Communication
Sports Event Analysis Paper – The Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League
(Philadelphia 76ers versus Memphis Grizzlies)
This analysis begins with a short introduction on the Summer League followed by an examination of how the game fixture was covered on a live television broadcast. It includes a further analysis of its cover on the league website and a final twitter response that was related to the event.
Introduction
The Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League began on the 5th of July on a Saturday running through the 11th of July, 2014. The seven day, 25 game sporting event featured renowned teams like the Bolton Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunders, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies (Local8Now.com, 2014). The fixture between the Philadelphia76ers and the Memphis Grizzlies at the Orlando Magic’s practice court at the Amway Center in Florida took place on the 11th.
Television Broadcast
Covered on the Summer League Live that was broadcasting in the United States, the game fixture between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Memphis Grizzlies was anchored and analyzed by James Williams, Kevin Scott and Aaron Smith. They all had a focus on creating clear narratives that involved discussions on the implications of each of the player's practice to the outcome of the league title. Since the week was coming to a close and the Summer League was just before the playoffs, the analysts had a keen focus on what was necessary for the contenders eyeing a slot in the playoffs needed to do to get into the lead. Discussions included the approach of the two teams to the game and the different strategies they ought to undertake to lead them to their goals (NBATV, 2014).
The anchors were solid in their commentary and worked as reporters who apart from describing live events, went a step further and built clear story lines on the events. Expert opinions were also incorporated to increase viewership and the interest of fans especially since the fixture was a defining game that would determine whether the Philadelphia 76ers or the Memphis Grizzlies would proceed to the playoffs (Andrew, 2014). They skillfully multi tasked the roles of both reporters and columnists displaying their ingenuity at managing the different hybrid roles that covered various levels of communication. The anchors were similarly both producers and consumers of the sports content. They willfully partook of the events that were taking place in the basketball court as they produced and developed them to cohesive and coherent narratives for their listeners and audience (NBATV, 2014).
During the pre-game/ half game period for instance, James engaged his co-hosts and asked them at the end of the first quarter what either of the two teams needed to do as they resumed their 2nd quarter after the Philadelphia had secured an early lead of 1-0 as compared to the Grizzlies 0-1. Apart from a free throw by Ware that had earned the 76ers 5 points in a series of Layup and Dunk Shots by Thompson and Roberts Jr. that had accumulated initial points, the Grizzlies were also following closely with a similar accumulation of points especially from the famous hook shot that earned them 6 points together with a jump shot by Adams and Lucas. Aaron suggested an overall decrease in the number of rebounds and a consistent increase in shots from either of the teams.
The anchors similarly focused on the other elements of the league particularly its ‘sister’ league, the much longer Vegas-based Samsung NBA Summer League that was set to start from the 11th to 21st of July, 2014. The league kicked off at the UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center and COX Pavilion and featured 67 games with teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers just to mention a few (Local8Now.com, 2014). All these teams were also set for the playoffs and the Kevin, therefore, analyzed the implications the possible results in connection to the Summer League. Reporters were also astute at the arena as they attempted to give a clear cover of all the side shows that were similarly taking place. For instance, when Arnett Moultrie was sent to play the game in the D-League and he had only played 12 games in the season, one reporter was interested to understand the reason behind the move and went ahead to engage Brown in a conversation when he said that Arnett was a young player, a first round draft pick who needed to play.
The commentators swiftly performed the role of play-by-play and analysts broadcasters simultaneously. They were able to discuss what happened in the game in real time and gave viewers their opinions as they watched. These helps to further elucidate the versatile role of the media today as they are not only ingrained in one aspect of a sporting event but are flexible enough to include in the whole package a broad dimensional cover of the game. At the start of the game for instance, the commentators focused on what was actually going on in the courts, later on however near the midpoint of the first quarter a replay of a dunk shot by Philadelphia 76ers’ Thompson, they discussed the ramifications of all the moves that had already been taken by the different teams.
Later on, however, the commentators also discussed trivial issues non related to the game like how Michael Beasly would look like in a Grizzlies Uniform. This king of lighter note conversations built on the narrative of the popularity of the sport.
The commentators similarly revisited pre-existing narratives of the game with analysis from the online site of the league whereby the different playing styles of the two teams were analyzed and made comparisons and predictions on which teams would probably win the game. This they discussed judging from the narrative on the fact that the 76ers were much younger and faster than the Grizzlies. These narratives, therefore, built on viewership making the game even more exciting (NBATV, 2014).
Furthermore, the commentators similarly practiced impartiality and did not favor one team over the other. They talked about how each player had to perform better and criticized all the rebounds but always looking for positive topics to discuss. Radio transmissions of the different players from the two teams were also incorporated in the broadcast to give more real time content of the game as viewers were given the opportunities to give their expert opinions on the implications of the game. For example, a radio transmission on the perception of Gasol from the Grizzlies was aired where he mentioned that he was proud of his team and supported good moves despite the pitfalls as better than losing (NBA.com, 2014).
On the commercialization, there were numerous advertisements and pop ups of the teams and leagues together with their sponsors as they attempted to bank on the viewership as current standings were displayed during the game.
Online Media (Websites)
On the online media front, the game was covered by a number of websites including NBA.com and ESPN, NBA.com that recreated the sports content by reporting what has occurred over the weekend after the game together with interviews of the different players and coaches on a variety of different topics. This for example included the performance of the teams on the court and what they thought about game and the home front, the goals they had set for themselves and what they thought about qualifying or not qualifying for the playoffs. For example ESPN, NBA.com had some questions for Philadelphia 76ers’ coach Brown on the loss of his team. Brown answered by saying that despite their loss, it was however not time for crying over lost chances but a time to build on a program that did not dwell on the short-term ramifications of a game but instead banked on a long-term gain and victory (NBA.com, 2014).
The official website of the game NBA.com had a number of different features that were designed to promote the sports. These included analyses and interviews that were updated on a daily basis. The website had a countdown to the next game fixtures in the season together with their time schedules and video covers of previous games and practice sessions of the different teams in the NBA. This helps to give fans a reason to look forward to the next games despite disappointments. This is as in the case of Philadelphia 76ers loss that could be recovered in their game on the next Monday against the Boston. NBA.com similarly had other interactive media like apps and polls that were to help bring viewers back to their website. The NBA game time mobile application was, for instance, advertised on the site and could be downloaded from the ‘Google plaster' for Android phone users and the ‘App store' for Apple phone users. There were also adverts on how fans could sign up with the NBA and have all the game updates streamed onto their email inboxes. There was similarly a feature of the NBA League Pass that had a collection of every game played in the season that could be watched from any media platform whether it’s a computer, laptop, mobile phone or TV connected devices (NBA.com, 2014).
The websites have a section by section coverage of the game with box scores, play-by-plays, game stories and information on the results. Although there was little content on live updates during the game, there were evident recaps of the game few hours after it had ended with numerous articles on the game performances and its implications on the season with questions to the team players and coaches that attempted to gauge their perception on the overall performance. Most of the online content was from sideline reporters as few of the websites had their chief editors with feature articles. For example, in an article in ESPN NBA, Carter Williams mentioned that he did not care how many straight losses they had all he had to do was ignore them. There was similarly coverage on the history of the 76ers coach 58-year-old Brown, who had been part of the NBA title teams and had served in the operations of the basketball departments in 1998-99. He was used to winning, and it was, therefore, a gamble for the Sixers who had however given him four years to turn things around. He was confident that he was able to lead the team to stardom and did not care about what others thought of the straight loses (ESPN NBA, 2014). Journalists covering the online content were also given a chance to expand their tweets with detailed information on real time coverage and recaps that were concise and informed viewers of essential parts of the larger narrative that were built on the other media platforms like the TV and Radio.
As a result, the media agencies and journalists focused on certain narratives making them exciting, natural and worth following for the fans. It is interesting to note that the coverage on the online media was further catapulted through online social sites like facebook and twitter to reinforce the same story showing the distinct interconnection between different online sites. While certain Twitter accounts can be considered “producers” of sports content, Twitter is also a medium to share sports content generated for websites & not solely for Twitter itself.
On Twitter, both journalists and fans tweeted about the race. The journalists attempted to tweet real time feeds from the game as they presumed to give fans a peak into the inside story. They were also giving sideshows reports as different columnists and media outlets featured their articles this created a forum for further discussions on the game. These were also retweeted and replied in other social media sites indicated the diversification of online sites.
For example, Did the Sixers win? @DidTheSixersWin tweeted the question with just one answer "No". The tweet gathered a total response of 1, 208 Retweets and 421 favorites. Fans posted they were responded and shared their opinions of the Summer League game fixtures and their outcomes. Ekin @Ekin_Ugurel replied to the @DidTheSixersWin? With the comment “Oh here, we go again”. Andy @AndyMFFL replied “yes” as Brett Fox @brett_fox1 disagreed with a “No” saying it was “The first of many No is on the hash tag #WeWantMudiay. This hash tag generated a sequence of responses on what the fans wanted as others suggested Carter Williams and Stanley Johnson as the comments further evolved to other trends (Tweeter, 2014).
Many of the fans follow journalists who similarly had tweets therefore communication was at its broadest sense. Twitter exemplifies Lawrence Wenner’s transactional model of communication that is based on a two way communication system when compared to other media platforms like the TV and Radio. It engages fans, journalists and their followers together with the organizational leagues in a back to back communication. It is, therefore, conclusive to note that sports coverage has indeed changed over time with the incorporation of a dense and multi-dimensional feature of different games.
References:
Andrew, Ford. (2014). SB Nation; Grizzly Bear Blues. Game Preview: Memphis Grizzlies vs.
Philadelphia 76ers. Retrieved from: http://www.grizzlybearblues.com/2014/4/11/5603286/game-preview-memphis-grizzlies-vs-philadelphia-76ers
Did the Sixers win? @DidTheSixers. Retrieved from:
https://twitter.com/DidTheSixersWin/status/519306795819749377
ESPN, NBA. The Associated Press. (2014) 76ers fall to Grizzlies, tie team mark with 20th
straight loss. Retrieved from; http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400489858
NBA.com. Summer League: Sixers 74, Jazz 70. (2014). Retrieved from:
http://www.nba.com/sixers/news/140712-summer-league-vs-jazz-recap
NBATV: Summer League Live.(2014) NBATV Coverage @NBATV. Retrieved from:
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/483650987186339840
Local8Now.com. (2014). Stokes scores 10 points in NBA Summer League debut. Retrieved
