SIDELINE REPORTING LACKS RELEVANCE

Last week’s Wimbledon final got me riled up. Why? You’re probably expecting me to make an entrance like: Rafael Nadal took Roger Federer to his first Grand Slam five-setter, but in the end Fed closed it out with his punishing Wimbledon will.

Not a chance.

If you've watched enough of the Swiss star, then you know he always comes through in the clutch (just not at the French Open -- yet). So I spent most of the back-and-forth four hours lying comfortably on my couch, expecting a Jordanesque ending, which is exactly what happened. Although, I must say I got pretty wound up watching Rafa's ridiculous shot placements and then seeing Federer freeze in his momentous tracks and shake his head in losing disbelief. At one point, Nadal was running toward the center hash mark on the baseline when Federer hit a laser forehand in the direction he was coming from, but Nadal stopped on a dime, kneeled down and a hit a backhand-winner crosscourt. Unreal.

So, then, what made me unravel from my sedated state? NBC's poor post-match sideline coverage.

After Federer received his championship trophy and waved and kissed to the crowd, he walked over to a waiting NBC female sideline reporter. Seconds into the interview, I just snapped! This is a guy who had entered the tournament set to climb the tennis record books, and for two weeks long he was asked the same big-picture questions: How does it feel to be going for your fifth straight Wimbledon championship? Will this win mean more to you than the others? What will it mean for you to tie Bjorn Borg for most Wimbledon titles?

Therefore, when the reporter blurted out these same basic three questions -- only difference, in the past tense –- I was heated. I had finally reached my boiling point with sideline reporters, and this is why I’m writing this piece.

The root of it is this: Sideline reporters are failing in their essential role –- reporting.

When the reporter spoke to Federer, she was asking general questions -– she was not reporting based on what she had witnessed during the match. Reporting consists of digging through the layers to find out why and how something important happened. She didn’t do that. There were several key storylines that were overlooked, such as Federer’s clutch serve in the fifth set and Nadal’s commanding backhand and knee injury, which a good reporter would have addressed. One of the best in my opinion is TNT's NBA sideline reporter David Aldridge. Not only is he extremely well-versed in the sport, but he also has incredible investigative skills. On game days, you can always count on him to break a story or get an athlete to disclose personal information. But hey, those are only his fundamental responsibilities.

If you happened to see the NBC interview, Federer’s responses proved that the reporter was not doing her job correctly. For instance, when she asked him, “Did you feel any pressure with Bjorn Borg in attendance?” Federer said, “Of course, there’s always pressure.” Then she asked him, “Did this win mean any more to you than the others?” and Federer said, “They all mean a lot.” Reading between the lines, Federer was indirectly putting down her questions and his manner was appropriate because they lacked substance. Good for him -- but not good for the network to have one of their own fall short in getting Federer to open up with at least a thorough attempt. The interview makes you wonder if the reporter even watched the match or just showed up for the celebration. If the latter is true, then she should not be called a sideline reporter, but simply a sideline interviewer.

As sports fans, we love to criticize athletes for their standoffish and lower school-level behavior, but let’s put ourselves in their shoes for once. How would you like to be asked the same questions over and over again pertaining to a particular event –- sometimes having a dozen mikes thrown in your face while you’re nearly naked in front of your locker? I would start to get annoyed too, and I would probably come across as a jerk and someone who sounds like an idiot with a broken education (some actually are, don’t get me wrong).

Casual fans might not have a problem with the depth of sideline reporting –- perhaps the sight of just seeing a star athlete on TV is enough. That’s because they are defined as fans who watch sports leisurely on occasion, mostly keeping their eye on the ball during games and focusing on who scores. Fortunately, they don’t have the pleasure of hearing athletes getting asked repetitive questions all the time from the sidelines. But television broadcasts are presented generally in this context, catering to the casual fan.

Even with that said, there is a major difference between Reporting 101 and Reporting 301. All you have to be is an observant individual -- whether you’re casual or serious about sports -- to understand this elementary principle and realize that most sideline reporters are just starting their freshman year of journalism school. TV executives need to back off from hiring beautiful robotic interviewers (such as ESPN's Erin Andrews, above) who are always asking things like: What do you think about your team’s chemistry going into this game? Are you feeling any pressure being down in the series? They seem to always be about pressure and chemistry for some reason, like it’s some top-secret mystery that players need chemistry to win together or they never experience pressure in any situation. Come on. It’s time for sideline reporters to step up their game.

THE FUTURE OF THE DOG AND THE BUN

On the morning of July 4th, I had a spontaneous craving to head down to the original Nathan's on Brooklyn's Coney Island. That is, to bare witness to the 92nd annual hot dot eating contest. Normally I'm not game for shock-and-awe sporting events like these because I have viewed them as Jackass-like foolishness that friends organize amongst themselves in a backyard setting. And YouTube would be their only hope to get their act noticed.

Nonetheless, with all the buzz over the personal bout between Joey Chestnut and six-time defending champ Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (pictured above), I thought to myself, The hot dog eating contest is what living in New York City is all about -- a unique (perhaps cultural) experience. I called a few friends, but all of them preferred to watch it on ESPN. I briefly leaned that way thinking about the one-hour train ride to Coney Island while seriously doubting my destination. A hot dog eating contest? No way... But I ended up shocking and awing myself, discovering a different sports perspective that I believe will one day contort the Olympic dynamic.

For my first bite, I was immediately stunned at the hot dog eating crowd -- more than 35,000 of an international mix. (The next day I read that organizers said this year's event may have been one of the contest's most successful.) Fans waved American and Japanese flags to show their support for Chestnut and Kobayashi, and held signs such as “Eat Just Eat!" I eavesdropped on several conversations and sensed that the people around me were here for the event because they sounded familiar with the pre-story. This was definitely not a walk-up crowd; this was a seasoned (no pun intended) sports crowd that had been following the sports pages.

While the final countdown was being called, there was a tremendous roar from the onlookers filled with nationalistic pride for the combatants. Once the mouth-stuffing began, the announcer kept a running, auction-like dialogue going with the fans. I felt like I was at a boxing event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which is exactly where this event should take place looking ahead. The event has become an institution in Coney Island, but it can become an investment -- a major investment -- in Las Vegas. It can afford to move away from ESPN and attract a pay-per-view deal. And simply being in Vegas, the amount of financial royalties surrounding the hoopla and the actual event would ring up like a slot machine jackpot.

When you factor in modern-day sports fan culture and the increasing popularity of niche sports like poker and BMX biking (which was recently named the newest Olympic sport debuting in Beijing next year), the future of the dog and the bun is clear: There is a growing market for the sport, whether or not you’d puke at just the thought of it being considered a sport. Here’s some history for you: At the turn of the 20th century, the four most popular sports were baseball, boxing, horse racing and track and field. At the turn of this past century, only baseball maintains that position along with basketball, football and hockey. So there might be a new sports scenery forming as we speak.

Nowadays, sports fans can’t get enough of the underbelly of mainstream sports, from competitive eating to the Perez Hilton’s of sports reporting. Just like how everyone is coming out with their own website and trying to prove their content is better and fresher than their competitors, new “sports” are stealing headlines ever so slightly but ever so evidently from the established sports that have been around for years. I believe this is the case because in the last decade since player salaries have skyrocketed and scandals have plagued America’s pastimes, regular sports fans have built an intense love-hate relationship with aloof and egotistical mainstream athletes. It’s also harder for fans to relate to the day-to-day luxurious and multi-million dollar facade of major league playing fields.

Enter in these backyard sports, like hot dog eating, and suddenly any regular Joe Some has found a new sports connection and a more feasible chance to become a niche professional athlete one day. Will hot dog eating ever be an Olympic sport? Well, with the power of online message boards and social networking, fans could definitely make a strong case. Just look at what’s going on in Hollywood right now. Studio executives are all over web 2.0 interacting with movie aficionados to get their thoughts on pre-productions.

After my hot dog eating experience, I’m not planning on joining a competitive eating online forum. But it sure piqued my future viewing interest. I think one day I’ll be tuning into the Backyard Olympic Games, satisfying a newly-found crave.

Me at the Toyota Arena

CZECH-ING INTO PRAGUE'S OLYMPIC BID

From the moment I arrived at my connecting gate at Atlanta International Airport to head to Prague, Czech Republic, I observed an eerie hush throughout the area. Usually with silence comes stares, but I did not connect with any penetrating sets of invading eyes. For even the slightest chatter, that was reduced to the rubbles of whispers. This scene featured a simple kind of people – plain-colored shirts with blue jeans; no glitters of pretentious jewelry; electronics ghostly, books aplenty. It was like a century ago had been frozen in time and then thawed today. I was even hesitant to use my cell phone; I wondered the reaction if I did. I perceived that these Czechs felt displaced and were uncomfortable expressing themselves authentically in a foreign setting. So I just sat there silently like everyone else and read some magazines before I boarded my plane.

Two weeks have past living in Prague and I'm still conscious of my voice level waiting at my departing gate about to head home. But while Czechs seem to be extremely shy and quiet – in fact, a lot of them prefer being solo when commuting and walking through the streets – there is nothing reserved about the city features of Prague. Since communist rule shattered in the Czech Republic in 1989, you can definitely sense the country's capital has filtered more finances into its tourist infrastructure. In the most populated congregation in town, around Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square, there are a myriad of casinos, modern hotel establishments and tons of outdoor eateries. Prague could very well become the next Vienna, where I visited last weekend. Vienna's central gathering area is mapped out similar to Prague's, but Austria's capital is aesthetically more modern and drives a wealthier clientele. For Prague, the conversion to the EURO would greatly benefit its prestige (more on this later).

What else could catapult Prague into greater worldwide acclaim? How about an historic proposal that will lay out the city's plans for hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics (Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are the other leading bidders). But does Prague, an attractive city but not one of outstanding sports lore, have a realistic shot at becoming a future temporary home of the Olympic Games? My assignment for a study abroad sports tourism course at NYU has been to figure that out. Here's my assessment:

1) First of all, Prague's airport is much too small to handle the incoming mass hoards of Olympic participants and visitors. Let's face it: Prague's population is tiny compared to most Olympic-bidding cities (roughly 1.5 million residents). When I arrived on a Sunday morning, only several other planes landed around the same time mine did, but it took me about an hour to get my passport stamped. Prague needs to expand its airport (the surrounding land is there to do it) and accept more international flights and carriers. Right now, only one airline flies direct to Prague from New York City: Czech Airlines (CZA), hardly a household name. Speaking of airlines, when our group visited the Corinthia Towers (Prague's No. 1 hotel for business travelers), there was an aviation conference going on for air traffic controllers. I asked our tour leader, who was a hotel sales representative, how many airline partnerships the hotel had that offered packaged flight and hotel deals for guests. He said one and, surprisingly, it wasn't Czech Airlines but rather Korean Airlines. (Ironically, a classmate and I met a Korean Airlines pilot at one of the casinos.) The Corinthia is the same hotel that has the only partnership with the Czech national ice hockey team. In a prestigious class like that, the Corinthia should be beckoning for more RFPs by marketing its business-to-business amenities.

2) Even if Prague demonstrates it's strategically ready for the Olympics, some of its residents could demolish that dream. At this early stage in the bidding process, about half of them are opposed to the city's potential hosting. In a survey conducted by the Praha Olympijska (Olympic Prague) company, nearly two-fifths of Czechs (38%) said “no.” The methodology for the survey included 2,000 respondents, in which 88% knew that Prague was interested in becoming a host city but half of them considered the organization of the Olympics a challenge. Most locals I spoke with casually felt indifferent about Prague's Olympic bid (some didn't even know about it) and weren't too optimistic the city would be elected the opportunity to host. On a more positive note, Tomas Petera, head of Praha Olympijska, said the Czech Republic is a safe country (which it seems; walking around alone at night seems to pose no threat) with a sufficient capacity for Olympic visitors, while its disadvantage is the lack of relevant experience. Prague's only major sporting event was the 2004 Ice Hockey World Championship held at the Sazka Arena (Prague's most modern sports facility built in 2004).

3) Prague's sports marketing and advertising needs to become more visible and spread out throughout the city. When I asked our tour guide of the Sazka Arena about the extent of the venue's promotion for its events in the heart of the city, she said “hardly any”; rather the promoter for the event handled that (similar to how marquee boxing fights are marketed, especially in Las Vegas). Bottom line is: Prague needs to get its citizens and tourists more excited and interested in its local sports scene. During an outdoor basketball tournament in Wenceslas Square, which resembled a "Hoop It Up" setting, there were just a few street marketers at the sign-in booth and not even a DJ or MC was present; only hip-hop music was played to draw people in from afar. The execution was a bit amateurish in my opinion. On another day in the same location, a high-jumping event was being set up, but hardly any passersby hung around the area to see what was in store. Instead the distractive magnets of the side stores and cafes drew people in.

4) The competitive spirit of sports in Prague is diminished by the city's most visible advertising – from transportation vehicles to roadside billboards. What do I mean by that? The majority of sports images used in advertising are represented recreationally through the promotion of technology products. For example, in Samsung's current citywide ad campaign communicating connectivity, the company presents a man looking at a picture of a soccer ball on his cell phone. In another advertisement for VisitCyprus.com promoting fun and leisure, it shows a woman lying on a beach watching a couple of kids play soccer. There are no five-story-high ads featuring any Sparta players (Sparta is Prague's most beloved soccer club team) or future sporting events at the Sazka Arena. In Prague, recreation is a big play. In fact, a Czech travel agency called Fun In Prague developed an area on an island with a large assortment of sport and relaxation activities, including paintball, range shooting, quad biking, go-karting, buggies, horseback riding, archery (in the winter months, there's also quad biking in the snow, skiing, snowboarding and a bobsleigh track).

5) The Czech Republic first needs to convert to the EURO before Prague can be even considered for an Olympic bid. The local word is that won't happen until 2009. But once it does, Prague will not be a footnote anymore in Olympic bidding competition; thus a major obstacle crossing with the IOC and world leaders.


Overall, sports seems to take a backseat here. Sporting events are secluded within Prague's beautiful facade (all sporting complexes are located on the outskirts of Prague). Individual fitness remains to be seen publicly (I never bumped into a single runner on the streets, but locals did mention that most exercise was done outside of Prague in neighboring parks). Sports reading is practically nonexistent (I saw only one person glancing at a sports section in a newspaper). It's hard to even pick up sports talk in places of mass transit because Czechs, for the most part, keep to themselves.

I finally found some signs of sports fan life unexpectedly one day after my classmates and I hustled into a bar when it started pouring. We were trying to find the Toyota Arena (the main soccer stadium in the city where Sparta was playing that night), but we got pretty lost even though we all agreed to keep trying. But the adrenaline of running through the rain and then stumbling upon the bar, which happened to be airing a delay of the game, quickly erased any disappointment we felt. I turned to one of my buddies while dripping wet and said, "Well, at least we're able to catch some of the game." Immediately a lady who was watching turned around to me and blurted out in her Czech accent, thinking I had said some game, "This is not just SOME game! This is Sparta versus Slavia! SOME game he says [while turning to her friend]!" As I found out rather quickly by getting repeatedly grilled by the fan, Sparta vs. Slavia (another club division in Prague) was like Mets vs. Yankees (Slavia = Mets, Sparta = Yankees as Sparta scores more popularity points in the city). Eventually she and I were chatting about the game, and I learned that Sparta vs. Slavia usually packed about 20,000 fans, much more than other Sparta home games at the Toyota Arena. She had been at the game earlier that we missed, but she was glued to the TV and was still decked out in Sparta gear. She was so ecstatic that she turned on her video camera to show me the post-game celebration after Sparta won 5-0. Fans were jumping the handrail guarding the field, and following that I had the privilege of watching her and boyfriend roll around in the muddy field together. It just goes to show you the kind of turn-on soccer is in many countries outside the U.S.

This bar experience made me realize that if there is such a rivalry like Sparta vs. Slavia, why can't the city showcase the teams' histories and their rivalry in a sports museum? The museum could also celebrate well-known athletes who came from or competed in Prague and the Czech Republic. There are quite a few noteworthy names, such as former tennis greats Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl as well as future NHL Hall of Famers Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek.

Reflecting on what ended up being a cheaper visit than I imagined (to give you some perspective, a beer was 35 Czech crowns, which is roughly $1.50), I'm not so sure that offering the NYU course in Prague was the best direction, especially because the syllabus was geared heavily to the Olympics. And that is by far the truest definition of sports tourism. London, Torino or even Beijing would have been more beneficial for us to experience and learn about something more tangible to an actual Olympics – either in its planning or recently past execution stage. The city is, quite frankly, not prepared for the 2016 Olympics.

But there is definitely a sense of long-term optimism and excitement in the city about hosting an Olympics. The building blocks are here. In that sense, I was glad Prague was my temporary home for two weeks as I observed the challenges that face the city's Olympic selection while getting a sneak peak of what could be. My bet is Prague will be opening the 2024 Olympic ceremonies.

SLEEPLESS IN NEW YORK CITY

For the past 20 days, I have not been waking up well. For what should take me 15 minutes to get ready for work, has taken me 35. Even to reverse my inside-out socks is a drag and a nuisance. The reason for my recent lack of sleep? It's not because I've been under stress or having nightmares or experiencing rapid-eye movement over-thinking about what I need to do the next day. No, all that is under control - at least for now.

What's really going on for me are 10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tip-offs. Yes, these NBA playoffs have taken over my post-work life with west coast games that end at roughly 1:30 a.m. But I'm not really in bed until I stay up for my late-night snack - a few post-game chuckles watching Charles Barkley on TNT's Inside The NBA.

Trust me, it hasn't been easy turning off the tube as the yawns trickle in. That's because the theme of the playoffs has been unexpected, from the Warriors upsetting the Mavericks in the first round to Derek Fisher's heroics in the semifinals to breaking news of the next intentional flop/fight as the conference finals loom. Overall, the 2007 NBA playoffs have been a whirlwind circus of high-flying and low-blowing performances that will only get testier as the referees, David Stern and the fans (some recently have turned away after the surprising Phoenix Suns' suspensions) call for "order on the court."

So, before the next 20 days deprive me of even more sleep and deplete the concentration I'll need to type my thoughts, let me share with you some restless reflections from the first half of the playoffs that carry over into my early morning hours:

1) I know the NBA has become an entertainment spectacle, but the "flopping" effect produced by the league's actors needs to look more realistic. And the referees shouldn't be so quick to blow their whistles. When Steve Nash was sideswiped by Robert Horry a.k.a. "Cheap Shot Rob" in Game 4, Nash dropped to his knees and the momentum pushed him into the scorer's table. But then he fell backward and threw his arms out behind him, an exaggerated reaction to a hard foul in my opinion (nowhere near a normal flagrant foul called in the NBA). I can't remember a time when I've seen so many charges called in the league. I was recently watching a Michael Jordan YouTube clip that featured his mid-air moves, and he would jump over defenders a few feet from the basket and knock them down with his hang time. But he was not once called for a charging violation. Nowadays, the same spot where Jordan used to take off from is where the offensive foul stripe is located. It's definitely made scoring much more challenging because players now have to score around defenders with layups more often than trying to attack them head-on and utilizing their athletic ability to dunk.

2) Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire should've been suspended for one game. And the rule that prevents NBA players on the bench from stepping onto the court during a fight shouldn't be changed. I'll tell you why. Have you ever seen a baseball fight? Usually it involves the pitcher and the batter because that's where the focus and main action is during the game. Nevertheless, the fight can be easily subdued by the players on the field, but whenever those from the dugout run onto the field and get involved, what happens? The fight always escalates. That's exactly why there's the rule in the NBA that if a player leaves the bench during an on-the-court fight, he will be suspended. The league doesn't want any fight to escalate more than it needs to, just like the Pacers/Pistons brawl a few years ago. The other day I was reading Bill Simmons's column addressing the suspensions, and I disagreed with a major point he was trying to make. He said that when you're on a playground court with your buddies and a fight breaks out, your human instinct is to help out. He said the same reasoning should be applied to the NBA, in that teammates should be able to back each other up no matter if they're in the game or on the bench. But here's why I differ. First of all, a pickup game is just that - a pickup game. It's not a professional game played in front of millions of people. And because a fight is usually the worst thing that happens in any sports venue, rules dealing with altercations should be the strictest. Second, in a professional work environment human instinct should not be your guide on how to conduct yourself and should not be equated with good sportsmanship. There is an overarching structure you have to follow. Of course, if the structure is getting in the way of your work, then that's not good. In Diaw and Stoudemire's case, the rule that's in question doesn't limit their overall skills and capabilities. All in all, it should be understood by players that when they're on the bench - just like the fans in their seats - they're not allowed onto the court until their name is called.

3) I've been impressed with Inside The NBA's creative team working behind the scenes. During the playoffs, their "Gone Fishin'" photoshopped picture of the team's star players who just got eliminated is priceless. Much of the credit goes to Charles Barkley whose hilarious and no-nonsense personality has given the show a lot of leeway as to what it airs. But the TNT staff has continuously succeeded in keeping the on-set mood loose and the jokes coming, mostly directed at Chucksters and his over-the-top (and sometimes over-the-weight-scale) comments. The production crew is also stellar at doing research and being very well prepared. Last Monday when Shaquille O'Neal was a guest commentator, TNT introduced him by featuring a compilation of his comical interview clips. Then during the studio show, nearly every time something of the past was brought up about O'Neal or involving him and Barkley, TNT had a photo or video clip to illustrate the point.

4) I can predict a team's offense with my eyes closed. It's constantly pick-and-roll, pick-and-roll. I realize it's a very effective play, but I would like to see point guards beat their defenders off the dribble more. Why? Because they easily can. They don't need the pick-and-roll all the time. The speed and strength of the NBA game has increased and nearly every position player can shoot now. That's probably why I enjoyed watching Baron Davis (pictured above) so much during these playoffs. His offensive repertoire is very diverse and instinctive, which confused the Mavericks. His dribble penetration allowed him to either look for his own shot or kick out to a teammate for an open look. Davis is one of the few guys in the league who "dances" with the ball effectively, and each of his moves makes you let out an, "Ooh!" The dunk he had over Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz in the conference semifinals was without a doubt the poster of the year. And the best part is that no one saw it coming, which is how B-Diddy competes. If only he were healthy consistently (and on TV more often). On the flip side, Steve Nash relies heavily on the pick-and-roll. If you watch him closely, he'll run the play with Amare Stoudemire and if Nash doesn't like what he sees, he'll pull the ball back out and execute it with Stoudemire all over again. It's sometimes boring to watch. Don't get me wrong, I think Nash is a superb shooter and a spot-on passer, but I don't think the MVP should be given to someone who relies on other players too much. And you wonder why John Stockton never won the award.

5) I wish T-Mobile created several more commercials featuring Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley. I don't get why there’s only two spots - I mean, the playoffs are nearly two months long. Perhaps T-Mobile was planning to shoot another one if Wade and the Miami Heat advanced to the second round. But I love how the ads represent the true-to-life playful banter among friends who like to rib each other when competing in sports. What’s funny is that on Inside The NBA, Barkley always remarks, "Dwyane, keep the checks coming!" Speaking of NBA advertisers, I'm getting really annoyed at all the sponsored on-air content presented on TNT's broadcasts. Here are just a few examples: Toyota's "Looking Ahead," Jeep's "Halftime Report," T-Mobile's "Fave 5" and Gatorade's "Cooler Talk." It seems like every television graphic is sponsored by someone. I'm amazed how the play-by-play commentators can remember which advertiser is associated with what. That's extra training that can be so unnecessary at times. Which gets me thinking, Boy do I miss the NBA on NBC. If you're feeling retrospective like me right now, YouTube "NBA on NBC." Like Jordan, it’s artistry in motion.

6) The Spurs and Pistons will face each other in the Finals because they both demonstrate what the other teams don't have: toughness. I don't understand why NBA General Managers build their rosters more on talent. I believe the days of simply buying All-Stars are over. Take the 2004 Lakers and the present-day Suns, for example. They could score 120 points on any given day, but when it came down to the most important point in the season - the playoffs - they lost to the Pistons and Spurs, respectively. Star players worry too much about their image and being "nice" and "silky smooth" (referred to those who have flashy moves). For a regular season, they can get away with that pretentious attitude. But not during the playoffs. Dirk Nowitzki was held to just eight points in Game 6 of the Warriors first-round upset over the Mavericks. Nowitzki was simply rattled by a grittier toughness, and he failed to overcome the odds because he relied too much on his athleticism and natural talent instead of guts and wits. To me, talent underrides toughness. Why that doesn't hold true today is because we live in a sports culture where marketing precedes game play. Tim Duncan, the best power forward in the game, is hardly advertised. Tony Parker, an All-Star, has become more famous for being Eva Longoria's fiancé than a basketball player. As far as the Pistons go, the whole starting five should be featured in a commercial, but only Chauncey Billups is a major endorser. So, if I'm a GM looking ahead to the June NBA draft, I'm eyeing players like Al Horford and Corey Brewer. They are under-your-skin defensive players and can consistently knock down the perimeter jumpshot. That's why Bruce Bowen of the Spurs is so effective. He'll get in your head on defense and then knock down a big shot on the other end. My prediction is the Spurs in seven games because they will have home-court advantage and the Pistons are known for taking some games off (as we saw in the Bulls series).

So, with tired eyes and heavy fingers, I can only say that the past 20 sleepless nights has prepared me for future jet lag as I venture overseas to Prague for two weeks. Czech out my next column!

SPORTS BUSINESS'S FAB FIVE

1) George Bodenheimer
When a certain company says in an advertisement that they’re “the best” or “the most trusted” in their industry, for even the uninterested consumer it instinctively never strikes a credible cord. You simply shrug it off and think, Eh, just marketing jargon, I’ve heard that one before. But ESPN, the “worldwide leader in sports” as the network calls itself, is just that. Since Bodenheimer (pictured) has been at the helm, here are the different ESPN extensions that have launched (in no specific order): ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News, ESPN Deportes, ESPN International, ESPN Original Entertainment, ESPN Mobile, ESPN 360, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. I know I’m forgetting one, probably a few. Bodenheimer branded ESPN like Howard Schultz did with Starbucks. In the same way you can’t pass on a cup of coffee without thinking Starbucks, you can’t consider a sport a sport unless it’s been broadcast on ESPN. What do you think made dorm room poker such a cultural phenomenon?

2) Tiger Woods
Woods is literally in a category all by himself. Yeah, he may lose a tournament here and there. Yeah, he’s sort of a private guy off the course. But, he’s a gentleman golfer and a loyal endorser; get this: he backs up his Buick sponsorship by actually driving the car make to some of his match play rounds. Woods has single-handedly engaged a cross-cultural interest in the PGA Tour and has brought hipness and athleticism to a rather stuffy, white-collar, buttoned-up sport. In the next several years, Woods will become the first sports billionaire (boosted by Nike’s big pitch), unprecedented for an individual player; that fact alone makes him an automatic top five most influential person in the sports business industry.

3) David Stern
Everyone wants to talk to Mr. Stern these days. And Stern is no antagonist. It seems like he’s always doing a live online chat or featured in an interview with a major publication. It’s not that the commissioner is simply a nice, soft-spoken, down-to-earth guy; he’s in a bit of a predicament more than ever to play up the NBA, a league which has been tainted by a “thug” image. For that reason, in addition to Stern’s disregard for player feedback about the composite basketball he introduced at the start of the 2006-07 season, Tiger Woods gets the edge at the No. 2 spot. But there’s no reason to dwell on that slight scar. Stern is a one-man marketing machine. His business sense is ahead of the curve, he innovatively runs the NBA as an entertainment property and he’s begun to master player development (from the dress code to the NBDL), contrary to popular belief. He also knows a thing or two about international expansion, having really been the first commissioner of any major professional sport to envision that opportunity. Since the ripple effect of the '92 Dream Team, there are now around 100 international NBA players; in fact, several teams’ rosters are nearly half represented by foreigners. Stern’s next steps are to grow China and India as strategic basketball markets, which further punctuates that the NBA more than any other league is taking the most advantage of today’s shrinking world. Good luck or bad luck, Stern would tell you that it’s not about luck, but a love for the game.

4) Chad Hurley/Steve Chen
Simply put, there’s not a website out there that doesn’t link back to YouTube in some way. In the sports world, YouTube has become the user-generated ESPN Classic, to the point that actual licensed video content has been alienated. Now, the leagues are finally expressing their discontent with YouTube’s copyright infringements. But without suing, some of them, such as the NBA and NHL, are signing monumental partnership deals with YouTube because they realize that in order to reach their targeted sports consumer, they have to go where they are. That medium is YouTube, which has revolutionized advertising 2.0. Amazingly, Hurley and Chen, the website’s founders, have just sat back and watched users dictate their future business endeavors.

5) Dwyane Wade/LeBron James
When it comes to everyday, mainstream sports, where our attention is mainly, Wade and James are the two most influential athletes. Tiger Woods is a more iconic name because of his global stature, but he’s not on the radar (or the television) screen as regularly as Wade and James. It would be a disservice to discuss either of the NBA superstars separately. Considering the NBA’s supremacy and the league’s individualistic nature, Wade and James have emerged as the go-to guys in any sport for multi-platformed endorsement deals. As the new era Jordan/Bird rivalry, the pair has catapulted player marketing to distances Jordan and his peers never reached. When doing a McDonald’s commercial was seen as “out of the box” in the 1990s, Wade and James have creatively crossed over their appeal into industries that would seem unfathomable for an athlete. But Wade and James have done just that by designing a cell phone and endorsing a computer product, respectively, among many other breakthrough initiatives, which have set the tempo for other top-tier player marketing agreements.

Who’s your top five? Chime in with your choices.

WHAT'S NEXT?

I am struggling to write exactly what I want to say. I have a mixed bag of words under my fingertips, and I'm unable to choose the right ones to start this column. But I'll give it my best shot and type something anyway, hoping I will soon get a better grip on what's to come. That's what the business of sports does to me every single day.

It's a relationship I want to be involved in for the rest of my life, but it's been confusing my life lately. Every time I engage myself in various forms of media, I'm overwhelmed with the plethora of news items discussing "formation" and "expansion" of sports business properties. Not only are the athletes getting quicker, but off-the-court transactions are also gaining faster ground. Before, you could get away with saying "sports is my passion" in a job interview just being knowledgeable about the four major pro leagues; now to back up that statement, you have to be able to answer questions about NASCAR, the Arena Football League and... Major League Eating? That's right. That's a real league. (More on this later.) These emerging trends have complicated my sports intake, leading me to constantly question, What's next?

The thing is, there was probably always this much going on in the world of sports - we were just consuming current events on a smaller scale. Now, there are a lot more opportunities for content delivery and, therefore, bucks to be made off every little thing. As the pop-ups keep popping, I'm getting pickier at reading feature news articles, and I'm jumping past side stories that I don't have enough time to read in full. There's just so much time in a day, which gets me thinking, Should they create jobs for full-time readers for people, like myself, who have trouble staying in the know of their own profession? My leisure reading has become rushed catch-up skimming, and on more days than average, glancing at headlines help me just to get through the day. It's like I feel starved for sports consumption.

There is no saturation point anymore. If you visited Sports Business Daily's website today, you probably read about a new sports web 2.0 venture, a partnership being formed and a sponsorship deal that was just finalized. Tomorrow, it's deja vu like the movie Groundhog Day. I'm not denying that I don't accept this; heck, some of these developments partly motivated me to start a blog. But did you ever think that an energy drink could create a new sport, like Red Bull did with "Crashed Ice"? The business of sports has got me twisted like a wire fence and I'm strangling over my own premonitions. Let me fill you in on some of the recent clutter and help you make sense of it all. Here are my thoughts and observations on sports 3.0:

1) Let's start with "Crashed Ice" because you're probably already on the verge of Googling it. Here's what it is: Combining hockey, boardercross and downhill skiing, racers compete on a 500-meter ice track that winds through an urban environment, featuring a series of a hairpin turns and 45-degree vertical drops. It's not so much what it is, but rather the eye-catching name behind its creation. We all know that companies are trying to market younger; their commercials feature songs created exclusively for them, products represented as people, fast-paced editing techniques and... sports themes. Companies are sensing more than ever that they can best leverage their brand messages through sports, so, hey, why not create a sport? Red Bull entered the marketplace as cutting edge and then went ahead and bought their own MLS team, the New York Red Bulls. Now, "Crashed Ice." My hunch says that they'll be the first company to start a sports league in space. Then, they'll have to create the Red Bull Rocket to get everyone up there.

2) Speaking of space, do you think that once "the world is flat" according to Thomas Friedman - once leagues conquer international expansion and are successful getting kids in Botswana to wear their licensed jerseys - that space will be the next market? It's not far off from an inconvenient truth, especially if global warming continues faster than Andy Roddick's serve, that space may very well be our next civilization, and naming rights for the first "astro-turf" field will already be secured.

3) So, let's talk about Major League Eating. I don't need to get into much detail here, but basically it used to be called the International Federation of Competitive Eating. That's right, competitive eating. The organization just changed its name to Major League Eating and hosts contests nationwide. Here's one "eater" bio for you: Sonya Thomas, who's 39 years old and weighs 109 pounds, once ate 65 hard-boiled eggs in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, and 44 Maine lobsters from the shell in 12 minutes. Think you can outdo that? Simply go to majorleagueeating.com and enter your name, address, phone number and your eating specialty, and you've officially submitted your name for a chance to join the league. Hey, in this user-generated world, anything is possible, including becoming your own professional athlete. The point I really wanted to make here is that the MLE reflects a trend in which emerging sports and leagues are finding ways to attract niche audiences. For example, footvolley (combining the skills of soccer and the playing field of beach volleyball) and night tennis (tennis played in fluorescent lights amidst a nightclub atmosphere) were created overseas and arrived in the U.S. to rave reviews for their innovation. Now, they both have cult followings. Same with up-and-coming leagues, such as the Arena Football League and the National Lacrosse League. Why are they gaining fans? Well, that's easy. Because they actually appeal to "fans" and not the buttoned-up executives who flood most arenas these days. In fact, with the AFL, after each game the players are required to sign autographs for 45 minutes. Some fans are becoming turned off with the corporate landscape of major pro sports, including the pretentious attitudes and off-the-field behavior of million-dollar athletes. Also, some fans simply don't have the luxury of an NBA or NFL team nearby where they live. On the flip side, year-to-year financial growth for all of these "underground" sports and leagues will be challenging. Because people are working longer hours during the week, less connected to live events but more connected through technology, traveling more when leisure time presents itself, it's harder to make time for anything new. At the end of the week, when all is said and done, what sports are the peak performers? College football and the NFL. Once a week, on the weekend, no work obligations, tailgating, tradition, pizza and beer - what more can a sports fan ask for? I think the niche sports and leagues have a better chance of succeeding by leveraging themselves with more prominent sports properties (for instance, footvolley tying into the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour).

4) User-generated content. It's everywhere now. Recently, Sports Illustrated just acquired FanNation.com, an online community for sports fans to read sports news, track their favorite teams and players, and write blogs. ESPN has been hiring popular sports bloggers (most recently, NBA writer Henry Abbott who founded the award-winning True Hoop). Even the athletes themselves are involved in creating social networking websites (for example, SwimRoom, created by pro swimmers, such as Michael Phelps, for other swimmers) and their own MySpace pages to extend their marketing appeal in the web 2.0 world (for example, Carmelo Anthony). There are a lot of other websites I don't even know about it, and there's more to come. So if you have a solid pitch for a bull-riding site, get going on it before ESPN, which has been broadcasting the sport more lately, does something about it. The next frontier will be user-generated advertising. You will be the idea, the voice and the production behind a brand message. We've recently seen a pinch of this during the Super Bowl with the NFL's "Pitch Us Your Idea for the Best NFL Super Bowl Commercial Ever" and Chevrolet's "Chevy College Super Bowl Ad Challenge." It's not a coincidence companies are hiring younger and younger these days.

5) Here's something that I just don't get: Athletes, such as Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson, who have recently starting using hypoxic devices, which are chambers (they look like tents) that simulate oxygen deprivation. They increase the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells that is thought to improve endurance. I know this is a rare phenomenon right now, but it just goes to show where the future of training is heading and the far reaches some athletes will go to gain a competitive edge. I was speaking with a friend the other day who said that he ran into Joakim Noah, who just won a national championship with the Florida Gators, at a New York City restaurant with several "beautiful" girls and told him, "You must be the luckiest guy right now!" Noah responded by saying, "I wake up every day and realize how blessed I am." I thought about what he said for a second and then told him, "Next time you go out, you should put on stilts and see if you get those same beautiful girls Noah did." I mentioned to him that in the same way Hollywood wannabes get plastic surgery to make big bucks off their looks, it would be interesting to see how many aspiring athletes cosmetically change their bodies, such as getting leg transplants to become taller. He replied that there is an operation in which the doctor can break your leg and then add more bone to the cracked area. Could this kind of mentality become more prevalent? As we saw with Major League Baseball's steroid plague, several anonymous players came forward and said that they injected the illegal drug just to compete on the same level as teammates who were using it and playing well. It's like how in high school, kids will do whatever it takes to be part of the "cool" club. Unfortunately, this kind of obsession can lead to devastating physical and emotional results. In the end, Hercules-looking athletes is not what matters; it's about the purity of competition because sports across the board have lost fans due to cheating incidents and tainted images depicted in the media.

6) There was an article recently in the Los Angeles Times that discussed how prominent pro athletes, such as Reggie Bush and Peyton Manning, are as of late aligning their representation with Creative Artists Agency, the dominant agency in show business that includes clients such as Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The reason: Crossover marketing appeal. Agents understand that to best leverage the image of their players is to extend their brand outside of sports into other industries and entertainment platforms. These days, Dwyane Wade still remains the leader of the pack, although LeBron James is creeping up with his new endorsement deal with Microsoft. Off the court, Wade has modeled for Sean John, endorsed Lincoln Navigator, launched his own T-Mobile Sidekick, appeared on the David Letterman show and MTV's Total Request Live and was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2005. That's PR at its finest. So, what's next? Expect to see more athletes hosting or appearing in reality shows, like "Dancing with the Stars," and dating A-list celebrities, a la San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker's relationship with desperate housewife Eva Longoria. Even big men should work on their crossover.

7) Have you seen the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 video game commercial? If you haven't, here's what happens: The opening shot shows the inside of a huge living room with a crowd of onlookers. Then, Woods walks in and heads over to a table where he picks up a Nintendo Wii numchuck. He sets his feet in front of a TV and swings away as the gallery cheers and applauds while watching the ball soar through the air on the screen and land near the cup. This promotion of the new interactive Wii system might represent what's to come. In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, an EA Sports programmer said that he envisions a future in which people will watch other people play videos online as a form of entertainment. To take that step a further, could you imagine a video game channel on your cable provider where you could watch gaming tournaments, like in the movie The Wizard. To be honest with you, the evolution of video games has caused TV ratings for live sporting events to dip somewhat. Kids, especially, are consuming video games like they're candy. When you think about, why would you just sit there and watch a game, wondering what it would be like to actually be in it, when you could create yourself down to your eye wrinkles, be able to call your favorite team's plays and then throw bombs to Chad Johnson? Sounds like a dream job to me.

8) Last weekend, I went to the New York International Auto Show. If you had to guess which exhibit excited me the most, either for Maybach, Lamborghini or Jeep, which would you choose? Probably not Jeep, right? Well, it was. The car company featured "Camp Jeep," the brand's annual three-day mix of off-road driving and other family-friendly outdoor activities. After about an hour-long wait, visitors could actually drive brand-new Jeep vehicles through an obstacle course, featuring a steep hill and a diagonal slope. So, how does this all translate to sports? I'll tell you. When you arrive at a sporting event, you pretty much just wait in line, present your ticket and then head to your seat - perhaps picking up a beer and hot dog along the way. What if, before you did any of those things, you could enjoy a variety of interactive activities outside the arena or stadium? Obviously, auto show attendees don't really have to watch the clock; sports fans have to or they'll miss crucial segments of the game. So that's why you kick off the game-day attraction much earlier with a mini-festival. Let's face it: Besides the cheerleaders doing the tootsie roll, in-game entertainment is kind of boring. I'm always surprised to see so many people standing and screaming for a T-shirt. It's just a T-shirt, and you paid how much for your seat! They should be throwing you Treos.

9) Through the rumblings I've been reading, Nike is looking to take SPARQ Training, a new system for measuring overall athleticism by testing speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness, and revolutionize it on the high school level. Nike wants SPARQ to be the SAT for athletics, enabling colleges to recruit athletes more selectively by checking their SPARQ Rating. There's been a lot of talk in youth sports that kids are over-training and over-committed to sports. To counter that, there are programs to confront kids' obesity problems. Where's the middle ground? I have no idea, and I'm not sure parents will agree with SPARQ's purpose. Kids are already so focused on prepping for standardized tests and pressured on getting into a competitive college for academics. I think SPARQ is an extra weight for kids to carry; I say let their passion and sportsmanship speak for themselves.

10) I'll keep this one simple. Google is taking over the world.

More thoughts to come in a second part of this series...

TO BE GAY IN SPORTS IS STILL THE HARD-WAY

When Tim Hardaway (pictured) adamantly stated on a sports talk show last week that he hated gay people and wouldn't want to be in a locker room with one, I was more surprised that he shared his strong feelings publicly than what he actually admitted.

Don't get me wrong, Hardaway should never have used the word "hate" to describe an oppressed group of people, especially in regards to his own background. But in the context of what a modern-day athlete stands for, Hardaway's resentment toward a gay teammate is not that exaggerated. Many players just don't have the impulse to admit such a thing because they want to maintain their manly mojo in a machismo sports culture.

The mega-jackpot sports entertainment business has never been more "hip-hop"; underlying codes instigate participants to bring their street demeanor and toughness to the playing field in order to compete successfully. And if they don't wear a cocky game face or can't take a hard foul like a man - like a true champion - they're subject to be called "gay," "soft" or a "pussy."

Did you happen to catch the NBA All-Star player introductions on Sunday? If you did, do you remember how many of them smiled when their name was introduced? Well, only about three. Most of them tilted their head up a tad and slightly smirked, basically saying, "I'm the shit and I'm a straight shooter." Players don't want their peers and fans to get the wrong idea about them, which, in their world, would be to exhibit "soft" behavior. This status quo starts on the streets and is topped off by team owners, like Mark Cuban and the Maloof brothers, who further perpetuate players' heterosexual desires and high-rolling lifestyles.

Some states are finally coming to terms with same-sex marriages, but sports still struggle mightily for gay pride and acceptance. After Hardaway's comments came out of the closet, you could just imagine the curiosity of team members around the country wondering if anyone was really gay in their own locker room. Hopefully, coaches organized open discussions with their players in an attempt to break preconditioned homosexual beliefs and attitudes.

We're still at the stage, though, that if you are a gay athlete, it's preferred that you're a 20-point scorer or an All-Star to be accepted. This past weekend, basketball greats Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley engaged in playful kissing acts, but their reputation remained safe afterward. As witnessed, the gamble for gay rights in sports is very much open for a harder push.