iPhone Apps

Another new technology that a few athletes are getting into is applications for the iPhone. A few athletes such as Chris Bosh from the NBA's Toronto Raptors, Mark Sanchez of the NFL's New York Jets, and, of course, Chad Ocho Cinco of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals have launched their own personal applications available for use on the iPhone. Sanchez was the first athlete with an app available for the iPhone, but his is currently not available for purchase. Ocho Cinco's app, called the Chad Ocho Cinco Experience, allows his fans to do many things such as follow his stats and the Cincinnati Bengals team, see pictures of Ocho Cinco and his family, submit questions to Chad in the "What Would Ocho Do?" section, and keep up with Ocho Cinco and what he is doing by following his Twitter account. The Chris Bosh app available for the iPhone provides his fans with daily updates for his Twitter feed, updated videos and game stats, and off the court pictures from Chris Bosh himself. Many believe that the reason that iPhone apps have not caught on with many athletes is because of all of the work that goes in to having an iPhone app. A Twitter account is easy and simple for athletes to use and does not take money and development like the iPhone app does. Nevertheless, iPhone apps for athletes are a new technology that may be used by other athletes in the future.

Ocho Cinco's News Network

Ocho Cinco is at it again! In the past, I wrote about Chad Ocho Cinco and how he used Twitter to communicate with fans and coordinate a celebration after he scored a touchdown in Green Bay against the Green Bay Packers. Now, Bengals WR Chad Ocho Cinco is in the news again using another form of communication. This time he's planning on creating his own new news network, called OCNN. This stands for the Ocho Cinco News Network. He is planning on running the news network through Twitter. Ocho Cinco is saying that he is going to use OCNN as a way to break news that many people will not know about all 32 NFL teams. He will be an inside source to all of the NFL teams because he is in the league. His slogan is "If I break it, you might as well believe it." This is another example of how sports, and more specifically Ocho Cinco, is using an emerging technology like Twitter to communicate with the general public.

Rush Limbaugh

Some big news in the world of sports during the past week was Rush Limbaugh and the possibility of him becoming a part owner of the St. Louis Rams football team. Rush Limbaugh is a well-known, and at some times highly controversial radio talk show host. He has been mentioned as a possible new owner of the St. Louis Rams football team and this has been a big topic of interest among current and former NFL players as well as current owners of other NFL teams. Many players and owners are strongly against the idea of Limbaugh being in the NFL because of some controversial comments he has made in the past. About 5 or 6 years ago, Limbaugh had some very questionable remarks regarding Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Because of this and some many other comments on his radio show that Limbaugh has made in the past, his ownership has been a big debate all week. This is an example of how sports relates to other realms of media, such as radio technology, because of Limbaugh's involvement in talk radio and his persuit of part ownership with the St. Louis Rams organization.

Sports and Radio

Hey everyone, whats up? This week in sports, I wanted to talk about David Garrard and idea for his own radio show. David Garrard is the starting quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL and wanted to start his own personal weekly radio show. He was planning on using the show to connect with fans and give his own personal previews for the games of the week and give his own personal opinions. The show was cancelled by the Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio because he claimed that the show was too close to gametime and would take away his focus for the games on Sundays. The show was scheduled to air on Fridays and coach Del Rio thought that 48 hours from gametime was too close to be conducting something like a radio show. This radio show is a huge example of the technology used between athletes and fans. Garrard's main purpose for the show was to connect and communicate with other fans of the Jaguars and many other NFL teams. I thought that this was a great example of an emerging technology in the world of sports because few current players have their own radio shows and use them to connect and interact with fans around the country.