Stadium Technology

There is sure to be criticism that this is a gimmick—all to distract and detract from what fans should really be concentrating on, that is, the game itself. Yet such criticism lives-off old assumptions about technological concepts that either interrupted the experience in the stadium or did little to enhance it. Now that technology is being considered as a specific part of an interrelated and intercommunicated system of activity in new and different ways, it is an assumption that is fast becoming obsolete. This is because it is becoming increasingly clear that the key to the "fan experience" is not the availability of electronic devices which were the stuff of dreams a decade ago. Rather, it is the reorganization of information; the electronic device is only a trigger.

But this dimension is beginning to be overturned. Twelve wholesale NFL jerseys teams plan to use FanVision this fall, an interactive handheld wireless device, the technology of which is owned by Miami Dolphins chairman Stephen Ross. The device, which the Dolphins first began distributing at home games last season, contains a 4.3-inch display and provides 10 channels through which fans can individually select from a range of options, including audio programming and numerous television camera angles of the game, live updates and highlights of other games, fantasy team alerts, on-demand video, text-message boards, and concessionaires. The objective is to put every fan front-and-center.

Put another way, most of the information that is generated has been focused inward—that is, on the enterprise—and not outward—that is, on the customer.

The proliferation of electronic devices and programs that provide up-to-the-minute sports information to the individual fan are relatives of in-facility technology, from the manual scoreboard at Fenway Park to the massive JumboTron at cheap Cowboys jerseys Stadium. But, unintentionally, they do not allow the fan to choose the most individually-appropriate means through which a message is received and understood. In turn, they are a high risk for the franchise, who, despite all manner of available tools, is ultimately left to estimate what message is sent, how it is interpreted, and what are its real results.

Every professional league and plenty of amateur athletic associations offer fans access to "content" via television, internet, radio, and mobile phone. But these electronic platforms are limited in that they have been systematically built on communicating information down rather than information up. And as Peter Drucker wrote, "Information becomes communication only if the recipient understands and accepts it. If information only moves down, that may not happen."

In the meantime, rapid advancements such as smart phones, blogs, and social networking sites have shifted the focus away from technology and toward information. This shift is already redefining sports business operations, and with it, the fan experience. Yet, despite the importance and impact of this revolution, it has so far been largely ignored by all but a handful of sports business enterprises.

Recent energy and excitement of sports multimedia has centered on technology. Some evidence of this was Mobile ESPN, still the only broad attempt to act on the belief that there exists a market for a cellular phone and associated service through which sports fans could access vast amounts of sports information. Most people believe Mobile ESPN failed because it either provided redundant technological features or not enough of them. But the biggest reason for its failure is that the technology was not deployed and utilized in an appropriate time and place. And that meant the data it had the capacity to transmit had little meaning and purpose.

But hasn't this been a focus of the sports business for at least the past decade?

National Football League franchises are devoting more and more money to in-stadium technology. The latest example is the New York Giants jerseys and New York Jets partnering with Cisco and Verizon on about $100 million in technology packages that are oriented toward enhancement of the fan experience, "brand extension," and associated internal measurements at the recently-opened, $1.6 billion New Meadowlands Stadium.

Five Things To Watch

The battle behind Matt Leinart jerseys .

Sorry folks, but I felt Derek Anderson played entirely too long last week. I wanted to see Max Hall get some playing time. Don't get me wrong, I really liked what John Skelton did. His confidence was apparent, but what puzzles me is how bad he struggles in practice.

Maybe he is the type of player that thrives in the real game situations. Maybe he subscribes to the Allen Iverson Role of Practice blog. I don't know; I'm not a doctor, but I was impressed with the kid, but I want to see Max Hall this week. His practices are solid, and that should be rewarded with playing time. I would give each quarterback a quarter unless you can get away with giving Anderson no time.

LaRod Stephens-Howling.

We know what he can do on special teams, but do you sense that Coach Whisenhunt has an expanded role for this guy? I do, in fact, he will slide into that third string running back real nice. I suspect coach doesn't want to show too much, but let's see what he can do out of the backfield after an extended look.

Andre Roberts, Max Komar, and Stephen Williams.

I probably shouldn't worry about Andre Roberts, but with the competition so close I do. When you have guys like Williams and Komar making plays day in and day out, Roberts has to look better. The dropped balls and misread routes make it hard to give him the nod but he's a third round pick. 

We are more likely to give him some more rope, but tomorrow night with Larry Fitzgerald jerseyshurt and Early Doucet healing, the wide receivers' battles are going to be intense for the next 11 days. I gotta think Williams should be a lock. The other two have to make plays for a spot on the 53.
Also, lets take another look at Darryl Washington. His first game was unbelievable, and he was everywhere the ball was. Didn't you think Karlos Dansby when you saw him play? I did. But was it a fluke? Let's see if he can move into some first team defense plays

The second cornerback.

Who is going to step up opposite DRC? It's been quite the battle between Greg Toler and Trumaine McBride. I gotta think that Greg may one up Trumaine, but he isn't going down without a fight.

Tomorrow, we should see who is going to step up even though Tennessee isn't known for its strong passing game. Okay, so it was a pass that beat the wholesale Cardinals jerseys last year on the final play of the game which could have been the most exciting game of the year but don't expect that again. My heart says Greg will win the position, but let's watch it unfold tomorrow.

The crapshoot of MLB draft

"I just felt like I was ready to get my pro career started," he said. "When it came time to make that executive decision, I felt it was the right time for me. They had their dollar amount and we had ours, we were able to talk it out and meet in the middle."

As time went on, McGuire started realizing where his future lay.

"The Jays area scout (Eric McQueen) was a Georgia Tech grad himself, we talked last fall and he did a good job letting me play and not hounding me all the time,' said McGuire. "Then on June 7, he congratulated me after the draft."

McGuire went right down to the wire before signing with the Jays. He had the option of going back to Georgia Tech for another season and, until draft day, that's all he had been thinking.

Jenkins, a late sign whose bread-and-butter is also a hard sinker, went to instructional ball last fall and was invited to spring training where he made a good impresion with the Jays last February. He started his minor-league season at Lansing, the club's low-A affiliate and will finish it at Dunedin in high-A in cheap MLB hats .

McGuire doesn't know when and where his pro career will start but if you use Jenkins' first year as a profile, you probably won't go too far wrong.

"Sometimes it co-operates, sometimes it doesn't. I try to locate my pitches, I won't overpower anyone for the most part, but I try to locate as well as anyone. I have a changeup and breaking ball and I use them sometimes to set up other pitches, but I'd say my strikeout pitches are my fastball and slider."

"I'm a four-pitch guy, my fastball is 90-94 and I do my best to run it and sink it," said McGuire in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

McGuire fits that profile, in much the same way that last year's No. 1, Chad Jenkins, does.

"You need pitchers who can get strikeouts and strikes in the strike zone," Anthopoulos said in that article. "All the lineups are really selective and will make you come into the zone. That puts a premium on the ability to get strikes in the strike zone."

Last week, in a Sports Illustrated interview, Anthopoulos talked about what is required in the AL East when facing the patient veteran hitters that populate the cheap Yankees hats, Red Sox and Rays.

However he makes out, his baseball profile fits the mold of the kinds of pitchers Alex Anthopoulos wants in his big-league rotation: Big power pitchers with a command of the strike zone.

Big power

The Blue Jays got their man on Monday night when the No. 11 pick, Deck McGuire, signed on the dotted line for a reported $2 million. He may, or may not, one day be included in that rare 5% grouping, but one thing is certain: Unless he has Mike Tyson for a financial advisor, he should be set for life.

In all the excitement, we need to remember there is one thing that hasn't changed: one of every 20 ― or about 5% ― of the hopeful young men who sign professional baseball contracts, will play even one game in the major leagues. That is the number quoted to me by Pat Gillick 25 years ago. From there, the odds get astronomical when talking about players who last a year, five years or a 15-year career, which makes a lot of the money that was spent on this draft class, wasted. The clubs know that, but that's the price of doing business.

5% make it

That's why the world was all a-twitter last evening in anticipation of the baseball signing deadline for this year's draftees. Yes, there's a lot of money at stake and that tends to get people's attention.

Now the draft is a 365-day industry. It doesn't yet approach the hype of the cheap NFL hats draft or, at least in Canada, the NHL draft but the amount of information is enough to make your eyes glaze over.

Used to be, and not very long ago, that the baseball draft was a non-story 364 days a year, with a 10-paragraph wrapup on draft day, citing a collection of names nobody had ever heard of and, in most cases, would never hear of again.

As have all professional sports drafts, the baseball draft has turned into something of a cottage industry. Blame the Internet or 24-hour sports news or player agents or maybe global warming.

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Miami Dolphins

The NFL hats's proposed enhanced schedule does not have any real benefits that make it worth going through with.

It just adds too much danger and takes away too much of the excitement of an individual game. There is only one benefit that Miami Dolphins fans will have from this:

The perfect season.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins  darkblue hat were, and still are, the only undefeated team ever in the history of the NFL jerseys. Other teams have come close, but none have ever been able to.

The enhanced schedule will only make it harder for a team to have a perfect season because they will have to play two additional games. That is two more chances for another team to beat them. If the enhanced schedule proposition is accepted and put into play, then it is a very good possibility that there will never be another NFL team to have zero wins in an entire season.

Think about it this way: if New England Patriots  fitted blackhat had to play in 18 regular season games during their almost perfect season, then they would have just been starting the playoffs by the time the Super Bowl  jerseys actually came around. They would have had to just start worrying about playing three of the top teams in the cheap NFL hats during the playoffs instead of just one team in the Super Bowl.

I know that this isn't a good reason for the enhanced schedule. Sure, records are great and are something that should be treasured, but they still aren't worth risking injuries.

So, while Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka may be in favor of this enhanced schedule, you still should not be. I know you probably love the entertainment that 16 games provides and want more, but it is not worth risking players' health even more.

Chris Johnson vs. Adrian Peterson

Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans

In 2009, Johnson joined an elite group of backs to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a season. He also eclipsed Marshall Faulk's NFL record for most yards in a season from scrimmage. He was clearly the top fantasy back, but past success doesn't mean it'll continue in the future. Should he be the top pick in 2010?

    * His '09 stats speak for themselves: 2,006 rushing yards, 16 total touchdowns, 50 receptions and 503 receiving yards. He averaged a gaudy 5.6 yards per carry with 22 runs of 20-plus yards. The YPC is not totally out of character, either, as he averaged 4.9 in '08. Peterson's has decreased the past two seasons to settle at 4.4 last year.
    * Johnson is the focal point of this offense. He exploded last year when Vince Young took over behind center. Following Young's insertion as the starter in Week 8, Johnson ran for at least 100 yards in all 10 remaining games and scored 12 of his 14 rushing touchdowns.
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      Chris Johnson jerseys, RB, Tennessee Titans
      Aims for 1st back-to-back 2k seasons
      Consistency: Since Young took over, Johnson was as even as any player in recent memory. Peterson was all or nothing last year.
    * The '08 first-round draft pick didn't get his long-term deal this year. He's still playing for a big payday. That motivation should keep him going. He reported to OTAs thicker and stronger than last year; that could help his 5-foot-11, 200-pound frame withstand another season of 300-plus carries.
    * Tennessee doesn't plan on limiting his workload this year despite giving him 408 touches last year. They're cognizant of it, though, and will - need - to do everything to keep him healthy. He is their offense. Johnson's running style is conducive to staying healthy since he doesn't take a lot of big hits.
    * Minny added Toby Gerhart to their backfield. Will he take away a few goal line carries (and touchdowns) from Peterson? Possibly. We all know AD's troubles with holding on to the ball, too. If he can't correct that, maybe the Vikes start giving Gerhart a few more touches than Peterson's previous backups received. At the very least, he'll take away a few scores.

Closing argument: It's tough to look past his '09 workload; do you want that kind of risk with your No. 1 overall pick? Depends on the stakes. No other back offers CJ's upside, but you are taking a bit of a risk selecting him ahead of Peterson, who has more of a track record. Even still, that risk should pay off in a big way.

Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings

Fantasy football owners fall in love with last year's darlings each and every draft season. This year is no exception with the way fantasy leaguers are drooling over Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.

I understand it, but I don't agree with it, and history is on my side. I'm not saying Johnson can't have another fine season, but he has his work cut out for him. My focus is on Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings' star rusher. He is a safer pick than CJ2K but has just as much upside. With the No. 1 overall pick, regardless of the scoring system, I'm taking Peterson 10 out of 10 times.

    * The Oklahoma Sooner standout has topped 1,340 yards and 10 touchdowns in each of his three pro seasons. In 2009, he scored a career-high 18 times.
    * The Vikings boast a strong offensive line and one of the best left sides in the league. Fullback Naufahu Tahi is a thumper and clears the way for Peterson like few others can.
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      Adrian Peterson jerseys, RB, Minnesota Vikings
      Cory drafts Peterson No. 1 All Day
      Durability: Regardless of collegiate injuries and missing two games as a rookie, Peterson has held up to an extensive workload (677 carries in last two years) without missing a game. How will Johnson hold up after 408 total touches? Again, history indicates not well.
    * People accentuate AD's fumbling problems, and while I'm not saying he doesn't have an issue with it, it's overblown for fantasy purposes. Most leagues deduct one point per lost fumble, which cost Peterson a touchdown worth of points last year. Johnson lost three fumbles and scored fewer times than Peterson did. Besides, do you really believe head coach Brad Childress will sit Peterson for more than a play or two if he fumbles?
    * Receiving: Everyone points to Johnson's contributions through the aerial game, which have been impressive, but Peterson isn't a slouch in this department. He improved two years running and caught 43 passes last year for 436 yards. Third-down back Chester Taylor is gone, and Peterson may very well be the new third-down option.
    * Peterson has worked hard at improving his consistency and wants to become less of a feast-or-famine player. Johnson has spent the entire offseason away from the team while griping about his contract.

Closing argument: I don't see this being a slam dunk like so many others do. In fact, it's quite the opposite. For owners that feel more comfortable drafting Johnson first, feel free. I understand why, but don't just blindly accept that CJ is the top fantasy choice this year. It's not as simple as it looks.