Media And Baseball :: essays research papers

Media affects everyone and everything in that respect is no escape.Media is everywhere and surrounds everything. HenryJenkins and Marshall McLuhan withdraw differing points ofview as to what the meaning of media is. They both,however, have their particular ponits which they describewell. Jenkins talks about the varied types of cultures thatexist, focusing on touristy culture, in his essay, "WhatEveryone Should Know About favorite Culture." Mcluhantalks about the conceptions of Narcicism and the "GlobalVillage." Both Jenkins and McLuhans ideas can be focus on a particular thing, such as Baseball. That can befurther broken down and analyzed at the team level. The Los Angeles Dodgers have most recently been thecenter of attention due to the top media reportage of theteam. The team does, however, have a great history. Theywere originally known as the Brooklyn dodgers until theymade a move to Los Angeles in 1958. They then becamethe Los Angeles Dodgers and their own er became WalterOMalley. He was the owner and president for the succeeding(prenominal)twenty years. After that, he passed the team down to hisson Peter. This is a great example of Jenkins definition of household Culture. A very important item was passed downfrom propagation to generation of OMalleys, eventhough theitem was quite massive. Throughout the years, however,the Dodgers were much a part of popular culture. Baseballwas known as "Americas Favorite Past-time," and still is.The tradition that the OMalley family had with the Dodgerslasted until 1998, when a big corporation, the FOX groupowned by Rupert Murdoch, took over the team. This wasa time of change, but some could argue was for the best. Being owned bythe FOX group means there is more media exposure forthe team. right off that the team is owned by Rupert Murdoch,McLuhans ideas about media can be implemented.McLuhans concept of narcicism can clearly be seen withthe transition of the Dodgers from family-owned toc orporation-owned. The availability of large property toacquire key players makes the Dodgers seem narcicistic.People can think that they hunch forward themselves so much, thatthey will do anything to win. Most recently, Kevin Brown,one of the leagues top pitchers was gestural to a 105 milliondollar bowdlerize for 7 years. This is the biggest contract inbaseball history. This and other aquisitions was supposedto lead the Dodgers to excellence this year. regrettablyfor Dodgers fans, this did not happen. The team is 20games out of first place with no chance of making postseason play. All that can be done is look back and startthinking about next season.