WRITING GRANTS

The neighborhood chosen for the skate park is Mott Haven, West Bronx, New York. This area was chosen because it was the former site for the Skate Key Skate and Dance Family Center that is more commonly known to the generations of regulars as the “The Key” which was permanently closed in March of 2006 due to public nuisance problems.  The building is now unoccupied for years, and those who did go the Key now have to look for alternative locations for recreation. Due to the families having to look for other alternatives, they now have to travel to other boroughs. Many times the families do not want to travel, so the children are not as active as they were in the past. In order for a family to keep their children active, the other available recreation opportunities are:

- Pelham Bay Park, which is located in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx, the park is the city’s largest park covering over, 2,700 acres of woodland and is 20 minutes and 11.50 miles from the area.

- Orchard Beach is the only beach in the Bronx, with 115 acre fronting the Long Island Sound, in Pelham Bay Park featuring a 13 section sandy beach, a hexagonal block promenade and a play ground for the children to play; it is 21 minutes and 12.18 miles from the Mott Haven area in the Bronx.

- The New York Botanical Garden is an advocate for the plant kingdom, and they provide educational programs for the community; it is 12 minutes and 4.34 miles from the Mott Haven area in the Bronx.

My belief for the skate park to be placed at this location would be a wise decision for several reasons; the prior owners are already knowledgeable with the process of getting grants based on them being in business before it was closed down. They would more than likely use the same grounds for the new skate park, with some repairs and building that would be needed. This is a good location for the following reasons:

- The population size in this area is 46,472, which incorporates mostly a Hispanic and African American population as well as other ethnic backgrounds.

- The area is surrounded by social problems with poverty plagued for years. However, crime has fallen significantly mirroring the declines in crime and the rest of the city, for example robbery, murder and burglary.

- The education dropout rate is higher and incidents of violence in its schools are above the national average. In some schools, students must pass through metal detectors to enter the buildings, which is a practice criticized for being reminiscent of a prison environment and encourages bad behavior.

- The family situations in this area attribute the high rate of usage to peer pressure on young people who come from broken homes. A high proportion of households in the area are headed by single mothers many of whom had their children at a young age and struggle to provide for them, which contributes to the high rate of poverty. In addition the rate of a family member being incarcerated is also very high.

Some positive aspects is that Mott Haven has experienced, a rise in the housing values, as many buildings including some which had been abandoned, renovated and sold and a number of new apartment projects were built. The newly constructed subsidized attached multi-unit row houses and apartment buildings have been constructed on most vacant lots in this area. The neighborhood contains the highest concentration of NYCHA projects in the Bronx. The total land area is about one square mile and the terrain is hilly. There are 18 public schools and 4 parochial schools in the area. The location is rich with many ways of transportation; there are 7 buses and 3 different trains, which are the 4, 5 and 6 lines. The grant money for the skate park will provide another venue for children to exercise and have fun, besides the programs provided at their schools. The skate park can provide positive memories for children to enjoy sports.

The median income per household is $20,307 and persons per household are 2.66.

http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood/US/New-York/New-York-City/Bronx/Mott-Haven-Demographics.aspx

http://www.city-data.com/city/Bronx-New-York.html

THE FUTURE OF SPORT COMMUNICATION

When I envision the future of sports communication I think about the advancement in technology that has broadened the spectrum of sports and athletes.  Our study throughout this course has taken us through the evolution of sport communication that has been through many changes during the years. This includes a radio broadcast, to newspaper articles, to the mass media, the internet and social media. Sport communication is the engine that reaches out to sport fans and its audience in the sports industry. We have seen that without sport communication, the many facets of covering sports scores, news updates, and issues within the industry would not be communicated in a timely manner.

The modes of sport communication are now more instant than others, for example the newspaper and magazines are a way to communicate to their fans, but it takes several hours or days after the event has transpired. The more immediate form of communication is the internet or electronic media, which in today’s era is where people have the ability to obtain sports information they are looking for virtually by a click of a mouse, smart phones or tablets. As Rein, Kotler and Shields states, “The best example of a current winner is ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network), the synergistic sports-media brand that communicates with its fans through every distribution channel imaginable”. They are the source of information accessed through various websites, networks, channels and satellite subscriptions. They market themselves for all types of ages, ethnic groups and demographically because the information is updated by the minute that gives sports fans information what they desire. Although, ESPN is at the top of the sports communication spectrum, they will need to keep thinking ahead of where technology is leading us to the future.

In the sports industry, sport communication plays a vital role and as the advancements of technology is among us the mass media is only going to get bigger moving forward to the future? The communication of sports has the most powerful influences on society and the lives we live. My belief of the evolution of sport communication with technology is that you will not have to attend a sporting event in person. There is going to be a venue in place of being able to attend it from the luxury of your house as if you were really there.

Rein, I., Kotler, P., & Shields, B. (2007). The Future of Sports Media. What do the fans want? Sports teams, leagues, and marketing professional are turning to a growing array of media to capture the elusive customer. The Futurist, 41(1), 40-43. Retrieved from http://www.theelusivefan.com/Fut.pdf

COMMUNICATION DEADLINES:

Mixed Sports Martial Arts Exhibition

Warming Up

On Sunday, February 20, 2012, the students of the Zariyat Ryu Dojo performed an exhibition for the NYPD Explorer Program with the 42^nd Precinct, which was held at Morris High School. The meaning of the dojo’s name is Zariyat means “the winds that scatter” and Ryu means “life or death”; the students were all white belts except for the Sandan, which means 3^rd degree black belt, Kenny Melendez. They exhibited their routine of stretching, and then performed different exhibition combos of defensive techniques that included evasive moves, the twelve steps of the warrior and a leg stance. The students ranged in age from 6 years old to 15 years old, who are learning mixed martial arts (MMA) which is a full contact sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills, from a mixture of other combat sports to be used in competitions or real life self defense.

The rules allow the use of both striking as well as grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. The MMA or fighting in general can be broken down into striking, takedowns and ground grappling. The training in mixed martial arts imparts many benefits to the trainee, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. These students who practice mixed martial arts are boosting their physical fitness with strength, stamina, flexibility and movement coordination as the whole body is exercised and the entire muscular system is activated. Beyond contributing to physical fitness, martial art training is also beneficial to their mental health, contributing to their self-esteem, self-control, emotional and spiritual well-being. The varying grappling styles added striking techniques to their arsenal. This increase of cross-training results, these students are becoming increasingly multi-dimensional and well rounded in their skills.

Flexibility in martial arts, Zariyat Ryu does in particular play a bigger part of their lives than any other training aspect. We already have enough strength to do everything we need in this modern world, unless you are a builder, speed is not of the essence, we have transport for that but flexibility is needed. If all of us could touch our toes without a warm up so many more things would be better in our normal everyday lives. It would be much harder to hurt ourselves when falling over, as would be less likely to pull any muscles. It also helps in most sports, especially in martial arts, as flexibility also contributes greatly toward agility. This in turn helps the students learn the skills in any sport in a much more efficient way.

Overall, the students are feeling of empowered and confident within themselves, by having a working knowledge of self defense methods that adds to a healthy sense of self. Sandan Kenny Melendez, teaches the students to keep their wits about them and also sends the message that being proficient, making genuine effort to really learn the skills provided is highly encouraged.  Another message he sends to his student’s is to be ready for anything because there is no way of knowing exactly what an assailant is going to do ahead of time. With continuous practice, these students will get a sense of what might come next, allowing the attacked individual to be a step ahead. Finally, the students will adopt positive habits that will stay with them for life as a direct result of attending the Zariyat Ryu Dojo.

SPORTS DEADLINES

I was able to meet my deadline for posting the blog by the deadline; this was due to the event being early in the afternoon that gave me the time to process and write the event up. The pressures I faced were when writing up the event, the choice words I would have to use to make it sound interesting, engaging and with the ongoing reliance and trust that it was going to be recorded in the right manner. Another, challenge I faced was when needed to upload the pictures and videos, the laptop I was using was not recognizing the USB port I connected it to. So, I had to improvise and ask to borrow my family laptop to upload them on a cd and then come back to my laptop to finish the blog. I needed to educate myself about mixed martial arts, as well as the terminology that is used when practicing that form of martial arts. I needed to speak to the Sandan, Kenny Melendez to receive more clarity about this form of mixed martial arts he practiced and teaches.

Sport Scandal

The Communication Role in the Penn State Scandal

The Penn State scandal was difficult because of the public outrage the sex abuse that allegedly occurred. If, as it appears the university knew for years of the accusations against Sandusky, a good Crisis Communication Plan would have instructed communicators to prepare holding statements. At the same time, the leaders should have taken a firm action against Sandusky, and then proactively held a news conference to expose the allegations. The financial impact and fall out to the coaching staff would have been significantly smaller had the university’s leadership exposed this smoldering crisis on their own terms years ago. Instead, needless mass firing followed blame was placed on the wrong people revenues dropped significantly and the brand image for a long time to come.  The role of communication I saw from the scandal was poor communications; the smoldering issues that reached a flash point could have been controlled through the crisis management. There was also arrogance and denial by those in leadership positions, as well as the influence of the social media in escalating the flash point and outcome of the crisis.

Some other communication mistake that was made is the PR representative should have never delayed a response to the allegations. If they simply came out front to admit fault and state what they planned to do about the issue, could have avoided a lot of scrutiny. Joe Paterno was wrongly advised to cancel the weekly Penn State news conference; he should have faced the public and promptly clarified any misconceptions.  Penn’s State public relations representatives did not have an established plan to follow and did not stay informed about the allegations; they did not respond quick enough and also their clients best interest was not in mind.

The lack of communication and organization led to Penn’s State catastrophe, but there is a lot to learn from this example in order to prevent similar predicaments from occurring in the future.

MEDIA RELEASE

Event: Football: Carling Cup Final 2012

Get Moving for an Eectrifying Final Carling Cup for 2012

Announcement: -FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - The London’s Wembly Stadium will be hosting the Carling Cup Final 2012 will take place on the 26^th of February. This year’s exhilarating matchup is between Cardiff City and Liverpool. Last year, the Carling Cup Final was an exciting battle between Arsenal and Birmingham City, with Birmingham winning with a score of 2-1. It is a one day venue with the two best teams.

The Cardiff, Bluebirds will head into the Wembly showpiece against Liverpool on the Back of a reverse to a resurgent Town side, who recorded a fourth successive league victory for the first time since 2004 under Joe Royle. The Liverpool Red’s is the most successful club in English football; they have won a record 18 League Championship titles as well as six FA Cups, seven League Cups, four European Cups and three UEFA Cups. They have not won the title since 1990.

- Then supply a fact sheet/info and date sheet with the venue, date, the team’s history and record and the player’s names and stats.

Cardiff City FC:                               

  Nickname: Bluebirds                         

  Founded: 1889                                          

  Manager: Dave Jones                         

        Liverpool FC:

         Nickname:

         Founded: 1892

         Manager: Kenny Dalglish

- Allow the media to ask as many questions as possible, within a small amounted time limit. They will answer all of the questions to the best of their ability and honestly. They must let the media trust in us. This announcement will be made by the head of the Carling Cup Organization.

The use of sponsorships will be displayed throughout the stadium and as background announcements that assisted with the help of raising money for the event.

-The website will announce the game matches and the availability to purchase tickets for the event; http://www.livefootballtickets.com/carling-cup/carling-cup-final-tickets.html

Odom's Celebrity Endorsements

Lamar Odom is an American professional basketball forward currently with the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).  Some of Odom’s earlier endorsement deals are with Powerbar Energy Blast, Samsung Mob!le and served as the national spokesman for Life Insurance Awareness Month. Odom was appearing on the public service announcements for the nonprofit Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE).  I believe the reason he was chosen for these endorsements were due to his level of exposure with the NBA. As well as, “shaping the consumer attitudes toward their products and associate their product with a particular lifestyle.” (Pedersen, Miloch & Laucella, 2007).  Another endorsement of Lamar Odom was the Power Balance bracelets, which are silicone wristband that boasted the ability to tap into the body’s energy field to improve balance, strength and flexibility. He was chosen for this endorsement based upon his athleticism and the bracelet is supposed to give you an advantage. Odom found that the bracelet was a flux; the company used his athletic appeal to market the Power Balance bracelets to ensure their investment with athletes. 

A current endorsement Lamar Odom has is with the Wonderful Pistachios – Get Crackin’! who appears with his wife, Khloe Kardashian. This product is advertised as in a black bag with bright green labeling, and using this couple is a great way to add exposure to their product. My belief of the reason Odom supported this endorsement is because he is an athlete who loves to snack, as well as promoting a delicious and healthy snack will boost and uplift his brand image since he was traded to the Dallas, Mavericks.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciCdz8irrtk

Lamar’s growing popularity is through his wife Khloe Kardashian, who appears frequently on “Keeping up with the Kardashian” and “Kourtney & Kim Take New York” family reality shows where he occasionally appears as well.  Lamar and Khloe now have their own reality show called “Khloe and Lamar!”

Reference:

Pedersen, Paul M., Miloch, Kimberly S. & Laucella, Pamela C. (2007). Sport Strategic Communication. United States; Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.

Olympic Media Coverage

When you think about the customs and beliefs of China, the 2008 Beijing Olympics examines their political dynamics. One argument is that the Beijing Olympics marks a watershed in China’s renewed efforts to a modernized, unified and internationalized nation in the global community. There is little dispute that power in the international arena is derived from a nation’s ability to project an image that presents its military, economic, political or cultural importance in a favorable or powerful light. Hosting the Beijing Olympics was one of several strategies used by the Chinese governments for image enhancement on a global stage. Beijing seeks to be coupled with the positive image associations that the Olympic Games enjoy. Whatever the reasoning that may be behind an Olympic bid, Beijing’s’ immediate goal is to produce a successful sports and cultural spectacle that will garner favorable media coverage worldwide.

While Beijing’s Olympic Games will greatly promote reconstructing the value system of Chinese civilization and projecting the image of cultural China to reshape China’s international environment into one of enduring harmony. It has also challenged Beijing to carefully handle some intractable contradictions in the process of modernization, particularly with regard to China’s harmonious society progress.

Let us now look at the London 2012 Olympics, although they are a less restrictive monarchy verses a communist country. They will control the publications to be delivered, across print and electronic formats and will ensure that all content is produced to a consistently high standard.