Professional sports promote parity in their annual drafts by rewarding early picks to bad teams and late picks to good teams. In MLB and the NHL, it can take a while for those early draft picks to start making a major impact on the team, while in the NFL those impacts can often be felt … Continue reading
There are several possible reasons why 2020 viewership has been so low. Two of the six 2020 NBA Finals games competed with the NFL on Sunday, something the NBA Finals generally don’t have to deal with. The clinching game of the NBA finals drew half the audience that NBC Sunday Night football drew (7.4 mil vs. 15.1 mil). The lack of fans in the stands certainly detracted from the product on the court. The political messaging from the league and its players – including messaging on the court and on jerseys – disenfranchised 38% of fans too. Continue reading
On August 10th, the Big Ten and Pac-12 cancelled their college football seasons citing fears from a European study on a COVID-19 related heart condition called Myocarditis. Since the decision was made, several doctors have come out and called the study deeply flawed. Additionally, a massive player movement dubbed #WeWantToPlay showed that nobody is “asking … Continue reading
This terrible pandemic has deprived us of sports for far too long. In these months without live sports I’ve contemplated where they fit in society. At times, I’ve wondered if they’re too important. Do we put them too close to the center of our life and derive too much of our self-identity from them? Are … Continue reading
Social media does strange things to us. While it promotes communication, it can stifle meaningful conversation. Folks like to post brief shallow thoughts to virtue signal or leave quick messages of agreement or disagreement in the comments, but seldom is there meaningful conversation that develops understanding or empathy. Recently on Facebook, I read a lengthy … Continue reading
Nearly every American has been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sports fans have missed March Madness and at least to-date the NBA and NHL playoffs. MLB’s opening day and the Masters have also suffered lengthy delays. More importantly, over 75,000 Americans have died and over 33,000,000 have become unemployed as a result of lockdowns … Continue reading
I previously posted my #12 through #6 favorite players. That list included Grady Jarrett, Austin Bryant, Mitch Hyatt, James Davis, CJ Spiller, Hunter Renfrow, and Christian Wilkins. Now we’ll take a look at my five favorite football players in Clemson football over the Dabo-Swinney era. #5 Deshaun Watson (QB 2014-2016) The first three-year player to … Continue reading
Note: This blog post is for marketing research professionals and those who work with quantitative data regularly. Research is only as good as the data behind it. In the process of drafting a research plan, building a questionnaire, reviewing documents with teammates and clients, programming the survey, analyzing data, and putting together the report, a … Continue reading
I recently wrote two blog posts (2011-2015; 2016-present) about my favorite Clemson football memories of the Swinney-era. Writing those naturally made me think of the student athletes that made them happen. As such, now I’d like to highlight some of my favorite Clemson players of the Swinney-era. Putting together this list was extremely challenging. Many of … Continue reading
At the start of 2019, I made the New Year’s resolution to read at least 12 books over the course of the year. It is probably the only resolution I’ve bothered to make and keep. I don’t bother to make new ones anymore, I just renew this one each year. In doing so, I’ve read … Continue reading
