Thoughts on the NBA Dunk Contest

I remember as a young child begging my parents to let me go over to my friends house to watch the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. That was a time when the dunks were original and you had the likes of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins competing for the title with outrageous feats of talent.

These days the Slam Dunk contest has become so over-hyped and planned that I just wait for the top ten on Sportscenter to see who was crowned champion. But this year we as fans saw something that has never been done before. No, I'm not talking about an amazing dunk but rather a planned contest that included the making of a commercial during the final round. Blake Griffins dunk over a Kia was planned from the get go. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing to see such an athlete with such freakish skills jump over a car and dunk a basketball. That was awesome but the staging of it turns me off. Why call it a contest when we all know that he HAD to win. It's not like they just found a car in the Staples Center and decided to use it as a prop. Also, don't you think that if Blake was going to jump over a car of his choice it would probably not be a KIA. Come on, he can afford better.

Looking at it from a marketing and branding perspective, this was genius. For many people who are naive to marketing and advertising, this seemed like a crazy stunt and nothing like a future car commercial. What a great way for KIA to advertise directly to a captivated audience and get tons of brand mentions while not actually sponsoring the event, although I am sure they had to negotiate some financial deal with the NBA.

As a fan of the NBA and sports in general, I am concerned that we are giving to much power to brands while taking away from the authenticity of sports. I know it was just an All-Star event and those are publicity stunts to begin with but where does the brand pushing stop? There needs to be a line drawn for the sake of the sport. This stunt most likely won't turn away the casual NBA fan but those purists may see the NBA in a different light after this past weekend. And for that the NBA should be concerned.

If you haven't seen the commercial here it is.

NFL considering iPad

According to information released during Super Bowl week, some NFL teams are considering abandoning the old traditional way of using playbooks and screen shots to call plays in favor of digital tablets such as the iPad. It seems like such a revolutionary idea at first and then after I gave it more thought I realized that the NFL is currently using equipment from the dark ages for play calling. A team spokesperson for the Dallas Cowboys said that the switch to an iPad could save the team more than 5,000 pages of paper per game. Over a soon to be 18 game season, that's 90,000 pages. Al Gore Rejoice. Side note, didn't he also invent the iPad?

The NFL likens itself to Radio Shack when it comes to team equipment. Only just a few years ago, radio's were installed in the QB's helmet so he could hear the play called from the bench. In today's digital age, the QB should be able to have a touch screen on his wristband that shows him the play or a screen on his visor. Come on NFL, catch up to the NOW.

If this iPad thing does get adopted by teams it should be nothing but beneficial. It will allow for players and coaches on the field to receive real time stats from the press box, be able to see videos of previous plays and also have access to the Internet for those times during the game when it's a blowout and all the backup QB wants to do is update his Facebook and Twitter status demanding a trade.

Back to the main point, we are in a unique time in sports history. The games have been played the same way using the same equipment for years now and that could all change very quickly once teams start understanding the benefits that these small tablets can provide.

In the future we won't see QB's sitting on the bench flipping through pages of screen shots like they are reading a case study or players receiving binders full with 500 pages of plays at training camp. Players will each receive an iPad with previously uploaded team content. This will make getting cut at training camp much more of a downer, not only did you not make the team but you have to give back your iPad of which you used more time playing Angry Birds than learning your assignments on the field goal kicking unit.