The Sports Media Revolution
There’s been some talk by the Golden Blogs and Excuse Me For My Voice about the Bissinger-Deadspin huzzzah! Now it’s my turn (I’ll provide a healthy set of links later on).
I admit, I’m a long-time Deadspin reader (although not as frequently as before). Unlike my fellow compatriots, I’m not going to be so harsh on the sports site, because what it advertises in, it delivers pretty regularly. The analysis is shallow, the irreverence is high. Like they said, there’s no access or discretion, so everything is essentially third-party. And enough people eat it up, and start replicating the gossip moniker on their sites (with varying degrees of success).
Deadspin is a ripe target. Matt Leinart might not approve, but there is an audience out there for this stuff, so athletes are going to have to embrace that this is a part of their lives. Many of us enjoy the unfettered access and the casual way in which we deal with media personalities and athletes who have been closed off to us for so long. Too many media people have built up our athletes as gods or devils, so the inevitable counterreaction was something like Deadspin, which brings them back to earth. And I like that. Athletes are humans–treat them that way.
Now, being painted in the same light as something like Deadspin DOES bother me a bit, because that site represents only a little of what I try to write about. Other than a few thrashings during Cal’s epic collapse, I haven’t openly mocked or screwed with anyone–things happen, especially in college sports–and eventually I let it go. Which is more than I can say for a few media-types.
I think many bloggers are influenced by the ESPN prism, which is full of loudmouths, blowhards, pop culture irrelevance (not even irreverence, IRRELEVANCE), etc. The current blogosphere grew up on ESPN, so a bunch of us reflect that culture outwards. The rest of us are just disappointed by how far it’s fallen everytime we see Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless go at each other on TV. ESPN had moved from passion to pop, as evidenced in the graph above.
If you don’t know who Seth Godin is (he created that graph above, I just put in the logos), the man knows marketing, and by extension can discuss media. And he said something that crystallized the sports media landscape (even if he was talking about politics) as we know it.
There isn’t media bias in favor of Hillary (my friend Jeff is the first to point that out). Nor is there media bias in favor of floods. There’s media bias in favor of drama.
Most of us are inclined to believe that government officials, doctors and the media are making an effort to tell us the truth. Actually, just like all marketers, they tell us a story.
That’s what media used to do. Not much anymore.
The people most responsible for manufacturing sports fatigue aren’t running Deadspin. It’s the media itself, who believe they hold the gatekeeper key, and need to manufacture all the drama on 24 hour news networks, sports and politics alike–you know, the drama that sporting events were supposed to provide.
In over a decade we’ve descended from Meet the Press panel discussions into 24 hour Crossfire, devolving from Ralph Wiley to Jemele Hill. The journalists have themselves become drama queens, acting as if they should be as much the center of attention as the athletes they cover. They spout opinions rather than provide ideas, supplanting context with talking points. There is little substance to what journalists provide now–caught in the web of easy access to millions of users on television panels, many prefer to pontificate rather than analyze or create. And that’s to their detriment, because instead of learning anything, all we’re getting is noise.
Thus, the sands are running out fast for the MSM. What people pride most is the locker room access that outsiders don’t necessarily get. Athletes are beginning to understand the value in bypassing these so-called gatekeepers who flip-flop between berating and lauding them. Now they can speak out directly to their fans free of charge. Gilbert Arenas and Cal’s own Rod Benson set the stage, and Yardbarker is starting to do the rest. In this day and age, open beats closed.
So what’s the new media’s role? We don’t need just storytellers or opinions (although we have plenty of those). We need teachers. Teachers who show us the basic Xs and Os of the game, analyze statistics top to bottom, and examine the good work athletes put in to getting where they are. That for every Kevin Hart, there are a hundred Craig Stevenses. Entities like SB Nation have understood this on a base level and build sports communities toward that purpose.
Deadspin is one part of the puzzle. We’ll provide the rest. And old media types will adapt or die. It’s just part of the process.
Anyway, I don’t like getting serious about revolutions of any sort, especially considering where I live. But the dark side of Berkeley had to touch me in some ways before I left, right?
(And just to be clear: The day an Allison Stokke tracker goes on this site is the day I bind myself to the Oaks.)
Cal Gals: Brianna Keilar
To ease the pain of watching the Bataan Death March that is the Democratic nomination race, I am offering up one of Cal’s finest to soothe the eyes. Brianna belongs in the upper elite with Erin Andrews as one of those journalists that break the scales on both beauty and brains.
Here’s Brianna at the 2005 NFL Draft, covering Aaron Rogers and his historic first round slide.
Brianna Keilar - Class of 2001, Double Major MassCom/Psyc, Phi Beta Kappa
Brianna is currently CNN’s daytime Washington D.C. correspondent covering the Obama/Clinton race and other top stories. She made it to CNN via CBS Local in Oakland. She also worked for MTV’s campus network and covered the John Kerry race. Brianna was born in Australia but grew up in LA and was the homecoming queen at Mission Viejo High School (perhaps she can help with recruiting?). She also was on the men’s golf team there. Yes, the men’s. There was no women’s golf team at the time, but she beat out the males to make the team. Looking hotter to you now, isn’t she?
Click below for some screen shots.
She must be saying something important because there’s quite a bit of discussion about her on this board. Well, about 8,000 lines worth of discussion.
Here’s a biopic made by her high-school TV network.
And lastly, you can vote for her on TV heads.
Any Brianna stories and experiences you’d like to relate? Leave them in the comments.
Outsmarting the Enemy (Three Fake Handoff, Cal at UCLA)
Last week we went over attacking the Cover 2 scheme, which is to look for the mismatch on the field (read where the safeties will bite to) and to attack where the safeties aren’t in a position to make a play on the ball or the receiver. Today’s post is a little more of a Zen game–attacking at the path of least resistance. In this case, outmaneuver your opponents and hope for the desired outcome.
Here we have Cal down 10-7 after a huge Bell run sets up a Cowan TD play. Bears are in UCLA territory, 1st and 15 at the 39 after a penalty on Mike Gibson. You have Jackson lined up top, Hawkins on the bottom lined next to the fullback Ta’ufo’ou. Stevens is also lined at the bottom, so you have three receiving options (one middle, one short, one deep) to the left side of Longshore.
Here’s a press box view of the field. Now, UCLA is lined up in what appears to be a 5-2 scheme, a defense designed to watch for the run attack. It’s a strange format to be in on 1st and 15 on your side of the field, but Dewayne Walker seems to be playing on a coach’s bias to run on 1st down (although Cal would only run on about 57% of their first downs, a pretty low number). If you’re an offensive coordinator, this is a situation that begs pass.
Now, you can see not only Ta’ufo’ou faking getting the ball (this one’s a little iffy, but it does look like Ta’ufo’ou is running toward the ball), plus Hawkins moving toward the backfield–so Forsett and the Hawk are still running options…
The Noodles at Cal (Wonderlic Scores)
(This is 90% Danzig, with some great data; my small contribution is the Analysis section after the scores and before the sources)
I was catching up on my RSS feed yesterday and I came across a report that Mario Manningham of Michigan scored a ‘6′ on his Wonderlic IQ test. A fricking ‘6′?? I thought he went to the second best public university in the nation?? Jesus, even Chris Leak squeezed out an got an ‘8′… and he only went to Florida. I swear I’d give a $1,000 if I could find out what our own President would get on the test.
“You’re kidding!… You got an ‘8′ too??”
Which got me thinking, what kind of Wonderlic scores did the BEST public university in the nation produce?
As a background, the Wonderlic is an IQ test where you get 12 minutes to answer 50 multiple choice questions. A score of ‘20′ is judged as ‘average intelligence’ while a score of ‘10′ indicates literacy issues. Statistically, you can score a ‘5′ or ‘6′ just by guessing randomly. You are allowed one retest and can accept the higher of the two. Retest scores are usually higher, but many actually score lower. Here are some NFL averages:
* Offensive tackle - 26
* Center - 25
* Quarterback - 24
* Guard - 23
* Tight end - 22
* Safety - 19
* Linebacker - 19
* Cornerback - 18
* Wide receiver - 17
* Fullback - 17
* Runningback - 16
So how about our Bears versus the best public universities in the nation? Excuse me for being surprised, but we stack up pretty well. When I average the top 5 recorded scores for each of the schools, Cal comes out on top. (NOTE: You can’t average all the players for each school because some schools send more kids to the NFL than others).
University of California, Berkeley (38.2, avg of top 5, 36.4 without ML)
42 - Marshawn Lynch* (14 on first try)
39 - Aaron Merz
39 - Aaron Rogers
36 - Thomas Decoud
35 - Justin Forsett
33 - Ryan Riddle
31 - Dante Hughes
30 - Mark Wilson
29 - Lorenzo Alexander
27 - Kyle Boller
26 - Chase Lyman
25 - Tim Mixon (18 on first try)
23 - Lavelle Hawkins
15 - Deltha O’Neal
14 - JJ Arrington
12 - Geoff Mcarthur
10 - Brandon Mebane
*I can’t find a second source for ML’s ‘42′, but doesn’t change the school order either way. Note large jumps in score are common during retests. (wait, is it racist that I’m even questioning this?)
(Note from Avinash: Well, Deltha O’Neal panned out well. So did Marshawn. Are Rodgers, Decoud and Forsett going to hold up their side of the curve?)
More Wonderlic scores from other big schools after the jump.
Preliminary Cal Football TV Schedule
This is getting updated as the times come along. All times are PST.
Saturday, August 30: Michigan State at Cal, 5 PM ABC
Saturday, November 8: Cal at USC, 5 PM ABC
Saturday, December 6: Washington at Cal, option for ESPN/ESPN2/FSN
Interesting that we draw the ABC slot opening week, considering neither Michigan State or Cal are likely to be ranked. It will probably not draw the entire national audience then, split instead into regional markets like last year’s USC-Cal game (split between an ACC and Big 12 game, USC-Cal was only seen on the West Coast). Depending on how the season goes, it’s likely that Cal-USC will have a similar regional breakdown unless we overachieve.
Washington-Cal and Arizona/ASU will be battling for the ESPN slot on the last week of the season, depending on which game is more important.
I know this list is seriously lacking, but considering how unpredictable the Pac-10 might be next year, I’d expect a lot more information will trickle our way as time goes by.
Other Pac-10 Games of note from the first few weeks:
Thurs., Aug 28–Oregon State at Stanford, 6 PM ESPN2
Mon., Sept 1–Tennessee at UCLA, 5 PM ESPN
Sat., Sept. 6–Oregon State at Penn State, 12:30 AM ABC/ESPN
Sat., Sept. 13–UCLA at BYU, 12:30 AM Versus
Sat., Sept. 13–Ohio State at USC, 5 PM ABC
Thu., Sept. 25–USC at Oregon State, 6 PM ESPN
Sat., Sept. 20–Georgia at Arizona State, 5 PM ABC
Sat., Sept. 27–Fresno State at UCLA, 11:30 AM ABC/ESPN
I’ll try and find a way to add this to the helmet schedule when more times come in.
Can Cal Win State?
Does anyone else suspect that the Coach Taylor character on Friday Night Lights (awesome show, great job) is at least partially based on our beloved Coach Jeff Tedford? Consider the evidence: He’s a handsome, 40-something offensive mastermind, known as a quarterbacks guru, runs a pro-style offense with west coast elements, achieves early success as a head coach and is voraciously courted by supposedly more prestigious programs. Aside from the Texas accent, female progeny, and high school setting, Taylor is Tedford. Case closed.
But can Tedford bring Cal what Taylor brought the Dylan Panthers: a state championship? “But wait, Tony,” you say “there is no such thing as a state championship in College football!” I disagree. Every year, Cal pursues what I will call the “California State Championship” – a sweep of U$C, UCLA and Stanfurd. Think about it. If Cal’s goal is the Rose Bowl, doesn’t the path lead straight through those three hated rivals? U$C and UCLA because they are the traditional powers in the conference; Stanfurd because the Big Game is volatile and prone to spoilers. Can you imagine us sweeping the other three Cali schools and not going to the Rose Bowl? Can you imagine us going to the Rose Bowl without sweeping them? History would caution you against such outlier prognostication.
In the modern era, Cal has come painfully close to, and just short of a Rose Bowl berth on several occasions. In each instance, a failure to win the State Championship was crucial, if not fully determinative, in denying us the berth: 2006 (loss to U$C), 2004 (loss to U$C), 2003 (loss to UCLA and Oregon), 1991 (loss to Stanfurd and Washington), 1975 (loss to UCLA). The pattern stretches back into ancient history as well: 1947 (loss to U$C), 1938 (loss to U$C), 1936 (loss to UCLA), 1935 (loss to Stanfurd), 1934 (loss to Stanfurd).
For all the losing streaks ended during the Tedford era (19 straight losses to UDubb, 9 straight losses in Pullman, 7 straight losses at Autzen, 7 straight losses to Stanfurd), Cal still hasn’t managed under Tedford to win the State Championship. So when was the last time Cal won the State Championship anyway? 1958. The same year Cal last went to the Rose Bowl. In fact, since 1933 when Cal’s series with UCLA began, all of Cal’s Rose Bowl berths have occurred in years when we won the State Championship: 1958, 1950 (tied Stanfurd), 1949, 1948, 1937. Meanwhile, Cal has only once won the State Championship without going to the Rose Bowl: 1941, when Cal dominated the in-state field, but finished with a 4-5 record overall.
Now that we’ve established the California State Championship as the crucible of our football being, what hope do we have of winning said championship in the near term? Well, despite the fact that Cal faces some daunting challenges this year, it’s worth noting that our three bigtime rivals are also undergoing their own periods of transition. The last few years have brought us very close to the State Championship several times, and I wouldn’t put it past our Bears to pull it off this year. What do you think?
Go Bears!
Cal Volleyball 2008: Profile - Morgan Beck
We covered Angie Pressey last week; this week we’re profiling our upcoming senior hitter Morgan Beck, last year an All Pac-10 honorable mention.
Morgan Beck is one striking California Golden Bear. Judging from the images, you’d think you’d rather see her playing on the beach, hitting the sand, and then cooling off in the ocean. Once you see her play though, all warm-blooded males we’ll see there’s much more to Morgan than her looks. She’ll dazzle you with an array of moves on the court.
WHY SHE ROCKS:
- Hitter: First off she’s got tremendous hand speed (think golf club head speed) which results in balls that are hit incredibly hard. Courtside, the sound of her kills are just awesome, “SMACK!!!!… <bounce>…crowd goes wild!!!” *obligatory girly high fives*.
- Killer Serve: She’s got a tremendous serve. She takes a running start 10 ft back, skies the ball about 20ft in the air, jumps and smacks it mid air. (Think Karch Karai, but with greater assets).
- Iron Curtain: She’s 6’3”, with very long arms so she’s a great blocker. After each block she does a Tiger fist-pump and yells,”YEEEHHHHAAAHHH!!!” We love it.
OUTLOOK FOR THIS SEASON:
- More Kills: She’s got to step up now that Angie Pressey is gone. Can we expect her to average 14 kills per game like Angie?… Hell yes, she’s got the talent to be just as good… and during the second UCLA game she smacked down 18 fricking kills!
- Serving Accuracy: Given her awesome service style, it’s puzzling why she doesn’t have more aces. Her placement is a bit off at times and she needs to improve that.
- Keep blocking: She’s already a great blocker. Hey Morgan, keep doing what you’re doing, but can we mix up the celebration? Along with the Tiger fist-pump, why not an occasional Sammy Sosa heaven-kiss? Or maybe the ‘Hawk’? Mix it up a little!
MESSAGE TO THE TEAM:
- Celebration after each play: What’s up with the group-hug/high-five celebration after each play? I understand celebrating after winning a point, but why celebrate when you give up a point? Can’t we get one in-your-face, “get you goddamn head in the game!!!” like we do in football?
- Why no butt-smacking: Us guys have to endure male-on-male butt-smacking in football and in baseball. Why no butt-smacking during a sport when we’d actually like to see it? Can’t we get a few congratulatory butt-smacks here and there? Please? …No?
Final thought: Once she graduates I guarantee you Nike will sign her. Mark my words.
Next Week (Saying goodbye to Ellen Orchard)
Breaking Down the Cover Two (Cal at UCLA, 2007)
UCLA has one of the most feared defenses in the Pac-10. Their defense is not only very talented, their coordinator DeWayne Walker is one of the best in the biz. He mixes packages, his corners play great on the edges, his run defense stuffs everyone on 1st down. So the only ways for an offensive coordinator to beat his teams require at least a few of these criteria to be filled:
(1) Be completely stacked with talent.
(2) Be smart with your playcalling.
(3) Force turnovers and do something with them.
Cal accomplished only one and a half of the three criteria in their Rose Bowl matchup last fall. The turnovers they took from UCLA led to other turnovers or resulted in nothing.
However, there were some very smart playcalls this past spring, and it’s time to take a look at how Tedford took advantage of UCLA’s defense early in the game. This first article will examine his knocking of the Cover Two on Cal’s first drive.
The cover two definition goes as follows:
By far the most complicated zone coverage with the safeties playing deep and covering half the field each. In cover two the cornerbacks are considered to be “hard” corners, meaning that they have increased run stopping responsibilities and generally defend against shorter passes, although if two receivers run a deep route on a certain side of the field, that side’s corner has deep coverage responsibility as well. It also relies heavily on the Mike (Middle) Linebacker’s ability to quickly drop deep downfield into pass coverage when he reads pass.
In essence, cover defense is something that’s meant to confuse receiver patterns as well as break down the offenders.
Here we have a 3rd and five situation at UCLA’s 21, two wide receivers lined out to the left. UCLA is lined up in the 4-3, but the package is a Cover 2. One corner (top right) seems to be exclusively playing Jackson at the top (already three catches for 24 yards). The other corner (far bottom right) is eyeing a run play with Forsett at the bottom but also keeps an eye on Craig Stevens, because he’s not well equipped in single coverage to take down a tight end. Nevertheless, that’s his responsibility if it is the pass.
Now the key role is filled in by the middle linebacker (#14), which you can see in this shot. If Cal is expecting pass, the inside linebacker will have to adjust to pass. If they’re running, he’s the last person standing between Forsett and a fifteen yard gain. So it’s up to him to decide where to go on the field, and his decision directly influences the outcome of the play.
Spring Forward
Hey All. Since I’ll be posting here on a regular basis, Avinash suggested I introduce myself. For those of you who don’t know me already, I’m a 2000 Cal alum currently living and practicing law in New York. Thanks to Avinash for the opportunity to contribute to the discussion and thanks to you for reading.
Congrats to all the Golden Bear draftees, and best of luck to those still eyeing free-agency. With so many Bears drafted in the last few years, it’s getting harder and harder to decide which NFL teams to root for (as a native Chicagoan, I was already facing Rodgers’s ascension with some mixed emotions). I for one am really looking forward to flipping over to the Eagles games for punt returns this year.
With so much attention on the draft this last weekend, it may have escaped your notice that the Bears wrapped up Spring practice on Saturday. Overall, I’d say we leave Spring ball with a little more comfort than we were going in. On offense, it looks and sounds like we can expect Jahvid to be back to 100% by the Fall, and we now at least have some likely suspects (Nyan Boateng and Michael Calvin) to look out for in the receiving corps. That’s right, receivers! With two hands and ten fingers! Each! The QB situation is still opaque, but are any of us really in a hurry to resolve that one?
On defense, all indications suggest that the Bears are shifting to a 3-4 base defense. In my humble opinion, this can only mean good things. It certainly does when the Bears use it on my NCAA Football 2008 (for that matter, the Bears might also consider running the option with Kyle Reed under center). Also, for all the skepticism about the Cal secondary, I’m somewhat comforted by the fact that, for the first time in years, we have two corners with starting experience returning.
The Spring also ended with a huge news story from down South. The Chow-Neuheisel light show in Westwood took a major step back when the Baby Bears’ QBs 1 and 2 both went down within minutes of each other (I’ve lost count how many times this happened to UCLA over the last two years). Named-starter Cowen is out for 2008 with an ACL tear. Olsen has a broken foot and is likely out two months. While the Bruins have a number of options under center, a development like this can’t help the new staff’s transition.
Finally, if Spring is ending, then I guess it’s Summer! And Summer here in New York is a big deal.
Go Bears!
Let The Eagles Soar (NFL Draft Recap)
DeSean Jackson was once slated to go in the top ten of the NFL Draft. Now he’s bound for a city which is not going to take kindly to underachieving, and they won’t even care too much if he underachieves because of how low he fell on the draft board.
I have little to say that the ESPuNdits haven’t already repeated verbatim, but there were several factors that might have been overlooked:
1) The recent rumblings about DeSean’s attitude might have affected his stock, especially with the Ocho Cinco brouhaha boiling over. Thus there was a wariness to go after what some scouts described a potential headcase, and why risk your biggest pick on someone who could hold your franchise hostage later?
2) Salary was a sticking point–do NFL teams want to commit themselves long-term to receivers, arguably the most overhyped position in the game? A lot of offensive linemen were drafted early, and that position probably bears more wait on a team’s performer than a receiver with return specialties.
3) Finally, there is the issue of Jackson’s size. How long can his body last enduring NFL-hits from secondary if he always struggled to hold up to Pac-10 contact? 165 is amazingly light, and you have to wonder how much muscle he’ll need to put on before he can feel relatively secure to ward the pounding he’ll get in the NFL game.
And talk about polar opposites from sunny Strawberry Canyon: There is no more unforgiving fanbase in football than in Philadelphia. They already endured one head case receiver and agonized through the underperformance of many others. Jackson will almost certainly be placed in the fire early if he falters–he does still have the ESPN hype machine around him. Add in a defining year for Donovan McNabb and DeSean is in a “need to step up” situation. Either he’ll flourish or he won’t. We shall see.
The Tennessee Titans made two moves on Golden Bears, snagging Craig Stevens and The Hawk. One thing that is a rarity in college is the developed tight end, so Stevens is a luxury for a team that has been needing run-block protection on the line, along with a good set of hands that can make plays down the field for Vince Young.
He’ll be joined by Lavelle Hawkins. I’ll admit, this move puzzles me. Hawkins can run some awesome routes and is probably more polished for traditional NFL offenses. Why the hell did he end up with Vince Young? It’ll be interesting to see how Tennessee utilizes him, but this smells like third/fourth option for me.
Thomas DeCoud probably drew the worst straw–he gets Atlanta, a team that’ll be starting Boston College lovechild Matt Ryan at QB (translation: He’s probably going to stink). DeCoud could see starting time pretty early–he’s playing in a thin secondary that features Lawyer Milloy. I like DeCoud’s pro potential, but he’s going to be on a dog team next year.
Mike Gibson is joining DeSean in Arizona. He might start, he might come off the bench. But I wish him all the luck protecting McNabb from those NFC East pass rushes.
Finally, Justin Forsett, the last Golden Bear to be taken, ended up in Seattle. Unfortunately, it seems like a competition round-robin for a position on the team. With Shaun Alexander unceremoniously on his way out, Tex will have to battle with T.J. Duckett, Maurice Morris and Julius Jones. It might be a a year or two before we get a chance to see Forsett debut in the NFL, but it’s a long uproad hill. Just as it’ll be for DeSean Jackson and all the drafted California Golden Bears.
(A thanks to KC Cal for his hearty weekend contribution. You’ll be seeing plenty of him, don’t worry.)
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