O.co Coliseum Conversion

What happens when the A's play on a Saturday and the Raiders play the following day?  The answer came last weekend:

How An Optimized Search Got The NCAA In Big Trouble

The NCAA may have search optimized themselves into hot water.  The NCAA has a set of Bylaws that layout what is and is not permissible relating to student-athletes' names and pictures being used to sell merchandise.  One specific Bylaw that address this topic is 12.5.2.2, which states,

“Title:12.5.2.2 - Use of a Student-Athlete's Name or Picture Without Knowledge or Permission.
If a student-athlete's name or picture appears on commercial items (e.g., T-shirts, sweatshirts, serving trays, playing cards, posters) or is used to promote a commercial product sold by an individual or agency without the student-athlete's knowledge or permission, the student-athlete (or the institution acting on behalf of the student-athlete) is required to take steps to stop such an activity in order to retain his or her eligibility for intercollegiate athletics.  Such steps are not required in cases in which a student-athlete's photograph is sold by an individual or agency (e.g., private photographer, news agency) for private use. (Revised: 1/11/97, 5/12/05)”

However institutions have been bending these laws for years by selling merchandise in the likeness of an athlete without acknowledging the athlete's name or actual picture.  Tuesday Jay Bilas publicly outed one of the biggest offenders of breaking this NCAA rule, the NCAA themselves.  Bilas tweeted the below message on August 6 at 11:06am, “Go to ShopNCAAsports.com, type in “Manziel” in upper right search box, hit enter. This comes up. Pic.twitter.com/N7KNvXIu24” The twitpic attached is a screen grab that shows a variety of Texas A&M #2 jerseys for sale.

Over the next few hours Bilas followed the above Tweet with 14 additional Tweets of other examples of names of current and former players names he searched on Shop NCAA Sports and the returned results.  The athletes included Nerlens Noel, Marqise Lee and suspended Notre Dame QB Everett Golson.  However his first Tweet (the above mentioned Tweet) is still perhaps the most surprising and ironic, Johnny Manziel, the Texas A&M quarterback who, according to yahoo.com, “is being investigated for allegedly violating NCAA rules by accepting money in return for autographing his jerseys.”

Bilas’ Tweets garnered attention on Twitter and in the media, and then around 4pm EST yesterday, ShopNCAASports.com removed their search function from their site...or at least hid if from the public.  At the time of this article, it remains removed from the site.  However the NCAA recently did announce that it will not longer sell team-related jerseys.  USA Today quoted NCAA President Mark Emmert saying, ""There's no compelling reason the NCAA should essentially be re-selling paraphernalia from institutions," Emmert said. "I can't speak to why we entered into that enterprise, but it's not something that's appropriate for us, and we're going to exit it.""

This incident raises an interesting question about the site's (and by extension the NCAA's) liability for aligning the keyword phase (in this case a student-athlete’s name) with search results (a jersey of their school and the number they wear).  I inquired with an SEO expert and he explained that the internal search within websites can either be an embedded Google search (meaning the site leverages Google’s search functionality and accepts whatever its crawl technology decides is the best results to display) or the site can use its own, customized search software (likely purchased from a vendor and allows the website owners to set-up those search-return relationships themselves).  Most ecommerce sites employ the latter technique.  That way, they can connect the search terms customers use for given products with the results they think will be most useful (e.g. a search for ‘Father’s Day gifts” is set-up to return ties, golf accessories, etc.).  As ShopNCAASports.com is an ecommerce site, and the way the results displayed, it is very likely the results were manually linked to those student-athlete name keywords.

The site, ShopNCAASports.com, is labeled with the official NCAA logo & links and is copyrighted by Fanatics Retail Group.  The site appears, for all intents and purposes, to be sanctioned by the NCAA.  The questions now are around liability, which casts search & optimization into an interesting light.  Can/should backend code and search software be audited to check if the site deliberately linked a player to a jersey?  Taking that one step further, if the audit comes back that there is a deliberately created link, could the NCAA then be liable for breaking its own rule based on using a player's name without his/her permission, even if it is just on the back end of its site?  If the NCAA is truly breaking its own rules, how can justice be handed down?  Considering the power of the NCAA, one might ask the most important question of all, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who will guard the guards themselves?) Ref. huffingtonpost.com, usatoday.com, sports.yahoo.com, web1.ncaa.org Pic. Ref. twitter.com

Ergonomic Bats

Ergonomic ProXR bat design
Pic Ref. proxr.com

Obviously the biggest story of the week is the steroids scandal that is rocking the reputations of many of the game’s most notable players.  Staying in the theme of baseball, today’s article is a look at how America’s pastime could be changing in a different way, but this time it could be to the safety benefit of the players.

Baseball, much like soccer, is steeped in tradition and sometimes slow to adopt new technology.  Grady Phelan, designer of the ProXR bat, knows this struggle well.  Phelan used physics, research, ingenuity and basic technology to develop and patent a new bat design that could help prevent a common hand injury in baseball.  The design has been approved by MLB and received general approval by players and equipment experts.  However this bat is not widely available and few players have ever used them in a MLB game.  There are many reasons, but first, the design.

Baseball bats are designed with a knob at the base for safety reasons.  Phelan developed a bat with a knob tilted 23 degrees.  The purpose of the tilt is to prevent players from getting a hamate fracture.  Traditional bats (without this tilt) create a situation in which the bat’s knob will potentially rub up against the hamate bone.  This rubbing occurs because players grip the bat at the base (just above the knob) to increase their speed of swing.  A hard swing of the bat, impacting the hamate bone into the knob, can cause a fracture that many times requires surgery and even bone removal.  Fracturing the hamate bone is common in baseball and many players, including Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jim Thome, Eric Hinske and this year Gordon Beckham, have had the hamate bone removed during their careers.

The pain of the fracture and costly loss of time recovering from surgery makes for a powerful business case for the new bat design.  Moreover, the MLB approved the ProXR and admitted the bat into the Hall of Fame.  This was the first new bat design approved by the MLB since the 1970s.  The design tilts the knob “by 23 degrees (which happens to be the precise range of motion of the human wrist) to work with human anatomy to mitigate hamate impacts by roughly 25%” (ref. fastcodesign.com).

On paper the design offers a compelling story, but players and bat producers are slower to adopt the new design.  Some experts estimate that it would take a day of batting practice to learn how to adjust their swing to the new design.  Since that is not a huge investment of time, tradition and familiarity is what motivates many players to stick with the traditional design.  Many players are very loyal to their bat brand, be it Louisville Slugger or Hillrich & Bradsby.  Bat manufactures are also hesitant to change, though many have provided very positive response to the ProXR design.  Tradition aside, one notable and valid criticism of the bat came from the newly hamate-less Gordon Beckham. As fastcodesign.com put it, “Because the bat is asymmetrical, its margin of grip error is in some ways more like a golf club than a baseball bat. “If you grip the bat, you’ve gotta make sure you grip it exactly the right way,” [Beckham] explained. “If you’re not swinging and hitting the right perfect spot on the barrel, you’re going to have trouble.””

Critics aside, the new design could potentially prevent many injuries.  If introduced early in a young slugger's career, the habit and tradition of gripping the bat would be developed to the design of tilted knob.  However before it can get into those young athletes’ hands, it needs to be manufactured.  Whether any bat manufactures will take a swing at production has yet to be seen. Ref. fastcodesign.com, proxr.com Pic. Ref. proxr.com

Meteorite Medals For Sochi Games

Few things are more precious than winning an Olympic gold medal.  Each Games there is a different design of the medals, usually reflective of the host city.  Sochi, host city of the upcoming Winter Games, has just made the 2014 accolade a little more special…at least for athletes who are lucky enough to secure their medal on Day 9 of the Games.  Special medals will be embedded with pieces of the Russian meteorite that on February 15, 2013 crashed into the city of Chelyabinsk.  Athletes who win their medals on the one year anniversary of that crash (February 15, 2014) will receive the unique meteorite embedded medals.

The Russian meteorite crash injured 1,600 people and caused approximately $33 million in damages.  The Chelyabinsk Region Culture Minister, Alexei Betekhtin was quoted explaining a reason for incorporating the meteorite into the medals.  Betekhtim said, “We will hand out our medals to all the athletes who will win gold on that day, because both the meteorite strike and the Olympic Games are the [sic] global events.”

Time will tell who gets to bring home this astronomical prize, but there are only seven Olympic finals scheduled for that day.  The seven events are the women’s super giant slalom, women’s cross-country skiing relay, the women’s 1,000m and men’s 1,500 short track, the men’s 1,500 meter speedskating, the men’s skeleton, and the men’s K-125 ski jump. Ref. en.rsport.ru, ftw.usatoday.com Pic. Ref. ftw.usatoday.com

Report Reveals True Picture of Women in the Olympic and Paralympic Games

A report was recently published that outlines women’s participation and representation in the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and leadership opportunities in related Olympic organizations.  The report is titled, “Women in the Olympic and Paralympic Games: An Analysis of Participation and Leadership Opportunities” and is dated April 2013.  This report was published by SHARP, the Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center for Women and Girls.

The findings are fascinating.  Many will recall the London 2012 Games being touted as symbolically significant for women.  For the first time Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei sent female competitors to the Games.  Additionally 2012 marked the first Games in which the United States was represented by more female athletes than male.  While these accomplishments are significant in their own right, this report reveals how much further women still have to go for truly equal representation.  Additionally it unveils the significant gap of female representation at the leadership administrative levels of the Games.

Below are graphs illustrating the year-over-year number of events offered, broken down by gender, at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  It should be noted that at the 2012 London Games an equal number of sports were offered to men and women, however disparity remained in the number of events offered for a given sport.  For example, in female boxing there are only three weight classes compared to 10 weight classes for male boxers.

Graphs from “Women in the Olympic and Paralympic Games:
An Analysis of Participation and Leadership Opportunities" Report 

Participation by women in the Olympic and Paralympic Games has grown significantly over the years.  Below are graphs showing the increase in female and male athlete participation in each Games.  While male participation is considerably higher, female participation is markedly expanding over the years.

Graphs from “Women in the Olympic and Paralympic Games:
An Analysis of Participation and Leadership Opportunities" Report 

While female athlete participation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games has reached new great milestones, the leadership positions held by women at national and international sports organizations are still significantly less than those held by men.  The report states, “The International Olympic Committee established a 20% threshold goal for the inclusion of women in National Olympic Committees, National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and International Federations by 2005. Currently 22 of the 106 members of the IOC (20.8%) are women—this is the first time the IOC has reached its own 20% threshold. This is an increase from 2008 when the membership was only 14.9% female.”

This trend continues at the highest leadership levels.  There has never been a female IOC President, and currently one of the four vice presidents and three of the 10 IOC Executive Board members are female.  Beyond the Executive Board, the IOC is made up of a number of subcommittees and commissions, of which 84 of the 442 positions (19%) are held by women and just six of the 29 commissions are currently chaired by women.

The movement towards equality is going in the right direction, it is just moving slowly.  From an athlete participation perspective, it is believed that legislation such as Title IX was a major contributor to the US balancing the number of male and female athletes sent to the Games in 2012.  Other actions by ruling organizations have also played a key role.  The IOC put significant pressure on the most recent countries to newly send female participants (Brunei, Qatar and Saudi Arabia).  Specifically the report mentions that the resistance of Saudi Arabia was so great, that the IOC had to threaten that the country’s male delegation would not be allowed to compete unless Saudi Arabia complied and sent female participants.  Goals such as 20% female leadership have also contributed toward the gender equality movement, but these goals set a very low bar (and a bar that still is not being met consistently around the globe).

Supporters of female athletes have taken to the internet in hopes of encouraging change.  A petition on Change.org to Mr. José Perurena López, President of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) has garnered over 3,000 signatures.  The petition requests for the ICF to petition the IOC to add women’s sprint and slalom canoe events to the Olympics in time for Rio 2016.  In the 2012 Olympics, men competed in a total of 6 Kayak events (5 Sprint and 1 Slalom) and 5 Canoe events (3 Sprint and 2 Slalom), and women in 5 Kayak events (4 Sprint and 1 Slalom) and no women’s canoe events.  You can read the “Lift the Ban on Women's Canoeing at the Olympics for Rio 2016” petition by clicking the link. Ref. change.org, womencanintl.com, womenssportsfoundation.org

NCAA Football Field Hashtag Rules

The NCAA Football Rules Committee released a bulletin regarding marketing, uniforms and equipment.  After listing a number of exceptions such as school logos, the bulletin stated, "No other advertisements, either by the title sponsor or by any other commercial entity, may be on the field. All other items, including social media designations such as URL’s and hashtags, are prohibited."  This rule is likely in response to hashtags popping up in end zones such as Mississippi State's clever use below.

Mississippi State's End Zone
photo ref. thescore.com

This ruling should not come entirely as a surprise.  The NCAA banned Akron basketball from putting Twitter handles on their jerseys last January.  Even so, the end zone handles were only being used to promote the school, and not for commercial advertising use, and therefore were relatively harmless.  This bulletin also included some other rule specifications including that the pylon logo markings "may not extend more than 3 inches on any side. (Rule 1-2-6)," and "Towels must be solid white and must measure no smaller than 4” X 12” and no larger than 6” X 12.” (Rule 1-4-6-a)."  Interestingly, just 4 months ago, the NCAA announced plans to streamline the complex NCAA rulebook.  At the time, NCAA President Mark Emmert was quoted saying, “These new rules represent noteworthy progress toward what can only be described as more common sense rules that allow schools more discretion in decision-making.”  Apparently they found towel size and pylon logo width to fall outside the 'common sense' capabilities of schools.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the bulletin was that while it did address new jersey regulations, ("New in 2013 Jersey numerals must be of a color that itself is clearly in distinct contrast with the color of the jersey, irrespective of any border around the number. (Rule 1-4-4-c-3)") that rules doesn't seem to prohibit us from having to see more of this next year.

Maryland Uniforms Designed to Look Like the State Flag
photo ref. huffingtonpost.com

Ref. sports.yahoo.com

March Maddeningness

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is down to four teams.  Throughout the tournament, people have cheered for their alma maters, favorites, bracket picks, underdogs, but also (and sometimes most passionately), AGAINST their rivals.  This means cheering for anyone and everyone who is playing against the team you, for whatever reason, despise.  After all an enemy of an enemy is a friend, right?

However I wonder why this year I have especially noticed I have a lot more ‘enemies.’  I have emphatically cheered against a larger number of teams under the cloak of 'being a rival.’  Upon further examination I realize the root of this loathing comes from Facebook.  This year my Facebook newsfeed exploded with pictures and obnoxious posts about the, for example, invincible Hoosiers, mighty Irish or indomitable Illini.  This led me to cheer harder against these and other teams, not because of the programs, but because of the insufferable fans.  Just a few of my ‘friends’ post nonsense and I now have unbridled animosity toward an entire institution of higher learning.  In an informal poll of peers, I find the same attitude holds true for many of them as well.  Many games where I would have minimal rooting interest, I now cheer more than ever simply in hopes the boastful posts come to an end.

This is not to say I don’t use Facebook as a platform to post support of my favorite teams.  Nor do I think Facebook is an inappropriate place to share such ideas.  However, perhaps posting about college teams just requires a small dose of discretion.  If the posts are infrequent, clever or appropriately timed, go for it.  If it’s just one more picture of the same old ‘here’s why my team is the best,’ maybe it's best to reconsider. Pic. Ref. heavy.com

March Madness

Tomorrow the Madness begins.  Well, technically the tournament started Tuesday, but the true chaos that makes March so much fun begins tomorrow.  Some people cash in their precious vacation days to enjoy a basketball packed long weekend.  However for those who cannot take time off, the Huffington Post has you covered.  Huff Post Sports released a list of 100 Twitter hashtags to follow if you are looking for 140 character summaries of the all the action. 

The list includes the basics #marchmadness, #brackets, #NCAA and #[insert favorite team name].  However I really like some of the more 'get to the point' hashtags they suggest, such as #upsets, #cinderella and #buzzerbeater.

Here is the complete list of 100 Twitter hashtags to follow. Ref. huffingtonpost.com, Pic. Ref. nationofblue.com

A Colts’-Eye View

Colts Locker Room screenshot from Google Maps

Google Maps is now offering football fans an inside view of their favorite team’s stadium…that is, if your favorite football team happens to be the Indianapolis Colts.  Even so, this sneak peek, behind the scenes view of the stadium is fascinating for any fan who has ever wondered what players and VIPs see behind closed doors.  According to the Google Maps blog, this new feature allows fans “a VIP, 360-degree interactive photo tour of Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts.”
  


View just outside Colts Locker Room from Google Maps

I explored the maps and was very impressed.  Seeing up close the hidden view players and coaches have of the stadium is amazing.  The locker rooms, Quarterback Suite and Tunnel views were all amazing.  However I actually thought the coolest part was that I could virtually walk from the locker room, under the ‘Let’s Hunt!’ sign, down the beige hall with the blue stripe, past the Gatorade machine and onto the field.  Something about the detail, seeing the completely mundane underbelly of the stadium, just made the experience so much more real and so much more amazing.

No word yet if Google Maps plans to map other NFL stadiums.  In the meantime, exploring the labyrinth of Lucas Oil Stadium will have to hold fans over until football season this fall.  Ref. google-latlong.blogspot.com, Wired.com Picture Ref. maps.google.com

Colts Quarterback Suite screenshot from Google Maps

NCAA says #nohashtagsallowed on Akron @ZipsMBB Jerseys

The Akron verses Ohio game coming up Saturday has been receiving some attention this week.  Akron dubbed the 5pm ET home game as “Social Media Night.”  To build a buzz, the marketing department created promotional jerseys for the team to wear during the game which sport @ZipsMBB (the program’s Twitter handle) across the back of the jersey.

The Akron marketing team came up with the Twitter handle idea about a month ago.  They reportedly reach out to the NCAA to see if the jerseys violated any rules.  Akron felt the response they received from the NCAA was ‘vague’ and therefore the jerseys would be allowed to be worn for the game.  The team ordered the jerseys and released promotional photos.  Since releasing the photos, the NCAA followed-up with Akron telling them they were not allowed to wear the jerseys during the game.  According to espn.com, the rule that appears to be in question is “NCAA Rule 3, Sec. 5, Art. 5, which states that a jersey shall ‘identify the school, the school nickname or mascot, or the player’s name.’”  Apparently the NCAA does not believe a Twitter handle meets those guidelines.

This is not the first time teams have used Twitter handles or hashtags to promote their teams.  From hashtags in end zones to Twitter handles on soccer jerseys, teams have been exploring creative ways to connect fans with their social online presence for years.  However credit to Akron for creating this buzz despite the players not being allowed to don the jerseys during the game, (instead they will wear warm-up shirts bearing the handles before the game).

This story is especially interesting as it is right on the heels of last week’s announcement of new NCAA rulebook changes.  Just one week ago, the NCAA announced plans to relax their policies on social media recruiting restrictions, essentially allowing coaches and recruiters free rein to call, text, tweet, Facebook message, etc prospective recruits during the allowed recruiting period.  According to NCAA President Mark Emmert, the new rules (including the social media recruiting rule) were instituted to “represent noteworthy progress toward what can only be described as more common sense rules that allow schools more discretion in decision-making.”  If history (and the schools that continue to hire John Calipari) has taught us anything, it’s that schools are more than capable making ‘common sense’ recruiting decisions, but where the policing is most necessary is around marketing promotions like “social media night,” yeah, that sounds about right. Ref. espn.com, espn.com Pic Ref. John Ashley/University of Akron via espn.com

Rulebook Changes For The NCAA

New changes address the role
of social media in recruiting

The past week brought some big changes for both Division I and Division III NCAA rulebooks.  Last Saturday, January 20, the NCAA Board of Directors passed 25 of 26 proposals to streamline the complex Division I manual.  The goal of the changes, according to NCAA.org, is to adopt “a set of proposals aimed at creating a more flexible manual based on common sense.”  Regarding the changes, NCAA President Mark Emmert was quoted on NCAA.org saying, “These new rules represent noteworthy progress toward what can only be described as more common sense rules that allow schools more discretion in decision-making.”  He went on to say “This vote by the Board of Directors refocuses our attention on the things that really matter, the core values of intercollegiate athletics.”

To see the complete list of new Division I proposals see NCAA.org.  One particular proposal worth noting is 13-3, which will eliminate restrictions on methods and modes of communication during recruiting.  Essentially this change allows coaches to send unlimited text or social media messages to recruits and also make unlimited phone calls during recruiting.  Some high school coaches and student-athlete advocates are concerned about the potentially overwhelming amount of communications top recruits could receive.  However supporters of the proposal believe coaches will learn quickly to exhibit discretion, as student-athletes may be turned off by a barrage of messages.  All of the proposed Division I changes will go into effect on August 1, 2013.  Each change will be reviewed after two years to evaluate effectiveness and whether or not the rule is supporting student-athlete success.

Last Saturday recruiting with social media was also a point of review and discussion for Division III delegates.  Though just barely approved, Proposal No. 9 “allows contact between coaches and prospects as long as it is strictly between only the sender and recipient (for example, no use of public chat rooms, message boards or public communication through a social networking site).”  Direct contact via social media between coaches/recruiters and student-athletes is already permitted in both Division I and Division II.  Supporters for Proposal No. 9 cited benefits the other divisions currently enjoy to help pass the proposal.  They say social media is a more effective way to reach recruits, and many schools allege that student-athletes prefer this type of social interaction to traditional means of communication.  Ref. dallasnews.com, ncaa.org, ncaa.org

Usain Bolt Sells SOUL...Brand Headphones

Many athletes have issues with regular headphones when they try to listen to music while working out.  The basic buds that come with iPods or MP3 players are usually better suited for relaxed listening.  Athletes run, jump, and sweat which often equates to headphones/earbuds falling out or not providing a clear listening experience.  SOUL Electronics believes they have come up with the perfect solution to the headphone headache, Run Free - Usain Bolt Limited Edition headphones.  They teamed up with Usain Bolt to develop headphones that stay in place and resist sweat while providing a clear listening experience.

In a press release, the headphones were described as follows:

“The sleek design of the Run-Free features comfortable and flexible ear hooks that can be customized to fit all ear shapes and sizes, which eliminates the hassle of earbuds falling out during movement and strenuous activity.  It can be customized to accommodate those who prefer the ear-hook clips for extra durability when exercising, or can be worn without them for a lightweight feel.

The Run-Free also features a straight wire cable with inline remote which allows for total control over music playback and smartphone functions.  Its sweat-resistant design ensures the Apple Controller and in-ear technology will never be adversely affected by moisture or sweat.”

The headphones come in black or black/green varieties which were chosen ‘in tribute’ to Bolt’s home country Jamaica.  No doubt the design is sleek and the spokesperson famous, but it will be interesting if those factors will persuade customers to put down $169.95 per pair.  Ref. http://maxborgesagency.com Picture Ref. http://maxborgesagency.com