1. LECTURE

For six slides per page format (for printing) click : HERE

For one slide per page format (for viewing on computer) click: HERE

2. VIDEO CLIPS

These video clips, unless otherwise advised, will be shown during lecture.  They are made available here for revision purposes.

Video Clip 1: Critics overview of “Full-Metal Jousting” from the History Channel.

Video Clip 2: Opening sequence to NBC’s coverage of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Video Clip 3: Carly Patterson’s quest for gymnastics gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics as covered by NBC.

Video Clip 4: Conan O’Brien’s commentary on NBC 2008 Beijing Olympic coverage.

Video Clip 5: NBC’s primetime introduction to the Opening Ceremony, and conclusion to the Closing Ceremony, of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Video Clip 6: KFC Couchgating television commercial (2013).

Video Clip 7: British member of parliament moves to ban fast food sponsorship from the Olympic Games.

3. REQUIRED READINGS

It is expected that you will complete these readings prior to the discussion sections, and that–where appropriate–your engage them within your classroom discussion. 

Reading I: Andrews, D. L. (2006a). That's Sportainment! Sport-Commerce-Culture: Essays on Sport in Late Capitalist America (pp. 41-52). New York: Peter Lang.

Reading II: Dickson, G., & Schofield, G. (2005). Globalization and globesity: The impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 1(1-2), 169-179.

Reading III: O’Sullivan, F. (2012, July 09). Should fast food sponsors be banned from the Olympic Games? The Atlantic.

4. THEMATIC REVIEW QUESTIONS

Given the volume of information provided in the classroom, you are strongly advised not to engage the material solely during lectures.

Rather, you are strongly encouraged to review each theme carefully on your own, following which you should test your knowledge and understanding by answering the Thematic Review Questions which can be accessed HERE.

5. KEY CONCEPTS

The following key concepts represent the core knowledge related to this topic, and you should ensure that you develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of them before moving on to the next topic:

Culture as a Set of Practices and Meaning System

Social Welfare and Neoliberal Mass Media Functions

The Energy Source/Motor of Late Capitalism

Mass Media as Product and Process within Late Capitalism

Debord’s Society of the Spectacle: Monumental; Individual; Commodity

The Economics of the Sport Media

Sport Media Convergence and Sportainment

High (Monumental), Medium (Everyday), and Low (Manufactured) Level Sportainment

The Olympic Spectacle as Sportainment

Hyperreality, Simulations, and Codes

The Mediated Manipulation of Olympic Time and Emotions

The Narrative and Ideological Codes of NBC’s Olympics

NBC’s Olympics as Soap Opera Games/Variety Show Television

Primetime Narratives and Neoliberal Ideologies

The Inspirational Effect of Monumental Sport Spectacles

Amusing Ourselves to Death Revisited

Globesity and the Olympic/Sport Spectacle

Pathological Environments and Olympic Marketing

Calorific Intake, Passive Viewership, and Physiological Restructuring

6. DISCUSSION QUESTION/TASK #4

This question/task will be discussed in discussion sections on:

Monday, October 8

Wednesday, October 10

As a compelling form of spectacular sportainment, the NBC Olympics do little more than “inspire a generation” to watch more television.  As such, the influence of the monumental spectacle of the contemporary Olympics are more closely related to the crass commercialism of the XFL (see Andrews, 2006a), than to the Olympic ideals of celebrating and encouraging human physical excellence. 

This is because, in encouraging passive spectatorship and inactivity (and also the consumption of high calorie food and beverages promoted during such broadcasts), high profile sport spectacles such as the Olympic Games have no positive influence on the public health of the U.S. population. They do not encourage activity, they encourage lethargy.  Moreover, they are often sponsored by corporations contributing to the obesity crisis (e.g. Coca-cola, McDonalds and the like).

So, ironically, monumental sport spectacles could be said to be, at least partly, responsible  for the high rates of inactivity and obesity which currently plague U.S. society. 

As such, fast food companies should be banned from sponsoring the Olympics and major sporting events.  Discuss.

7. ESSAY QUESTION #4 (this is an option for the mandatory Module 1 essay)

Choose an example of sportainment broadcast (either high, medium, or low-level broadcasting of a defined sporting event), and analyze its nature as a deliberately produced, popular, and hyperreal sport media spectacle.  Your analysis should pay particular attention to:

1. 1.The narratives (stories) which present and frame the broadcast.
   

2. 2.The mainstream ideological codes/values embedded within, and communicated through, the narratives framing the programming.
   

3. 3.The uses of various dimensions of time, and their role in building the emotional intensity/excitement within the broadcast.
   

Your aim should be to illustrate the precise way that the broadcasting of a sporting event was manipulated in such as to make it appealing to the values and interests of a mainstream/general viewership.

Throughout your analysis, you should pay close attention to the spoken, written, and visual elements of the broadcast, and you should refer to these regularly within your discussion.

This essay should be a minimum of 1,500 words to answer it comprehensively.

You may find the following academic sources useful in completing this assignment.  You do not have to use these sources, they are simply provided for you as an introduction to the literature, and you should use them where appropriate and/or relevant. Also, be warned, these readings do not count towards the THREE additional academic sources you are expected to use within your essays (however, they may direct you toward additional academic sources you could use).

Andrews, D. L. (2006b). Gendered Olympic Virtuality Sport-Commerce-Culture: Essays on Sport in Late Capitalist America (pp. 53-65). New York: Peter Lang.

Angelini, J. R., & Billings, A. C. (2010). An Agenda That Sets the Frames: Gender, Language, and NBC's Americanized Olympic Telecast. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29(3), 363-385.                                                                         

Kellner, D. (2003). Media culture and the triumph of the spectacle. In Media Spectacle (pp. 1-33). London: Routledge.                                                        

White, R. E., Silk, M. L., & Andrews, D. L. (2008). Revisiting the networked production of the 2003 Little League World Series: Narrative of American innocence. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 4(2), 183-202.

If you choose to complete this essay, and in addition to the sources provided on this page, you need to identify and use (either through paraphrasing or direct quotation) interpretations, insights, or information from a MINIMUM OF THREE appropriate academic sources (in addition to those provided for you on this website).

The deadline for submitting your Module 1 Essay is before class on Sunday October 19.  In order to receive feedback from your TA, you can submit a draft version of your essay up to and including Sunday October 12.

Important: The ELMS/Canvas website will not accept essays after the due time and date. 

Be sure to review the details on the module essay page.   On that page you will find the EVALUATION CRITERIA for module essays (which you are strongly encouraged to read), you will also find links to the appropriate academic sources you should use when researching and writing your module essays, and the style and format guidelines you need to follow when completing module essays.  All this information needs to be read, understood, and closely followed for you to succeed in this course.