Thursday Sports Social TV (May 9)
Click the jump to see gallery of social-media analytics for teams and athletes on Twitter and Facebook as of May 9, 2013
We are testing a new feature, a look ahead at the weekend in sports, on Thursday, as we prepare for the Sports Social TV Summit and Awards on May 29 in Los Angeles. Today, we have our roundup of news from soccer, NBA, College, sports apps, PGA, Nascar, NFL and Sports Emmy awards.
Our must-reads for you:
Soccer
#thankyousiralex trends
Reaction to the announcement by Manchester United that Alex Ferguson is to retire as manager of the soccer club dominated social media, with tweets peaking at more than 13,000 a minute shortly after the announcement. Speculation grew from late Tuesday night that an announcement was imminent.
Read more, via Irish Times
Basketball
Phil Jackson trolls George Karl on Twitter
While in Denver, George Karl has gotten out of the first round of the postseason precisely once as Nuggets head coach out of nine appearances. However, he did win this year’s Coach of the Year award in the NBA for taking the Nuggets to a 57-25 season and the #3 seed in the west.
Read the article, via Awful Announcing
Congrats @georgekarl22, good season and nice run in the playoffs…very entertaining.
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) May 8, 2013
College Sports
Will Muschamp’s great tweet about being confused by Twitter
Florida coach Will Muschamp christened his Twitter account – @CoachWMuschamp – more than two years ago, when he was hired by the Gators, but it’s been only over the last few weeks that Muschamp has started unfurling a barrage of football- and school-related tweets on his more than 40,000 followers.
Read the article, via USA Today’s FTW
Eighth-Seeded Lions Host Yale on Saturday in NCAA First Round
The eighth-seeded and 13th-ranked Nittany Lion men’s lacrosse team will look to do on Saturday what no previous Penn State team has done before: win an NCAA Tournament game. The Nittany Lions host No. 11 Yale in the NCAA First Round at Penn State Lacrosse Field on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Read the article, via Go PSU Sports
Apps, Tech
Sports Stars’ Branded Apps Hit the Mobile Market
John Shahidi’s five-employee startup, RockLive, wasn’t expecting a call from the world’s fastest man. The summer before last year’s Olympics, managers for Usain Bolt wanted the app developer to help enhance the sprinter’s brand for the London Games. With the Jamaican runner expected to win several gold medals (he ended up with three), his management wanted to make use of his online followers to increase his commercial value to sponsors such as Gatorade, Puma, and Hublot Swiss watches. Shahidi’s team built a simple action game, Bolt!, in which the athlete fights off pirates to claim his gold, with the occasional Gatorade energy boost. The free app has been downloaded more than 3 million times.
Read the article, via Business Week
NFL
Ten not-so-noteworthy rookies worth checking out this weekend
Most NFL clubs open three-day rookie camps this weekend, which means they … and we … find out how their latest acquisitions fit in, and, guaranteed, guys like Geno Smith and Matt Barkley attract most of the attention. But they should. They’re quarterbacks on high-profile teams in the midst of change. This is not about them, but about 10 of the less attractive but most intriguing — either because they were chosen where they weren’t supposed to be or because they’re gambles someone was willing to take.
Read the article, via CBS Sports
PGA
Thursday’s key tee times, TV schedule
Whether The Players Championship is the fifth major, is a debate that will continue. What won’t be debated is that The Players is the PGA Tour’s marquee event, featuring one of the best fields in all of golf and one of the most treacherous courses in the game, including the treacherous 17th hole.
Read the article, via USA Today
NASCAR
Fox Sports makes point by keeping Talladega race on network TV
To say there’s a lot of fan angst over NASCAR and its future television plans would be an understatement. What happened this past weekend at Talladega should give fans hope that NASCAR will be considered a worthwhile partner for years to come.
Read the article, via Sporting News
Sports Emmy Awards
33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards Winners
- NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, nbcsports.com) won 9 Sports Emmy awards
- ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D, espn.com) took home 6
- Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com, truTV) and FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED) had 5
- and, CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) won 4.
Read the list, via Emmy Online
