Hidden Nuggets of Sports Research

You are probably familiar with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The organization exploded on the scene about 30 years ago and made its founder Bill James a household name. (Another great place for baseball research is the Library at the Hall of Fame and Museum).

But there are other sports research organizations that are not as familiar. The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) and the Association for Professional Basketball Research (http://members.aol.com/bradleyrd/apbr.html) focus mainly on history. The Institute for Hockey Research (IHR) says it "is the only organization in the world that has a dedicated research agenda for the scientific investigation of hockey. " It deals mainly with the physiology and performance of hockey players. The Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) is a more traditional site related to history and stats.

Most of these organizations were created and are maintained by people like Bill James--serious fans who wanted a much deeper understanding of sports. Their contributions to the body of knowledge of sports literature should be considered valuable and important.

Coming to your bookstore ...

Paul Pedersen at Indiana, a contributor to JSM and now editing his own sports communication journal, has co-authored (tri-authored?) a new textbook. It looks pretty inclusive and is published by Human Kinetics, the same group that will begin publishing the The International Journal of Sport Communication in 2008.

Farewell

The sports media industry lost a great supporter Monday when author David Halberstam died in a car wreck at the age of 73. Halberstam won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam, but one always got the sense that he would much rather write and report on sports. His books on sports, and especially baseball history, have become classics.

Perhaps Halberstam's greatest contribution is the prestige he gave to sports media. Sports journalism has long been derided as the "toy" department of news, but Halberstam gave it weight and importance. All his accomplishments, including the Pulitzer, made sports journalism seem much more important and relevant. In a much smaller way, that's what we're trying to do with the Journal of Sports Media.

I actually got to meet Halberstam a couple of years ago. He was the commencement speaker here at Ole Miss and the night before the department hosted a meet-and-greet with him. I remember how big and imposing he seemed (much like Frank DeFord), but also how open and honest. When I nervously asked if he would be interested in contributing to the journal he politely said that he was simply too busy with other projects to consider it. The next day at graduation, just as Halberstam stepped to the microphone to begin speaking, the skies opened up and it began pouring. Halberstam had the good sense to cut his remarks short and run for cover like everyone else. Good sense and great writing ... that's what we should remember about a remarkable sports journalist.

I'm off to BEA/NAB for the next few days, as are many of you, and probably won't be able to post until next week. If you're in Vegas, don't forget to sign Max Utsler's petiton about creating a Sports Division within BEA.

On a completely unrelated subject, I talked some time ago about what schools were offering sports media programs. I found out that the Texas Tech graduate program offers a speciality in sports media. It appears to be more business and public relations oriented, and also requires courses in exercise science. It's great to see more and more schools recognizing the need for such programs.

A Brief Word ...

Given the excellent and timely post by Joe Gisondi, I feel almost guilty talking about business today, so this will be brief.

If you're heading out to Las Vegas for NAB/BEA, please contact Max Utlser of Kansas. He is circulating a petition to create a Sports Division within BEA. He can also be reached at utsler@ku.edu.

Welcome Aboard!

Joe Gisondi joins the JSM blog team from Eastern Illinois University, where he teaches sports media and sports reporting classes, and advises the daily newspaper. He also has his own sports blog, which focuses on tips and advice for college/high school sports reporters.

Joe didn't say, but it looks like this picture was taken from the Yankee Stadium press box. We won't hold that against him.

Research of the Week

Below is an abstract from an article that appeared in the May 2007 edition of the Journal of Sports Economics. What's interesting about it is that in calculating economic value a lot of things are considered--social peace, hooliganism, etc.--but what's not talked about are the media. Sports are valuable because of the media (team values, rights fees, etc.), but they also create a positive media value (content, jobs, advertising, etc.). A better question might be--if the media suddenly vanished would sports have any economic value at all?

The Total Economic Value of Sporting Events Theory and Practice
Eric Barget, University of Poitiers
Jean-Jacques Gouguet, University of Limoges

The production and consumption of the sporting event generates not only positive externalities (social peace and social links, etc.), butalso negative ones (hooliganism and doping, etc.). Therefore, it is necessary to try to internalize these external effects and determine the total economic value of the sporting event, which would measure the real net social utility created. On this basis, it would be possible to decide whether sporting events deserve to be subsidised—and at whatlevel. More than the general principle that the economic calculation can provide to make a decision, such a determination of the total economic value of a sporting event poses formidable methodological problems. In the case study presented, the authors believe they have reduced many of the biases attached to the travel costs method and contingent valuation method. However, faced with the shortcomings of the cost/benefit method (even when expanded), it is nowadays recommended to resort to a deliberative approach with a view to providing some help in making a decision.

Attention Sports Journalist-Bloggers!

In the process of trying to do a research project I need information from sports reporters/anchors at local television and radio stations who are also blogging. I'd like you to fill out a short survey related to your blogging experience. If you qualify, I can pass along the address for the online survey.

We've found some interesting things so far. Blogging doesn't appear to be changing journalist work roles very much, which may be related to attitudes about management and the age/experience of the respondents. But again, we need more response. Starting next week we'll be making phone calls to pester people, so this is your last chance!

There's no crying in hockey

I realize this has absolutely nothing to do with sports media (except that in ran in Newsday), but a great story on the the New York Islanders "Ice Girls" and their complaints of rough treatment by the New York Rangers. I ran this by a friend, hockey fan and former television colleague, who said, "All that was missing was the Tom Hanks line from League of Their Own: 'Crying? There's no crying in hockey!' What are these women doing violating the goalie's inner sanctum? Get them off the ice!" Of course, he's also a Rangers fan.

My personal take? The girls were lucky it wasn't Tie Domi or Bob Probert.

Have a safe and blessed end to Holy Week and a joyous Easter ...

If you're already having college baskeball withdrawals you can find an interesting read at espn.com. Former Iowa State player (and now author) Paul Shirley offers a first-person essay about the role of the sports media in college basketball. It's a somewhat cynical look at how the media focus too much on the entertainment and profit aspects of the game to care what happens on the court. Although Shirley softens a bit at the end, it's still a fairly strong condemnation of the media and a good example of why such mistrust exists between athletes and reporters.

Student Internship Opportunity

A former student now working at Fox Sports South in Atlanta says there are some great internship opportunities in sports production for interested juniors and seniors. The official job posting reads: "Intern will be working on ACC All-Access, SEC-TV, and the college football preview shows. Job functions include logging tapes, doing melt reels and assisting the AP's and producers on other original programs and features. Must be a Junior/Senior in college receiving credit for internship."

For more information about the internships you can contact Alicia Bowles directly at alicia.bowles@foxsports.net.