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The recent Nike campaign starring Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as puppets who are roommates is a good example of how these two players have taken over the NBA and sports marketing in the U.S. Vitamin Water has also chosen to hype these two sports magnates in their new ad campaign pitting “the Black Mamba” (Kobe) vs. “the Chosen One” (LeBron). ESPN’s Sportscenter has even gone as far as to highlight these two players individual performances in one daily segment, making direct statistical comparisons in order to allow viewers to deduce who is really the best player in the NBA. There is no doubt that the success of these marketing campaigns directly influences the popularity of the NBA. Ever since Michael Jordan became the symbol of Nike beginning in the 80’s, the company as well as the NBA have benefitted tremendously. All that is needed now to benefit both the NBA as well as Vitamin Water and Nike, is for the two to square off in the upcoming Championship Finals. But with both the Lakers and the Cavaliers behind in their current Conference Championship Series, will either one even make an appearance? If not, will this correlate directly to poor television ratings of the NBA Finals?_____________________________________________________________________    

As a proud native of Pittsburgh and a glorified Steelers fan, I felt it was necessary to give everyone out there a preview of what is to come in terms of the infamous commercials that air during the big game. Not everyone can remember the famous Coca-Cola commercial with Mean Joe Green from 1979, but this year Coca-Cola is planning to remake the commercial with Steelers safety, Troy Polamalu. This got me very excited because I cannot wait to see some hilarious commercials during the Super Bowl. Here is the original version as well as a link to some behind-the-scenes of the new version that will air on Sunday.

Behind-the-Scenes footage with Troy Polamalu.

Washington Capitals Choose Web Producer to Fill in For Injured Goalie

 Here’s a story everyone can appreciate. With a man down and practically no time to spare before a big game against the Ottawa Senators last Friday, the Washington Capitals called upon Brett Leonhardt to fill in for an inured Jose Theodore. Of course, no one would suspect the 6′ 7″ former college goalie was none other than the Capital’s own Web site producer.

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The longest men’s singles match in history, a face-off between two sisters, and the highest television ratings for tennis since 2000. Wimbledon 2008 proved to be exciting at the very least. For her fifth Wimbledon Championship, Venus Williams defeated younger sister Serena but joined her side later to take the doubles victory as well. Twenty-two year old Rafa Nadal was also victorious when he played against five-time consecutive Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer. This was not the first time the 26-year old Swiss champion saw defeat this year. Earlier, the young Spaniard also took the French Open title from Federer to become the first man to win both championships consecutively since Bjorn Borg in 1980.
It was because of this pent-up rivalry, and the fact that this match became the longest recorded match in Wimbledon men’s history, that it gained a peak of 12.7 million television viewers worldwide and TV presenters, such as John McEnroe reporting for NBC, became as emotional as the players and viewers. Audience members were crying as Nadal bounded up the stands to find his family, and for the Spaniards these were probably tears of joy and pride. Only half-way through 2008, Spain has already established a summer of dreams with the European Cup championship over Germany’s soccer team and now Nadal’s triumph over Switzerland’s tennis legend. With the Olympics exactly a month away, we can only wonder what Spain will bring to China…

The best player was no match for the best team. Kobe “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” Bryant couldn’t do it alone.

Regardless, the renewed Boston-LA basketball rivalry definitely had viewers tuned in. According to network giant ABC, viewership for the first five games of the finals was up 57 percent over last year.

Bryant finished with 22 points but only shot 7 of 22 from the field. Bryant was averaging 31.9 points through the first three rounds of playoffs but the Celtics defense held him to 25.7 points per game and 40% shooting.

Or maybe it wasn’t the hard work of superstars like Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, who took home the NBA Finals MVP Award. Maybe the success of the Celtics last night can not even be accredited to the genius of coach Doc Rivers who kept Kobe and the Lakers from earning yet another championship ring. Maybe it was the National Basketball Association.

In various polls released today, a little less than half of the fans who responded think it’s either very likely or somewhat likely that the NBA alters the outcome of games.

If you’re a true die-hard Boston fan then you’re probably already out sporting your green and white in celebration of the bringing home of a second national title in the last year. However, if you’re like so many newly converted NY Giants fans out there, you might just want to hop on this championship bandwagon, too. Here is where you can stock up on the coolest of cool 2008 NBA Champs Gear.

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