If you're headed to Vancouver ...

... for the 2010 Winter Olympics next February, you might consider staying over for the International Conference on Sport and Society. The ICSS will take place March 8-10 and the call for papers has already come out.

International According to the call, "The International Conference on Sport and Society and its companion Journal of Sport and Society provide a forum for wide-ranging and interdisciplinary examination of sport, including: the history, sociology and psychology of sport; sports medicine and health; physical and health education; and sports administration and management. The discussions at the conference and in the journal range from broad conceptualisations of the fundamental logics of sport, to highly specific readings of sporting practices in particular times and places. The conference and journal focus on four logics of sport: Game Logic; Body Logic; Aesthetic Logic; and Organizational Logic.

The deadline for the next round in the call for papers (a title and short abstract) is 9 July 2009. Future deadlines will be announced on the Conference website after this date. Proposals are reviewed within three weeks of submission. Full details of the Conference, including an online proposal submission form, can be found at the conference website.

For more information you can also contact--

Keith Gilbert
University of East London, London, UK
For the Advisory Board, International Conference on Sport and Society and The International Journal of Sport and Society
Keith.Gilbert@sportconference.com

The NBA gets its Phil of Jackson

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, who are celebrating an NBA title after their win over Orlando Sunday night in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. ESPN/ABC are not in much of a celebratory mood, as they were hoping for a longer series with more compelling games.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has now won more NBA titles as a coach (10) than anyone else. He previously shared the record with the Celtics legendary Red Auerbach. But Jackson may also be close to setting another record--most fines acculumated for criticizing league officials. Jackson got tagged for $25K during the Western Conference Finals series with Denver; he got hit for another 25 grand for his comments during the NBA Finals.

Interestingly, the latter fine came during the course of Game 4 (the only game the Lakers lost in the series). Between the first and second quarters Jackson referred to some of the 'bogus' calls
against L.A.

Isn't this a little hypocritical on the part of the NBA? After all, Jackson never asked to wear a microphone during the game or submit to in-game interviews; those are both ideas the league pushed in order to make the game more TV fan-friendly. Jackson was simply being himself--someone who gets occasionally gets worked up on the sideline in the midst of intense competition. If the NBA doesn't want honesty then don't mic up the coaches and don't ask them questions during the game. (You might also want to watch what you ask Phil after the game).

BEA site

The following comes from the Sports Division of BEA, which now has its web site up and running. If you have any ideas for content contact division web editor Steve Hill at shill@uwsp.edu
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Like all new division pages, this one is a blog on WordPress.com and can be easily updated, so it will take the place of our electronic newsletter.

The first entry on our blog is a message from new division chair Rick Sykes, and you can also find division updates and news from the convention. Soon, there will be an RSS-feed link added to the page, as well as additional features.

If you have suggestions for content, please let me know.

Steve Hill, division Web editor

CFPs and More

A couple of academic notes to pass along--

The Sports Division within BEA has created a paper competition for the 2010 BEA Conference in Las Vegas. The competition is titled Sports Media: Transformation, Integration and Consumption. The deadline for both faculty and students papers is December 1, 2009. Send three (3) copies of your paper to:

Dr. Andrew C. Billings
Associate Professor
Department of Communication Studies
409 Strode Tower
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634-0533
Email: acbilng@clemson.edu

You can also contact Andy for more information regarding submission specifics.

2010 is also the third year for the now annual Sports Scholarship Summit. Cleveland State will be hosting this next go-round. We'll pass along paper deadlines when they become available.