Consumerism in todays society is out of control. If you look at how it get out of control look at all the ads out there, trying to sell their product for cheaper and how it is better quality than the others. Everyone is so crazy to get all the good deals, and save a few dollars for the holliday season that they will do anything, at any cost, like staying over night outside Best Buy, or waiting in line at 3 in the morning outside Walmart to get a cheaper deal. Many would say that it is worth all the hassle in order to get that TV, new video game, or new toy for themselves or a gift for a loved one. But what people dont realize is that, this tradition that is supposed to be enjoyable yet stressful, is leading to people getting killed over materalistic idems. The day after Thanksgiving, is a day called Black Friday, on this day a few days ago a man was killed working at Walmart. He was just about to open the doors and a stampede of crazy bargan shoppers ran over the worker killing him. People had no regard for his life, all they cared about was getting their hands on the next best bargan. This is rediculous, when are people going to realize that a human life is worth more than anything in this life, I understand that people are smoking killing themselves but at least they have a choice this man didnt, he was just doing his job, prob. making a little extra money working so late and this is what he gets, he was killed. What is this world coming to, I dont know but it sounds, and looks like, getting a TV at a lower price is worth way more than an innocent mans life.

As this happened a few years ago, it still has a major impact on many people and how they precieve the media today. If you just take a look at this video, you can truely see how racist, Don Imus’ comments were about Rutguers women team. Although he apologized later and was punished, this just goes to show that racism is not just on the news media but all over, and is even is sports. This womens’ team is mostly black, but what about the three white women players that were on the team, how did this affect them. Racism is a major part in many sports, and Don Imus was way out of line even if he didnt mean to say it the way he did. He needs to understand that if you are on a televised program, how could you sit there and allow yourself to degrade and call out race in that situation. Its not acceptable and should never be shown on national televison. Don Imus needs to be banded from sports talk longer than he was, calling African American women “nappy headed hoes” is rediculous, and someone needs to do something about many of the ignorant sterotypes in sports.

In the media and in the news there is racism that people just let go and don’t even notice really what some of these news stations are trying to portray. Some of the stuff that can be seen and heard on TV and the internet is very shocking. I came across this one video a few months ago, it is about the whisle tips that are being installed on a lot of cars in the bay area, mainly Oakland. There are a lot of body shops that are putting these tips on cars, and it is strikly for deceration, and is a very popualar fad amongst the black community. In this news clip, the media is portraying Bub Rub and Lil Sis all uneduacated, and ignorant. They are sterotyping these two people in a very unjust way. They interview white people and they have nothing but bad things to say about this new peice of equipment, and how it is a major disturbance for them. Bub Rub and Lil Sis are famous over this interview because the media makes them out to be gheto, as if they are inferior to the white man. This is not fair, they edit the entire clip to show how blacks dont know how to speak properly, and are terrible drives. This is an issue that doesn’t just happen everyonce in a while news channels around the country are doing these types of things, and this does not have a positive impact on the viewers, if anything this just imbeds false perceptions of African Americans, which makes it very unfair and unjust.

Fantasy Football Is The Most Popular Of All The Fantasy Sports

We see convergence culture in many things, you can see it through blogs about fans favorite reality shows, and you can even see it in sports. One main way fans and the game can come together is through mass culture in a way. If you look at big named sites like ESPN, and even sports teams sites, fans can feel like they are a sense a part of the team, or even feel that their voices are heard. Take a look at ESPN for example, every day they have multiple sourveys that millions of people around the world partake in. One major convergence of fan and sport is through fantasy sports. This is essentiually any average sports lover can manage, coach, govern their own team. It is like they are the coach, GM, and president of their own NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB franchise. The only difference is you are taking on other people, like friends and family, or just anyone that is up for a little competetive fantasy competion. Through fanstasy sport, you can make trades, talk to other owners, and even just leave comments to on someone elses team page. This is one of the most popular ways that fans can live a fantasy through drafting, and trading for their favorite players and put them and combine them on the same team, when in reality they are on all different ones. Fantasy sports has taken off in the past four years tremedously. Now there are fantasy specialest that give you up to the min. updates through e-mail, or on SportsCenter they now have a professional that talks to the fantasy players directly in a way, guys like John Claten, tell you little things to watch for, and what one player that know one knows about just might give you the edge over your next oppent.

Two Die Hard OSU Fans

Fan culture can be found almost any where at anytime. You see on televison, internet, books, magazines, and at many events. One example of extrem fan culture taken to the next level is in college football. Ohio State University football program has one of the biggest football fan following in the entire NCAA. Every saturday you can find many fans of the Buckeyes stop everything just to watch there team, duke it out on the grid iron. A big thing for Ohio State fans is the every saturday tradition, of Dotting the eye at half time during their home games. The band comes out on the field and performs their routine and at the end the band all in unicin spell out “OHIO” and one special band member, usually a senior tronbone player high steps from the end-zone and Dots the “I”. This is a famous tradition that Buckeye fans go absoulty crazy for. Ohio’s fan base for their football team is so large that they sell out every home game all year every year. All the stundents that attended the game, wear the same striped long sleve shirt, just like the mascot Bruttus.

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Ohio State football, is not just a game, it is a way of life for many of these fans, it is something that gets them through the week, because everyone knows on Saturday its game time!

“I thank my mom. I think she’s pulling for me. I think she’s the strength.” 

–Charlie Manuel– This is the what manager Charlie Manuel said after he and his Phillies won the World Series over the young and highly talented Tampa Bay Rays. The reason why I am talking about this story is not because the Phillies won, but the fact that the media has turned this Charlie Manuel story into something that comes off un imaginable. It seems to me that when every sports season ends, there is always a story on the winning team that doesn’t relate to the actual title victory. This story for example, his mother on her death bed a few years ago tells him what team, and when he was going to win the World Series, this is something that i can’t grasp at all. I feel that this might be misconstrude in a way. It always seems that there is just a story within a story for every season, football, hockey, baseball, and most of basketball. For the Celtics it was all about Kevin Garrnett and how he plays with so much emotion. For the Redsox it was all about how there was never a curse, in hockey the Ducks won their first Lord Stanley Cup in franchise history, but it was Salene’s first ever Stanley Cup in his long career. All Im saying is i see a pattern every time, in sports when their seasons come to an end. I just ask the question, why is there always a story (Phillies win World Series) in a story (Manuels mom predicts victory)?    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUeO5ejP59w&feature=related

Wow, thats all i have to say about this ad. I mean to just the naked eye, this is just another crazy “Absolut” ad. But ya, your right it is a crazy Absolut ad. I mean really just look at this ad for a second, ok, look even harder. Now do you see it, well if you don’t, here it is, this is in the shape of the female sex organ. Don’t ask me why but, it is. A pear, ok, the shape of the women’s body or at least what some say, but look at what the vodka bottle is, o shocker pear flavor. There is a pear at the top of the ad inside the females sex organ. It is also green, this is also funny because green is a very sexual color, not to mention the whole ad is in this color, and the shape of the add doesnt help. This is implying very sexual things if you ask me. I laugh at this ad, not to mention usually many people who do drink, do a lot of sexual things that they wouldn’t do if they were sober. So this whole ad just screems sex if you think about it, to the shapes, the color, the flavor, and even the product, all is sex. But if you just glance at this ad, you would never think of all these things let alone one, and on top of that, the message is sex. Wow, wow, wow the media is so so sneaky!

Manny being Manny, wow what a shocker, these are some images of Manny on the Redsox. I feel that he plays the game his way, and thats all that matters. He has the most fun playing the game of baseball because he sees ball hits ball, sees ball catch ball. Manny hit a homerun last night in his first playoff game with the Dodgers, wow he just gets it done. 

I have found thisaseball season one of the most exciting seasons in a very long time. If you look at the future playoff picture you have the Tampa Bay Rays in the playoffs who are only one win away from an AL East division title. On the other end you have the Chi Town Cubs. They have not won a world series in 100 years. This year for the Cubs is a big one. They have home field advantage through the NL playoffs and have the best record in the NL. The media is feeding off this story. A few years ago Cubs hopes for a world series apperiance for this life time at least went right out the window when Steve Bartman tried to do what any other fan would do by trying to catch a foul ball. The only problem there were two out in the 7th and Steve was the one who caught the ball when left fielder Alou had it in the glove. Everyone in the windy city hates poor old Steve who ended up leaving the state because of all the death threats. 

Now that the Cubs nation is on top of the baseball world and believe its their year finally. They might want to keep crossing their fingers because when october comes anything can happen. Cubs fans have already gotten their World Series tickets but so have the Angels, Rays, and all the other teams that have clinched a playoff spot. All i am saying is Cubs fans might want to just keep this whole world series thing hush hush. If the media keeps exploiting the Cubs team and say that the fans deserve a world series title, the media better start switching it up by telling every Cubs fan to start going with new superstitions because the old ones have not seemed to work for a 100 years. Cub fans are in trouble, you are coursed and always be, not! There is no course, the team and the fans need stop making excuses and just start playing baseball, thats how you win ask anyone, just score more than the other guys, best of luck Cubs your going to need it!

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