You are here: Home / Archives for John Evan Frook

Give Mojo Introduces Trash Talk Sports Social Media Game

November 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Passion is what sports is all about. Just ask radio host Jim Rome. And that’s what Give Mojo drives at with a new college football sports social media application that allows fans to select a game they want to participate in, and then let loose with competitive commentary.

Called Give Mojo, the game has some interesting twists. After signing up with Facebook or Twitter, the interface allows you to select a specific college football game. When you do, you are placed into a “smack stream.” where you participate in ongoing banter with others in the stream. Comments are virtually identical to Twitter posts, except a favorite comment is a Hi-5 and a retweeted comment is a resmack.

Fans earn points for themselves and their favorite college football team by posting comments on behalf of their team, sharing smack on Facebook and Twitter or buying points through Give Mojo.

Give Mojo is co-founded by Karl Meinhardt, who is best known for developing an e-commerce website for grocery store chain Albertsons. Give Mojo plans to extend its sports social media platform into other arenas, including politics.

Give Mojo is optimized for mobile web browsers, but not distributed as an application. It works with IE9, or the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

No One Lies About Nittany Lions: Penn State Emerging As Sports Social Media Case Study

November 7, 2011 by 4 Comments

The title of Jerry Sandusky's book, "Touched," retweeted by sports social media community

It may not be O.J. Simpson hiding in the back seat of a slow-moving, white Ford Bronco on Los Angeles freeways, but it may as well be.

News that former Penn State college football coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with 21 felony counts of abusing boys between 1994 and 2009, and that Penn State athletics director Tim Curley and Senior Vice President Gary Schultz allegedly perjured themselves before a grand jury is the most far-reaching, negative news story to emerge during the era of the 360-degree sports viewing experience.

How Penn State moves to heal its following through sports social media communication, the figures who emerge as the most effective communicators and which sports content providers provide the best outlets for audience interaction will be important milestones in the development of best practices in sports social media.

On Nov. 7, Penn State was still a breaking news story. And, because of sports social media and the seriousness of the allegations, the story is breaking fast, loud and profane. Here’s what is happening right now:

Deadspin aggressively advances story, mainstream media largely a no show

True to form, Deadspin had the edgiest story among the major media outlets when the sports feature news cycle began on Nov. 7.

Here’s a Deadspin-centric tweet:

Good God. No words. “As Recently As 2009, Jerry Sandusky Was Running An Overnight Football Camp For Kids @ Penn State” http://t.co/iBYvZOvm

November 7, 2011 10:24 am via Tweet ButtonReplyRetweetFavorite
@asonnenb

Aaron Sonnenberg

Columnist Jason Whitlock continues to step up as a mainstream media guy comfortable with sports social media. On Nov. 7, he took his strongest stance so far:

Institutions/corporations valued over human life. JoePa must go! http://t.co/ZiU6yKCK My column today is why #realmenchooseFOXSports

November 7, 2011 11:24 am via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@WhitlockJason

Jason Whitlock

The Penn State story is proving a prove a boon for independent sports blogs.

TheBigLead, which was founded in 2006 and acquired by Fantasy Sports Ventures in 2010, has been knocking on the story hard while the big boys have tried to make sense of it.

A Nov. 7  story that posted at 10 a.m. titled “Joe Paterno Should Resign” generated 356 responses,  131 likes and 177 tweets in its first four hours.

Here’s TheBigLead’s strongest tweet on the morning of Nov. 7:

Disturbing RT @: Sandusky worked out in Penn State weight room multiple times last week http://t.co/XoEgRCwD

November 7, 2011 11:47 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@TheBigLead

Jason McIntyre

ESPN gun shy after > Tebow?

TheBigLead was enjoying good interaction, especially in contrast to ESPN. ESPN’s Penn State lead story on the morning of Nov. 7 was a SportsCenter video. Comments were not allowed. That may be a critical misstep step by the sports network. ESPN is currently the subject of an out-of-control comment string related to Tim Tebow, according to an earlier article in MobileSportsReport. If ESPN opted out of publishing commentary-based journalism about Penn State on the morning of Nov. 7 because it was still gun shy over the Tebow incident, it lost out on an opportunity to provide a forum for anxious legions of fans to speak out.

Yahoo! scores early, then disappears

In contrast to TheBigLead’s interaction, Yahoo! Sports’  failed to capitalize on an early advantage it established in the Sandusky story. On Nov. 5, Yahoo Sports sportswriter Dan Wetzel’s “Penn State’s insufficient action amid child sex allegations stunning”  broke the facts central to the story. Wetzel wrote:

“At approximately 9:30 p.m. on March 1, 2002, a Penn State graduate assistant entered what should have been an empty football locker room. He was surprised to hear the showers running and noises he thought sounded like sexual activity, according to a Pennsylvania grand jury “finding of fact” released Saturday.

When he looked in the shower he saw what he estimated to be a 10-year-old boy, hands pressed up against the wall, “being subjected to anal intercourse,” by Jerry Sandusky, then 58 and Penn State’s former defensive coordinator. The grad assistant said both the boy and the coach saw him before he fled to his office where, distraught and stunned, the grad assistant telephoned his father, who instructed his son to flee the building.

The next day, a Saturday, the grad assistant went to the home of head coach Joe Paterno and told him what he had seen. The day after that, Paterno called Penn State athletic director Tim Curley to his home to report that the grad assistant had told him he had witnessed “Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.”

A week-and-a-half later, according to the grand jury report, the grad assistant was called to a meeting with Curley and Gary Schultz, the school’s senior vice president for finance and business, where he retold his story.

…Curley did not notify university police or have the graduate assistant further questioned involving the incident. No other legal or university entity investigated the case.

Despite telling the facts of the case first, Yahoo Sports failed to capitalize as the story developed. Its lead story on the morning of Nov. 7 was posted 14 hours earlier, and titled “Paterno statement in abuse case raises more questions.”  The story had 1,000 likes but only 143 tweets, fewer than TheBigLead.

The key reason Yahoo dropped the ball may be fantasy sports. Yahoo has the largest audience and the largest revenue base for fantasy sports among digital sports content providers. Operationally, Yahoo moves from primarily a sports media outlet Monday-through-Friday to an information service company over the weekend. That may be the reason Yahoo ceded its status as news leader, at least temporarily, on Monday morning.

Public advances story with fact and observation

Twitter proved to be a better place than most websites to see facts that advance the story on the morning of Nov. 7.

These three tweets might seem trivial, but you can be pretty sure both of these facts will turn up in Sports Illustrated or similar in-depth magazine articles in the coming week:

The Penn State Creamery has pulled the “Sandusky Blitz” ice cream flavor from its list.

November 7, 2011 10:07 am via SeesmicReplyRetweetFavorite
@phiala

Sarah Goslee

In Hindsight, “Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story” Was an Unfortunate Book Title http://t.co/Lx2AQUc3

November 7, 2011 10:32 am via ShareThis.comReplyRetweetFavorite
@Jknoeppel

John Knoeppel

Jerry Sandusky is married & has six kids; five boys & a girl… he’s one sick joker!!!

November 7, 2011 11:51 am via SeesmicReplyRetweetFavorite
@AngryBlkManDC

Mr. ManSitChoAzzDown

Penn State takes solid approach

Penn State displays best practices in public relations on its live Twitter feed, providing tweets about official news related to the case. Early on Nov. 7, it moved its latest update:

From last night, Curley and Schultz step down: http://t.co/giaGIDwq ; Paterno issues statement: http://t.co/C7PLNHrN

November 7, 2011 6:29 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@penn_state

Penn State

Arrington gets attention

Former Penn State great LaVar Arrington is one of the leaders in getting attention through Penn State on Twitter:

I am ashamed of the possible actions of what would seem to be very irresponsible men! Not my school Penn State did not do this

November 7, 2011 9:15 am via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite
@LaVarArrington

LaVar Leap Arrington

Arrington, a former No. 1 National Football League draft pick who was coached by Sandusky at linebacker U, is a radio host and sells T-shirts through his Arrington Entertainment brand. His Twitter posts are more inflammatory than a neutral blog post he wrote on the subject on the Washington Post.

The people speak

Comments on Twitter were running about one per minute on Twitter on Monday morning, and the average Twitter person delivered strong commentary:

The town of Sandusky, Ohio just changed their name to Hitler, Ohio. Less bad press.

November 7, 2011 9:02 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@TuckerMax

Tucker Max

It’s been more than 24 hours since Joe Pa released his pathetic statement. Disgraceful that Penn State hasn’t fired him yet.

November 7, 2011 9:40 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@JimmyTraina

Jimmy Traina

Interestingly, some of the earliest tweets were among the most profane:

Just read the Penn State article. Joe Paterno, you’re a selfish prick. Fuck you and your program. (via @) bit.ly/uMttZ4

November 5, 2011 5:50 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@DCSportsFTW

Michael Callow


 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Sports Social Media, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Greater than Tebow Commentary Emerges as Sports Social Media Phenomenon, Rocks ESPN Website

November 4, 2011 by 8 Comments

Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow, sparks sports social media "Greater than Tebow" firestorm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow is the subject of a massive ESPN social media onslaught, as fans pound the comment string of an obscure blog post with “greater than Tebow” commentary about the quarterback.

Also known as  > Tebow, here is exactly what is going on:

Lefthanded, slow in his release, terrible in his footwork and sporting a 46.1 completion percentage as a starter, Tebow is also a devout man of God who says and does all the right things in the locker room and the community. Based on the ESPN blog post, he also polarizes sports fans like no one else. On October 31, ESPN member QuanB8 posted a greater than sign comment on an ESPN blog post by Bill Williamson titled “Time for Elway to think post-Tebow.”

QuanB8’s comment said:

My dead grandmothers > Tebow

Quan8’s comment ignited> Tebow with sports fans commenting at a rate of at least five per minute at 9 am EST on Nov. 4. ESPN stopped counting at 5000.

Recent Greater than Tebow comments on ESPN

Here are eight > Tebow that appeared within a two-minute time span on ESPN:

  1. Bruce Jenner’s masculinity > Tebow
  2. drug abuse > Tebow
  3. Having bieber fever > Tebow
  4. webinars > Tebow
  5. Godfather 3 > Tebow
  6. Chaz Bono’s beard > Tebow
  7. Reenacting “Weekend at Bernie’s” with Al Davis > Tebow
  8. Realizing I am not going to get any work done because of > Tebow > Tebow

Five Most Popular Greater than Tebow comments on ESPN

As of Nov.  4, here are the five most popular greater than Tebow comments:

  1. Knock knock?…. Who’s there?…… Doesn’t matter, it’s > Tebow (86 likes)
  2. making eye contact with a 40 year old man while he’s eating a banana > tebow (50 likes)
  3. Deadspin linking here > Tebow (43 likes)
  4. Getting Scurvy on Oregon trail > Tebow (41 likes)
  5. filming notre dame football practice from a hydraulic scissor lift > tebow (40 likes)

Sports Grid breaks news

On SportsGrid, sportswriter Dan Fogarty was one of the first sportswriters to identify the Greater than Tebow phenomenon.

Here are six of Fogarty’s favorite Greater than Tebow comments:

  1. Eating your kids > Tebow
  2. “Murder she wrote” > Tebow
  3. Legally marrying a McRib sandwich > Tebow
  4. what what in the butt > tebow
  5. Leonard Nimoy’s scrotum > Tebow
  6. Aging as quickly as Greg Oden > Tebow

The ESPN Tebow comment string underscores that sports fans are rabid about the controversial issues of sport, and when you strike a chord, they show up with a passion unrivaled in most other vertical markets. “Greater than Tebow” also illustrates that sports fans will stay captured within the domain of a website that generates the “triggering” sports content. After all, in its first four days, sports fans did not migrate to Twitter with their disparaging “greater than Tebow” comments about the QB. “Time for Elway to think post-Tebow.” takes you to the article and the most-up-to-date comments.

The commentary about the quarterback is expected to continue through the weekend, when the Broncos face their Oakland Raiders division rivals at Oakland on Nov. 6. Based in the Bay Area, blue-collar Raiders fans are as wired as any and caustic. Whether CBS Sports‘ Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, who will be covering the game, choose to bring up the  > Tebow phenomenon or bowdlerize it from broadcast remains to be seen.

Tebowing

The Greater than Tebow phenomenon on ESPN is the second major sports social media groundswell to occur around the controversial Broncos QB. There’s also a practice called “Tebowing,” where fans strike a famous pose of the quarterback in various locations. According to AMOG, a website designed by Denver native Jared Kleinstein that allows people to upload their “Tebowing” pictures gets about 400,000 hits daily. Kleinstein is monetizing the website by selling T-shirts. Courtesy of Jared Kleinstein’s website, here are examples of Tebowing:

The Tebowing Master Shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tebowing at a wedding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dog Tebowing: No. 1 Tebowing shot on tebowing.com

Filed Under: > Tebow, Denver Broncos, ESPN, Greater than Tebow, Sports Social Media, Tim Tebow Tagged With: , , , , ,

Five Most Popular Greater Than Tebow Comments on ESPN

November 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Five Most Popular Greater than Tebow comments on ESPN

As of Nov.  4, here are the five most popular greater than Tebow comments:

  1. Knock knock?…. Who’s there?…… Doesn’t matter, it’s > Tebow (86 likes)
  2. making eye contact with a 40 year old man while he’s eating a banana > tebow (50 likes)
  3. Deadspin linking here > Tebow (43 likes)
  4. Getting Scurvy on Oregon trail > Tebow (41 likes)
  5. filming notre dame football practice from a hydraulic scissor lift > tebow (40 likes)
Filed Under: Denver Broncos, ESPN, Greater than Tebow Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cubbies Insider Hits Sports Social Media Dinger

November 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Cubs' Kevin Saghy provides how-to guide for sports social media professionals

Kevin Saghy, a public relations and marketing specialist for the Chicago Cubs, today published on Social Media Guide an insider’s perspective on best practices in sports social media.

Upbeat, unique and realistic, Saghy’s blog post is significant because it rates as one of the most thorough how-to guides by a sports social media professional to date.

In it, Saghy says sports fans are changing, including a growing expectation that a tweet to the team will be reacted to quicker than shortstop Starlin Castro gets his bat through the strike zone.

One of the quickest bats in the Major Leagues: Cubs SS Starling Castro

Saghy documents the creation and maintenance of the @CubsInsider Twitter handle, which has 24,167 followers as of Nov. 3. Saghy offers these three tips for others who manage the social media efforts of a professional sports or college athletics team:

  1. Get to know your influencers
  2. Small gestures can make a big impact
  3. Don’t lose sight of your core value
Saghy says sports social media representatives can expect to be asked about everything from player’s stats to the closest location for a good chicken sandwich at the stadium. Among other suggestions, he calls on those representing sports teams to visit with fans who tweet their seat locations, provide giveaways to fans who follow a team on twitter, meet face-to-face with bloggers and run events tuned to sports social media power users.
“These efforts show our fans that we’re not just talking the talk; we’re investing time and energy to learn more about our fans and reward them for their loyalty to the Cubs.”
Simply, Maghy’s Social Media Guide blog post is a must read.
Filed Under: Major League Baseball, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

“Content is another word for too much crap,” Sports Illustrated Executive Says

November 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Ford (left) and McDonell

Terry McDonell, Editor, Time Inc. Sports Group, and Mark Ford, president, Time Inc. Sports Group, debuted today in an video interview where they said they didn’t know how Sports Illustrated would monetize its sports social media, and McDonell called “content another word for too much crap.”

Speaking to MeetTheBoss.tv, McDonell and Ford don’t say anything all that different than what sports social media leaders at major print publishing brands are saying today. It is the unfocused nature of the interview that was unusual.

MeetTheBoss.tv focuses on “business challenges that matter today, clearly explaining the solutions, competitive strategies, people, and thinking around them,” but it is also a content provider aimed at aspiring executives. That may help explain the free-wheeling, non-substantive nature of the SI executive’s comments.

The interview underscores that few, if anyone, really knows how to make money on sports content as it flows to smartphones and tablet devices, and just a few basic principles are what business leaders have to go on as they push brands further into the social community space.

In leading the interview, MeetTheBoss.tv points up Sports Illustrated was first to market with a tablet application that delivered a major magazine brand to readers. Later, it brings up the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue was one of the first to include experiential marketing, smartphone, and tablet distribution for a major print product. McDonell said experimenting with sports social media has opened up SI’s corporate structure.

“Specifically at SI everybody basically created new jobs for themselves,” McDonell said. “It got fast and fun. We started inviting everyone from I.T. (information technology) at SI to our parties, and they acted like they had never been invited to a party before. So, they all showed up and then pretty soon they said, “pssstt what about this”…(Pretty soon), we had a real hot unit, and — you know — we haven’t cooled off much.

Then SI’s McDonell says,

“Content” is another word for too much crap. If you can break through that and not have “content” but have something good, people will pay for it.”

In making his “content is another word for too much crap” comment, McDonell plays off a famous line made famous by Sumner Redstone, who is majority owner of  CBS Corporation, Viacom, MTV Networks, BET, and the film studio Paramount Pictures. At the dawn of the Internet as a commercial medium, when everyone was trying to figure out what dot.com meant to media, it was Redstone who famously said “content is king.” Microsoft chairman Bill Gates borrowed the famous line, and wrote an article in 1996 titled “Content is King.” Eleven years later, Redstone wrote in 2007 an article titled “If Content is King, Copyright is Its castle.”

In a section of the interview where McDonell and Ford say SI doesn’t plan to monetize sports social media content, the executives said the focus is on authentic content.

“We have some big-time social media people at Sports Illustrated,” McDonell says. “All that stuff works for us but it is kind of an orchestra coming together. I’m not sure. I’m not sure how we get the money.”

Ford then says,

“We don’t even use that language (referring to money). It is about building an authenticate community and an audience that’s true to the brand. Through that, opportunities will come up..It would be a big mistake to try to monetize that too quickly.”

McDonell adds,

“It is not a community. To be really successful, it has to be beyond community. It has to be tribal. You are building a tribe. And if you are in that tribe, you join that tribe, you want all that tribe stuff.”

Ford then says,

“Terry was in motorcycle gangs up in Northern California, you can tell. It was very tribal. We both love motorcycles.”

You will have to register for an account, but here’s the full interview:

Mark Ford & Terry McDonell Interview

Filed Under: Sports Content Executives, Sports Social Media, Time Inc. Tagged With: , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »