Twitter

As an infrequent, but compulsive blogger (I have about five now) I have been told about Twitter, and it has been reinforced by a lot of the sports blogs that I read. As I mentioned, I am trying to construct a curriculum to earn a Master's in sports PR. A friend of mine is doing a similar thing at George Washington concurrently. She has an internship at a PR firm and gets news regularly. She sent me this article about the Phoenix Suns (Thought you would find it interesting too, Tim, considering your affiliation):
http://www.prsa.org/supportfiles/news/viewNews.cfm?pNewsID=842347787

I thought it was interesting to see how new media technology is being used in the field I am going into and how this can forray into other aspects of our society. Soon, Twitter may be organizing political rallies, PTA meetings, or jsut playdates.

The Inauguration and Sports

The presidential election has always brought celebrity endorsements and, thanks to MTV, Hollywood's bombardment of commercials and rallies. This year, however, we saw more sports figures finding a voice when it came to supporting our first "black" president. (As an aunt of two bi-racial children, I wish the media didn't make President Obama choose which part of his heritage he would be labeled as.) Being that the media has deemed this powerful man African American, rather than bi-racial, however, influences society greatly. Magic Johnson was seated in the front of the mall crowd for the day, and even Mike Tomlin had to hold off his Super Bowl press conference, acknowledging that the day was beyond football-or anything else. Interestingly enough, I don't feel that the endorsements helped elect Barack Obama and I don't think that he has a great influence over the sporting world, despite his brother-in-law being a college basketball coach.

Perhaps what is most inspiring is the fact that sports has already experienced what our government is going through, a shift in racial representation. Sports has seen MVPs of color, coaches of color, and other sport authority figures of color. There is a pride swelling in all of America, a kinship with the struggles of civil rights that sports saw starting in the sixties. As was touched upon on the Tirico and Van Pelt Show, on the field/court/track/whatever venue, the athlete is now a representation of a team. In this super bowl, Kurt Warner will be hyped by the media as an aging white guy who has engineered a Super Bowl victory with a previous franchise, but on the field, he will be the Cardinal's quarterback throwing to a Cardinal's receiver, not an African American called Larry Fitzgerald. The only colors that day will be the white and red versus the black and gold. It's about time America caught up.

This weekend in Sports

My family is from Pittsburgh. Seems to me like a lot of people are "from" Pittsburgh. Part of the reason we left was for the Navy, my dad is currently retired after 22 years of service, and the other part is because a lot of people from the small towns of Oakmont and Verona, PA often find themselves wondering what else is beyond the towns tucked in the valleys surrounding the city of Black and Gold. Despite this curiosity and the wondeful life we found in San Diego, Syracuse, San Francsico, and Virginia Beach, we still search for Pittsburgh in our everyday lives.

Part of this search has led us to become "those" fans. Our house has an 8' blown up/light up Steeler guy whom we affectionately call "Harrison" as well as banners, flags, and garden gnomes.

This weekend is a compelling one for not only this reason, but also because I am currently engaged to another Navy brat, a deposited Philadelphia man in Virginia Beach. We both wait with bated breath on the intense games, me, a Ravens hater from way back, scared of a defense that feels to close to the one that I love, and him, hopeful that Brian Westbrook can carry his team that he regularly roots for in the same breath that he curses them, and prays against Fitzgerald, one of the most impressive wideouts I've ever seen.

Will there be a wedding if there is a Pennsylvania Turnpike Super Bowl? Would it be worth it to be the first franchise with six rings? I kidd. Hopefully.

With this blog, I'm hoping to talk a lot about how sports, not just the NFL, not just Pittsburgh (though that is what I am most passionate about) can shape an identity that people thrive on and cling to.

Til then, HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!!