make the playoffs and they almost didn't.
With two games remaining in the season they needed just one win to get a berth. To make things more interesting both games were against the New York Rangers who also were vying for that last playoff spot. The Flyers traveled to Madison Square Garden on April 9th and lost a heart breaker with a score of 4-3. Two days later they would have to regroup to play the Rangers on their home ice.
The Flyers prevailed with a 2-1 victory after a shootout in overtime that not only gave them the win, but also the 7th seed in the East. Next on board for the Flyers were the New Jersey Devils with hall of fame goalie Martin Brodeur.
Philadelphia, with backup goalie Brian Boucher playing great, beat the Devils in five games to move on to the second round. The Flyers seemed to finally catch a break when the Montreal Canadians upset the Washington Capitals, which gave them the opportunity to play the #5 Boston Bruins instead of the #1 Washington Capitals.
The draw was far from a break.
The Boston Bruins opened up the series with three straight wins, only needing one more to move to the Eastern Conference finals. Brian Boucher stepped up and brought a shutout in game 4 to move the series to 3-1. In Game 5 he provided the same effort with 4-0 shutout. There was only one problem with this win though, the Flyers lost their now unstoppable goalie to injury and the backup to the backup, Michael Leighton would have to step in for game 6.
Leighton did his job in game 6 with a 2-1 win to pull the series back to a 3-3 tie; a feat of three straight wins that was impressive in itself. Game 7 was headed back to Boston and the winner would go to the East Finals.
It was in game 7 where we thought momentum finally caught up to the Flyers Phenomenon. The Bruins opened up the game with a 3-0 lead midway through the first period. The Flyers fought back, chipped away, and somehow came out with a 4-3 victory to move on to the next round.
Maybe Michael Leighton is the lucky charm. I haven't seen a player join a Philly team to provide luck like this since Tony Danza did it in The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon. Was destiny finally on Philadelphia's side for once?
The Eastern Conference finals had another miracle team join the fray with the #8 seed Montreal Canadians going up against the Flyers after they won a 7-game series against the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flyers didn't let the opportunity pass them by and they beat the Canadians in five games to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1997.
The series starts tomorrow and I just don't know who to root for. I'm a Penguins fan so it's natural that we hate the Flyers, but after looking at this unbelievable run I don't know what to think. On the other side we have the Chicago Blackhawks with Marian Hossa, one of the most hated players amongst Penguins fans, so we'd like to see him lose his third straight Stanley Cup finals on three different teams.
I'll probably decide who I'm rooting for once the puck drops tomorrow, but either way, if the Flyers win, this will be the second coming of the Miracle on Ice. Ups and down all year, new coach, having to play the backup to your backup goalie for the finals, and a 3 game series deficit that opened up with a 3 goal deficit in game 7 and you still make the finals is a miracle in itself, but one that movies aren't made from.
We'll find out how the movie ends over the next couple of weeks. I just wish my Pens would there so I could see an alternate ending.
