Media And Baseball Essay, Research Paper

Media affects everyone and everything; There is no escape.

Media is everywhere and surrounds everything. Henry

Jenkins and Marshall McLuhan have differing points of

view as to what the meaning of media is. They both,

however, have their particular ponits which they describe

well. Jenkin’s talks about the different types of cultures that

exist, focusing on popular culture, in his essay, "What

Everyone Should Know About Popular Culture." Mcluhan

talks about the concepts of Narcicism and the "Global

Village." Both Jenkin’s and McLuhan’s ideas can be

focused on a particular thing, such as Baseball. That can be

further broken down and analyzed at the team level.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have most recently been the

center of attention due to the top media coverage of the

team. The team does, however, have a great history. They

were originally known as the Brooklyn dodgers until they

made a move to Los Angeles in 1958. They then became

the Los Angeles Dodgers and their owner became Walter

O’Malley. He was the owner and president for the next

twenty years. After that, he passed the team down to his

son Peter. This is a great example of Jenkin’s definition of

Folk Culture. A very important item was passed down

from generation to generation of O’Malleys, eventhough the

item was quite massive. Throughout the years, however,

the Dodgers were much a part of popular culture. Baseball

was known as "America’s Favorite Past-time," and still is.

The tradition that the O’Malley family had with the Dodgers

lasted until 1998, when a big corporation, the FOX group

owned by Rupert Murdoch, took over the team. This was

a time of chan!

ge, but some could argue was for the best. Being owned by

the FOX group means there is more media exposure for

the team.

Now that the team is owned by Rupert Murdoch,

McLuhan’s ideas about media can be implemented.

McLuhan’s concept of narcicism can clearly be seen with

the transition of the Dodgers from family-owned to

corporation-owned. The availability of large funds to

acquire key players makes the Dodgers seem narcicistic.

People can think that they love themselves so much, that

they will do anything to win. Most recently, Kevin Brown,

one of the league’s top pitchers was signed to a 105 million

dollar contract for 7 years. This is the biggest contract in

baseball history. This and other aquisitions was supposed

to lead the Dodgers to excellence this year. Unfortunately

for Dodgers fans, this did not happen. The team is 20

games out of first place with no chance of making post

season play. All that can be done is look back and start

thinking about next season. Unlike this season, however,

the team should not talk and say they will win it all. They

should go out and prov!

e that they can be winners, which they are.

The Dodgers, as well as any other baseball team, can

almost be treated like a religion. People will attend games

regularly and wear their team’s colors and logos, much like

the Jewish people wear their yamulkas. People follow their

teams on television, radio, and any other type of media

available to them. Most recently, the Dodgers have found a

home on the internet. Fans can now watch clips of Dodger

games or even hear a game live on the internet. This relates

to McLuhan’s concept of the "Global Village." Having live

broadcasts available on the internet is a great way for

Dodger fans, who might happen to be in college in the east

coast, to listen and keep up with the latest news about their

team. It is good knowing that one can be a Dodger fan

anywhere in the world. The internet facilitates the distance

factor that exists between a Dodger fan in Boston and his

team in Los Angeles.

Baseball is a lot like filming a movie. It involves

pre-production, the making of the movie itself, and then

some editing and post-production. In Baseball there is the

preseason, the season itself, and the postseason or

playoffs. For the Dodgers, there will be no postseason this

year. Much like a bad movie that was trashed by the

producers. The key is not to give up and keep trying.

Dodger fans all over the world know that the year 2000 is

the year of the championship. There is no escape.