Some key questions for my project are as follows:
How does the internet affect a physical sport like soccer?
Is the prescense of the internet the cause of the growth in interest/ participation?
Evidence I have found for these questions are websites that allow people from all over to stay connected with teams from foreign countries as well as sites the connect them to other people who are interested in playing the sport in their free time. For instance, ysc.com is a great site for people in the king of prussia area to play with others. This ultimately affects a physical sport like soccer in that more people are going out and playing the sport. It popularity shows through the growing MLS in the USA. Philadelphia added to the list of cites to have a mens professional team The Union.
After reading Lessig, I know I need to make sure that my point that the internet has made a positive influence on the soccer/futbol community as a whole needs to be clear. "Every generation has had the experience of an older generation insisting that the new is degraded, that only the old is great." So basically the older generation always believes their way was better and while I can understand why sometimes this is the case, this particular topic of soccer is being improved. While Lessig states this, I know that the current generation has upgraded the state soccer was in. While the sport used to be big primarily in Europe, it has been gaining popularity in places like America. More people are picking up the sport, watching other countries play, and ultimately it unifies people from very different backgrounds and cultures. This obviously helps me think more of my project in that it the improving through internet that makes the physical sport more popular.
Also this quote, "But anyone who thinks remixes or mash- ups are neither original nor creative has very little idea about how they are made or
what makes them great," relates more to my trailer. Before taking this class I might have agreed with this opinion that if you're taking bits and pieces from already existing products and making your own, that that is not real original. However making my own trailer has made me see that there is still creativity and originality with blending these elements together and making a new product. While this quote does not relate to my questions regarding my topic, the first quote takes care of both on its own and this does relate still with my trailer.
I would've thought relating this to Lessig would've been really difficult but you found a really obvious connection I didn't think of. It's true, times are changing and everyone is always so stuck in their ways it's sometimes hard for other generations to see the positives. If you think it's relevant, you could also talk about soccer forums that are on the internet and how they connect people globally too since you mentioned the idea of unity (re: Lessig's idea of the internet as RW culture)
ReplyDeleteI really love your topic because I am a fan of soccer and I think your questions are great. I'm interested in how the internet is helping the growth of the sport in the US because there are a lot of people here who don't a thing about soccer because it's not as popular as American Football or Baseball is.
ReplyDeleteI like how you related Lessig to your topic with the first quote. I can really see where you're coming from with your statement about how soccer has been improved over the years because more people are learning about it and making it more well known.