Does Social Media Impact the Sporting Experience?

An interesting social media incident happened at a college basketball game in Washington recently where a reporter was held for excessive tweeting during a game. It sparked questions around, ' whether there should be a permissible limit for social media activity around a sporting event.' Incidentally during any baseball game, unless a person has a written consent from Major League Baseball, he isn't allowed to broadcast the events in any form on any public platform including social media.

With the growing popularity of social media is sports, the world is seeing information and opinions around events and announcements travelling at unimaginable speeds. The 20-20 world cup and the London 2012 are premier examples of how organizers are now recognizing platforms like Facebook and Twitter to spread awareness around sporting activities. These platforms are also giving supporters an opportunity to be just a tweet or a Facebook post away from their favorite sportsmen. While, many cricketers are already present on Twitter, icons of Indians cricket including Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are using Facebook as a platform to connect with fans.

While there is all this social media activity gripping the world of sports, there are also reasons that are forcing Major League Baseball or College Basketball association to curb social media activities at their events. They claim that all the continuous broadcasting by the spectators is making people lose interest in actually buying tickets and witnessing a game. They believe that live-tweeting during matches has been a major reason for the drop in ticket sales.

Social media might have contributed to reduced exclusivity in sports but claims that it is a reason for a reduction in income for sporting bodies is something that should be considered again. A few reasons I believe that social media is beneficial for sports and its stakeholders including the organizers  sportsmen, fans and sponsors is:

• The experience of watching profesional sports live is unmatchable, social media can never replace it.
• Sports has been broadcasted on television forever. Advertisements play a major role in revenue contribution.
• Social media helps create a strong property. The 20:20 World Cup and London 2012 are great examples.
• Social media allows the audience to get involved in the game drawing them closer to the live action.

Sports is all about exclusivity and whether social media will benefit it in the long run is yet be discover. However, one can be quite certain that the way sports fans across the world supported or experienced sports and its personalities has now changed forever. I would like to leave you with this interesting infographic which talks about the change social media has brought to sports and how it has helped build online brands out of events and sporting personalities.

Economics of Golf with used balls

We have all shelled out a fortune buying new balls for a round of golf which often turns into a game of 'Hide and Seek' with the ball itself. This infographic explains why it is ok to play with used balls. 

Courtesy: Billigegolfbolde.dk

E-commerce in Sports

India now buys products and services by violently tapping its fingers across the keyboard of a desktop/laptop that was bought in similar manner.With a user base of over 10 million, e commerce has close to revolutionalised the way  people buy and brands sell products. The popularity of the new medium of retailing has led to arguments around timely product deliveries,quality assurance,genuineness of the product and the effect on traditional retailers.

A couple of years back, one would imagine conversation similar to this ,"Hey I think the iPhone is way more expensive in the mall.I would rather buy it from the gadget shop in the local market." Today,everyone seems to have to shifted to the online format of buying and conversation on where to buy seem to end mostly with a .com.

There are standard products that people buy off e commerce portals which include gadgets,books,music,clothes,bags and now even paintings.The though that keeps circling my sporty head is, " Would I ever buy sports equipment online?." Eleven out of ten times the response I get from within is a strong NO. Sports equipment is try personal to the style of the person using it.While,I might go to a shop check out the same model ,test it an then come home and order it,there is one major psychological emotion that I am ignoring in the process and its called ,familiarity. While many professional sportsmen talk about weight distribution in a cricket bat,or the level of tension of the guts of a tennis racket or even the shaft of a golf club, one of the most important things people miss out on is the fact that sports equipment is a translation of ones passion/desire of indulging in a sporting activity. While I consider mysql as an evolved and avid user of technology and the internet,I would still like to have a twenty minute conversation with a salesman before buying a specialized product.

I believe sporting equipment is an extension of a person.It must do the trick on the battle field but must also blend with the personality of the person using it.Many professional sportsmen including Mahesh Bhupati and Yuvraj Singh have recognized the power of e commerce and have set up their own online shopping stores. There are interesting perspectives on why they chose to set up their online ventures.

As an aware Indian passionate consumer of sports goods,I honestly believe I would never buy equipment online because I like the excitement of going to a store and testing  5 other products that I don't intend to buy . I love playing shadow strokes inside a mall store and like I said,I have to see what meets my needs and blend with my life.

Three Life Lessons from Sports

I have been intending to write my first blog for the longest time now, its just that I never really found something that I would want to center it around.I thought to myself and after  long introspection figured that I was truly passionate about one thing,Sports.

A majority of my life has been dedicated to playing, watching, thinking and discussing sports.The passionate sports journey really taught me a  lot of things that I would like to classify as life lessons.

Courtesy Google Images

1. Tennis really helped me build my perception of honest hard work "It's easy to lie about your preparation off the court but as soon as you get out there, the first person to remind you of your weakness is yourself."A sport will always be a true indicator of your strengths and weaknesses,The game is an extension of your own self.

2. Another important lesson that I learnt was that what looks calm at the surface is not necessarily a cake walk.Golf boasts of being an attractive sport however,it also carries the tag of being 'the most boring game ever.'Stylish outfits and beautiful courses add to the charm of the course and the calmness of the course have contributed to it being called boring.However,being a regular at the golf couse I can swear my life that the sport is way more attractive than it looks and is far more challenging and non-boring than most sports in the world.

3. The final lesson that I learnt from sports is the fact that 'if your playing a game ,play every point like your life depends on it but if someone else is playing,its only entertainment."We love sitting and discussing players and their games on particular days.Its only when you have argued for hours or someone says something foolish that you realist that the subject of the debate is sleeping miles away in a mansion you could have only hoped to buy.Hence,let the games other people play be a form of 'mere' or 'passionate' entertainment.

Courtesy Google Images

This blog is a platform for my opinions on everything sporty; players,games,controversies,sporting equipment and everything that surrounds the sporting universe.Please do share your opinions and inputs on the way.

Peeping Into the Future of Indian Sports

I came across this interesting poll on a popular sports website, which wanted its audience to predict the future of cricket in 2013. This triggered me to think of how sports in India would be a year from now. Everything in the sporting world is changing and is changing very fast. How does a sports geek ( thats a term I just invented..or I hope I did!!!) like me adjust to these changes. One fine day from being a champion side, my country's cricket team decides, enough is enough, winning is not our thing anymore. The Indian Davis Cup decides to call a strike before an important encounter. Like I said, sports is changing and it is changing very fast. 

If i try and jog my brains into the future to predict what I think Indian sports would like exactly a year from now, I get some nice thoughts but some really scary ones too. There are a lot of 'What ifs?' in my head right now but leaving them aside, here are the top 5 things a sports lover can expect from 2013:

• Disruptive interference from irrelevant authorities in sports : This year around we did see a lot of disasters by India's sporting bodies. Starting with the AITA who made a complete mess of who would represent India at London 2012 to the IOA who have gotten themselves and several Indian Olympic hopefuls in a disastrous situation. I see this tren continuing to not just next year but form many years unless someone with some bit of sports-sense takes control of sports in India.
• Innovation in Sports: The concept of a test match held in the darkest hours has been knocking on the doors of the ICC for quite some time. The major purpose of night tests is to drive interest back to the long form of the game. Similar innovations to make other sports attractive can be expected in the next year. Dont be surprised if  you hear talks of a Golf Premier League to make the old man's sport more interesting for the people.
• Data analytics to decide the perfect 'Good Bye' moment: Data and analytical tools have become an integral part of professional and personal life. While, sales targets and product success were formally measured in numbers, today, everything is slowly being given a number even if it is engagement level when two people are talking. There is a huge chance of data analytics making its way to sports in a far bigger way. At a time, when the Indian country is expecting players to step down or retire, a holistic measure to define the tipping point is not too far away.
• Social Media in sports: London 2012 really got people into the games with their amazing social media strategy  Taking a leaf out of that book, was ICC's plan to promote the World Cup on Twitter. The growing popularity of social media in sports will only get bigger. I am putting my money on backing social media to bring back the excitement to those who have given up on their favorite sports.
• Women Empowerment: The one thing I really hope for in the coming year is that the concerned sports bodies, Give Women the Support to WIN!!! It is awful to see the treatment given to Indian women in sports. The year 2013 should bring some reasons to smile for Indian sports-women. 

An existing trend that I see continuing to the next year is that of Sports Movies. After the success of some really inspiring movies including Chak De India and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag , I really hope to see more of them.

Just like any other fan of Indian sports, I really hope we have a fantastic sporting year ahead. 

Saffola Meet Up: Because Healthy Can Be Tasty

In my conversations with amateur and professional sportsmen, one thing that always draws my attention is their health regime. And more often than not, the one thing that always comes out is the importance of a proper diet. So, whether it means having to miss out on your favorite butter chicken or the cookies in the glass jar staring at you from the corner of the room, a lot of sacrifices have to be made.

A little over a week back I got a call from the guys at Saffola about a rather interesting afternoon that they were planning around the other side of food. First thought, what does other side of food really mean?

Excited as always to meet new people and to witness the magic of Chef Vikas, I stumble into Blue Frog. The setting is pretty awesome with a Master Chef style stage grabbing the attention of all my fellow attendees. A couple of minutes of waiting and then walked in the afternoon’s host with Chef Vikas. Humor and simplicity of the internationally acclaimed chef seemed to have everyone completely glued onto him.

The chef started off with the health angle to food, spoke about some disgusting vegetables before he arrived at a slightly unbelievable thought, tasty can be healthy. Like me, a lot of the other attendees took to their Smartphone’s to tweet about his tall claim. After giving a short but interesting backgrounder, Vikas got to work . He cooked some lovely dishes out of some basic vegetables and then time for another claim, Oats can be tasty.

By now I knew, he was either majorly jet lagged or partied far too hard the previous night.

The next half an hour changed the way I looked at oats. That guy got people to make delicious pizza from Oats. The innovation was simple and only required basic cooking skills. In no time half the audience had some extremely interesting Oat dishes up their sleeve or rather on the table. Hard to accept  but well there is surprisingly another side to healthy food, its called tasty.

I am sure a lot of you sports enthusiasts struggling to maintain a good diet are wondering whether Masala Oats will help you keep things under control. Though, I am no culinary expert but as someone who likes to eat right without really compromising on taste, I would strongly recommend you to give them a try.

Cricket: The drama of Indian opinions

India is a country of diverse opinions. While we are slowly escaping the strong societal divides based on religion, food, culture, language and a million other characteristics of oneself that many dont really know of, the societal divide based on cricket might never set India free from its control.

While the Mumbaikar (and most Indians) believes, there has been no better cricketer to have lived than the little master, Sachin Tendulkar, most Bengalis would put their lives on the line to argue about the Ganguly supremacy. Most Delhities have already started comparing, the man in form,Virat Kohli to the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir (Delhi doesn't see beyond Delhi). 

In this entire clutter of some knowledge driven opinions and many emotional opinions, the responsibility of the Indian selectors becomes all the more difficult. Harbhajan Singh decides to pick up a few wickets and Rohit Sharma decides to slaughter the bowlers for once and again India comes together to support the stars they had once ignored and probably witten off as the ones that need to retire NOW!!!!

These situations force me to wonder whether the public opinion of a player effects the decision of an Indian selector. At the end of the day, the BCCI and team management are also  human and being influenced by mass emotion is not something that is unheard of. 

However, we have seen some controversies in the past around inclusions and exclusions that stirred great controversies in international cricket. There might be a few more to come. Here are 3 decisions that if selectors ever commit to, there public reputation might just be tarnished forever :

• Dropping the great Sachin Tendulkar - If such a situation arises and the BCCI do manage to gather courage to take such a decision, chances of public unrest outside the offices of the BCCI can be expected. The little man is the face of cricket in India and the harsh reality of his retirement/dropping will be a truth to bitter for most to swallow.
  
  
• Sacking Dhoni from captaincy - While many may critic the way Dhoni's been batting lately, his captaincy has helped India achieve cricketing victories that many might have lost the hope for. The man has given the talented Indian team the head that had been missing for a while.
  
  
• Dropping Bhajji and including Ashwin in his place - The confidence the selectors showed on Bhajji did pay off but it also further created some complications post his tremendous bowling against the English. Picking Ashwin over him might not go down to well with the selectors.

Well, India is indeed a land of opinions, some knowledgeable some emotional. For the sake of cricket in India, lets hope selectors and the team management dont get swayed by the beliefs of followers of the cricketing religion.