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Sports Illustrated Vault – Top Men Covers

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Which male athlete has most frequently graced the covers of Sports Illustrated?

The answers can easily be found in the SI Vault (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/). The website includes a database that allows sports enthusiasts to conduct searches on articles, covers, galleries, and swimsuit issues. These searches provide an interesting perspective on what has been important in sports since SI began publishing in 1954.

The purpose of the following analysis is to identify the male athletes who most frequently adorned the SI covers and to look for other interesting trends. In December, 50 male athletes were selected for analysis. Their names, as listed in the charts below, were placed in the advanced search engine (exact phrase). Note that slightly different frequencies occurred when the names were placed in the general search box. It was also necessary to be aware of multiple athletes with the same name, such as Bill Russell, and adjust the search accordingly.

Keep in mind, the purpose of this analysis is not to identify the best athlete; rather the intent is to point out the athletes that adorned the SI covers most often. Athletes such as Lou Gehrig passed away before SI began publishing, so his coverage is minimal compared to current players. There are a number of factors that can determine whether an athlete makes the front cover or just receives mention in an article or picture gallery. The following questions address these factors:
• When did the athlete play?
• Did they participate in a team sport or an individual sport?
• How long has their sport been in existence, for example snowboarding is a relatively new sport?
• Did the athlete play in a major sport or a minor sport?
• Did the athlete play in a small market or a major market? Did they compete internationally?
• Who did the athlete have as sponsors and how well were they marketed?
• Was the athlete a flashy player who drew attention, such as John McEnroe, or were they a steady performer like Brian Gottfried?
• How has the interest level in their sport changed over time? Are people as interested in that sport as they once were?
• Were there lockouts or strikes during an athlete’s career that prevented additional exposure?
• Did the athlete experience injuries that reduced media coverage?
• Were there other events that were more significant or overshadowed the significance of an athlete’s performance?
• Was it a “slow sports day”, which allowed for certain athletes to receive greater coverage?
It is interesting to note who has been on the cover most frequently, but it can be equally as intriguing to consider the factors that may have caused or prevented greater coverage.

The data suggests that there are a handful of athletes who are media icons. Michael Jordan is one of them. He was on the SI cover 58 times followed in a distant 2nd and 3rd place by Tiger Woods and Muhammad Ali. Based on the data below, Tim Tebow will likely become the next icon if he turns out to be the real deal.

Woods tops the list for being in the most articles (6,983) followed by Jordan, Nicklaus, Mickelson, Manning, Favre, Bonds, and Brady. The latter group was each mentioned in 2,700 to 3,700 articles. The group of top 10 athletes represented football (3), basketball (3), golf (2), boxing (1), and baseball (1).

(Analysis of the SI database is included in the December 2, 8, and 20 blog posts. The three discussions identify the sports, major sporting events, male athletes, and female athletes to most frequently adorn the front cover.)

Sports Illustrated Vault – Top Sports and Event Covers

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Are you a sports enthusiast looking for a way to take a walk down memory lane?

Sports Illustrated has just the ticket – the SI Vault – Your Link to Sports History(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/). The website includes a database that allows sports enthusiasts to conduct searches on SI articles, covers, galleries, and swimsuit issues. These searches provide an interesting perspective on what has been important in sports since SI began publishing in 1954.

In December I conducted a couple of searches in the database to answer the following questions:
• Which of 15 sports was featured most often on the cover?
• Which of 3 major sporting events was featured most frequently on the cover?
• Which of a group of 7 topics was most frequently discussed in SI?
As well, the purpose of this study was to also provide a moderately rigorous analysis of the SI database to identify interesting trends, i.e. the process is not rigorous enough to publish in an academic journal.

The analysis methodology was simple. The category names listed in the charts below were placed in the advanced search engine (exact phrase). Note that slightly different frequencies may result by placing the category names in the general search box.

The results shows that football has been featured on the front cover most often. Although baseball is our national pastIn fact, it ended up second, slightly ahead of basketball.

After the top three, the numbers drop off quickly. Golf, boxing, and hockey were 4th, 5th and 6th, followed by track, tennis, and horse racing. Although track, hockey, soccer, and tennis fall below boxing in the number of covers they had a greater number of articles written about them.

The World Series and Super Bowl had essentially the same number of covers; however, the World Series has been in existence for much longer than the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl will likely become the major sporting event that most frequently graces the SI covers. The Final Four was a distant third. The gap between the number of SI covers for it and the World Series will probably be narrowed in the years ahead.

Both the Super Bowl and World Series had a similar number of articles written about them as the sports of hockey, soccer, and tennis. That illustrates the importance of these 3 athletic/entertainment events.

A sample of 7 topics was selected to try to understand the extent to which SI covered the darker side of sports and athletics. Scandals made the cover 5 times and drugs made it 4 times. Although betting and politics did not make the cover, they received significant coverage in the articles.

With the end of the football season on the horizon, the SI Vault may provide a way to spend Sunday afternoons until the golf course gets open.  Give it a try.

(Analysis of the SI Vault database is included in the December 2, 8, and 20 blog posts. The three discussions identify the sports, major sporting events, male athletes, and female athletes to most frequently adorn the front cover.)

Stay Focused on the Present

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The University of Colorado Women’s Volleyball team completed its inaugural season in the PAC-12 with a 1-21 record. On November 18, the Buffs captured their only conference win in a thriller against Washington State 3-2. Despite their dismal win-loss record, the team improved in key areas – teamwork, court coverage, spirit, and a more balanced offense. As well, many of the players elevated their skills.

With that in mind I asked Assistant Coach Tom Hogan, what he did to keep the spirits of the players up during the extended winless drought and how he raised the performance of the team despite their record. His answer was simple, “We worked hard in practices and matches to stay focused on the present. When you focus on the past or the future, your performance drops off. That is what we did and we were able to do it better than in years past.” It is important to note the emphasis on the words, “worked hard.”

These words of wisdom apply to any sport. For example, when a tennis player enters a tournament he/she should stay focused on the match at hand, rather than thinking about who they might play in the second or third round of the tournament. They should concentrate on the things they can control, such as how hard they try, proper hydration, staying focused on the present, and what they must do to maximize their performance. At the same time they must disregard the factors they cannot control, such as the weather, temperature, bad line calls, or crowd distractions.

As illustrated by Coach Hogan’s comments, the basics of sport are simple. As anyone who has coached or played a sport can testify, consistent execution during good times and bad is the challenge.

 

Fans Rush the FIeld After First Conference Win

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The University of Colorado’s entrance into the Pac 12 has seen its share of bumps and bruises. The soccer coach has resigned. The volleyball team fought hard, but lost 19 straight conference matches.

The football team was outscored 154 to 79 in its first four conference games, before upsetting Arizona 48-29 in game five.

It is hard to tell if the season was harder on the team or the fans, who were excited to celebrate any good turn of events.

After winning the Arizona game, Buff fans rushed the field after the game (much as they did 20ish years ago when they qualified to play in the Orange Bowl for the national championship).

Afterwards, the Daily Camera (11/14) interviewed a student whose response to the fans’ celebratory mood was, “Oh, how embarrassing.”

Perspective is everything.

Roller Derby – “I Can Hit People and Not Go to Jail”

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The November 14 issue of the Boulder Daily Camera included an article entitled “Roller Derby Championship Draws a Crowd.” The article summed up “the best” Sunday at the fifth annual national roller derby championships hosted by the Denver Roller Dolls.

Choice quotes from the article included:

• “It’s one of the few sports out there for women that’s a full-contact, aggressive sport. It takes a lot of teamwork to play it well.”

• “It’s the best game I’ve ever seen played. It’s intense.

• A Thornton resident, who took his 4-year-old daughter to watch the bouts said, “I want her to see roller skating and tough girls. I want her to have the message that girls can do anything.

• Finally, one of the participants quipped, “It’s the greatest sport ever. It’s the only way I can hit people and not go to jail.”

Roller Derby is a hoot! The players show athleticism on skates greater than the skills of their beloved fans.

Interestingly enough, the article appeared on the front page of the Local news section, not the Sports page.

 

Losers in the NBA Lockout

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As the NBA lockout drags on, the negative impact on NBA communities increases. While it obviously effects the millionaire owners and players, they are only a handful of people. They will be just fine.

The list of real victims includes:

The day to day NBA employees – The NBA has sales, marketing, administrative, and executive staffs that guide the organization. With decreased revenue from no games , there will be decreased payrolls, i.e. fewer employees. As well, the NBA offices outsource to local firms for research, printing, consulting, and other services. That business is gone until the season begins.

The team employees in each of the NBA cities and the companies who they outsource business to. The cast of characters and negative impact is similar to the national office

The part-time event workers – There are a number of behind the scene part-time workers who make the events possible. This includes the folks who mop up your spilled beer and sweep up the popcorn you dropped on the floor. As well there are the ushers, janitors, parking lot attendants, and the concessionaires who sold you the beer and popcorn. While these folks are paid in the $10 to $15 per hour range, their part-time wages are often critical to their families. There are thousands of part-time workers in this category.

The special services workers – An NBA game includes people who provide special services for the event that add to the game-day experience. How could you forget the cheerleaders and team mascots? Not to mention the scorers, the scoreboard operator, the announcer with the booming baritone voice, and the folks who put on the light show and play the blaring music. And there are half time acts, such as the scantily clad dancers and the acrobatic dogs who catch Frisbees. In addition, there are the radio and television broadcast teams, their staffs and crews, and the lost advertising premiums associated with coverage of the games. There is a trickle-down effect; the lost wages
associated with these workers are not being circulated throughout the community.

Local businesses – there are local restaurants, hotels, bars, t-shirt shops, and other businesses that will experience a decline in revenue because of the loss of game-day traffic throughout the season. The loss of revenues will result in decreased purchases from their suppliers.

The list goes on… What about the cities with new arenas? The cities that would like to build new arenas? What about the teams that are struggling with attendance? Will the lockout cause disillusioned fans to stay away long after the players have returned to work? Will the lockout cause future ticket prices to escalate to make up for lost revenues?

The desire for increased revenue and wages on the part of a few, sometimes referred to as greed, has created an ugly scenario for many innocent victims.

Club Volleyball Tryouts – Read the Play, Move Your Feet, Communicate

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Most club volleyball tryouts are nerve wracking.

They involve playing in a different gym, seeing new coaches armed with clipboards and pens
ready to make notes, and long lines of nervous girls anxiously attempting to impress the other players and coaches with their abilities. Many players and their parents enter such an event believing that the way to make a good mark is to have good skills such as a great serve, good hands, and a hard spike.

While these skills are important, coaches have different philosophies and may have different criteria for their clubs’ tryouts. Some coaches measure sport specific skills, such as passing, setting, or serving. Other coaches will evaluate general athletic skills such as jumping, leaping, speed, strength, or agility.

Tom Hogan, a coach in the CU Women’s Volleyball program and former USOC assistant coach, told a group of players at a TCA Volleyball Club tryout in Boulder that standout athletes possess the following qualities:
• They read the play and they react to the ball, even when it is not coming directly to them.
• They move their feet and get to the ball.
• They communicate on the court – they get along with their teammates and support them; they talk when they are going for the ball; they have a positive presence on the court. While Hogan’s list was specific to volleyball, it applies to most other sports.

Very few of the players and their parents would have populated their tryout list with these qualities. In other words, a high-caliber coach has a different perspective on the sport and what makes a quality player. This is something for parents and players to keep in mind as the club season progresses.

 

Mobile Apps Hit the Slopes

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When I first got my smart phone I couldn’t wait to tell my wife about all of the great applications – the New York Times, NFL Mobile, and Navigation.  She couldn’t wait to tell me about Angry Birds.

Very quickly, I learned that applications were called apps and there is an app for just about everything. To illustrate this point I had a skier friend enthusiastically tell me about the apps for his sport as he drove up to the slopes for the last run of the 2010-2011 season. I am not a frequent skier, but his discussion about the use of apps in his sport was intriguing.

As I quickly learned, Colorado’s ski companies are using social media (Facebook, Twitter, and mobile applications) to let the world know about everything from recent snowfall to special online deals to number of runs skied.

One of my friends favorite apps used the RFID tags on season tickets to track the number of days skied and vertical miles logged. He and his buddies used the app for “bragging rights” and to determine who bought the beers at the end of the day. Another option allows users with smart phones to get alerts when friends are on the mountain. Obviously, users had to opt into these options to allow this type of tracking.

Another app, Realski, allows users to take pictures and geotag them. On the slopes, users can then relocate that special powder or terrain. Off the slopes it may be used to help find the car in the parking lot after a long day on the slopes or a late night in the watering holes.

Ski operators market the mobile apps as a tool for enhancing the skier/boarder experience. As well, they also see it as an opportunity to increase communications with their customers and strengthen brand loyalty. In theory everyone wins.

This brief post is not intended to be a comprehensive review of ski and boarder mobile aps, rather it illustrates how they are being applied to recreation activities to improve a person’s  sporting experience and to strengthen companys’ financial stakes in those sports. Watch for similar apps in your favorite sports and recreational activities.

 

Colorado Pro Cycling Race’s Economic Impact – $84 Million

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On October 19, 2001 the Denver Business Journal published a report stating “The inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge brought an $83.5 million economic impact to Colorado.  By comparison, the National Western Stock Show generates over $100 million of economic activity with about 700,000 visitors. They are similar events in that visitor spending is the major source of economic activity.

The DBJ went on to say:
• $67.4 million in direct spending on lodging, food, transportation and entertainment by more than 1 million visitors who watched the race in Colorado.
• 22.9% of race visitors came from out of state, with 71.6 percent of them saying the race was their specific reason for visiting Colorado.
• 20.8% of visitors came from in-state and traveled more than 50 miles to see the race.
• The average party size for visitors from out of state or at least 50 miles away was five people.
• The average household income of spectators was $113,918.
• 94.2% of the spectators said they were likely or very likely to attend next year.
• The event received up to 25 hours of global television coverage (NBC and Versus) in 161 countries. This is an intangible benefit.

Clearly, the Challenge had positive economic impact, but the brief summary raises questions about the size of the impact.
• Colorado’s median household income is about $56,000 and the US median household income is about $51,000. It is difficult to understand how the average household income for all spectators could be $113,918 if almost 770,000 spectators were from Colorado.
• One million visitors had direct spending of $67.4 million on lodging, food, transportation, and entertainment. That equates to $67.40 for each visitor. A case can be made that the average household income of $113,918 would support a higher daily average.  The spending data doesn’t seem to reconcile.

While it is appropriate to conduct analyses that only look at economic activity, at some point, the cities who host the events will be forced to ask the question, “Do local tax revenues exceed local costs?”

To that point the DBJ indicated that The Aspen Times reported Oct. 7 that city expenses associated with the race in exceeded tax revenues from visitors by nearly $16,000. How many other host cities experienced race related expenses greater than associated tax revenues?

It is evident that the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is an ideal match with the Colorado life style. Moving forward it will be necessary to have a better accounting of its economic and fiscal impacts on the state and the communities if it is to be an event that has a long-term future in the state. Challenge officials market the event as a Colorado event, not an event to promote the communities. If that continues to be the case, it may be necessary for the state to do more to cover a portion of expenses associated with future races.

 

 

NBA Lockout Update

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From the October 12, 2011 Boulder Daily Camera…

“News Flash
We interrupt our nation’s obsession with football to bring you the season’s first NBA score:
Who cares 97, Good Riddance 88.”

Sadly, the losers are not the owners or the players, but the local businesses who rely on the professional sports seasons to keep their doors open and their workers on the payroll.