Newswise — With the Philadelphia Phillies positioned to repeat last year’s World Series victory, the nation's attention is turning once again to baseball and Philadelphia. As the Phillies face off against the New York Yankees, Temple faculty experts weigh in on economic and community impact, the psychology of winning, the role of digital media, free agency and women sportscasters.
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY IMPACTJeremy Jordan, associate professor of sport and recreation management, specializes in organizational behavior and human resource management issues within sport organizations. He focuses on providing empirically based marketing and management solutions for sport events and organizations. He has worked with the Philadelphia Marathon.
“The economic impact for the city will mostly be in tax dollars generated through merchandise sales and the hospitality industry. Most of the money, however, will come from local residents, as opposed to new dollars from out-of-towners. But this type of event can have long-range implications by providing Philadelphia with exposure to an audience around the nation and around the globe,” Jordan said.
“The series has the potential to pique the interest of future tourists to Philadelphia by showcasing a world-class team, a world-class ball park, and a world-class city,” he said.
Emily Sparvero, assistant professor of sports and recreation management, focuses on how communities can leverage the presence of professional sport teams to enhance economic development, branding, image and social welfare of a city.
“A successful sports team has two main social impacts. First, the team’s success can serve as a point of connection among residents. This is especially the case if there are opportunities for socialization outside of the sports venue. For example, the Piazza in Northern Liberties has been showing Phillies’ games all season at no charge. So, residents who are priced out of attending a World Series game have other opportunities to join with other fans to celebrate the team,” Spavero said.
“Also, a successful team will enhance community self-esteem and cause residents to feel better about themselves and about Philadelphia because of the Phillies’ success,” she said.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WINNINGMichael Sachs, professor of kinesiology, is a sports psychologist with expertise in motivation and adherence to physical activity. He also explores the mental and behavioral health of the pro athlete, and the emotional ties that fans have to professional sports. Sachs is the current president of the American Psychological Association's Exercise and Sport Psychology division.
“The 2009 edition of the Fall Classic features a great match-up between the defending World Champions, our own Philadelphia Phillies, and the team with the best record in baseball this year and the all-time leader in World Series Championships, the New York Yankees. It will be fascinating to see if the Phillies, having great confidence and having won it all last year, can defeat the Yankees, who are back for the first time in a while and hungry for another crown,” said Sachs.
“Psychology will play a big role in who performs best under the pressure of the World Series,” he said.
Frank Farley, Laura H. Carnell professor of educational psychology, is a psychologist whose research and expertise focuses on human behavior, particularly extreme behavior, and is the originator of the “Type-T” or thrill-seeking personality. He is a former president of the American Psychological Association and is currently president of APA’s Division on Media Psychology.
"This sports town, with a slim recent history of titles except for the Phillies, needs all the wins it can get. For a positive uplifting side to city life, a pennant team is one of the most influential things you can have. Going into the World Series, it will be hard to compete for enthusiasm with the 2008 win, as 'primacy' is such a powerful force in our psychology,” Farley said.
“But if we win, civic spirit and enthusiasm may be at an all-time high as we have shown we can do it again — there was no fluke, or chance, or merely luck last year,” he said.
THE ROLE OF DIGITAL MEDIAChristopher Harper, associate professor of journalism, focuses his research on the history of journalism and the role of digital media. He worked for more than 20 years in journalism at the Associated Press, Newsweek, ABC News and ABC 20/20. Harper is co-director of Temple University’s Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab.
“A lot of people are going to tune in to this World Series, simply because it’s New York and Philly — but many are going to do it via computer. Essentially, we are moving away from a traditional television watching experience. The viewer has been empowered by the computer. You could watch all of the division series and championships on www.mlb.com for $10. That's a lot less than cable. And you can adjust the view to one of six camera angles almost instantaneously. No longer is the audience dependent on network sports directors — now you can be your own director,” said Harper.
“As I tell my students, there is a battle going on between the television and the computer, and the computer is winning,” he said.
FREE AGENCY Michael Leeds, professor of economics, is best known for his teaching and research in sports economics. Leeds is co-author of The Economics of Sports. His recent research includes work on how bonus payments to college football coaches affect the academic progress of their players.
“Since free agency came to baseball after the 1976 season, baseball has seen unprecedented turnover in champions. The National League has not seen a champion repeat since the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds — though the Phillies are now poised to change that. The Yankees have won six World Series — roughly one every five years — over that time period. However, between 1923 (their first World Series win) and 1976, they won 20 (more than one every three years). Moreover, no other team has won more than two World Series (the Cardinals, Twins, Blue Jays, Marlins, and Red Sox) during the free agency period,” said Leeds.
“So much for the argument that free agency has been bad for the game,” he said.
WOMEN SPORTCASTERSKaren Turner, associate professor journalism, has worked as a reporter, producer and news anchor. She is director of Temple’s broadcast journalism sequence.
“Women have always been baseball fans, but now it's commonplace to see a woman sports reporters on the field or in the locker room. The numbers are still small but women have come a long way since 1982 when Philadelphia’s own Claire Smith was among the very few women covering major league baseball. And, the acceptance of women covering sports has greatly improved. I often have just as many female students in my class interested in sports reporting as males,” Turner said.
“The next glass ceiling is women play-by-play announcers and analysts,” she said.
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