Global Sports Buzz

Before the first round of the 2010 NHL playoffs began, everyone had their own opinion of who would be victorious and who would cut their playoff run short. As the Montreal Canadians surprised everyone and beat the number one seeded team, the Washington Capitals, they were faced with an even bigger challenge in the second round. They had to face the Stanley Cup reigning champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They came over the odds the first round, but there was question whether or not they could overcome it twice. In a seven game series, the Montreal Canadians made the Penguins end their season early. They headed back to Mellon Arena where they would be getting ready for the next round instead they were packing for summer. This would be the last time they would all head into Mellon Arena since the Penguins will be moving to the Consol Energy Arena. Some players like Malkin and Crosby hold all their memories in Mellon Arena. They have mixed emotions and it will take some time before this loss will be forgotten. The whole team is disappointed in their performance and can only wait to do better next season.

The National Hockey League has been worried about television ratings for a couple years now. They have not been receiving the type of attention they want, but the NHL's ratings are now improving. There are mainly five reasons as to why the ratings have improved. First, the Olympics helped the ratings. The Canadian and American showed how exciting hockey can be and introduced everyone to key players in the NHL. Secondly, there have been a lot more close games this year. A closer game brings a lot more excitement and more people wanting to watch. The third are two people who even non-hockey fans could know, Crosby and Ovechkin. They both have so much talent and make the game of hockey so exciting to watch. They bring a new type of energy to the game. The fourth are how many more goals are being scored. When there are only 1 or 2 goal games, the thrill of game is gone. Goals are what make hockey interesting to watch. When there are no goals, there are going to be fewer viewers. The last reason is the website. The NHL's website is one of the best around. It is very easy to navigate and has a lot of visitors. The ratings keep increasing and they do not seem to be stopping.

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The popular social networking site, Twitter.com, is used by many athletes to keep thier fans updated about what their doing. Professional basketball player, Chris Bosh has taken it to another level. He currently has one year left on his contract with the Toronto Raptors. He is projected to make $17 million dollars next year. The contract he has gives him the power to opt out of the last year and become a free agent. So Chris Bosh has decided to ask his followers on Twitter what he should do. On Friday April 30th he asked his followers two different questions. The first questions he asked his followers was "been wanting to ask, Where should I go next year and why?" He then followed up that question with, "ok... Let me rephrase the question. Should I stay or should I go?" Bosh has approximately 96,000 followers on Twitter.

The reason why Bosh is considering opting out of his contract to enter free agency is the number of high caliber players that are also going to be free agents this summer. Some of the other big names that will be chased heavily by many teams are Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade, and this years Most Valuable Player, LeBron James. This is bound to be a very important summer for the National Basketball Association.

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Caster Semenya was the world Champion 800-meter runner, who was stripped of her medal and was forced to undergo a gender test; there was a lot speculation of Semenya being a hermaphrodite.  She went through several test, where they found out that Semenya has three time amount of testosterone then an average female.  In the end she was cleared by the international Association of Athletes Federations (IAAF) and allowed to compete in Women sporting event.

After going through public humiliation Semenya still chooses to run and compete because it;s her life, she started to compete again in February 2010.

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Twelve time tour winer Darren Clarke, Northern ireland loses five-figures and a good night of rest by a miscalculation.  Clarke was scheduled to play in Seville, Spain but was uninformed until the last minute, due to his latest score, which he thought was not eligible to complete in Seville, Spain.

The Washington Capitals dominated the National Hockey League all season. The Capitals won the Presidents' Trophy for the best record in the NHL. They were a favorite to be in the Playoff finals. Going into the first round of the playoffs, they faced the eighth-place team, the Montreal Canadians. Everyone had Washington winning easily. Little did everyone know that Montreal had something else in mind. Montreal went down in the series 3 games to 1 and the Capitals were already thinking about the second round in the playoffs. Montreal came back to surprise everyone to win three games in a row and defeated the number one team in the NHL.

 After the game, there were excuses to why the Capitals lost. The main one is the goal that was waved off because Mike Knuble of the Capitals touched the Hab's goalie in the crease. The goal would have tied the game in the beginning of the third. Some say the referees were biased toward the Canadians. After the no goal was called, Washington lost all momentum and Montreal came out with the big win to move on in the playoffs. There is nothing that can be done now. Montreal is now facing the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington now has to wait until next year.

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As ESPN begins preparing for next year's Orange Bowl, cuts are being made as to who will be able to sponsor the college football championship event. For the past 21 years, FedEx has been a dedicated sponsor to the Orange Bowl, as it was their largest event occurring annually. ESPN is looking for sponsors who will sign a four year contract and donate 20 million dollars annually. For the past 21 years, FedEx has had the title as the main sponsor, but is no longer willing to pay the amount of money that ESPN is asking for a college event.

 
ESPN took over the position of FOX as the broadcaster of games and will begin in 2011. As the broadcaster, ESPN raised the sponsorship price from what FOX was asking because of a decrease in ratings as well as other issues. Companies are no longer willing to pay these prices for marketing because of the cutbacks that the companies themselves have had to make. FedEx is beginning to cut back on marketing because of the economic downturn as well and the obstacles they have had to face because of it, causing them to turn down the contract for the Orange Bowl.

Without the contract between FedEx and ESPN, ESPN is forced to start looking for new brands to sponsor the Orange Bowl.  As of right now, ESPN is trying to recruit companies to sponsor the Orange Bowl, as well as cut deals with companies like Tostitos, Allstate, and Citi for other Bowl events. Although FedEx will no longer be affiliated with the Orange Bowl, the company still deals with ESPN and sponsors professional athletics and other events.

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"Sony Corp is bringing baseball to America's living rooms on its PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console, ratcheting up the competition in the race to become the digital hub of the home." In a deal with Major League Baseball's MLB.tv, Sony has managed to sign a deal, that will enable PS3 users with the free Playstation Network to access MLB.tv, and stream baseball games to their console.

As someone who owns an Xbox 360 from Microsoft, and who has gotten into many "arguements" on the topic of which is better. Although I will depend the Xbox until death, I have always deep down thought the PS3 was better. This only adds to the margin. Since its release, Sony has made it a point to out do the Xbox as far as game play, graphics and applications go. Not to mention, the online play is free on the PS3. Although the Xbox has tried to put up a fight, it has been to no avail. The PS3 continues to impress, and continues to add to an already great gaming console. At one time, the knock on the Playstation 3 was how expensive it was. They have then proceeded to lower the price dramatically whie still improving the console. As if all of this wasn't enough, Sony execs have stayed that this is only the beginning of many great deals. If I were either the Xbox 360 or the Nintendo Wii, I would be immensely concerned.

On November 16th the Butler Bull Dog's mens basketball team will enter Louisville's new KFC Yum Center for the first ever men's game in the state of the art facility against the Cardinals.  The facility will be located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky and will seat over 22,000 fans in its 721,000 square feet.  The arena will consist of modern locker rooms and media rooms with state of the art technology.

 

Seeing as though the Arena is sponsored by YUM the owners of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, the arena will host up to 8 concession stands consisting of the foods of these three fast food chains.  Also through the 10 year $13.5 million deal with Louisville Athletics, the company will receive the naming rights and advertising on the arena's facade.  YUM jumped onto the game right away when Louisville announced its plan for the stadium.  YUM feels that it fits perfectly with the new arena due to its origins in Louisville.

 

The once elite sports card entity Upper Deck has been under an abundance of scrutiny concerning legal issues.  Most of which is jeopardizing the already incoherent future of the company.  They have lost many if not all licensing rights over the past year. Meaning they are restricted to what logos and team names they can display on each card.  Topps is becoming the monopoly in the sports card industry have exclusive licensing rights to MLB, MiLB and NFL cards.  On each pack it will state that their company is the "exclusive MLB trading card" for example.  Upper Deck's packs state that they are not authorized by MLB or it's member teams.  This only enables them to put the city of teams on cards excluding team names and an MLB logo.  Upper Deck has gotten into some recent by not abiding by this causing a lawsuit for trademark infringement.  They produced three sets since losing the MLB license and settled for an undisclosed amount.  They also paid $2.4 million for previous debts owed to baseball.  Along with this, they had not payed players who had appeared on their cards.  These players are also payed additional if they autograph cards. The player's agents advised them not to return anything they had signed until they received the money owed to them.  This company is in serious turmoil with a future that looms to be a pessimistic one.  Who would have thought the first player (Ken Griffey Jr.) to appear in their first set produced in 1989 would outlast the company that was once flourishing?
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