Dr. Lynn Lashbrook

Don’t laugh. Really. I get why soccer can’t introduce instant replay. I get that even the best referees and umpires in the world of sport will miss calls on occasion. But when it comes to soccer (or futbol to be technically correct) why can’t officials introduce a review of game film to determine if a player displayed a flagrant form of diving/flopping/kissing the ground?

In the NFL they review film the day after and determine if any fines should be handed down on violent hits, umpires in MLB, and referees in the NBA review film, as well. I feel diving (the “flop”) is getting worse in soccer. FIFA should consider issuing a Blue Card for flagrant and obvious dive. In issuing the Blur Card it would allow for penalty of a Red Card or at least a half of the next match. Like I said, don’t laugh! A little technology can go a long way to protect the integrity of the game. At this point, diving will continue to be an unwanted part of the game. Add in the penalty for the action, and I can assure you that flopping will become nil,

I love the game; I hate the flopping.

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I’ve got the FIFA World Cup fever, and you should too. For a guy who grew up with baseball and did not want his son play soccer I must admit I am hooked on the most popular sport worldwide. Yes, like baseball I want to see instant replay in the sport, but more importantly, I wish MLB would allow players to shake hands with the opposing team after the game. How come kids always line-up and say, “Good game” in Little League, but in the big leagues, the players act like Little Leaguers?

As for exchanging jerseys with opponents, such as they do in futbol, that might be a serious problem for many baseball players, particularly on HDTV (thank goodness David Wells has retired)!  After all, ratings are important in any sport and every sport should strive for the same level of popularity of soccer around the world without giving their shirt off their back.

If you’re not watching the World Cup, you’re missing something special. Soccer has some of the best athletes in the world. Why the U.S. doesn’t see this is a mystery to me.

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Maybe it was Pele that changed matters; I don’t know. But when I grew up in the United States we thought soccer was a communist plot. It was that game played “over there” and it certainly was never anything that could be considered “football”, that’s for sure!

I never thought I would be so excited in anticipation of the upcoming World Cup Soccer. It’s something that, until recently, didn’t resonate with the United States.

Maybe it’s our sense of a collective melting pot – that credo that met our forefathers at Ellis Island – that has made us the shining example of diversity that other quarters of the world don’t have that makes the World Cup mean more in other countries. For them, it is a nationalistic rite of passage that moves far beyond sport to the realm of politics. The U.S. is just now coming to that realization, albeit at a level that still pales by comparison in other parts of the world.

This time, however, it feels different to me. There seems to be more momentum and interest than before.

Traditional sports writers and sports talk radio better be careful not to mock this game as in the past.  As more and more people catch on to soccer in the U.S., and with the power of ESPN behind them, the world will be watching. Watch the ratings to see that FIFA World Cup will garner ratings, as well.

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If you’re a sports fan, you have to love the rapid growth of technology over the last decade. Mobile devices allow us to get scores, see player stats, check transactions, and more and more, watch games on the go.

As we prepare for the upcoming World Cup Soccer, and as we watch the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs, I can’t help but reflect on the impact of High-Definition television has had on sports.  The so called “flare on the puck” – the embedded technology in the mid-90’s that David Hill, the head of Fox Sports  saw as a way for fans to more easily see the puck on television, and make the NHL more marketable to the average fan. The move was a classic example of TV’s desire to provide a up close and personal experience for the game of hockey and, has since been replaced by HD technology – high resolution visuals that bring the game closer to actually sitting on the sideloines.  Not only are sports now “TiVo  proofed” when it comes to advertising the quality of the experience, it has profoundly changed in just the past four years since the last World Cup.

The viewership of the World Cup dwarfs all other playoffs viewership alone, but the quality of the experience with the proliferation of High-Def, sets the stage for a new world of sports business.

Sports will always need the back drop of fans in the stands and therefore there will always be a need for “account executives” on the phone persuading potential customers to attend the game as a group or as a club suite participant.  Hence, the growth of opportunities for students to obtain jobs in sports business is greater than ever.  I tell all our students everyday you “have to have ticket to the game to catch a foul ball”. Every time I got a ticket to game at the old Municipal Stadium where the Kansas City A’s played (13 to be exact), I always had a ticket to the game!

I truly believe the quality of HD TV forces clubs to do a more aggressive job of recruiting fans to attend the game. Simply put, sports business will always have job for those who can sell.  Get the picture? Take a look at our Sports Business Management course!!!

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The video of the New Mexico soccer player (here, with news of her indefinite suspension) has emphasized once more that a new age of accountability is dawning in sports.

From Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount’s punch to Florida’s Brandon Spikes’ eye gouging, to this action by Elizabeth Lambert, it’s clear that punishment for these misdeeds is brought on by the all-seeing eye of television.

Seriously, if these games had not been telecast, or if the cameras had not been focused on the right thing at the right time, would these players have even been punished? I doubt it, but if so, it wouldn’t have been nearly as severe.

Make no mistake — behavior on the field of play is going to improve as more of these situations come up. There is no shelter anymore for the misbehavior — it’s all there in beautiful high definition.

And that’s a good thing.

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