COLUMN: Facebook reminds serious sports fans, it’s just a game
Sports should be entertaining and fun.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that with all the scandal and corruption that goes on, but every once in awhile we as fans need to remind ourselves that it’s just a game.
Our friends at Facebook have made remembering that a little easier through team pages.
On Facebook, not only do we get to look at the Miami Heat’s page and see their starting five dressed like a bunch of preppy high schoolers, but we also get to see that the Arizona Cardinals don’t just have a Facebook page, they also have Pinterest page and a handy link from the Facebook page to the Pinterest page. Check it out.
Facebook also gives us insight into which team has the best public relations people and who has the worst. The team’s management should be looking at this as well. For example, the Ravens PR people definitely need a kick in the pants.
True, the top picture on their page is cool because it looks like Ray Lewis is going to punch Tom Brady in the face, but it’s Tom Brady. It’s the Patriots. Maybe you forgot, Baltimore, but the Patriots beat you in the AFC Championship game. You probably don’t want to be commemorating that on your Facebook page.
The Detroit Lions also need to have a look at their PR team. Their “about” page says the following: “The Detroit Lions ask that you refrain from any explicit or inappropriate conversation on the Official Detroit Lions Facebook Page. Anyone who does not abide by these rules may be removed from the forum at the discretion of the Detroit Lions.” If that’s not a negative outlook, I don’t know what is.
We also have a concrete and simple way to find out who exactly is America’s favorite professional sports team. Of course we might need to rephrase it from “favorite” to “most liked,” but either way it means the same thing.
And it’s not just finding America’s most “liked” team – which I think should be an annual award – but we can also find the least-liked teams, the least-liked cities, the most-liked cities, the most-liked sports, the least-liked sports, etc. Really the opportunities are endless – except of course finding America’s most-disliked team. Disliked teams aside, Facebook has the answers.
Fortunately, some of the results were pretty shocking – it’s always good to get a shock or two. And some of the results turned out to be just as expected. The NFL, of course, had the most “likes” overall in the three most popular leagues in the United States, while the NBA had the fewest. MLB, the one league that didn’t give us a lockout in 2011, finished second.
After extensive research, the winner of most “liked” team in America is not the Yankees, Red Sox, Heat, Cowboys, Steelers or Celtics. The winner is the Los Angeles Lakers, with nearly 13 million likes – 12,683,666 to be exact – by far the most-liked team in America. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that – since the Lakers won back-to-back NBA titles and became the most “liked” team in America – our economy hasn’t been up to par.
The second most “liked” team also comes from the NBA and is the Boston Celtics, who, at 6.34 million, have a little more than half as many “likes” as the Lakers.
The NBA is also home to the Charlotte Bobcats, who unsurprisingly are America’s least-liked team with only 105,858 likes. It is surprising, though, that they even have that many likes. And even with an average game attendance at 7,117, less than your Utah State Aggies, they still harbor some optimism with the slogan, “prepare today, win tomorrow,” gleaming across their Facebook page.
Since we don’t have enough room in this column for all the results, here a couple others to note. The NFL’s most “liked” team is the Dallas Cowboys, at 4,575,461, which is just above the Steelers, who are in second with 4,257,671 likes.
The MLB is dominated by the Yankees – 5,343,191 “likes” – and the Red Sox at 3,495,766.
When the going gets tough in your life as a sports fan, don’t underestimate what a few minutes on Facebook’s sport pages can do to lift your well-being.
– Spencer Wright is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. He supports Manchester United and hopes to live long enough to see the Cubs win a World Series. Send any comments to eliason.wright3@aggiemail.usu.edu