NCAA Puts Severe Limits On Sport Event Blogging 185
An anonymous reader writes "You would think that the NCAA would be thrilled to have reporters live blogging events in order to generate more interest and keep passionate fans talking about NCAA sports. Not so. The governing body of the NCAA has released new rules for receiving press credentials and it includes severe limits on live blogging. If you're covering NCAA football, make sure you don't blog more than 3 times in a single quarter. If it's baseball, one post an inning is all you get. If you don't follow the rules expect to get ejected and have your press credentials pulled."
What are these "sports" you speak of? (Score:2, Funny)
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- Greg
Bullshit (Score:2)
That's total bullshit. Either nobody will obey the rules, or nobody will blog anymore. I don't care one way or the other.
Also, NCAA, shoot yourself in the foot much?
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
Take it to the next level: completely seal up the arena so no one can observe the game other than the players and you'll have the Wide World of Schrödinger Sports!
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They've tried this with a couple Super Bowls already. Or maybe it just seemd like only one team was still in existence.
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Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
obligatory AA remark (Score:2)
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Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Funny)
The NCAA deals more with balls than feet, making the shot far more painful.
-mcgrew
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£5 says (Score:5, Funny)
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How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:4, Insightful)
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No problem. Just put out a signal strong enough to block the cell phone signal. The people can still keep their phones, just not get a signal to use them.
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Copper's cheap these days. I mean I have a ton laying around my house in little round circles. Just cover the entire dome in those.
And when it costs $XX Million per arena, somehow blame revenue going down on the bloggers. Find some way that you can use the patriot Act or DMCA against said bloggers.
It's the AA-merican way.
Re:How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:5, Funny)
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the Sarcasm: ~
Seen in such place as my posts, and currently enjoying exclusive ownership of my sig.
It's going to be the next Pet Rock~
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Re:How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:4, Informative)
"The operation of transmitters designed to jam or block wireless communications is a violation of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended ("Act"). See 47 U.S.C. Sections 301, 302a, 333. The Act prohibits any person from willfully or maliciously interfering with the radio communications of any station licensed or authorized under the Act or operated by the U.S. government. 47 U.S.C. Section 333. The manufacture, importation, sale or offer for sale, including advertising, of devices designed to block or jam wireless transmissions is prohibited. 47 U.S.C. Section 302a(b). Parties in violation of these provisions may be subject to the penalties set out in 47 U.S.C. Sections 501-510. Fines for a first offense can range as high as $11,000 for each violation or imprisonment for up to one year, and the device used may also be seized and forfeited to the U.S. government."
This applies even on private property, because of the largely uncontrollable nature of signal propagation. For this same reason, it is effectively impossible for any person, entity, or government short of the federal government in the US to make any sort of rules relating to radio transmission, no matter where they try to enforce such rules.
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http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ballpark/wifi.jsp [mlb.com]
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If you bring in a laptop, especially to use their free wifi....how the hell will they know what you're doing? Connect to your home server via ssh, and they'll never see the traffic you're generating either...
Sorry state of US broadband TOS (Score:2)
I've never had a problem SSHing into a (Score:2)
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Re:How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:5, Informative)
I think you miss the point. The only seating they are concerned with here is the press box (and anywhere else press credentials will get you like the sidelines in some cases). If you're going to blog from the stands, then no they can't stop you but if you're going to use your blog to become a card-carrying member of the press and get into the event on their dime, then you're going to play by their rules. Generally speaking they will be keeping an eye on you in that case. They're kind of stupid rules but at least bloggers can get press credentials for NCAA events.
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Re:How do they expect to detect this ? (Score:5, Insightful)
How would they detect it? By checking your blog probably.
Can they stop Joe Everybody from doing it? As a practical matter, probably not. And they probably aren't too worried about Joe Everybody (at least not yet). As for the legal issues, I don't see a problem with it. It's their game, and they set the rules. If you break the rules, they kick you out.
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If you want to get press credentials then you've got to follow the rules. I'm sure part of the process of applying for the credentials involves letting the NCAA know which site you write for and as such they could check to see how many times you post to that site if they want to.
Since this only applies to bloggers with press credentials, you can do whatever you damn well please if you just buy a ticket and sit in the stands like everybody else. Of course, good luck doi
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It applies to credentialed press only - not joe-fan; while you could probably blog to your hearts conten
Idiot at the wheel (Score:2)
This is so retarded it's hard to find the right words to express the expanse of stupidity it represents. Not to mention the 20,000 or so people in the stands texting and emailing pictures. Or are they going to take everyone's cell phone away and frisk them at the door?
Maybe I shouldn't give them any ideas.
Who needs press credentials? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Simple. By making the press creds for bloggers so draconian a burden that nobody accepts them, they avoid pissing off the big boys who like to believe they are special simply because they have press credentials and you, the huddled masses, don't.
That's all this is. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Did you even read the summary? (Score:2)
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By "Big Boys", I mean traditional media outlets---TV, radio... you know, the ones that actually pay big dollars for the right to cover the games live....
Follow the money (Score:2, Insightful)
I am not familiar with this particular money trail, but I would speculate that there exist some specific, approved websites which give to-the-minute updates of the game's progress. They would be popularly known by sports fans.
And they would have ad banners.
If the fans
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No, this move just reeks of GREED. Almost every time someone, especially a corporate or commercial interest, attempts to limit the freedom of information about them then you should start sniffing for dollars because they are doing so in an attempt to keep the money themselves. Greed is going to be the downfall of many old-school, established businesses and/or their processes even though it may take a while. Just look at the RIAA and MPAA for examples - unless they can someho
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I don't think it's quite the same. Access to the White House is extremely limited, especially if you want to ask your own questions. Access to an NCAA sports event is quite the opposite. Just at a stadium you can have upwards of 80,000 people and we're not even talking about television viewers. Every single one of those people sees, more or less, the same game. Obviously, the guy sitting in row 3B may not be in
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>This idea that you have to have a press pass to blog about a game is outdated.
You read the article backwards.
If you want that press pass, you agree to blog under certain conditions.
If you don't want that press pass, you can text the game play by play on your handy.
NCAA has a habit of making bonehead moves (Score:3, Interesting)
Apropos poem (Score:3, Interesting)
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley
=Smidge=
It is all a vast right-wing conspiracy (Score:2)
To make sure, the torture of cheerleaders is not uncovered. Or something...
This is a good idea too (Score:3, Insightful)
Yet again, the NCAA does it (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't Eject Me, Bro (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe it's time to start questioning... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Why? Because it makes money -- lots of money to fund all those things that geeks like such as research and scholarships.
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Why? Because it makes money -- lots of money to fund all those things that geeks like such as research and scholarships.
Well, I'm not sure how much revenue generated by athletics goes into "research and scholarships" (other than athletic scholarships, that is). But...
I can go to the other pole as well: Why pretend that college athletics is some kind of overgrown extracurricular activity? If it has to be such a big deal on campus, let's acknowledge it for what it is (and I am not being facetious):
(1) If students can major in things like music, dance, and art, why not let athletes major in football, basketball, or whatever? S
Re:Maybe it's time to start questioning... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm probably the only person who actively cheers for whatever team is opposing my old university, just out of sheer hatred for the football program. Yeah, I've got anger issues.
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And don't even get me started about the time I complained about the weather...
Three words: Follow the money (Score:3, Insightful)
Hardly surprising from Myles Brand, the guy who made his claim to fame as the guy who fired Bobby Knight at Indiana...as many would say: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Ask me if I give a shit about their rules (Score:5, Interesting)
(And yes, I feel the same way about a university's research. If that research was paid for by a company, they can control it how ever they like. But if that research was paid for by my tax dollars, then they can take their patent application and shove it up their collective ass.)
Re:Ask me if I give a shit about their rules (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ask me if I give a shit about their rules (Score:4, Insightful)
Do you really think they're unprepared for this? Once the press figures out that you don't need credentials to sit in your seat and tap out blog entries from your phone they're going to start ejecting people for that, too. It'll be the fan-attacking RIAA mess all over again.
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And the press will portray you as a pirate, too (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't expect to be portrayed favorably.
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Unless (Score:2)
And yes, I feel the same way about a university's research. If that research was paid for by a company, they can control it how ever they like. But if that research was paid for by my tax dollars, then they can take their patent application and shove it up their collective ass.
Unless they're getting the patent so some corporate entity doesn't patent their idea and make money off of their work. And lock them out of further research.
There are defensive patents, you know.
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This, in spite of the fact that most of the member schools are public universities.
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Um...actually...yes, many times. Before I decided on computer programming and support for 100 percent of my "working" time, I also worked as a professional photographer, including news stories.
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Key is "Live" blogging (Score:2)
I don't get the reason behind this...
"Credentialed" (Score:3, Interesting)
Not surprising (Score:4, Interesting)
The second was they were having a fit because we were shooting pictures of the game and posting them to the site. Not in real-time. After the game. As part of our coverage. Our publisher agreed to stop doing so
So there we were, two days later, posting pictures to the site
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very misleading (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, before anyone goes screaming censorship or free speech or anything along those lines -- these are the rules that the NCAA is setting for credentialed reporters. And, as a private organization, the NCAA can set whatever rules it wants for handing out credentials, no matter how mind-numbingly stupid they may be.
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Guess how rules get change? people complain about them.
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That is misleading as the limits are only for accredited reporters and not for bloggers in general.
I have nothing against complaining, but it should not be ignorant complaining.
Other NCAA Forbidden Items (Score:3, Interesting)
The NCAA has outlawed any pictures or representations of our Mascot. Take a look and you can see why (if you can't, your in sensitive clod).
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/Illinilogo.png [wikimedia.org]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/2006-11-11_-_Chief_Illiniwek.jpg/200px-2006-11-11_-_Chief_Illiniwek.jpg [wikimedia.org]
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I got an exitstitial popup when I clicked that link.
A FUCKING POPUP ON SLASHDOT.
And, I'm running Opera 9.23 on a fully updated XP system, with IE not even running. (Opera did block the popup.)
Here's the URL for the exitstital: http://amch.questionmarket.com/adscgen/invite.php?survey_num=367992&site=51&code=369773&pic=gif&creativename=opinion2-350x300-1l-eng-nul&secs_up=36000&type=4 [questionmarket.com]
Pro or amateur sports? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is why I think the distinction is important. If the NCAA is an amateur organization, then we can forgive the situation when some of the member athletes do something stupid, like hire a stripper and serve beer to underage players, then do not have the maturity to excise themselves in a graceful way. But if they are not amateurs, of if NCAA wants to have the privileges affords pro sports, then they must also take on some of the responsibilities. Which means no one can call fowl when the players, even though they are kids, and have their names plastered across all the papers everytime they do something stupid. One cool thing about college is that one can get away with stuff one could never get away with on the outside. The side thing is that kids are accepting these high levels of responsibility without even thinking of the freedoms they are giving up.
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1. Limits on who I could have in my room and what time.
2. A letter I had to write to my PARENTS if caught underage with alcohol (I never was, but it was a rule)
3. Resident assistants who could basically boss you around as they see fit at the threat of being kicked out of the dorm.
4. Curfews when someone in the dorm broke a rule.
5. Mandatory floor meetings (again, gets you kicked out if you don't go)
I unders
Blogging Gerund Fun (Score:4, Funny)
Verbing weirds language.
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Blog is a portmanteau of web log. Log is a perfectly cromulent verb: enter in the log of a ship or another systematic record. So if log can be a verb, it takes only an iota of imagination to verb blog too.
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NCAA cares only about money (Score:2)
If they really wanted to keep fans passionate about NCAA football, they'd institute a playoff system in Division I. Every other division manages to have a playoff during exams, and the basketball players seem to do just fine throughout all of spring mid-terms while on on the road 4-5 days a week for a month. No, it's about money - not
self-organise (Score:2)
Why do you need NCAA anyway? And why specifically do you need to play or watch games they are associated with? Do they have a copyright on baseball or whatever? No. So, you can play your own baseball and ignore their games whenever this is practical and possible.
Bloggers who write about NCAA games would do a much more useful service to their favourite sports if they mobilised people to play alternative games outside the jurisdiction of NCAA.
Software users do the same with free software. Music listener
Water polo Blogging (Score:2)
>Men's Water Polo: Three per quarter; one at the halftime (From TF NCAA A)
Given that university water polo quarters are seven minutes, this doesn't seem too draconian. I wonder how many people are live blogging Div II water polo. You're lucky to get 50 at Cal-0Stanford with the Pac 10 on the line. You would think they'd be glad of a little publicity.
Is this guy stupid or blind? (Score:2)
What makes the world go round? The NCAA makes money from television and marketing rights. If people stop tuning in to watch games live because they can get up-to-the-minute reports online, then the NCAA loses money.
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DIII events (Score:2)
Just seems kind of silly to apply the rules to events that do not get live press coverage anyways where perhaps having live bloggers might generate additional interest, and be good for those schools to get good more interest from good students.
So... (Score:2)
Frankly, the NCAA are a bunch of arseholes, who really outted themselves on this when they took their stand against college mascots who offend ANYONE!
For the 95% of people outside the US... (Score:2)
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Huh? (Score:2)
If I lived in a biologically sealed bubble environment in a steel and concrete bunker deep in a cave for most of my life, maybe I'd think that upon emerging. Although I'd probably be more likely to say, "Argh! The light! It buuuurrrrnnnns!" before wondering what lawyers were, and why they rape everything they can find in the butt.
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The Run [youtube.com] - audio on this was from the radio play by play guy. How can this be compared to what a blogger can type during the game - "Seneca Wallace runs from sideline to sideline for a 12 yard touchdown"
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ComSci '95
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Seriously, how many games would the press need to skip before this rule was stricken? one? two?
Seriously, if everyone didn't report 1 basketball game, the NCAA would freak out.