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Three Questions

A few random questions from my friend Jason.

May 24, 2007 | RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | 8 COMMENTS

A few weeks ago my friend Jason asked if I would mind answering a few questions for him on my blog. I agreed. Unfortunately (or fortunately) they turned out much more difficult than I imagined. So, after a few weeks of thinking, here they are (still basically half-baked).

1. Certain people were highly offended when The New York Times purchased search keywords related to the Virginia Tech massacre, linking to the paper's coverage. Now, I can understand the outrage if a political candidate had bought the terms to shove an anti- (or even pro-) gun control message. Or if the University of Virginia had tried to encourage VT students to transfer. But the people were ostensibly searching for news, and news is what The Times provides. While perhaps it's beneath the Paper of Record, I'm not sure I see a breach of ethics. What's your point of view?

It doesn't really bother me. I'm with you, people are most likely searching for news and this is a piece of news. Anyway, profiting on someone else's misfortune is most certainly not a new phenomena. Newspapers ,and media generally, have been making money off disaster forever. It's funny, actually, just this morning I read this entry from my friend Josh. In it he quotes Gabe from Techmeme explaining that he's alright with the site being gamed because the real world is gamed. Josh goes on to point out something I think most people fail to realize on the web: There's not that much radically new social or cultural interaction going on. More than anything else, it's all be recorded and exposed to the world. To quote Josh directly, "a major feature of the Web is the recording of human behavior in its many forms. To a lesser extent is the creation of truly new behaviors."

I actually have this conversation with a lot of people specifically pertaining to blogs. At their most basic, blogs are far from revolutionary, they're a publishing platform not all that much different than any other. Rather it's the access, frequency, cost and a number of other factors that make the medium unique.

One more story before I finish answering this one. When I was in college there was a sudden trend of killing yourself in the library. Two or three people did it within a few weeks. One of my friends happened to be there and he took a picture. He then sold that picture to the New York Post. Now I'm not condoning the behavior and the paper didn't end up publishing the photo in the end, but it is an illustration of profiting off death.

2. For years, I laughed at the Poulan Weedeater Independence Bowl. But when I needed weeds eaten, I knew of only one brand. Saturday was the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum Brands. I don't really understand this one. Yum owns chains like Taco Bell and Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's. Generating greater awareness of the corporate "restaurant system" can't do much for sales. So I guess their target is investors. Is this strategy common? Does it often work? Do you have Yum in your portfolio?

Um . . . I wish I could answer this one. Branding strategies specifically targeting investors is certainly a piece of the puzzle (just ask a big company like IBM or Microsoft). The Yum thing is quite peculiar, though, since in theory if they had named it after Long John Silver's savvy investors would have connected it to the parent brand anyway. I wonder if Yum has some other idea. I could keep pretending I have an answer to this question if you want . . .

3. I loved the way Roger Clemens announced he was coming back to the Yankees. Reminiscent of the 1987 Piper's Pit when Andre The Giant turned heel and tore off Hulk Hogan's shirt. In what other ways could the major professional sports use mid-1980s WWF gimmicks to increase excitement?

  1. Sparks and fire as NFL teams enter the field.
  2. John Madden gets hit by a strategically placed folding chair.
  3. Funny signs are handed out as fans enter the stadium.
  4. MLB Kilt Day ala Rowdy Roddy Piper.
  5. Pay-per-view Superbowl.

That's about all I got . . . anyone else have any thoughts on these?

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COMMENTS

1Jason

This is a high honor. Thanks for your thoughtful answers.

You're quickly becoming our generation's Dear Abby.

May 24, 2007

2Jarrett

I never watched the WWF in the mid-80s so I'm not sure how active Vince McMahon was back then but I know he's very active now. I think that the commissioners should make announcements about their decisions during games. How great would it have been to see David Stern announce the suspensions before the Spurs/Suns game?

May 25, 2007

3Noah Brier

And then get body slammed . . .

May 25, 2007

4Reverenddave

K I have given this a lot of thought, even if no one else appears to have:

NFL
- NFL pads should have to have spikes like the Legion of Doom
- Its not enough to tackle someone, they arent down till the ref does a three count
- Roger Goodall can institute random rule changes during games to favor one team. Like suddenly the visitors have to start every drive at their own 1. etc
- Jake Plummer has to return to the NFL and bring his pet python Damian to the sidelines at every game, occasionally draping it over defeated opponents.
- Fans should be encouraged to chant "You Fucked Up" whenever Rex throws an interception.

Baseball:
- Like Nintendo's Battle Wars, the runner cant be thrown out unless he is also beaten in man to man combat by the player covering the bag
- Barbed Wire Bats
- Players dont give interviews anymore, instead their managers (im thinking specifically Ozzie and Lou Pinella after a few drinks) have to talk maniacally while their players stare menacingly at the camera. To this end Paul Bearer should be hired by a major league team. I am thinking the Royals.

Basketball:
-Bodyslams, piledrivers and chokeslams into the scorer's tables are not only not fouls, but encouraged.
- Jesse the Body Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon are the new commentators for every game. Jesse has to wear the flowery boa. Gorilla Monsoon has to still be alive.

Golf:
- Babyface hero Tiger Woods rips off the green jacket on the final round of the Masters to join golf's most hated (I dunno, Mickelson and Fuzzy Zeillor?) to form the New World Order. To the shock and horror of fans everywhere Tiger then starts appearing at tournaments with stubble that isnt the same color as his hair, playing air guitar with a golf club as Voodoo Child plays. Then frequently in the back nine of tourneys Mickelson and Zeillor run out and beat down his opponents while Tiger distracts the officials.

Women's Billiards:
- The Black Widow should have to dress the way WWF Divas do.

All Sports:
- All halftime entertainment should be midget wrestling.
- Every game should end with the winner slamming two beers together then chugging them while flicking off the loser who should have to stand under the Jumbotron looking embarressed and angry. I think this would work paticularly well with professional bowling, table tennis and Majong.

Finally one from Bill Simmons: During the playoffs between Pats and Colts have Vinitieri purposely shank the game winning kick and then rip off his jersey to reveal a Pats jersey underneath while WWF announcer Jim Ross (who should be teamed with Madden) screams "OH MY GOD"

May 25, 2007

5Jason

That was incredible. I was going to say you should blow that out into its own blog. But you might be able to stretch that into a TV show. No, TV network. We could show Dave-improved sports and reruns of American Gladiators.

May 25, 2007

6Herb (likemind.min)

On question #1...I would disagree just a tad.

I would say blogs are revolutionary because of the exact reasons you mentioned, "Rather it's the access, frequency, cost and a number of other factors that make the medium unique".

I like to say we are going through a revolution similar to the effect Macs had on publishing some 20-odd years ago. When the Macs hit you gave the people (and by people I mean now anyone could sit down and create not just the hyper-professional writers, I'm generalizing but hopefully you get what I mean) an easier way to create/publish text/literature (once again, i'm over generalizing...but run with me on this...because I know i'm glossing over the effect of the typewriter). Macs gave more people the chance to write (once computer cost came down). But even though the "amateurs" could now have the opportunity to write/create, they did not have the "amateur" audience to publish to.

So while Macs gave more people a chance to write, blogs (and the internet) are final giving all those writers a chance at an audience. And its not just the audience either. Its this whole two-way communication thing going on.

It's late and I promised myself no blogging after midnight so I may have missed the point of your post...but I think blogs have had an impact, and we are just beginning to understand it.

May 29, 2007

7Noah Brier

Herb, totally agree. What I meant was that the medium of blogs are not revolutionary in and of themselves. I think it's slightly more complicated than Macs because they are much less of a technological revolution. Rather, blogs are more of an interface innovation, making it easier than ever before to publish.

Those things you mentioned, especially a chance at having an audience, are right on (and something for which I'm quite grateful). I just think it's important to understand the role of blogs themselves within the larger technological and media ecosystem they live. The way I think of it is technologically blogs are hardly revolutionary, content management system's are not a new thing. Socially, however, blogs are incredibly and have changed my life in ways I couldn't have ever imagined . . .

I hope that makes some sense. It's late for me as well and I've been working all weekend.

May 29, 2007

8virtual office

He really gave you something to think about. If someone asked me this and then I had to post the answer on my blog, I would have thought about it.

January 22, 2008